Page 11 of If I Didn’t Have You

“Pop, if you had money, why didn’t you invest it into the ranch?”

I snatched the paper out of Michael’s hands and walked away. “Because I didn’t want a penny of their money. And besides, it belongs to Clara. There’s not a chance in hell I would risk her money when it wouldn’t have made a difference.”

“Pop, it would have⁠—”

“Face it,” I hissed. “Our way of ranching is over. You know it, and so does everyone else around here. Yeah, we could have saved the ranch for a few years, but eventually, we’d be back in the very same spot.” Sighing, I ran my hand over my beard, pissed that I finally had to admit it. “You boys did the right thing. I know I grumbled about it and made you miserable, but if you hadn’t taken the steps you did, we would have lost everything.”

“Pop—” Liam started.

“Don’t get all gushy on me now. I said what I said, and let’s leave it at that.”

“I was actually going to say that you should have admitted that about three years ago, but sure, we’ll go with the lie that I got all gushy.”

My lips twitched in amusement, but I immediately went back to the drawings. This was for Clara, and if she wanted it, I would build it for her. Even if it was with her grandparents’ money.

“So, what’s with the whole ordeal with her grandparents? Did you not get along?”

“I didn’t get along with her old man. Or her mother,” I muttered, rubbing my fingers over my eyes. I really didn’t want to get into this, but it wasn’t like I could hide it forever.

“They didn’t like me. They always said that the ranch would be a waste of money, and I’d end up sinking every penny I had into this place until it died and we lost everything.”

They both winced at that.

“Well, it turns out they weren’t too far off base on that one.”

“Pop, you ran the ranch for years⁠—”

“Right into the fucking ground,” I muttered. “They really didn’t want Clara to marry me. The whole family was against it.”

Michael glowered at me. “You said that her parents couldn’t make it for the wedding. That’s why they weren’t in any of the pictures.”

“They couldn’t make it because they didn’t want to. Clara was heartbroken when her father wasn’t there to walk her down the aisle. I told her it didn’t matter, that I was the man in her life, and I would take care of her.”

Fuck, I failed miserably at that. Yes, we had a house and a ranch—thanks to my sons. But the life I promised her was far from what she was living. Between the feud with the neighbors and that tired look constantly on her face, I wondered if she was still happy with the choice she made all those years ago.

She could have had so much more. There were other men out there, men with better jobs than I had. They could have given her the life her parents wanted for her, but she chose me. And I worried every fucking day that I was failing.

“Her grandparents still left her money. They didn’t like the idea of leaving her with me, with no money to fall back on when I failed,” I bit out. “She hasn’t touched the money, but now…”

Now she would use it to fund this new house she wanted, all the repairs. And I would let her. It was hers to do with, and I wouldn’t let my pride get in the way.

“So…we’re tearing apart the house, then,” Liam said, pulling me out of my thoughts. “Well, at least it’ll give us something to do before the winter hits. Frankly, I’m tired of building homes for the ranch. It’ll be nice to do it for you.”

“I’ll help out when I can,” Michael nodded.

“And you’ll always have Jeff around,” Liam chuckled.

“That boy scares me when he swings a hammer.”

“At least it’ll be entertaining.”

Moving furniture was the last thing I wanted to do today. While Michael was putting in a lumber order, Liam and Jeff helped move shit out of the living room so we could start construction. It was…interesting, to say the least.

“Can’t we just throw this chair away?” Jeff grumbled as he hefted it with Liam, moving the monstrosity to the edge of the living room. “It won’t even fit through the door!”

“That’s Clara’s favorite chair.”

“Actually, it’s the chair she sits in because it’s the only one around,” Jeff pointed out.