Page 48 of A Montana Fake Marriage

“Is that how you let him treat you?”

She flinched.

“Is this what you’ve been doing for the past year? What were you thinking, Sarah Ann? I thought we taught you better than this.”

“What did you come here for, Dad? I seriously doubt it was to insult my husband and me, but then sometimes you surprise me.” Her voice was weak, and she knew he could hear it.

He took a step closer, his voice lowering. “There’s only one reason why someone like him would marry you, you realize that, right?”

She looked away. “I’m not discussing my marriage with you. If you want to go over the terms of my inheritance, then I’m more than happy to confirm anything you need help on.”

“No reason to discuss any terms about any inheritance. I’m not ready to let you have it. I’m not sure I’ll ever be in favor of releasing it.” He frowned with disdain.

“Mom wanted me to have it. Why would you keep it from me?”

His lips curled into a sneer, his eyes growing dark. “If you think?—”

“That’s enough,” Caleb barked.

Sammie jumped at the sudden sound of him behind her. He stepped in front of her, pushing her behind him gently as he did. “If you didn’t come to congratulate us on our marriage, then you can leave. There’s no reason for you to be here tonight.”

Sammie wasn’t looking at her father. She cowered behind Caleb like the run-away she’d become. That’s all she was. She hadn’t been able to stand up to her father a year ago, and she still couldn’t. There was something that had been ingrained in her so deeply that there was no killing it. Caleb had been right. She should have stayed away.

Because now, all she could think about was what her dad had started to say.

There’s only one reason why someone like him would marry you, you realize that, right?

One reason.

Not love.

Oh, definitely not love.

Her father was insisting there was a more sinister reason why Caleb would want to call her his wife. And he was also reminding her that she’d been nothing but a disappointment for just about all her life. Of course no man would love her for who she was. The only reason a man would be with her was for her family’s money. As much as she’d tried to push his negativity away, over the years it had been next to impossible to make herself believe her father was wrong.

At some point, the door had been slammed shut, and Caleb had walked her back to the couch. He’d pulled her into his lap and brushed a hand over her hair as she curled into him and let silent tears fall.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Caleb could have predictedthat something was going to go wrong. In his gut, he knew it would. There had never in his life been a time of happiness when fate hadn’t decided to rear its ugly head and tear his happiness to shreds—or the happiness of those he cared about.

He’d seen it when he was a kid. His grandfather had fallen on hard times and had moved in with their family. His parents had gone from purchasing all the fun name brand cereals and clothes he’d liked to generic and no name brands. Sometimes clothes came secondhand from Goodwill stores.

He would never say that his grandfather was a burden on their family. He was loved, and Caleb wouldn’t have wanted to leave him out on the street.

But that experience had settled with him in ways that shaped who he was. He’d vowed that he would always be able to provide for his own family.

That wasn’t the only instance he’d experienced. There were many. Somehow life had a way of knocking people to their knees when they least expected it.

Sammie had been brought to hers more than once while Caleb knew her.

She had long since fallen asleep, her head in his lap. He stared down at her peaceful face and traced his fingers through her hair. Gone was the torment from her father’s visit, but the second she roused, it would return.

Sammie had lost her mother. Then her inheritance. Now her father was threatening to take away the happiness she’d found with Caleb.

A knot of worry formed in his chest. He could tell her father meant to do just that. All he’d have to do was sow the seeds of doubt in his daughter for her to go running home to him. This was all about control. Caleb’s father-in-law fed off it.

The more Caleb watched Sammie sleep, the more his anxiety grew. He could feel his own sense of control slipping. He’d thought bringing Sammie here and marrying her would solve their problems. But apparently, they couldn’t hide forever.

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