Page 62 of If I Didn’t Have You

“Then what the hell am I supposed to do?” I snapped, getting to my feet.

“You need to do what Mom is doing. You need to find yourself again, and you have to really want it, because without that, you’re only going to hurt her again.” Her face softened as she looked into my eyes. “She can’t save you, Dad. You have to do that for yourself.”

I hated that she was right. “I don’t know how to.”

“Well, you can’t go to Mom. I’m pretty sure she’s sick of your shit and never wants to see you again. Not her words, just an observation,” she quickly added when I scowled at her.

“Then how the hell am I supposed to make things right?”

“Leave that to me,” she grinned.

“I thought I was supposed to do this for myself,” I grumbled.

“You are, but there are a few things you need to see for yourself. So, grab your hat and follow me. We have a lot of work to do and only so much time to get it done.”

I didn’t want to go anywhere at the moment, but it wasn’t like Krista was giving me much of a choice. And if I wanted to win Clara back, I’d take any advice given.

So, I shoveled down the entire plate of food Rob shoved in front of my face, and I followed Krista out to the truck for a bumpy ride into town. She was going to make this miserable for me, and I had every second of it coming.

By the time we pulled into Seafood & More, I was ready to puke up the contents of my breakfast, but I somehow swallowed it down and forced myself to breathe through the nausea.

“What are we doing here?”

“Well, this is my business with Jeff.”

I grunted, vaguely aware that they had talked about this before. “Not sure what you know about the restaurant business.”

“We didn’t know much of anything, but we learned. Technically, Jeff learned. I invested my money into it, and it’s finally starting to pay off.”

I narrowed my eyes at my daughter. “So, while the ranch was failing, you were putting your money somewhere else.”

Like the spitfire my daughter was, she squared off with me, thrusting her hands on her hips. “The ranch is about you, Dad. This was about me.”

“Finding your own way because we were on a sinking ship,” I snapped.

“No,” she gritted out through clenched teeth. “This was about finding my own way. The ranch was always for you, but I didn’t want to live in your shadow. I wanted to do something that was all mine. And when Jeff said he was interested in owning a business in town, I saw my chance to make something of myself outside of the family.”

Well, I could admire that, even if I didn’t agree with her methods.

“Dad, in case you haven’t noticed, your whole attitude problem is centered around your family.”

“I’m well aware,” I growled.

“No, what I mean is, you never carved out a life for yourself. This has always been about pleasing your father—pleasing Mom. But what did you do for you?”

I opened my mouth, but the words didn’t come, because she was right. I only ever thought of the ranch and my family. My parents, to be more precise. I was so focused on making sure their legacy succeeded that I didn’t stop to think about what I wanted. And I wasn’t sure there was anything else I truly cared about, but I hadn’t exactly given myself a chance to find out.

“Now, this is one of many businesses in town we’ve started.”

“Say what?”

“Well, we didn’t want to put all our eggs in one basket. We also have several rental properties that we flipped. And recently, we invested in the General Store.”

“Callahan’s business?” I barked.

“Dad, he is not Austin, and no matter what the town thinks of that family, they own the only store in town that supplies us with food. If he went out of business, we’d all have to drive a half hour to get anything. And with everyone abandoning his shop, we’ve invested in helping expand to make the store more enticing. Soon, he’ll have a butcher shop attached, and we’ve already contracted with several ranches, including his own.”

“If he has the cattle, why do you need to contract with anyone else?”