Page 54 of Not Over You (Prosperity Ranch 3)

Knox sat on Jana’s porch steps in the early afternoon. The heat was beginning to sizzle, but a nearby tree gave him plenty of shade. He’d wait here until Jana showed up. He knew that canceling his next rodeo event was the right thing to do, but the loss of money would be painful. He was saving every penny he could, and this cancellation would set him back more. But it couldn’t be helped. He was determined to speak to Jana in person.

She’d called him a few hours ago to tell him about how she and Natalie had confronted their father. A lot of stuff had come to light. Ugly stuff. Things that had gone on for years with Knox none the wiser.

Holt hadn’t known about it, either.

This morning, Prosperity Ranch had been Knox’s first stop in Prosper, where he sat his parents and Holt down at the kitchen table. He told them everything. From the false pregnancy test, to the rumors, to Mr. Harris finding out and threatening Rex.

Knox hated that he always seemed to be the son delivering bad news to his parents and bringing angst to the family. He’d thought his black sheep days were over, but apparently not, and now, those days were still crippling the family.

“Why didn’t you tell us all this had gone on with Jana?” his mother asked.

“I was not in a great place back then,” Knox said. “And being a teenager, I guess I thought I could fight through it all on my own.”

His mother drew in a shaky breath. “Was this why you were so insistent on marrying Macie, even though you really didn’t know each other?”

Knox couldn’t look at Holt right now, and he hoped this conversation wouldn’t go any farther than this table, because he didn’t need another wrench in his and Macie’s relationship.

“I don’t know, Mom,” Knox said in a quiet voice. “I would hope that without the situation with Jana, I would have stepped up to the plate with Macie. Which I did, and in the end, failed.”

No one spoke for a moment. This was Knox’s burden, would always be. And he’d been living with it, chipping away the weight over time, but it wouldn’t ever truly be gone.

“All we can do now is move forward, son,” his dad said. “We can’t change the past, but with the truth out in the open, we can create a better future.”

Knox rubbed at his stinging eyes and nodded.

His dad told everyone at the table about the night that Judd Harris confronted him. It was painful for Knox to hear, and painful to know that his dad had been fighting silent battles for him for so long.

Which led to a question from Knox. “Did you prevent Mrs. Harris from opening another general store in town?”

Rex had folded his hands atop the table, and said, “It’s complicated.”

“It’s a yes or no answer. You just said we need the truth out in the open.”

His dad rubbed the back of his neck.

“Rex,” Knox’s mom said. “We need the full truth here, or we won’t know what we’re dealing with.”

“Mom’s right,” Holt said with a sigh. “We’re all adults here, Dad. Spill it.”

“I voted it down,” Rex said in a reluctant tone, “but to be fair, so did the majority. Even if I’d changed my vote, the request would have been denied. Prosper wants to stay a small town—you know that, son.”

“I do know that,” Knox said. “I also know the mayor’s vote is likely to sway others on the town council to vote likewise.”

Rex couldn’t deny that. “From what you’ve told us, we’re more than even. In fact, Harris is way ahead of me in the cheap shots.”

Holt jumped in. “This goes way past the cheap shots, Dad. We’re talking about our livelihood—which affects the whole family.”

Rex blew out a breath. “You’re right,” he murmured.

“So, this is what’s going to happen,” Knox said. Everyone focused on him. “We’re going to bury the hatchet completely. Call it even on both sides.”

By the stunned look on everyone’s faces, he knew he’d shocked his family. So be it.

Holt spoke first. “Are you crazy? It would take me a while to calculate the numbers, but I figure we’ve lost thousands because of Harris.”

“Believe me, I want to fight back more than anything,” Knox said. “You know me, I’m not the type of person to back away from a fight, no matter who gets hurt in the process. But I’ve thought about this from all angles… and I’ve also thought about what we really want our future as a family to look like.”

So, they were still stunned.

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