Page 58 of The Moments You Were Mine
He giggled, touching his ears. “Superpower actu-vated!”
“You got it.”
I rose and turned to see Fallon watching me. Her expression looked as if she’d just witnessed something rare and magical. But it disappeared when Teddy bumped her arm and said, “Parker is with you today. Theo and I are going to do cowboy stuff.”
Theo laughed again. I ruffled his hair one more time and then stepped out of the stall.
“Let me give you my number in case Theo needs me,” I told Teddy. “He’s not allergic to anything that I know of, and he’s a healthy kid overall.”
Teddy took out his phone, logged my number in, and then texted me so I had his as well.
“We’ll be fine,” Teddy reassured me. “You two go figure out what the hell is happening at the ranch before Lauren decides to leave the rehab center to try fixing it herself.”
Fallon’s face turned dark. “For heaven’s sake, don’t tell Mom.”
He looked surprised and angry at her comment. “Excuse me?”
“The resort isn’t hers to worry about, Teddy.”
He stepped forward, his voice turning into a dark growl I never expected to hear from the easygoing man. “What the hell is that supposed to mean? Your mom has worked her ass off for this ranch. She’s dedicated her life to it. And what does she have to show for it? A missing leg and a barely habitable house her grandfather owned that no one maintained.”
Fallon looked chagrinned, and my nerves, already strung tight, jumped up another notch. I shifted, ready to step between them if I needed to.
Fallon’s voice was full of regret when she said, “I didn’t mean she didn’t belong here, and you know it, Teddy.”
He stared at her for a long moment before dragging a large hand over his face. He shook his head. “I know. I know. She’s just been through so damn much.”
I wanted to add that the majority of Lauren’s pain and anguish had been because of her own bad choices. But before I could say anything, Fallon had laid a gentle hand on the man’s arm and said, “I don’t want her to leave the center before she has her prosthetic and has learned how to maneuver with it. She can’t do anything here but worry, and we both know what worrying does to her. She’s already in such a shaky place, Teddy. I’d never forgive myself if she started using—”
Her voice broke off, and she bit her lip as if fighting tears again.
Without finishing her thought, she headed toward the house with that powerful stride of hers. Strong and determined, she was a force to be reckoned with. A power that would be fierce and beautiful if our bodies were twined.
I shoved those thoughts aside and glanced from Teddy to Theo in the stall with the dogs. Doubts, obligations, and desires pulled me in multiple directions.
“I’m sorry, Parker.” Teddy’s voice was truly contrite. “I shouldn’t have implied that girl was pushing her mama off the ranch. It’s just, now that Fallon’s turned twenty-four and theestate has become hers, the little say Lauren had about the place is gone. She lost her legandher purpose. I just…” He choked on his own emotions.
“She’s not a girl,” I told him. “I’m not sure Fallon was ever allowed to be one. You and I both know it.”
Teddy didn’t respond at first. He looked out the barn door in the direction Fallon had gone. “I’ve never seen two women so strong and so determined and yet so unable to ask for help. The old Hurly place is falling down, but Lauren won’t ask Fallon for the money to fix it. She won’t let Fallon spend an ounce of her inheritance on anything but her own dreams. How can they love each other so much without realizing they’d both hang the moon for the other?”
I shook my head. I didn’t have an answer for him. Fallon and her mother’s relationship had always been this way—fraught with land mines.
Teddy looked back in at Theo, who was talking quietly to the dogs. “I may not know what to do with Fallon, but I can take care of this little guy and the animals I’ve had under my responsibility for longer than I remember. Go. Take care of her, Parker. You’re the only one here who can.”
And just like that, the full weight of my dual responsibilities slammed back into me.
How would I ever take care of them both without feeling like I was sacrificing one of them?
But Theo was happier than I’d seen him since learning to ride his bike, and Teddy had my number and could call if Theo needed me. Whereas the firebrand who’d stormed off toward the house would never admit to needing anyone, even when it was clear she did.
It was so infuriating I wanted to kiss her until she caved, until she admitted she absolutely did need someone—needed me—just as she had before everything had gotten screwed up between us.
I whirled around and jogged toward the house with a lifetime’s worth of anguish eating me up inside, with a month’s worth of new responsibilities clogging my view. The only way to fix this newest war inside me, the one battling it out between Fallon and Theo, was if I found who was behind the thingshappening at the ranch. Then, I could leave Fallon to her own stubborn determination and get the hell out of Rivers before my willpower crumbled completely.
? ? ?
At the staff meeting, Andie and Fallon reassured the employees as best they could, came up with a canned response for them to use with guests, and promised to keep everyone abreast of the investigation. When everyone had headed back to their jobs with tasks in hand, Fallon and I set up in the conference room to dig into the former staff and existing employees.
