CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
DREW
Nora and Millie were acting weird, especially Millie. Every night I went to bed thinking about her, and every morning I woke up wanting to be the man she needed. The man she couldn't wait to wake up to. Her face of horror when I lied and told her I didn’t care about her or love her haunted me every night when I closed my eyes.
I had ruined my chance of being the man she wanted and needed, and there was no way around it. There wasn’t a damn thing I could do to fix it either.
My heart ached for her, and my hands itched to take away the pain I had caused her. I had made a shit choice, and now I had to live with that mistake for the rest of my life. My cell vibrated in my pocket. Samuel and I hadn’t gotten to talk about the farm yet. He had just asked Nora to tell me to manage everythin’ till he got back, but I was gonna tell him I’d take it over for him as soon as I could. I examined the number as it lit up the screen, unsure of who it was.
My finger slid over the green key and I hit answer.
“Hello?” I spoke into the phone, an eerie silence settling over me.
“Hi, son,” Alan’s voice rasped in my ear, and the dread of what his voice brought washed over me. How was I going to tell him I wasn’t playing this game anymore? That he could take his deal and shove it up his ass? I needed to keep Millie safe, but that also meant protecting the farm, and I couldn’t do that if I wasn’t here.
“What do you want?” I spat, gripping the phone hard enough to snap it in two. A hearty laugh filtered into my ear, causing me to grit my teeth. What did this asshole have to laugh about?
“I was just callin’ to let you know that our agreement is null. I’ve found a way around needing you and you’ll soon find out how.” I gulped down the fear of the unknown as the line went dead. What the hell was he talking about? What was going to happen now?
It was then that Nora came waltzing outside. “I’ve gotta go get Daddy from the hospital. They’re letting him come home with oxygen and meds to make him comfortable.” Hearing that had made me a little more at ease, but Alan’s scheming games weren’t settlin’ well with me. My guts were twisted, and I was nervous as hell.
This was the same man who had set my entire life up in a blaze. The same man who had killed my grandparents and gotten away with it. If he tried to hurt Millie… I squeezed my eyes shut. I couldn’t even fathom what would happen. All I knew was that I would be forced to put a bullet square between his eyes if he even attempted to harm her, or any of the Houzners for that matter.
They were my family. A prime example that not all blood was family, but that the ones there for ya through your rainiest of days and darkest of nights were.
“Alright. Let me know if you need anythin’. I’m gonna get the bulls fed and then head inside for some lunch.” I wasn’t sure why I was letting her know what it was that I was doing, but it felt like something I should do. She paused, her dark eyes colliding with mine. There was somethin’ on her mind, and I was certain I was about to find out just what that was.
“I think you need to speak to Millie and tell her how ya really feel. You don’t need to say anything to me… I don't need your excuses or whatever. But, you’re a fool if you think her or anyone else here believes that bullshit you tried feedin’ her,” Nora stated firmly, not even giving me a chance to defend myself before she started in the direction of her car again.
Fuck. I really thought I’d done a fairly good job at hidin’ my feelin’s, but there ain’t no way in hell Millie was gonna forgive my foolish, lyin’ ass. I made my way to the barn to start haulin’ out the feed for the cows and the bulls, but as soon as I got into the barn, my thoughts drifted off to what Alan had said and I couldn’t focus on anything else.
I pulled out my cell and called the number back that he’d called me from just a bit ago. It rang and rang and rang with no answer. I wiped the sweat from my brow and took a deep breath, trying to go over every possible thing he’d do that’d somehow make our agreement null. The only things that came to mind were awful, awful things.
I had to get them away from this farm before they ended up bein’ lit up in flames like my grandparents were.
There was no way in hell I was gonna get much work done today. I used my boilin’ blood to my advantage and hurried through fillin’ all the troughs. I broke a sweat damn near immediately and ripped off my shirt, then I let out a loud holler, allowing my fear-stained rage to escape.
I heard gravel crunchin’ beneath tires right as I was just startin’ to calm down. It was way too soon for Nora to be back, and we weren’t expecting any deliveries today. A car door opened and then closed, sending a cold sweat down my back.
I recognized the car as I grew closer to the house. It was Alan’s BMW. Dread like I had only felt once before in my life sent me spiraling out of control. I was up onto the porch before Alan had even walked up the stone path.
What was I going to do? Alan had a grin smeared across his face that I wanted knock clean off him. He was up to something, and I’d bet my life it was nothin’ good. There ain’t nothin’ good about that man and he ain’t done nothin’ good in his whole goddamn life.
“We had an agreement,” I sneered, praying Millie minded her business and stayed inside. Though I could see her peekin’ out the curtains of the window in the kitchen that hung just above the sink.
“Indeed, we did, and now it’s null. But I need to talk to you…” Alan slithered like a snake through the grass. He was only here for himself.
“Well, spill the beans. I ain’t got a ton of time.” I gripped my belt, needing something to hold onto so I didn’t wrap my hands around his neck and strangle the worthless son of a bitch. The sound of gravel crunching beneath tires piqued my interest once again, though this time a black Mercedes came barreling down the drive. I shot my glare back at Alan. “What the fuck is goin’ on here, Alan? Goddamn it, tell me now before I knock your head off your neck,” I spat my words with fire.
“Simmer down, boy,” Alan answered through laughter. “It’s my business partner, Bret.” I clenched my fists, ready for a fight if there was one. They would have to kill me before they touched a hair on Millie’s head.
I recognized Bret as soon as his face came into view. Bret Launders, the town judge and local lawyer. He was the reason my uncle stayed out of jail for the fire he had caused on my grandparents’ farm. Alan never admitted it to me, but he also never denied it, and that was the same as admitting it in my book.
“Mr. Houzner ain’t buying whatever bullshit you’re trying to sell, you understand? Now, get the hell outta here,” I growled just as Millie showed up on the other side of the screen door.
Alan snickered and Bret rolled his eyes. “That’s strange being that Samuel called us here.” Alan shrugged, leaning against the porch railing. A man like him didn’t deserve to step on sacred ground like this.
Time seemed to stand still as we waited for Nora to show up with Samuel. Millie’s meek voice met my ears. “Are you gonna invite them in?” I inhaled, trying to wrangle the beast inside me that wanted to send her upstairs to her room. I knew she wasn’t a little kid, but she was naive to the kind of people these were.
“Oh, I didn’t see ya there, Millie. How have you been?” Bret spoke up as he moved up the stone path and in the direction of the porch. I growled like a dog, blocking his view of her and protecting what was mine.
Millie must’ve noticed who it was that was speaking to her because she locked up, her eyes filling with fear. That’s why it did us no good to report her near rape. Matt’s daddy was the judge, jury, and prosecutor, and money got you everything in this town.
Her face paled, and she moved away from the door.
Good girl.
“Well, are ya gonna invite us in?” Alan pursued, annoyance rolling off him. Everything about him had made my skin crawl and boiled my blood.
“Nope.” I crossed my arms over my chest, my muscles straining as I did so. “I done told ya that you were not welcome here, and yet ya still show your face here, so you can stay out here until Samuel gets here and invites ya in.” I wasn’t about to back down. If he wanted in, he would have to go through me.
Fear and relief flooded my veins as I heard another car coming down the driveway. When Nora’s car finally came into view, I nearly sagged against the screen door.
Nora killed the engine and got out, helping her Daddy out of the car. I should’ve helped, too, but I couldn’t move, not even if I wanted to. Millie was in there, and I was the only thing separating Alan from getting to her.
“Jesus, Drew, ya look like a damn junkyard dog. Stand down, son.” Samuel might’ve been dyin’, but he still had his sense of humor. At his words, I moved, feeling as if I had let down the Houzner family. If it wasn’t for me, Alan would never be here.
“Thank you, Samuel. This is Bret. I’m sure you know him.” Samuel was slowly moving up the path, each breath that passed his lips labored. He didn’t need this, not now, not ever.
“Oh, yes. Bret and I go way back. We went to high school together.” Samuel snickered, a bout of laughter and coughs escaping his throat. He finally reached the porch. Alan and Bret both followed behind him like snakes in the grass, waiting for their moment to strike.
I let them all enter the house together before sneaking in behind them, my eyes going straight to Millie who was in the corner of the kitchen, fear and sadness etched into her features. I crossed the short space that separated us as everyone took a seat at the table.
“Whatever happens, just know, I’ve got you. I’ll always protect you. I messed up once, but I ain’t making the same foolish mistake twice.” I wanted to kiss her and tell her how much I loved her. My mouth went dry as I gazed down to the white stick that was sitting in her trembling hands. Tears had formed in her emerald green eyes.
Was that..? It couldn’t be.
“Are you…? Is that?” I couldn’t form a complete sentence as I tried to digest everything that was going on here. Alan was here, Samuel was home, Millie was pregnant.
“I’m scared, Drew. Absolutely terrified.” Millie’s confession had struck me deep in my core.
“I wanted to get everyone together because this involves all of us,” Samuel’s voice rose, and I turned, shielding Millie from the bullshit that was about to take place.
“What’s going on, Samuel?” I questioned, fearing the worst. My eyes moved over Alan who had a smirk on his face that declared he had won.
“You know, I can’t leave my girls with nothin’ and neither of them know anything about farmin’. And I know you mentioned staying, but you also said you weren’t sure, and well…it got me thinkin’.” Samuel scratched at the back of his head. “I love this farm, this house, it’s where my daughters were born…” I squeezed my eyelids tightly shut, not wanting to hear the rest of what he might’ve said.
He wasn’t going to do what I thought he was, was he?
“Are you saying you’re going to sell the house? The farm?” Millie asked as she shoved past me, making her presence well known. I wanted to scream, to yell, to drop to my knees and beg Alan to reconsider, to tell Samuel he was making a huge mistake.
My eyes fluttered open, and I watched as Samuel licked his worn lips, another cough slipping past them. “You and your sister are everything to me, Millie, and if I ain’t here to protect you... I’m gonna need some type of reassurance to know that you’ll be taken care of, and this is the only way I can assure you’ll both have everything you need. I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’m so sorry.” His raspy voice had cracked as he looked down at the wooden table.
My eyes moved from Samuel and back to Millie. The tears that had slipped from Millie’s eyes were ones I had never seen before. Instead of heartache or pain filling her lids, it was fear and complete loss. This house, this farm was all she had left of her momma, and soon it would be the only memory left of her daddy, and he wanted to take that away from her.
No. God No.
“Sir, I told you... I’ll do whatever I can. I promise,” I spoke up, praying he would see some reasoning in spite of whatever Alan or Bret had sold him. Alan gritted his teeth and snarled in my direction as if to say shut up.
I couldn’t lose Millie now, not after knowing she was carrying my child inside her.
Samuel raised his hand. “At the end of the day, this will be my choice. I just asked Alan and Bret to come out to the farm and discuss the options with me.”
“You can’t, Daddy!” Millie shouted, her eyes wild and her body shaking. Nora moved closer to her, trying to calm her down by resting a hand on her shoulder. My stomach knotted. It felt like I was reliving a nightmare, as if I was watching the bad shit in my life play on repeat over and over.
“We had a deal, Alan,” I snarled, trying whatever I could to get him to leave. I wasn’t going to leave Millie, not ever, but I was trying to buy us some time. I could feel the annoyance that Alan had for me. He didn’t want me here, he didn’t want me….
“Millie…” Nora’s voice was filled with panic as we both watched Millie fall forward, her eyes fluttering closed, her nearing the dining room table. I rushed forward, but there was no use. No matter how fast Nora and I were, we couldn’t stop the inevitable.
Her beautiful face slammed against the oak, a cracking sound echoing loudly all around us. Sinking to my knees, I clutched her body into my arms and cradled her small frame against my chest, stopping her from causing more damage to herself.
A large gash marred her forehead, and though it wasn’t something that was going to take her life, it ripped me to pieces. Millie was carrying my baby, she was mine, and this farm and house, it would all be mine if I had a say in the matter. I would protect what was mine. I wouldn’t let Millie or her family down like I had let my grandparents down. Alan wasn’t going to get away this stunt, and I was gonna make damn sure of it.
“Get me some water and washcloths.” I didn’t know if the baby was okay, or if Millie was okay. She didn’t have a belly yet... But pregnant women shouldn’t be falling, right? Nora appeared with both items, her eyes reading my face.
“The baby’s fine and Millie will be okay, too,” she answered softly. I lifted my eyes from Millie’s sleeping beauty form. I wanted nothin’ more than to be able to kiss her and have her back to consciousness like in the damn fairy tales. Unfortunately, life was no fucking fairytale. I could feel Samuel’s hard eyes on me, and I swallowed down the fear I had for this man.
“Baby?” I could feel his anger. He had a right to be angry with me. I was supposed to be protecting Millie, not putting a bigger target on her back, but in my defense, she was also supposed to be on birth control. Had I known she wasn’t, I never would’ve risked going bare with her.
“Yes, Daddy. Millie and Drew are having a baby,” Nora answered for me since my voice was lodged in my throat. My hate for Alan grew when I noticed the sparkle of excitement that had lit up in his eyes at the comment of Millie and I having a baby.
“I’m sorry, Samuel,” I mumbled, feeling his disappointment. My eyes moved over Millie’s stark white face. Those perfect peach-colored lips I had kissed a hundred times over in my mind. Her cute button nose. Everything about this woman was pure perfection, and I needed her. I needed Millie more than anything in this damn world, and our baby needed her too.
We all needed her. I brushed her golden brown hair off her face and gently kissed her temple, right over the gash as a single tear fell from my eyes.
Please wake up.
We need you.
I need you.
I love you.