Page 94 of A Taste of Whiskey
“He will be. Is everyone still outside?”
“Just my family.”
He headed for the door. “Good, we need to put an end to this.”
“What?And end towhat?” She followed him outside.
Tiny and Wynnie were sitting on chairs on the porch, and Doc and Cowboy were talking in the yard. He wished Dare were there, but he was on his honeymoon. He’d have to be the last to know. They all turned around. “Thank you for being here for us tonight.”
“You’re family, son,” Tiny said. “Is our boy okay?”
“He will be. I’m going to speak to an attorney about getting sole custody.”
“I think that’s smart,” Wynnie said. “We’ll all help him through the transition.”
“I appreciate that. But before you make that offer, you need to know that there are more changes on the horizon. From the moment I found out I was going to be a father, I have spent my life trying to do the right thing by Gus. And in doing so, I mistakenly hurt us all. Tiny, Wynnie, I’m sorry, but I’ve been lying to you for a while, and I’m not proud of it, but I couldn’t see another way around it. I am madly and passionately in love with your daughter, and I have been since we were teenagers.”
“Ez…?” Sasha’s jaw dropped.
Cowboy said, “Oh shit.”
Ezra looked at Sasha. He was filled with so much love for her, he couldn’t hold back if he’d wanted to. “I’ve wanted to tell you a million times, but how could I promise I would do anything for you if I couldn’t stand behind it? I’m ready, baby. I love you, and I’m standing behind it right here and now, and every day forward.” He looked at her parents. “I came to this ranch when I was a kid without putting up a fight because I knew Sasha lived here, and when I went off to school, it was to become a better man forher. When I got my master’s, I thought I’d finally done it. I was finally worthy of being with your daughter, and I was going to tell all of you how I felt. But that night I found out about Gus, and I made the wrong choice. I will find another job, and Gus and I will move off this ranch, but I willnotmake the wrong choice again and give up the woman I love. Tiny, if you want me to turn in my club patches, I’ll do it.”
“Whatare you talking about?” Sasha stomped over to him. “You’re not quitting or moving! If anyone’s going anywhere it’s me.”
“I already put feelers out for a new job.”
“But youcan’tquit. You love this place as much as I do,” she insisted.
“Yes, but I love youmore,” he insisted.
“I love you, too, but Ezra, I put out feelers, too. I spoke to someone tonight about opening my own consulting business. Then I won’t work for Mom and Dad anymore, and we can both stay.”
“Whoa, darlin’,” Tiny said. “Slow down.”
“No, Dad,” she barked. “This is Gus’s home, and I’m not going to let you make him leave. If we can’t be together if we both work here, then I quit.”
“Sasha, you’re not quitting,” Wynnie said.
“Yes, I am,” she fumed. “I’ve always been the good one who did the right thing. I have given my life to this ranch, and now I want to do something for myself. I love Ezra and Gus, and I’m not letting you and Dad stop us from being together over some stupid rule.”
Doc strode up to the porch, eyeing their parents. “Don’t punish them because of my fuckup. You put that rule in place because I fell for someone who had a psycho father who was dead set on fucking me over. Don’t make them pay the price for my mistake.”
“Honey, we put that rule in place to protect everyone, not just you,” Wynnie said. “What happened with you and Juliette was an eye-opener.”
“The rule makes no sense,” Sasha snapped. “You and Dad are sleeping together, and you both work here.”
“Thatisa little hypocritical,” Cowboy said.
Tiny narrowed his eyes. “Well, hell, son. We’re married.”
“Are you saying if we’re married, we can both work here?” Sasha turned to Ezra with a spark in her eyes that was equally rebellious and loving, matching the feelings in his racing heart. She said, “Ezra, will you marry me?” at the same time he said, “Tiny, if you’ll give us your blessing, I’ll marry Sasha right now.”
Sasha’s eyes widened. “You will?”
“You stole my heart at seventeen, Bo Peep, and we both know I’m never getting it back.”
She laughed softly.
