Page 76 of The Triple Threat
“Well, seems to me if you can figure out why you’re pissed about it, you’re well on your way to figuring out how you feel about her.”
I moved over to join him leaning against the truck and looked out over the land. Some of the herd were grazing, in front of us and to the right in a smaller paddock was the bull we were hoping to introduce to them in the next few days.
“I kinda wish I was like that bull,” I said, nodding in his direction. “Get introduced to a whole load of females and then just jump whichever ones smell right and take my fancy.”
“You can, Hunt,” Pop replied. “But something is stopping you and my guess it could be those damn elusive feelings that you have for Ellie.”
Watching his profile, I saw his jaw tense and tick as he looked dead ahead. That usually meant he was trying not to get emotional in some way or other. I figured it wasn’t anger he was holding back, but maybe sadness seeing as we were talking about feelings and falling for someone.
“How long after you met Mom did you know?” My eyes stayed on him and the tension increased as the tick sped up. “Don’t think you’ve ever told me.”
Finally, Pop looked at me and gave me a sad smile. “Your mom would have told you it was the minute she fell off the fence she was sitting on and flashed her panties at me; four weeks after I’d been working on her Uncle’s ranch in Connecticut.”
“Her Uncle Drake, right?”
Pop nodded. “Yeah. Your Grandpa wanted me and Miller to learn the business from other people, not just him, so he got me a job on Drake’s ranch, while your uncle went to Kentucky. Dad knew Drake from way back, from when they went to the same auctions. I was supposed to stay there for eight months in total, but,” he sighed and lowered his gaze to the floor, “after five, your Grandpa was killed by a bull that got spooked, so me and Miller had to come back.”
“Grandma was already dead wasn’t she.”
Pop nodded. “Yeah, she died of cancer when I was seventeen.” He looked at me and squeezed my shoulder. “Funny how life repeats itself.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” I hadn’t realized Pop had been a similar age as I’d been when I’d lost Mom. It did all seem a little weird. “If it wasn’t when Mom said it was, when was it then? When you knew Mom was the one.”
Pop’s eyes lightened and a huge smile that was brighter than the sun lit up his face. “It was a week after I’d been there. I’d gone into town with one of the other ranch hands. We’d gone to get some supplies for Drake. The guy I was with was in the barber shop getting his hair cut and I was waiting outside because it was real hot and humid and the barber shop had no AC. Well, your mom was walking along carrying some bags and one of them busted open. Everything in it rolled across the floor so I rushed over to help her, but she brushed me away and said she could manage. Said she didn’t need my help. I watched her put what she could in the other bags and then stuff the rest down the front of her shirt and in the pockets of her shorts. Once she did, she strutted past me like she had no damn clue who I was or that anything had happened.”
“That made you fall in love with her?” I asked, a little surprised. “Sounds like she was too stubborn for her own good.”
He grinned at me. “Exactly. So, it was then, but I knew for definite two weeks later when she accidently flashed me her panties.”
We both laughed and it felt good to talk about her and not get emotional or feel the need to scream my anger at her leaving us.
“I think what I’m trying to say, son,” Pop said eventually. “Is that sometimes it’s not the beauty of someone that is the best part of them. Sometimes it’s the things that piss you off like their stubbornness. Your mom was one of the most tenacious people I ever knew and thank God she was. If she hadn’t been, she would never have stuck up for herself with her folks and come here to marry me. That cost her a relationship with them, but she was steadfast in what she wanted, and praise everything under the goddamn sun, that was me. That damn stubbornness also gave me you because you know she was told not to have kids, but she was adamant. And, without you I don’t think I’d have survived losing her, son, I really don’t.”
I turned away, not wanting him to see the tears glossing my eyes.
“You’re right, once she made her mind up,” I sighed.
“Yep. So, for all she was the most beautiful woman in the world, it was her stubborn streak that made me realize she was the woman I wanted by my side for the rest of my life. Which means that you may need to look past your anger where Ellie is concerned. Consider why she’s being stubborn and pushing you away. And if that all comes from a good place, well maybe you need to give her time and be more understanding.”
I let my head drop back and puffed out my cheeks.
“I’m so mad at her though, Pop. She just shut me down and won’t even consider what we could be.”
“Don’t forget the number that ass clown Dominic did on her.”
“She didn’t care about him,” I scoffed.
“She knows that now, and maybe even then, but he still hurt and humiliated her. Plus, you don’t have the best track record for long and meaningful relationships, Hunt.”
I stared at him wide-eyed.
“Hey, I had the best woman in the world as long as God allowed me to have her. I’m not looking for anything else.”
Shaking my head, I slapped Pop’s back. “I’ll think about it. It’s just she’s so crazy.”
“And the crazy is the best part about women, you should know that.”
We moved to gather the tools and throw them in the back of the truck and as I stalked to the driver’s side, my phone buzzed in my pocket. Pausing, I pulled it out to see another message from Ellie – number seventeen in the last twenty-four hours.
