Page 101 of The Moments You Were Mine
Dad’s voice drew me away from the path of self-reproach I’d started down. “Let me call the warden at Ike’s prison and see if we can speed up the approval process for the two of you. I’m already on the list for Adam’s jail. I made damn sure I could see him whenever I wanted.”
That surprised me. “You’ve met with him before now?”
“Twice,” Dad said. “He was sending letters to Lauren, and I ensured he stopped. Then, he had his cellmate send letters to Fallon, and I returned and talked to himandhis friend.”
That foreboding I’d felt earlier returned. “Fallon never mentioned it.” And I was sure she would have told me if her uncle had contacted her.
“Neither Lauren nor Fallon ever saw the letters. Rafe and I intercepted them.”
So Fallon had been right. Our dads had kept things from us. It pissed me off as much as I understood why they’d done it.
“What did the letters say?”
“Nothing, really. Long rambles about the Hurlys and Harringtons being in some symbiotic relationship. What happened to one happened to the other.”
A chill went up my spine. “Adam is in jail. He wants a Harrington in jail too? Wants Fallon in jail? That would hurt Rafe far more than Rafe going to prison himself.”
Dad inhaled sharply. “Damnit. Maybe.”
We discussed the possibilities for a few more minutes before saying our goodbyes. He promised to let me know what he heard back from Ike’s warden.
I shoved my phone in my pocket, mind spinning with all the puzzle pieces that we had and the ones we were missing. Something still felt off. Something I couldn’t quite see yet.
Lost in my thoughts, it took several minutes before the panorama from the windows of the ranch spread out below me finally registered. With the rivers, mountains, and castle twining together, it was a stunning glimpse of Eden. But just like in the Bible story, betrayal had rocked the land.
When she looked at it, Fallon saw much more than the physical rocks and trees and water. She saw a legacy worthy of continuing for future generations. She felt a responsibility to the forest and wildlife as much as the man-made structures.
My earliest years had been spent on naval bases, but I barely remembered those locations. The home I remembered most was the one we’d had in Las Vegas. Dad had settled us there before he’d even met Rafe. It was a tract home in a nice neighborhood.
We could have afforded to move to an even better neighborhood after Rafe’s business took off and Dad became a shareholder in a multi-billion-dollar enterprise, but we hadn’t. We’d stayed right where we were and lived a very typical American existence. Mom worked at a local women’s shelter, Dad worked for Rafe, and I went to public school, played football, and took a leadership role in the campus ROTC.
Fallon had never known normal. She’d never been an average kid or an average teenager.
Not because of the screwed-up love triangle she’d been born out of, but because she’d been an heiress even when the ranch was nearly bankrupt. She’d been Rafe’s only child until she was fifteen, the sole heir to Rafe’s fortunes. Even now, with two siblings, the money she’d eventually inherit from him would mean neither she nor her future children would ever have to worry about money, as long as they played it smart.
But she’d never acted like an heiress. Growing up on the ranch had grounded her. The hard work she’d put in each day had ensured she hadn’t thought she was better than others. She’d shoveled shit and hay and ran the tractor like any good farmer’s daughter. She’d put in the time earning what she’d inherited.
I refused to let anyone take it from her. Refused to let someone send her running permanently or lock her in prison for crimes she hadn’t committed. For simply being the last remaining ancestor of a feud that had gone on too long between the Hurlys and the Harringtons—or the goddamn Puzos.
I also refused to leave her. Never again would I make the mistake I’d made in Tennessee ten years ago or three years ago in San Diego. She’d be safe, and she’d be mine.
? ? ?
I spent the rest of Saturday and all of Sunday running the investigation from Fallon’s home. Her staff had respected my wishes and sent their questions and updates to me rather than her. I knew Fallon would be pissed when she finally realized it, but she’d spent much of the last twenty-four hours doing exactly what the doctor had recommended, sleeping and resting in a darkened room.
Her parents had called several times. The conversations with her mother had been tense and frustrating, but that was nothing new. I wasn’t sure how much of the truth Fallon had given her about what was happening. Since Spencer had died, everyone had treated Lauren with kid gloves, and it had only gotten worse after the accident.
The conversations with Sadie had been full of laughter as much as tears, but it was Rafe who’d called the most, and she’d been exhausted after every one of them, the burdens of the ranch hanging over her even more.
When Rafe called again on Sunday evening, I took the phone away and told him that he needed to let Fallon rest. He’d been as pissed at my gall as she’d been. But once I’d calmed him down, he’d said he was grateful I was looking out for her and making sure she actually gave herself a chance to heal.
As I tucked Theo into bed, I had to fight back my frustration at another day spent getting nowhere. I forced myself to smile, toshow him only the love he deserved. And after he fell asleep, I went in to check on Fallon for the hundredth time.
She was doing the same thing she’d done for two days now—watching her favorite TV show. I wasn’t sure how she could look so exhausted after all the sleep she’d gotten, but she did. Her eyes still looked bruised, and her face was still pale. The ugly knot on her head seemed even more pronounced. It made my chest ache.
I joined her on the bed for the first time, sliding over until we were shoulder to shoulder and our heads shared a single pillow. She glanced at me warily.
“I’m going down to the ranch tomorrow,” she said, lifting her chin, eyes flashing with defiance.
