Page 28 of My Cowboy Kiss
“He’s not your uncle. That low down bastard is your father. He told me he was working a long con, but I didn’t know it’d be that much money. I can’t believe he had the gall to steal all that and didn’t give me a damn penny of it.”
My legs can’t hold me up anymore and I slide to the floor. “My…father? No.” I shake my head vigorously. “It can’t be.”
My mother smirks. “I was there. I ought to know who your damn daddy is. You need to get those wedding ideas right out of your head. River ain’t gonna want you.” She sends me a sly glance. “Since you won’t be getting married, you sure you don’t have any money for me?”
“Get out.”
Her eyebrows lift in surprise at the harshness of my tone. “Don’t you go acting all high and mighty. I might be a drunk, but I was a good mama. I put food on the table and?—”
I can’t stand any more of her lies. She wasn’t a good mother. I went hungry more often than not. I lived in fear of the men she’d bring home.
“Get out!” I scream. “Or I’ll call the police.”
She gets up and ambles out but slams the door behind her hard enough to rattle the windows.
I wrap my arms around my knees, rocking back and forth on the floor. I stay that way as the day seeps into night. Somewhere my phone rings but I don’t answer it.
I’m the daughter of the man who betrayed the man I love. I feel awful. Dirty. Shameful. My heart is fracturing. River isn’t going to want me. This news will upset him and make him look at me differently.
I won’t be able to stand that.
My phone rings again and I crawl on my hands and knees to find it guessing it’s probably River. I might as well get this over with.
“I’m leaving now heading to you.”
I grip the phone tightly at the sound of his voice. “Don’t.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I know you’ll want to break up with me so let’s just say goodbye over the phone. I don’t think I could stand seeing you face to face.” That’s all I can manage to say before breaking down. I disconnect the call and don’t answer when it rings back.
I cry because I don’t want to hurt River. I cry because I’m hurting. When I didn’t know who my father was, I imagined he was a hero somewhere who didn’t know I existed. Otherwise, he would have rushed to find me.
I sob until my eyes are swollen and my throat sore, then I drag a throw pillow from the couch and lie curled on the floor.
Less than ten minutes later, there’s a ferocious banging sound on the door. Someone is pounding on it with a fist.
“Open the door, Courtney! I’m not leaving until you do!”
I debate on whether or not I should then realize that hiding isn’t going to make the breakup hurt any less.
I get up and switch on the overhead light, blinking at the sudden brightness filling the room. Then I open the door and step back as River barrels in.
“Like hell am I breaking up with you. Why’d you say that on the phone?” He clutches my arms, his eyes wide as he scans me.“Was it your mom? Did she say something? Did she hit you? What happened?”
I wish I could lean against him and let him wrap his arms around me. I stiffen my back and push his hands away. “Yeah, she was here. No, she didn’t hit me. There’s no use talking. You should go.”
He pushes the front door shut with his boot. “No.”
I hug my arms around my body and turn away from him. He spins me right back around to face him.
“We don’t run away from stuff.”
“Who’s we?”
“You and I are. Whatever happens, we deal with it together. Now what’s going on?”
“You’re going to want to break up once you know and?—”
