Page 115 of If I Didn’t Have You

“Apparently, not very much.”

She slumped into my office chair, shaking her head in confusion. “There’s been nothing around town.”

“Well, I assume he didn’t go into town and blab about our troubles.”

“But why? Mom, you have to make this make sense. You two were humping like rabbits. You don’t go from that to divorce!”

I eyed the cookies, wishing I could have another, but when she saw me looking at them, she tossed them on the desk, out of reach. No bother. I opened the cooler on the other side of the recliner and pulled out a bag of chips.

“Mom!”

She tried to tear them out of my hands, but I snarled at her, refusing to let her take them. Her nostrils flared in indignation, but she didn’t try to take them again.

“Okay, start from the beginning.”

I shrugged. “There’s not much to tell. He decided to go into business with John Callahan, and when I told him that wasn’t going to happen, he left.”

“Why would you tell him he couldn’t go into business with John?”

I was just about to put a chip in my mouth when I paused and shot her an incredulous look. “Because his son tried to kill me.”

“Yeah, he tried to kill all of us,” she retorted. “But this is good for the ranch. It’s good for the town!”

I barked out a laugh at that. “Right. The town.”

“I’m serious. Business like that would be great for the town. It would help everyone.”

“Well, you have Jeff’s Highland Games to draw in plenty of attention.”

“Mom, that’s a once-a-year thing— if we even get it approved!”

“Tell me why I should care about the town. Name one thing the town has ever done for me!”

She stepped back in shock. “Okay, I see you’ve taken your loopy pills today and maybe a little bit of acid, but whatever has you so pissed off, you need to cut it out.”

“Ha! That’s hilarious. I need to cut it out?”

“Mom, Dad has been missing for days! At first I thought he was just hunkered down with you while you had sexy times, but Liam says he isn’t answering his phone and his truck is nowhere to be seen. This is serious!”

“What’s serious is that he wanted me to be connected with the Callahans. Can you believe that? He actually thought I should just partner up with them after all Austin did? I mean, what kind of idiot⁠—”

“Mom!” she shouted, stopping me mid-rant. “Would you listen to yourself? Your husband is missing, and you’re sitting here eating cookies and chips like you’ve lost all hope in the world!”

“Well, maybe I have,” I snapped. “You know, I tried to make him happy. I told myself that if I changed enough, I would be happier, and he would love me again. But instead, all he did was walk away. I told him it was the ranch or me, and he chose the ranch.”

“Obviously not since he’s not here!” she shouted. “Why would you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Give him an ultimatum! You know men don’t take ultimatums well. Of course he walked away!”

“So, I should have just let him sign that stupid contract and hand our fate over to the Callahans?”

Covering her face with her hands, she screamed in frustration. “You have to be the most stubborn woman I’ve ever met!”

“How so? As I recall, I’ve always been very flexible with everyone.”

“Yes, unless you don’t get your way! It’s no wonder Dad walked out.”