Page 70 of Our Sweet Destiny
His father drew in a sharp breath and blew it out his nose. “I asked once, and I’m not fixing to ask again. Where did you get that necklace?”
“I’ll tell you anything you want to know. I’ve got nothing to hide, and I’m not ashamed of anything I’ve done—except hiding my relationship with Jade.” Rex took a step to the side and wrapped Jade’s trembling body within the safety of his arms.
His father shot a look at Treat. “You knew about this?”
Treat looked dead center in his father’s eyes. “Yes, sir, I did.”
“So did I,” Josh said as he stepped forward.
“Me too,” Savannah added.
His father stood surrounded by them, breathing hard, his face growing redder by the second, and for a beat, Rex felt sorry for him.
“I never thought I’d see the day that a Johnson would turn my own children against me.”
“Mr. Braden, I’m not turning—”
He interrupted her with a gruff demand. “I wanna know one thing and one thing only.” He looked at Rex. “Where did you get those necklaces?”
“I’ll tell you that just as soon as you apologize to Jade.” Rex knew he was playing with fire. No one challenged his father, especially not one of his own children.
His father crossed his arms. Rex did the same.
Suddenly, Hope whinnied and threw her body from side to side. Rex swooped Jade out of her reach.
“You’re upsetting her!” Jade broke free from Rex’s grasp with a fire in her eyes and heat in her voice. “He got the necklace at Jewels of the Past. The woman there said she knew Adriana in high school and that it was meant for us.”
His father clenched his jaw, and his biceps were right behind.
Hope was becoming more agitated by the second. Her neck flew hard from side to side.
“What else do you need to know?” Jade spat. “Because we can deal with this nonsense later or someplace else, but this horse is in distress, and the more you boys fluff your feathers, the more upset she’s going to get.”
“She’s got colic,” his father said adamantly.
“No, she doesn’t. She has no medical signs of colic other than behavioral, and she responded to a stomach meridian massage. She’s probably just upset over all the stress around here lately, and the show just threw her over the edge.”
As his father approached, Rex stood between him and Hope. “Let her take care of Hope, Dad. She fixed her right up before.”
“No Johnson is going to touch my horse.”
“Too late,” Savannah said, and nodded to Jade, who had her forehead resting against the tender spot between Hope’s nostrils.
Treat stepped between Rex and his father. “The important thing right now is to get Hope well. Let’s give her some space to do that, Dad. We can talk outside.” He took his father’s arm and left Rex guarding Jade and reluctantly building a wall between his father and himself.
