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And then his father said the unexpected. “I should have listened to her. I should have given her what she wanted. What she desperately needed. I see that now. But it’s too late to go back and fix it. And it makes me angry.” Maybe the heart attack had actually mellowed his father. Or caused brain damage. Either way, Chase had never heard his dad talk like this.
Chase took that in, absorbed the surprise of his father’s words, and how heartfelt they sounded. Maybe the near-death experience gave his dad some much needed insight and perspective on his life. That it was precious. And short. And you never knew what was going to happen.
“She knew the kind of man you are. You hold on to what you love. She wasn’t angry at you about that. She understood why you wanted her to fight to stay with you.”
“Everything always had to be my way.” His father shook his head. “She must have said something like that to me nearly every day we were married.” His dad gripped the chair arms in both hands. “She was right. I let my stubbornness drive her away. I think of all thetimes she asked for something she wanted and I denied her it. Another child,” he confessed. “She wanted to try one more time for a little girl. I told her we had three strong boys to help run the ranch. We didn’t need a girl.”
Chase’s heart ached, and he thought of something whimsical, but that felt all too real. “She sent that little girl to me.”
His dad unlatched his hands from the rocking chair and used one to rub at the back of his neck.
Chase recognized the gesture as one he did himself all the time.
“It would be just like her to do something amazing like that. She loved you boys more than anything.” His dad glanced over. “How did you and Shelby even end up together? She’s nothing like anyone you’ve ever dated.”
He didn’t want to get into the details with his dad. Yes, Shelby wasn’t like anyone else he’d ever dated. She wasn’t the type to jump into a stranger’s bed. She wasn’t the type to party and see where things led. She’d never been with anyone.
But that night he’d gotten lucky, and for whatever reason, she’d chosen him.
He thought Shelby would be a distraction and a final goodbye from this place. Instead, she’d anchored him here again.
“Shelby and I...” He tried to come up with something benign to tell his dad, then went with the truth. “The best night I ever spent with a woman, I shared with her. No, she’s not like anyone else. She’s special. She’s the mother of my little girl. And if you and Hunt and Max don’t leave her the hell alone, you’ll answer to me.”
His dad looked him in the eye. “You really believe that girl is yours.”
“Iknowshe’s mine. Shelby’s never lied to me. She has no reason to. And if you’re still thinking she wanted money from me, then why the hell did she spend almost everything I gave her to buy this place out from under you?”
His dad’s mouth drew into a tight line. “She outmaneuvered me.” Judging by the look, his old man didn’t like it one bit and really couldn’t believe she got one over on him.
Chase tried to hide the smile and his pride in Shelby. “Yeah, and that pisses you off, so you think you can treat her like shit. Never again. I’m back. And I’m trying to make amends to her for losing my shit and not being there for Eliza.”
“About making amends...”
Chase barely refrained from crushing the half-full can in his hand. “I’m done with you. I’ve given all I’ve got to make you understand that what I did for Mom, I did for her. Not against you.”
His dad’s hand settled on Chase’s arm, over the bullet scar. “I understand that now. I’m sure you, of all people, understand that when you face death, things have a way of becoming clear in your life. You want to be a good father. I want the same thing. I don’t want to fight with you anymore. I want what I’ve always wanted, us working together on the ranch.”
Chase tried to interrupt, but his dad squeezed his arm.
“I know we can’t go on the way we have in the past. I need to be different. And I’m trying. That’s why I came here this morning, to deliver your housewarming gift, something that your mom picked out for our place and brings a little of her here to yours.”
Chase sighed, fighting back a wave of emotion, letting that sink in, and releasing some of the anger he harbored for his dad.
As peace offerings went, the porch chairs were a pretty damn good one.
“I also want you to know that I found out you and Max have been corresponding back and forth all these years, working together for the benefit of the ranch. You left us with a good plan.”
“That you didn’t fully implement.”
“And I should have,” his dad admitted. “Max fought for me to do what you laid out.”
Chase rolled his eyes. “Of course, you didn’t listen to him either.”
His dad sighed. “Change isn’t easy for me,” he snapped. “But I’m trying. Maybe you could give me a break.”
“You never gave me one.” Chase couldn’t ignore the way his dad slumped back in his chair, still keeping his hand on Chase’s arm. The man was trying to connect with him. And Chase was acting like a bratty teenager, instead of the man he wanted to be. “If you’re trying, then I’ll try, too.” He owed it to his mother, who’d hoped that after her death, they’d all find a way to come back together and be a family.
His dad leaned close. “Does that mean you’ll come back to work at the ranch?”
