Page 29 of SEAL of Valor

“You are my partner on this ranch, Weston.”

“Oh, Mom. Tell me you’re not in a relationship with him.” The mere thought of it makes my skin crawl and my stomach churn.

My mom pales. “Do you really think so little of me? I would never be in a romantic relationship with someone you loved, and I certainly am not looking for a younger man, or any man for that matter. Your dad was it for me. The love of my life.”

I relax, feeling that moment roll off me, even though I feel ridiculous for trying to make that connection. Truth is, I know she wouldn’t have done that. Just like I know he wouldn’t have either.

“What am I supposed to think? You called him your partner.”

“On the ranch, Reese.” She takes a deep breath. “A few years ago, we lost quite a few calves. Our books were already struggling, and losing them put us too far in the red. The tax bill came, so I paid that, but it left me short on the mortgage. And—well—let’s just say that the bank was chomping at the bit to take control of the land.”

My stomach twists, and I take a seat in the chair beside her bed. “Mom.”

“Weston hadn’t been back at the ranch long, and he caught me on an oversharing day right after I’d left the bank. He didn’t say much in response.”

I smirk. “He never does.”

“But I got a call from Jillian down at the bank the next day, and she told me that the loan had been paid up and then some. Half the balance was knocked from the principal. She said that normally they don’t allow anyone to make payments on a lien holder’s behalf, but Weston told her I sent him to do just that.”

As her words sink in, I grip the side of the chair. “He bought part of the ranch out from under you?” Anger shoves the shock aside. Never would I have guessed Weston would do such a thing. How could he? Is that why he’s been waiting around? To buy this place back from my mom the moment things get too tough for her to keep up?

“Oh no, honey. Weston paid for it so I wouldn’t lose the place. He wanted nothing in return. Didn’t even want me to know it was him. And after I found out, I begged him to let me have paperwork drawn up. Something official so he could be equal partners with me on this ranch. He refused. For over a year, he dodged every question I asked him and denied my request.”

Of course he did. And for the second time, I feel like a complete idiot for making an assumption based on my own bias. “I’m assuming he eventually accepted?”

“Begrudgingly,” she replies with a laugh. “And only because I guilted him. I told him I was getting too old for some of it and wanted to just be a silent partner as much as I could be.”

My parents had me when my mom was forty-one. I know that the late start to a family was hard on them both, but I guess I never saw her being the age she is now.

She certainly doesn’t look seventy-eight.

“He finally accepted, and we had paperwork drawn up. Weston Hayes owns fifty percent of that ranch.”

Another sting of betrayal. “Why didn’t you tell me? How could you keep this from me?”

“How could I not?” she asks, her bottom lip quivering. “Sugar, you fought to leave this town behind. While I couldn’t understand it, I respected that decision. I always assumed you’d come back, though. And I could tell you all of this then.”

With my eyes closed and my heart heavy, I try to absorb everything she’s telling me.

From the fact that Weston stepped up and saved the ranch when she nearly lost it to the fact that he owns as much of it as my mom does. A permanent staple in our lives, that’s what he is now.

How am I supposed to deal with that?

The door opens, and a man wearing navy blue scrubs and a white doctor’s coat comes in. His hair is silver, and there are thick black glasses perched on his straight nose. “Mrs. Faye, how are you feeling?” he asks Mom.

“Tired.” She smiles at him, but it doesn’t reach her eyes.

“Well, I can understand why.” He hugs the tablet in his hand to his chest. “Can you tell me what medications you take?”

“No prescriptions,” she replies. “Just vitamins and supplements.”

“Why?” I ask.

“Well, we found a significant amount of benzodiazepines in your system.”

“Benzodiazepines?” I question, sure that I heard him wrong. “My mom doesn’t care for medication. It was a fight to get her to take an antibiotic when she had a sinus infection.”

The doctor shrugs. “I’m just telling you what the report said.”