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Drew’s head shot up, and she stared at him, stunned. “What?”
“I was a miserable son of a bitch to be married to, Drew. I know that.” Her dad’s head tilted downward, and a look of tiredness settled across his features. “Your mother, for all her faults, put as much into this place as I did, and the terms of the compact made it so she wouldn’t benefit from it. That wasn’t fair.”
“She made you take out loans,” Drew argued. “She nearly bankrupted us.”
“It’s more complicated than that.”
Memories flooded Drew’s mind of all the lean Christmases after her mother had left, of too many nights when the meat had run out at dinner before her appetite had been fully satisfied, and she’d filled up with bread. It sure didn’t feel complicated.
“Why didn’t you ever tell me this?”
“Because it wasn’t your business,” her dad pointed out. “That was between me and your mom, and it still is. But if I’d realized how you were taking it as being all her fault, I might’ve said something before.”
“Well, shit.” Drew gave a bitter laugh. “I guess I’d better see what my stupidity has cost me.”
Drew pulled out what appeared to be legal documents, but when she looked closer, they were not the divorce papers she’d expected. Instead, they had to do with the water rights agreement with the Whetstone Ranch. Attached was a handwritten note, and Drew’s heart nearly cracked in half when she recognized Maisie’s writing.
When it comes to stopping Jolene, this is the answer you’ve been looking for. Depending which option you take, you can make enough money to get out of debt or scuttle the deal completely. I hope whatever you choose makes you happy.
It wasn’t signed, but it was as close to a goodbye as Drew was going to get. This wasn’t just bad. It was devastating.
“It’s not what I thought,” Drew told her dad in a hoarse whisper. “She’s not at all like Jolene, or like mom, either. She found a way to save the compact, even when it’s in her best interest not to.”
Drew’s dad pointed to the envelope. “There’s something else in there.”
Drew’s breath caught when she saw what it was, and she sensed the color draining from her face.
“Divorce papers?” her dad guessed, the sympathy clear on his face.
Drew shook her head. “Not exactly. It’s the original paperwork I gave her in Milwaukee.”
This time, there was a signature. Maisie had signed the annulment.
“She’s relinquishing any claim to the ranch,” Drew said.
But no. It was worse than that.
Maisie had severed all ties without asking for a dime, despite desperately needing it.
Drew’s chest heaved, and it was as if someone had rammed a knife into her gut.
“What do I do, Dad?” Drew could barely get the words out.
Her dad sighed. “Well, it seems to me like you only have one choice.”
“Which is?”
“Go after her.”
“Right.” Drew jumped up from the table before remembering a crucial kink in that plan. “I don’t know where she went.”
“Ask her,” was her father’s practical reply.
Drew texted Maisie’s number and got an all too familiar reply. “Damn. She’s blocked me again.”
“I reckon she’s gone home.”
“Butthisis her home.” Drew slapped her palm on the table, the sting traveling up her arm. “I found her once before. I could probably do it again. But I said some truly terrible things to her. I don’t know how I can face her.”
