Chapter Thirty-One
She’d finally done it.
Jade had signed the paperwork. The trust her beloved father left for her was now officially in her name. No one else would possess the rights to those funds.
Ever.
“You’re absolutely sure about the rest of it?” she asked the trust accountant. “Those are really my father’s instructions?”
The man in the suit adjusted his glasses and nodded. “He specified everything in detail and signed off on it before his passing. Legally, it’s all airtight.”
The lawyer had told her the same thing about a dozen times during the last hour, but she still could hardly believe it.
She was free and clear of…everything.
“What in the hell is going on here?” Lane’s voice suddenly screeched from the open doorway.
Well. Almost everything.
She looked up to see her seething stepbrother stomp into the conference room. He was followed closely by Cassandra, whose ramrod straight spine looked as if it was about to snap any minute. Jade took immense satisfaction as she leaned back against the desk chair, taking in both of their furious expressions. The tables had finally turned in her favor.
Why the hell had she waited so long to do this?
“Excuse me, Mr. Brigdon,” the accountant said politely, “but this is a private meeting between myself and Miss Hollingsworth. No one else is authorized to be present.”
“Wrong. We have every right to be here,” Lane argued, and pointed down at the paperwork in Jade’s hands. “Our lawyer is on his way, and we are contesting these documents. My mother was Mr. Hollingsworth’s wife, and she is entitled to a portion of his estate.”
Here comes the fun part.
Jade grinned as she stood up and rounded the desk, a feeling of contentment washing over her. “Well, then you would be mistaken,” she said, handing him the paperwork. “Because I don’t see either of your names anywhere on these documents. So, you are entitled to exactly nothing.”
He snatched the papers out of her hands and quickly looked them over, Cassandra reading over his shoulder. His gaze snapped back up to Jade’s, his face darkening. “You’re going to regret this,” he said with a sneer. “Our lawyer will see to it that you have nothing left after he’s done with you.”
Jade wasn’t worried. She would never again be affected by his threats. “You might want to reconsider your next move. Especially since this document is binding. Why don’t you go ahead and read paragraph six?”
Lane and Cassandra peered back down at the papers, and Jade waited with bated breath for their reactions.
Cassandra looked back up at her in panic and spoke first. “That can’t be right. He left it to me. It’s in my name.”
The accountant started to speak, but Jade stopped him with a hand. “Argue all you want. Call all the lawyers you want, but that won’t change anything. With my signature, this document officially transfers the deed of your house—excuse me, my father’s house—into my name, which now makes me the official owner. Furthermore, my father’s entire estate is now under my sole ownership, giving me full legal rights to do whatever I please with it.”
Lane sputtered. Cassandra blanched.
Jade stepped forward, placing herself in an authoritative position directly in front of them. She gave them a pleasant smile. “And I am kicking you out.”
Cassandra’s face went slack with shock and Lane’s turned red with rage.
“You can’t do that,” Cassandra said hoarsely.
“I can, and I am,” Jade replied.
Revenge was not a pretty emotion, but it was oh so satisfying.
“We’ll destroy you,” Lane said with a snarl.
“You can try,” she replied, unaffected by the lethal edge to his voice. “But since I know you’ve liquidated all of your assets and burned through all your money, leaving you essentially penniless, I don’t think you’re going to have a lot of influence around here. Let alone the wherewithal to pay an attorney.”
Cassandra naturally decided to play the helpless victim card. “You can’t just kick us out on the street,” she whined. “We have nowhere to go. Where is your compassion?”
Jade turned her sharp gaze on her icy stepmother. “The same place yours was when you went out and bought a new Maserati the week after my father died. Or when you sold half his possessions to pay for your timeshare in the Cayman Islands.”
Cassandra was at a loss for words. “I—”
“Save it,” Jade said coldly. “Come after me in any way, and I will have my well-paid team of lawyers bury you.” She smiled sweetly. “You have a month to vacate my house. And then I never want to see or hear from either of you, ever again. Do not set foot on my property, and do not attempt to contact me, or there will be legal consequences.”
God, that felt good.
For the first time in years, she could breathe again.
They stood there staring at her in disbelief.
When they didn’t move, Jade added, “You may go now.”
“I’d be happy to show them the door,” said a rough, masculine voice behind her.
No way.
She knew that voice. Knew the deep timbre. Recognized the restrained anger in the tone.
She slowly turned around in confusion. “Hunter?”
What was he doing here? How had he found her?
He spared her a quick, affectionate glance, then turned a murderous glare on Lane. “You heard the lady. Get moving.”
Lane laughed darkly. “Well, if it isn’t Jethro, here to save the day. Come to take your rich girlfriend back to your hovel down there in Podunkville? Wouldn’t want to let all that money slip through your fingers.”
Hunter inhaled sharply, and Jade knew he was reaching his tipping point. “I wouldn’t—” she began.
Lane pinned her with an evil smirk. “And, here, I thought you couldn’t stoop any lower. You’ve gone from being your daddy’s little spoiled brat to a redneck gold digger’s whore of a meal ticket. Congratulations.”
She saw it coming. But she wouldn’t have stopped it even if she could.
Lane’s last word had barely reached her ears when Hunter pulled back his fist and slammed it into Lane’s jaw.
The weasel’s head snapped back as his legs collapsed under him, and he fell to the floor, quivering and bleeding at Hunter’s feet.
Her hero.
Hunter stood over her former stepbrother with clenched fists. “Never speak to her again.” He reached down and grabbed the lapels of Lane’s jacket, hoisted him to his feet, and shoved him toward the door. “Now, get the fuck out of here.”
Lane held his hand over his bleeding nose as he stalked out wordlessly, Cassandra rushing after him.
Jade was tempted to call out, “I did warn you…” but somehow refrained from the parting shot. She’d won. That was all that mattered.
Lane sent her one last glare over his shoulder, and then they were gone.
Gone.
For good.
A profound sense of relief poured through her. Along with…
A prickle of nerves.
She was vaguely aware of the accountant quietly excusing himself from the room and shutting the door behind him.
She turned back to Hunter. He was slowly approaching her.
“W-what are you doing here?” she asked, her voice shaky.
Damn. She had just told the stepmonsters to go to hell, and now she was feeling apprehensive?
“I came to find you,” he said, coming toward her with measured steps.
Oka-ay… “Why?”
He stopped about a foot away and raised an eyebrow. “Why did you leave without me? I told you that you didn’t have to come up here alone. Why’d you leave without even telling me?”
She swallowed, searching for the right words. And couldn’t find them. Or maybe she was just terrified to say them. She opened her mouth…and wimped out. “You first.”
Smooth.
His upper lip curled. “I came to tell you that you’re never doing this again.”
That got her attention. “Excuse me?”
“That’s right.” He inched forward. “You’re never leaving me again. Or cutting me out of whatever is going on with you, without so much as a phone call.”
She pushed out a breath and ran her hand through her hair. “I shouldn’t have done that. I know I didn’t handle things the best way—”
“You’re damn right you didn’t!” he blurted out. “You can’t do that to me, Jade. I didn’t know what the hell was going on. Or if you still hate me…”
“I’m sorry!” she said, her pent-up emotions fighting for release. “Please don’t yell at me. Of course I don’t hate you. I made a mistake.”
His breathing was labored, as though he’d just finished running a 5K. For several moments he just stood there studying her, his muscles rigid. “You scared the hell out of me,” he finally whispered.
Guilt washed over her. She’d been so selfish. Only thinking about her own hurt feelings. Never considering how he had felt about what had happened the other night.
“Not just because you left without telling me.” His eyes held pain, his words a desperate plea. “But because I didn’t know if you were ever coming back. When you shut me out, and suddenly you were just…gone…it— Shit. It hurt. Of all the things you could have said or done after our fight, leaving like that was the worst.”
His heartfelt words gutted her. She hadn’t once thought about how her taking off had affected him. While she’d been crying all alone in that hotel bathtub, what had he been doing?
Damn.
A tear escaped and trickled down her cheek, followed by another. “I really am sorry. The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt you. I was angry and didn’t think before I simply…reacted. I just felt I really had to resolve this part of my life”—she waved around the office—“before I could move forward with…the next part.” She bit her lip.
“And?” he asked. “Is this part of your life resolved?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“So, what’s next? What do you want now?” he asked.
The uncertainty in his voice bothered her. She had never seen him look more nervous. And vulnerable.
And wonderful.
“You,” she answered, steady and confident.
He hesitated, though his expression was starting to look a bit hopeful. “Are you sure? I’m really what you want?”
She furrowed her brow. “Why wouldn’t I want you?”
He pursed his lips. “Because I’m kind of a package deal. I’ll never leave Shell Grove. I’m happy there, my family and friends are there, my business is there. And then you moved there. I have everything I could ever want, right there. But do you? Is a life with me in Shell Grove good enough for you? Aren’t you going to want…more than that?”
She couldn’t stay away any longer. She stepped forward and went up on her tiptoes, grasping his face between her hands. Urging him to hear the sincerity in her reply. She had figured everything out last night in her hotel room. She knew what she felt for him, and exactly what she wanted—needed—from him.
The fact that he’d tracked her down a thousand miles away to fix everything only confirmed her feelings.
“There is no ‘good enough’ when it comes to a life with you,” she said. “Because you’re it for me. All I ever had in my life was my father, and he’s gone now. But in Shell Grove… I made a true home for myself. With my store, with my new friends, with you. How could I ever want more than that? Or want to leave you? You mean everything to me.”
His eyes searched hers, blossoming with joy. “You’re really happy there?”
The hopefulness in those words sent her heart aflutter. “Yes. I’m really, so very happy there.”
He stepped back from her, his hands fumbling with something below his belt. “Well, in that case…”
He got down on one knee.
Omigod.
He pulled a black velvet box out of his pocket, holding it out to her. “Jade Hollingsworth…”
Oh. My. God.
He opened the box to reveal a beautiful diamond solitaire on a platinum band. “From the moment I saw you walk into that hotel bar, I knew I had to make you mine. I never imagined being this happy in my life, not until you walked into it with your fiery red hair and your goofy stories.”
More tears tracked down her cheeks, but she was smiling bigger than she’d ever smiled in her life.
The love shining in his eyes as he smiled back made her knees weak. “You drive me completely crazy, and I want that. I want you to drive me insane every day. I started falling in love with you that night at the bar, and I’ve fallen deeper and deeper every day since.” He lifted the box up higher. “Please, Jade. Will you marry me?”
She’d been wrong earlier.
Now she had never seen him look more nervous or vulnerable.
Or absolutely wonderful.
Out of all the things she might have expected him to do or say after he walked in five minutes ago, this wouldn’t even have made the top twenty.
She opened her mouth, but was still so stunned she couldn’t form words.
Unfortunately, he took her silence as uncertainty.
He frowned down at the ring, drawing it back. “I know it’s nothing super fancy. But I’ll save up and get you something nicer—”
Oh hell no. “Shut up.” She swiped the ring from the box and shoved it onto her finger.
He frowned at her uncertainly. “Not exactly what a guy wants to hear when he’s proposing.”
She brushed at her wet cheek, unable to tear her eyes from the gorgeous ring on her finger. “Then maybe you should try again.”
She heard him breathe deeply and watched as he stood up. He took hold of her chin and lifted it, satisfaction sparking in his eyes as he captured her gaze with his. “Marry me, Jade.”
She smiled even wider. “Yes. On one condition.”
The nervous expression came back to his face. “Which is?”
“You can’t ever buy me a new ring.”
“But—”
“This is the one you picked out, and this is the one I’m keeping. End of story.”
He nodded once in approval. “Deal.”
He pulled her into his embrace, pure elation on his face, and brought their mouths together.
“I think it goes without saying,” she whispered between kisses, “but I’m totally in love with you.”
His arms tightened around her. “I know. But even if you weren’t, I’d still have dragged you back to Shell Grove with me. I wouldn’t have given up.”
She kissed him again. “I know. You’re stubborn that way.”
They kissed and kissed, and kissed some more, and held each other tight, brimming with happiness.
Finally, she lifted her hand and allowed herself to look once more at the ring on her finger. Really look at it.
It was perfect.
She had no idea if it was a two-carat diamond or a cubic zirconia.
It didn’t matter.
What mattered was that he wanted her to wear it. So he could show the world that she was his. Which was a good thing, because she had been telling him the truth.
He was it for her.
He was everything she’d ever wanted. Everything she’d always love.
And she couldn’t imagine anything sweeter than that.
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