Page 8 of Parading the Cowboy Billionaire (Bluegrass Ranch 4)

“Ginny, do think rationally,” Mother said in a disdainful voice. She set her crocheting aside and sighed as if Ginny had interrupted the most wonderful moment of her life. “You’re always over-reacting.”

“I amnotover-reacting,” Ginny said. “I’ve lost almost three months of my life, wondering what I did to drive him away, only to find out it wasyou!” She advanced on her mother as she pushed herself up out of the chair.

She took a moment to steady herself on her feet, but when she looked at Ginny, the fire in her eyes was just as prevalent as it always had been. “He does not fit at Sweet Rose.”

“He doesn’t need to,” Ginny said. “He owns and operates a hugely successful horse farm.”

“Spur does that,” Mother said, shaking her head. “I don’t know what the Chappells are worth, dear, but there are eight of them. I doubt he could keep you in your current state of comfort.” She turned away from Ginny and started for the small kitchen in the back corner.

“I don’t need any of that comfort,” Ginny spat back. “I hate that house. It’s fifty times too big, and I hate coming home to it all by myself.”

Mother paused and twisted back to Ginny, her eyes wide. “Your ingratitude is unbecoming.”

“I am not ungrateful,” Ginny said. “I’mlonely. I’m tired, Mother.” She laughed, but it wasn’t a happy sound.

Mother turned fully toward her, a malicious glint in her dark eyes now. “Of course I can’t forbid you from seeing him. Go see him. Go to dinner with him. Fall in love with him. See if he has anywhere for you to live on that cattle ranch he shares with seven brothers.”

“It’s a racehorse operation, Mother.”

“Whatever,” Mother said, her appraising eyes sliding down to Ginny’s feet. She’d left her heels in the car, and suddenly, all the smells and stains leapt out from where they’d been hiding. “Good Lord,” Mother said, pressing her hand to her pulse. “Did anyone see you like this?” She reached out as if she’d touch the gown, but she yanked her fingers back before she did.

“Yes,” Ginny said. “Everyone at the Gin and Gems event.”

Mother’s eyes flashed again, probably because of Ginny’s blunt tone. She lifted her chin, not a tremble or tremor in sight. “If you choose him, you’ll be choosing to walk away from Sweet Rose.”

Ginny’s eyes widened and she pulled in a breath. “I can have a husband and run the distillery.”

“Nothimas a husband.”

“Why not?” Ginny asked, desperate to see Cayden through her mother’s eyes. A horrible thought entered her mind. “Did Daddy… He’s not a Winters, is he?”

“No,” Mother said quickly. “But not for lack of trying.”

Ginny watched the agony and betrayal roll across her mother’s face, though Daddy had died years ago. “Him and Julie Chappell?”

“They even dated in high school,” Mother said, her voice pitching up a little. “I won him, of course. Julie is a beautiful woman, but she failed to understand your father on a level I always did.”

Ginny had no idea what that meant. “Mother?”

“You knew your father, dear. You’ll put it together.” She continued into the kitchen and began filling a teapot with water. Ginny didn’t want to think about her father and his many affairs. No other illegitimate children had come forth, but Ginny and Mother had already agreed not to tell the boys if they did.

Harvey had taken Theo Lange’s existence particularly hard, which Ginny could understand, as they were only one month apart in age.

She watched her mother in the kitchen, unable to move. She was so used to siding with her. Mother and Ginny. Ginny and Mother. They’d been two peas in a pod as Ginny learned the whiskey business from her mother.

Daddy had always handled the business side of the distillery, while Mother tended to the fields, the flavors, the people, and the events. She was the public face of Sweet Rose, and she’d built it from a small regional operation to a global powerhouse in the world of whiskey.

“Money,” Ginny said.

“Bingo,” Mother said, not bothering to turn or look at Ginny. “Your father valued money above almost anything. Julie had nothing to offer him.” She turned around then and leaned into the counter behind her. “I, of course, had all of this.” She swept her hand toward the ceiling as if the room she’d converted into a living room and kitchenette was a grand ballroom. The smile she wore almost felt predatory, and Ginny wanted to run back to her house and lock herself in her bedroom until things made sense.

“Cayden is not related to me,” she said slowly. “Daddy didn’t cheat with Julie. Your objection to my relationship to him is because of…because his mother dated Daddy in high school?”

“She kissed him the day before we got married,” Mother said, lifting her teacup to her lips as if she’d just said it would rain tomorrow. She lowered it a moment later, her eyes hard, dark marbles.

Mother did not like Julie Chappell, plain and simple. Mother could hold a grudge for a lifetime, something Ginny had always known and joked about with her brothers. To see it manifest itself as reality, though, was a much harder pill to swallow.

“I do not want that woman anywhere near my life,” Mother said. “She will get nothing from me, certainly not my only daughter. She will not ever be welcome on my property.” She set down her cup with hardly a clink, despite the venom and power in her voice.

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