Page 63 of Long Hard Fall

“Abigail,” Mrs. Daniels breathed, “what were you thinking? Do you know how worried we’ve been?”

Remorse touched Abbi’s eyes. “I kept telling you I was fine. I really am.”

“Why would you—” Abbi’s mom drew herself up. “I think we should talk in private.”

Abbi shook her head and pressed close to Cash. “We will all discuss this together, not that I need to justify anything I’ve done. I’m an adult.”

Her dad’s forehead creased in concern. “Fine. Then why would you leave a man who treats you like a queen, provides for you, and came running after you for a coward who can’t face his friends’ parents?”

Cash recoiled. Whoa. Direct attack. But no anger flurried within him. Daniels’s parents were right to think he was a coward.

“Dad!”

“No, it’s all right.” Cash rubbed her shoulder.

Abbi’s mom went to stand by her husband, her expression strained. “Ellis told us he asked around town about Cash.”

Cash wanted to groan. With his own history fueled by his dad’s actions, he could imagine what had been said about him.

“And what, Mom? You’re going to believe Ellis and a bunch of strangers over what I say?”

“You haven’t made the best decisions in the past,” her mom said.

“He has quite a reputation.” Mr. Daniels’s hard stare burned into Cash. “He’s not someone I want my daughter with.”

Cash chewed on his cheek. He couldn’t exactly argue with the man. He’d worked hard to dissuade anyone from thinking he was boyfriend material. Abbi squeezed his side in reassurance.

“He’s a hard-working man,” Abbi defended. “He works from sunup to sundown.” She shot Ellis a hard look as if to stress that Cash worked longer hours than him. “Hard, honest work. I’m sure there’s plenty of places in Moore I could find a job.”

Her mom’s eyes bugged out. “You’re moving here?”

“Eventually.”

Ellis drifted toward them, hesitancy in his step. “I accept that you and I are done, Abigail. But it doesn’t mean I don’t care about you. Before you give up your entire life, think about what kind of living he makes from ranching, how unreliable it can be.”

He had a feeling about where Ellis was going with this. “My cousins and I run a successful farming and ranching operation, which I’m sure you discovered when you asked around town.”

“And when grain prices fall?” Ellis countered. “Or cattle prices? What if a hail storm wipes out your crops? Do you have any education to fall back on, or will the whole operation crash?”

Abbi stiffened next to him and it was his turn to give her a reassuring squeeze.

“Do I have a college degree? That’s what you’re asking, right? No. I don’t.” He directed his next words to the worried mom and dad hovering in his yard. “Rest assured, this business is one of the longest running in the county. I’m a fifth-generation farmer and rancher, and this place has weathered many storms, both climate related and financial.”

“Doesn’t mean you’re the man for my daughter,” her dad said calmly. “Abigail, why would you want to be one of many?”

Cash sucked in a breath. It was hard not to get pissed, but more at himself because what the man said about his past was true. A previous lack of commitment didn’t make him a bad guy. He hadn’t lied to the women he’d been with, or made false promises.

“Cash’s past is none of my business, and what goes on between us is none of your business—” she stabbed a finger at them, then pointed at Ellis, “—and none of yours.”

Her mom spoke and her voice was low, serious. “Perry told me plenty about Reno—Cash—whatever the hell you call yourself. Despite the stories, like my daughter, my son seemed to treasure your friendship. Yet you let him down. You let us down. You let him get killed, and you let the army lie to us and blame my son—” her voice cracked, “—who’s no longer here to defend himself. I won’t tolerate my daughter associating with a man like you.”

Cash worked to steady his breathing. Fucking Daniels wasn’t here to defend himself and his parents blamed Cash for the man taking his own life. Actions that would lead to Cash losing the love of his life. Or worse, having her lose her parents because he didn’t tell them what had really happened.

Abbi would walk. He could feel her resolve in the hard lines of her body. She was prepared to leave everything in Green Bay and set up life with him. She’d lost her brother. They’d lost a son. Cash couldn’t be responsible for them losing a daughter, too.

“The army didn’t lie.”

Abbi nodded next to him, and his heart cracked. Would she hate him when this was over?

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