Page 76 of Wilder Heart

“I promised Lain I’d stay, so I’m staying.”

“Don’t even get me started on that boy. He should’ve known better than to go anywhere in the last months before her due date. And the fact that he entrusted these precious girls toyou?—”

Wilder rolled his eyes. “He didn’t. This wasn’t part of his plan. Annalise came to me, begged me to drive them to the hospital because Mary-Beth’s water broke. What was I supposed to do? Say no?”

“As I understand it, there are at least half a dozen ranch hands living on Blackwood Ranch. Any one of them could have driven her to the hospital.”

“I’m family. That’s why she came to me.” He could barely wrap his head around it, but for some reason this little girl liked him. Trusted him. And so did Mary-Beth. She held his hand while she was hurting, trusted him to take care of her and her child. He’d never squander that.

“You’re going to pretend to care aboutfamilynow?” Robert’s eyes narrowed.

“What business is it of yours?” Wilder shot back, barely above a whisper.

“My daughter left home because of what you did.”

“What?”

“We were never happy about their relationship, even before you went to prison. The Blackwoods were trash. They’ve always been trash. Alan was driving that ranch into the ground. Whatshouldhave happened, if you hadn’t gone so far off the rails, was that Alan would have eventually been forced to sell the ranch. And we would have bought it. Turned it into an extension of Dandridge Ranch. Maybe even employed you boys as hands. Instead the ranch was left to that boy, and he dragged Mary-Beth along on his desperate scheme to keep the land for himself.”

Wilder had a lot of practice with patience. There wasn’t a lot to do in prison. Biding one’s time became something of an art form. But now, Robert was testing him. The very fringes of his patience were in sight for the first time in a long time, and he didn’t know what he’d do if he snapped. Hitting Robert would land him back in prison for sure. A man like Robert would definitely pressallthe charges, and his parole strictly forbade violence of any kind. Assaulting his sister-in-law’s father definitely qualified.

“They lived like paupers for years. And now, when they’re finally getting comfortable, what happens?Youshow up. The plague of the Blackwood house, returned.” His lip curled as he waved a hand at Wilder, like he was something particularly foul.

Annalise stretched, settling her head more comfortably against his chest. “Wha’s a plague?” she murmured sleepily.

Wilder ducked his head down to speak softly to her. “A very handsome man. Go back to sleep.”

She sighed, and then her snores resumed.

He shot Robert a dark glare, measuring his words carefully. “I’m here, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“For now,” Robert said. “When Lain arrives, you’ll no longer be needed. You will leave, and I expect you to keep your distance from my daughter and my grandchildren in the future.”

Wilder bit his tongue. There was nothing he could say to change Robert’s mind about him. It would be a waste of breath to try.

CHAPTER 24

WILDER

Wilder floated on the edge of sleep, the tablet turned off and resting on his thigh, when the door opened to a flurry of activity. He raised his head, wincing at the pain in his neck, as Mary-Beth was wheeled into the room and settled into place exactly where she’d left it, pale and groggy but smiling. Emily swanned into the room behind the nurses, going to Mary-Beth’s side and fussing with her blankets.

“Hey, how’d it go?” he croaked.

She nodded. “Great. The babies are in the nursery. They let me see them in the recovery room, said they’ll bring them in soon after they check them over. How’s Annie been?”

“The bravest trooper of us all, I think. She finally tuckered out during Doc McStuffins.”

Mary-Beth huffed out a laugh. “She loves that show.”

“I know. She made me watch it.”

“Lain?” she asked hopefully.

“On his way. We talked to him—Annalise and I. They were already on the road and headed this way. Shouldn’t be long now.”

She relaxed. “Good. I can’t wait for him to meet the boys.”

Emily’s face soured at Mary-Beth’s shoulder, but she didn’t seem to notice.

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