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Her mouth popped open. “No, Lottie, I’m so sorry.” Her arms came around my body once more, this time harder, tighter. Andrea scurried away into the back of the stable as I forced myself to hold back the tears that threatened to fall.
“I don’t know what to do. I’ve got to plan this stupid fucking wedding that I don’t give a shit about just to give him some peace of mind before he… he…”
“I know, I know,” she tried to soothe, her hand rubbing my back. “You don’t have to go through with it if you don’t want to. You could just spend your time with your dad.”
She let me go slowly, her hands resting on the sides of my arms. I knew she was right, that was an option, but Dad’s determination to know I was with someone that would take care of me after the fiasco with Jared was well-intentioned. I didn’t want him to pass without knowing he was leaving me in safe hands. “I can’t,” I sighed. “It’s the one thing he wants. I didn’t get a chance to fulfill my mom’s dying wish. It’s the least I can do.”
“Marrying Hunter is the least you can do?” Dana asked, one eyebrow raising incredulously. “Have you really thought this through? Tying yourself to him before you’re ready, even though you know you have feelings for?—”
I took a step back. “Feelings?” I interrupted.
“Lottie.”
My gut reaction was to deny it. I’d told myself I wouldn’t let it get to that level, even as I sunk deeper and deeper into him. I wouldn’t let feelings develop.
But I had, hadn’t I?
I’d fucked up. I’d let myself fall deep devoid of a rope to climb back out with. He was like a never-ending pit and I was running out of strength to return myself to the surface.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I replied, looking down. I wanted to run, wanted to get away before she could reveal everything that was inside of me. Taking another step back, my foot knocked against a bucket, and Dana grabbed for my arm to keep me upright.
“Fine. You want to pretend that you don’t? You’re only going to hurt yourself with that,” Dana sighed, shaking her head as if I was as exhausting as a newborn foal. “But I’m not going to bite my tongue. You feel something for him, Lottie. Something deep. I can see it, even if you don’t want me to. Do you genuinely think that marrying a man you’re falling in love with is a good idea when you have no clue how he feels about you?”
My throat closed. I didn’t have an answer to that but it didn’t matter. I wouldn’t let it. I was doing this for my dad and for my dad only.
That was all I needed to focus on.
Chapter 25
Hunter
Seeing Brody back in his home was comforting, despite the fact that there was a hospital bed set up in the living room, on which he lay. His favorite shows played on an old school television, and on his side table sat some favorite items along with necessary ones, all within reach.
He’d actually stabilized in the last few days. Lottie had somehow convinced them to let him do home hospice, a nurse coming by multiple times a day to administer medicine and check his vitals. Lottie had them on call for whenever something inevitably major happened. It also meant she could go to work knowing her father was comfortable in the place he loved most.
“Two weeks, huh?” Brody said, his voice gruff and far deeper than usual. His body was already beginning to wither. He’d always been a tall, fairly thin guy, but the level of gauntness in his cheeks and eyes was alarming, to say the least.
I nodded. “Yes sir. Everything is just about worked out.”
His gaze turned to the muted rerun of M.A.S.H. playing on his television. “Never thought you’d be the one marrying my daughter.”
I let out a breathy chuckle. “I know. But I’ve changed a lot, Brody, for the better. And she’s the one to thank for that.”
A small grin broke across his pale cheeks. “She’s good at that. Just like her mother.” He coughed once and cleared his throat, adjusting his upper body to find more comfort. “You gonna be taking over for your old man?”
“If all goes to plan, then yes. But that’s mostly because of you. I wouldn’t know what I was doing if you hadn’t been there to mentor me,” I said, the words a little too raw for how we normally spoke to each other. But seeing as he was going to be my father-in-law soon, and then, well, I didn’t want to think of what he’d be after that.
“Yeah, I was pretty good at teaching you,” he joked. Another cough, another clearing of the throat. “Can I make something clear to you, Hunter?”
I nodded.
“You better love my daughter until she takes her last breath. And even after.”
My breath caught in my throat. That word hadn’t even crossed my mind, and yet here it was, screaming at me from her father’s mouth. Of course he’d say that. You’re getting married. Engaged people are supposed to be in love. But I couldn’t help feeling like maybe there was something else, something he could see that I couldn’t, something with Lottie.
You can’t think like that.
“I will,” I said.
