Page 91 of Redemption

I eyed him and a flush spread over his cheeks and neck. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“If you think she won’t like them we’ll keep looking,” he rushed out.

“No, I think you’re right. They’re perfect for Tilly.” Ileaned over and grabbed them, inspecting them and checking the size. It must have been fate because they were a size six, perfect for Tilly’s little feet. “Great find, Jack.”

Jack smiled adorably, glowing under the praise and mumbled something I couldn’t quite make out. I paid for the boots and grabbed Jack’s hand, tugging him outside.

I stored our purchases in the truck and then dragged him down to the ice cream parlor a few stores down. That was one thing our little town was missing that Haven had, a damn good ice cream parlor. Gertie made the best ice cream and I took out my phone and snapped a picture of the store front and sent it to her with awish you were herecaption. I’d barely heard from her recently and missed her so much.

I bought a couple of ice cream cones. Predictably, Jack protested but I insisted as a way to say thank you. I wouldn’t have spotted those boots if it wasn’t for him. We sat on a little bench that faced the road and watched the slow traffic.

“What did you want to be when you grew up?” I asked.

Jack swiped his tongue over his triple chocolate swirl and I fought to keep the filthy images from my mind of what that tongue could do. “I didn’t really want to do anything except get away from my folks.”

“What were they like?”

He shrugged, biting into the cone. “Drunk, angry, young. And disappointed in me. Nothing at all like Charlie was, or how I imagine Sherry would have been.”

When he mentioned my mom’s name, it didn’t hurt. I just became sad that Jack had never known a loving family the way we had. “I’m sorry they were like that. You must have had a toughupbringing.”

He shrugged again. “No tougher than anyone else.”

I squinted at him in the late afternoon sun. “Why do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“You diminish your struggles.”

He was silent for a while. “I guess I don’t want to focus on them. I just want to focus on the future which is so damn bright, I have to shield my eyes. Why would I want to look back at the dismal gray of my past?”

“It’s bright, huh?” I smiled at him.

He looked at me, really looked at me. “It sure is.” He smiled and then stole an ice-cold kiss from me.

We finished our ice cream and headed back to the truck and drove home in silence, our hands clasped on the arm rest between us, and Jack back to his blissful state.

We’d had an afternoon out from the ranch together and although it got off to a rocky start, it had been so wholesome that I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t picturing how it could always be like this.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Katarina

The following day I was out hustling again, at a different bank trying to get another loan.

If I could clear everything and owe a bank rather than shady businessmen, then it would give me some breathing room to plan.

I had one or two ideas starting to filter through to me now that I’d realized why I was blocked. I couldn’t picture doing this without Daddy, but I was going to have to start tackling it on my own. The block was cracking and ideas were slipping through. Nothing concrete yet but the suggestion of something, maybe to do with riding lessons, renting out one of the pastures seasonally,stuff like that.

I didn’t get laughed out of this bank. They needed a bit more from me and I had a follow-up meeting in a couple of weeks, which I needed to do some prep for but I left in better spirits. I made it home a little later than anticipated after stopping by Mom’s bench and having a chat with her.

I’d left Jack in charge all day, trusting him with the ranch and annoyingly, I missed him. I was eager to get back and see him but when I arrived home, I found all my sisters around the kitchen table, looking solemn.

“Everything okay?” I asked, glancing at each of them nervously.

“We need to talk,” Daisy said, the first thing she’d said to me for a couple of days since our spat the other morning. Maddy stood up and pulled a chair out for me and I frowned at her before slowly sliding into the seat.

“We know about the debt,” August spoke softly. Each one of them met my stare with concern and pity, and heat flushed my cheeks, my pride prickling.

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