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She’d seen it when he was with Eliza.
She’d heard it when he talked to Eliza.
She knew it because of the way he opened up to his little girl.
Mr. Wilde glared at her. “She’s going to screw you over just like she screwed us.”
Shelby smiled at Mr. Wilde. “You got exactly what you deserved.”
Chase looked at her. “What is he talking about?”
She held Mr. Wilde’s menacing gaze. “I made them pay for what they did to you.” She met Chase’s inquisitive and astonished eyes.
“What did you do?”
“She stole the Hudson property right out from under us.”
Chase eyed the house. “You bought this place.”
Mr. Wilde pointed his finger at her. “And you probably used Chase’s money to do it.”
She grinned. “Which is why the property is inhisname.”
All the Wilde men gasped in shock.
Chase found his voice first. “Shelby, why would you do that? The money I sent you is for Eliza.”
She rolled her eyes. “I keep telling you, you send me too much. What are you sending me, like half your paycheck?”
His face said he sent her more than half.
“Seriously, Chase, I appreciate that you want to take care of Eliza...”
“And you,” he interjected.
“I didn’t ask you to do that.”
His gaze softened. “You didn’t ask for anything. But I’m her dad, and taking care of her is my job.”
“And now you’re here to do it. Because the money you sent was way too much, I saved it. When I found out about the property and how your dad planned to sneak in and buy it cheap before the county put it up on the auction block, I beat him to it.” She looked past Chase to Mr. Wilde. “I got it for a steal. The house had just been renovated before the guy who owned it lost his job. He and his wife inherited the house, but lost it when theycouldn’t pay the taxes. So I bought the house and land for twenty-six thousand dollars and some change. It is worth way more than the money your family took from you to save the ranch.” She met Chase’s gaze again. “You can take a loan out against the property and start your own ranch. Or sell it to your dad and make him pay what it’s worth. Do whatever you want to do, because you aren’t broke anymore, Chase. And you have a place that is yours, and no one can take it away from you.”
Chase closed the distance between them.
She didn’t know what to do and stepped back a few steps, but he quickly caught her in a hug, buried his face in her neck, and whispered, “Thank you.”
She didn’t know what to do with her hands, but they somehow ended up on the outside of his shoulders. She patted him awkwardly, but when he hugged her tighter, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him close.
Her whole body went molten hot in his embrace. She remembered every tiny detail of their night together. She didn’t care what anyone said about being drunk and forgetting things. Her mind had imprinted that night on her brain and heart.
He released her, only to take her face in both his big hands. “You amaze me.”
“They shouldn’t have turned their backs on you. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“He took his mother away from us.” Mr. Wilde’s eyes held a world of hurt behind all the anger.
Chase released her and turned to his dad. “She didn’t want to suffer anymore, and you wouldn’t let her go. You held on so tight. I get why. You loved her. But all it did was force her to do something drastic to stop the pain.”
Mr. Wilde’s face flushed red with anger and something more. His breathing became erratic.
