Page 97 of Marry Me, Maybe?
“I didn’t mean to imply Hudson was a mistake. Just that it worried me how quickly you fell for him, but then when you left for college and he married Heather, I figured I was wrong and you two were fooling around that summer.”
“He was my everything, Dad.” My stomach ached admitting it out loud. “He made me happier than I’d ever been. Being with him was easy. I loved him so much back then.”
“And now?”
“I still love him, even after everything.”
Dad nodded slowly. “I can’t pretend it doesn’t worry me that he’s hurt you in the past.”
“Yeah, but it’s a lot more complicated than I thought.” I heaved a sigh, lowering my head. “Did you talk about me to Mom when we dropped Carter off that summer?”
“Well, yeah. You refused to stay in Denver, and she was upset with your decision. I explained it might be due to a crush you had on the new ranch hand.”
I groaned. “So this is your fault.”
“What is?”
“You didn’t know Mom dug up Hudson’s past and threatened him with it? Offered him ten grand to walk away from me?”
“That’s not possible.” Dad shifted to turn and face me. “Your mother wouldn’t stoop that low.”
“Wouldn’t she? Because that’s exactly whatyourwife did. Hudson has a… colorful past, Dad. It’s not something he wanted me to know back then, andyourwife used it to threaten him.”
“Stop saying your wife like that. She’s your mother regardless of everything.” He placed a hand on my knee and squeezed. “I know.”
The way he said the two words left me feeling uneasy. “You know what?”
“About Hudson’s past. I was hiring a stranger to Bristlecone Springs on my ranch. I had to verify his identity. It pulled up his arrests and everything.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“The man asked me for a chance when he came to the ranch looking for work. I’d seen he hadn’t worked as a laborer a day in his life. Skin too smooth. Hands too soft, but he had determination and grit behind his eyes. I wasn’t going to use his past to judge him, and if he wanted anyone to know, he would tell them himself. Besides, you were plenty cocky back then, Matty. You wouldn’t have changed your mind about him because of his past. I saw the look you got in your eye the first time you saw him, and you were determined to have him. I take it you just found out?”
I nodded. “Yesterday, along with a bunch of other things.”
“Like?”
“The mom bribing him thing. Why he married Heather.”
“He knocked her up while you were together, didn’t he?”
“It was at the beginning,” I said quickly, almost defensively. “When he didn’t take my interest in him that seriously. He swore it was the one time.”
“Do you believe him?”
“Yes.” I stared over at the lake. “Am I a fool?”
“You’re not a fool. You’re in love, and if it happened when you two hadn’t defined what you were yet, it sounds reasonable that you would want to give him another chance. Thatiswhat you’ve decided on, right?”
“Yeah. We made up last night.”
“Looks like the town’s about to buzz with more Magnuson gossip.”
A laugh startled out of me. “Wait until we get to the part where Hudson’s not legally married to Heather.”
“What the hell do you mean they’re not married?”
“She never signed the paperwork. Never submitted.”
