Page 110 of Before You Can Blink
Her blue eyes softened. “Of course I haven’t forgotten. But they’re in a completely different place than we were.”
“What place is that? The one where I sign both of their paychecks?”
Daisy cringed when I hit the nail on the head. But she recovered quickly, arching an eyebrow in challenge. “Thinking of cutting them off?” Scoffing, she added, “That would be one hell of a wedding gift.”
My head dropped back, and a barely restrained cry of frustration worked its way up my throat. “He’s got me bent over a barrel, and I’m pretty sure he knows it. I need him—thisfamilyneeds him—to take over the ranch, or all my hard work will have been for nothing. The idea of being forced to sell—abandoning what I poured my blood, sweat, and tears into building and displacing those who call this place home—turns my stomach.” I pressed a palm to my churning gut so she’d know I wasn’t lying.
Her hand came down on my arm. “I can’t imagine a single scenario in which Tripp doesn’t take over this ranch. This place might’ve been your last resort, but for him, taking ownership is what he’s spent his whole life working toward. It’s not just something that will fall to him by default; it’s something he actually wants.”
“If that were true, then why does he fight me at every turn?”
She hummed on a sigh. “Because you treat your dynamic within the business like a dictatorship, not a democracy. You’re stubborn and setin your ways—thinking you know best because you’ve been doing this longer—so you get hot under the collar when he makes a suggestion meant to streamline your operation. He worries that you don’t trust him enough to hand over the reins.”
“He tell you that?”
Lips pressed together, Daisy nodded. “You don’t make it easy on him, Jett. You have to know that.”
I tugged on the back of my neck as her words hit home.
My relationship with Tripp was very different from the one I shared with Aspen. But between my son’s attachment first to his mama as a baby, and then to Penny as he grew, there hadn’t been much of a chance to develop a bond. And then the all-consuming need to mold him into a tough enough man to withstand the rigors of ranch ownership took over, and I couldn’t be soft on him. He got enough of that from Daisy.
Settling herself onto my lap, my wife commanded all my attention. “Tripp, and now Penny as his bride, are the future of Sullivan Ranch. You need to find a way to not only accept that but embrace it. I know it’s hard because you’ve been carrying the weight of responsibility for so long, but it’s time to share the burden. Our boy’s strong enough that he won’t buckle, not when it means making his family proud.”
Her hands cradled my face. “That’s all he wants, Jett, to make you proud. But you haven’t given him the freedom to try and do that.”
My arms banded around her waist, pulling her closer until my face was buried in her chest.
“You’ll be working against nearly thirty years of history, so I don’t expect it to be easy. But I’ll be happy so long as you put in an effort.”
“I’ll try.” The promise was muffled against her breast.
Seemingly pleased, she raked her fingers through my hair. “Good.”
As always, Daisy brought calm to my soul. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that a storm was coming.
June
The soft ding of a text message on Daisy’s phone had my heart rate spiking.
Rushing into the kitchen, I panted out, “That Aspen?” We were waiting on an update from her latest doctor’s appointment.
My wife shook her head. “No, it was Rose. Wanted to know if I could help her and Bex set up the carnival games for the summer solstice event.”
“Oh, right. Forgot about that.” I rubbed against the tight ache in my chest that seemed to intensify as the days drew nearer to Aspen’s due date.
Enough time had passed that I’d been able to shove the trauma from Tripp’s birth into a box at the back of my mind. But with our daughter so close to delivering her first baby, all those memories came rushing back.
I couldn’t begin to count the number of times I’d woken up in a cold sweat these past few weeks. Every time I closed my eyes, I was back in that damn barn, paralyzed with fear while Daisy’s screams echoed in my ears.
We’d been so damn lucky there hadn’t been a complication with no help. I didn’t want to tempt fate twice.
Daisy’s eyes tracked the frantic movements I made over my flannel. “You okay?”
Flushing hot, it felt like my heart might explode. With the corners of my vision darkening, I could only manage a weak shake of my head.
Jumping into action, my wife guided me to a kitchen chair, kneeling between my open thighs. “Breathe, baby.”
If only it were that easy.
