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“She said she didn’t want to take the case until her sonpointed out he thought Nicole was innocent.”
His father shrugged. “Then we’re doubly lucky, and when thatkind of providence falls into your lap, you trust it. I’ve already talked to mycontacts and they say she’s the best. We can trust Mrs. Kent and her team. Wecan trust Harlow and hers. We can trust Chase to make an ass of himself.”
Josh had to chuckle. “Yeah, but he wouldn’t have called thecops.”
His father’s head shook with surety. “Never. Chase wouldtake care of things on his own. In this case even if Nicole had done it, hewould have tried to figure out why. So when I say relax, I mean understand thatpart of this clusterfuck we find ourselves in is going to work out. You have toconcentrate on Nicole.”
“I don’t know she wants me to concentrate on her.” He felt adeep sorrow well inside. “I think she trusts Grim more than me. I think theyunderstand each other in a way I can’t.”
“Of course they do. Josh, at the end of the day, you’re thetop,” his father said with quiet wisdom. “You’re the Dom, and you have to leadwhen it comes to something like this. She would have gone the rest of her liferunning. Grim likely would have kept quiet and she would have left. You forcedthe situation, and there’s a cost. But it’s one you’ve got to be willing topay. She’s coming home with us. You have something Sam and I didn’t have.”
He knew exactly what his father was talking about. “Mom. Ihave Mom. From what I can tell Nicole’s never had a mother in her life. Not onewho loved her. She was the outsider in her family and then she was the victimin her husband’s.”
“It’s going to take a while to sort through this, andNicole’s a smart young woman. She’s not going to run away this time. She knowsshe’s in a good place, but she’s been in a lot of bad places, and it’s hard totrust good luck when you’ve had so much bad. Grim does understand. You, on theother hand, seem like you breezed through life, and I’m so proud to be able togive you a happy childhood. Pain and suffering don’t make you a good person. Agood person comes through it, but not having a painful background doesn’t makeyou less of a man.”
“It makes me lucky.” He’d been lucky in so many ways.
“And wanting to share your luck with others, son, is whatmakes you a good man. So here is the hard part. You’re feeling jealous rightnow and that’s normal, but you need to adjust your thinking. She couldn’t turnto you tonight. Do you want her to be alone?”
Josh thought for a moment. “When I think about it, I’m gladGrim’s there. I’m glad she has him, too.”
His father laid a hand on his shoulder. “Which is why thisrelationship can work. You’re human. You’ll feel jealous from time to time. Sitdown. Think about the situation. Talk it out if you need to, but don’t react.Act. Be the man you want to be.”
“I want to give her what she needs. I want to give Grim whathe needs, too. And I know that’s me. I know it deep in my bones. We were meantto be together, but what if I can’t convince her? Should I give them myblessing? I don’t want to cost them their relationship.”
“Their relationship doesn’t work without you,” his fathersaid. “She’s angry and scared and you’re a safe place to put both of thoseemotions. Think long and hard. This is a woman who hasn’t felt safe in a longtime.”
She’d felt fine yelling at him.
And he’d known he was on the right path. He’d known it whenshe didn’t back down. He’d known it when she let him in their bed. It had onlybeen the moment when she’d turned to Grim that insecurity had set in.Insecurity had no place in their relationship. It would fester and cause stressbetween them. He would let it go. He would continue to be her safe place evenif she didn’t turn to him.
Yet.
“I have to be patient.” It would be the hardest thing he’dever had to do. He wanted her more than anything, wanted to start their livestogether.
She wasn’t ready. She might never be, and he couldn’t simplymake it happen. He couldn’t willpower his way through this.
“She needs some time, son,” Dad agreed. “She needs to resther soul in a place where she’s safe, and we’re going to give it to her. Youneed to be ready for her to not move into your house, not sleep in your bed fora while. This courtship of yours went fast because she thought she would leave.Now it’s time to slow things down and do this right. She’s been burned. Giveher the time she needs to realize it’s not happening all over again. Let yourmomma baby her. Let Olivia be her friend. Let me and your pops dad the hell outof her.”
“And what am I supposed to do?” Josh asked.
His father gave him a weary smile. “Well, I was thinking shemight like a job.”
It wasn’t a terrible idea. “She could work with me in admin.I can find her a job. Or if she wants to help out Grim, she could do that, too.She can explore and figure out what she wants while we wait for Mrs. Kent todecide how to best handle the situation. I want to get Uncle Lucas on this.”
“Already called. He’s coming to the ranch day aftertomorrow,” his father promised him. “If it’s all right with you, we’ll get up,have breakfast with Mrs. Kent, and make arrangements for extra security out atthe ranch. Subtle security because I don’t want anyone asking why there’ssuddenly a bunch of armed guards around.”
Willow Fork wasn’t a metropolis. All new people would benoticed. “It would start talk, and they would look Nicole’s way.”
His father nodded as though he understood and had alreadyfixed the problem. “So we bring in a couple of new ranch hands who also happento know how to spot security problems. She should be all right on the ranch.When she leaves, we’ll make sure someone is with her, but I’m hesitant to makeher feel like she’s in lockdown. From what I can tell the only person lookingfor her right now is on our side, and she’s smart as hell. Kimberly Kent usedto manipulate world leaders. She can handle a couple of assholes from Oregon.”
He had to be patient. He had to give her the time sheneeded.
And if, in the end, she chose only Grim, he would have tostep back and be happy for the two most important people in his life.
Josh listened as his father spoke, but his mind was on thewoman in bed.
ChapterSixteen
