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Lifting her head to find me, she pushes her hair from her face and winks. “Can’t wait.” Her giggle is filled with joy. To me, she adds, “Billy, I think it’s your turn to spin me around the dancefloor.” When her eyes fall to my hands, she grins wider. “Wash the blood from your knuckles first. Don’t want you ruining my shirt.”
I suck in a breath, then hurry forward to trail my fingers over her body briefly before opening the door so Remy can haul her back inside. “Don’t mind if I do, Country. I’ll let you stand on my feet so you don’t misstep.”
Chuckling followed by an “Asshole,” has me grinning from ear to ear as we head in to enjoy the rest of our night.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Remy
~ 2 weeks after the bar ~
I’ve been avoiding this moment since Betsy cashed the second check we wrote to replace the one Trina bounced. Walking into my mom’s kitchen, I freeze when I see Betsy at the table with a lawyer and papers laid out all over the table.
Narrowing my eyes, I glare at my momma. She’s avoiding my gaze, busily washing dishes that are probably cleaner than an operating room at the hospital. “What’s goin’ on in here?” I bite out, knowing the answer, but wanting all of them to admit it.
“Stop bein’ such a damn—”
“Language, sweetheart.” Momma’s voice is soft, and I bite back a grin because she just can’t help her need to stop us from cussing.
Sighing loudly, Bets rolls her eyes, cheeks pinkening. “Stop bein’ such adarnpigheaded fool and sit your butt down. We need to take care of this.”
Eyeing the table, the thing that stands out to me first is a check written to me in the amount that Betsy bought my family’sfarm for. Jerking my eyes back up to her face and without looking away, I cross my arms and grit out, “Would you two give Bets and I a moment to chat?”
Now, my mother has never been a woman to shy away from confrontation, but that woman grabs the lawyer so quickly by his arm to yank him from the room, I’m shocked. “Coward,” I whisper as she walks past me, and she huffs in annoyance, knowing I’m right.
“Damn it, Rustic.” I know my girl is already frustrated with me, considering I’ve not shown up at the last three appointments she’s made. “I hate havin’ this hangin’ over our heads. Would you just sign the fuckin’ papers so we can move on? Me takin’ over the farm was only supposed to be temporary. Your daddy wantedyouto have it.”
My heart thumps hard with thoughts of my dad, and I swallow hard against the knot in my throat. “I know what dad wanted, but I want somethin’ different.”
Her elbows hit the table, and she leans forward to look up at me, her eyes warm and full of understanding. “I know youthinkyou want different, but I don’t understand why you won’t just let me sell you back your farm. You’re workin’ your ass off every day with the rest of us, and I see the pride you have for what we’re accomplishin’. Thank you, by the way, for talkin’ with your old boss and gettin’ samples from his bulls. Doc said he’ll start breedin’ our females soon. I can’t believe you paid all that money to him on top of what you gave me. You need to let me reimburse you for that.”
“I won’t.”
“Youwill. I can out stubborn you every day of the week, and don’t you forget it.”
Smirking, I move to the empty chair next to her and turn hers so we’re facing each other. “Will you just listen to me for a minute and try to really understand what I’m sayin’?”
Betsy’s brows furrow, her eyes roaming over my face. “I always listen to you, Rem. It’s not my fault if you talk nonsense most of the time. Can’t fix stupid.”
Laughing, I look down and reach out for her knee. Gripping her, I squeeze and take a breath before looking back up at her.
“I don’t want the farm back.”
“Yes, you d—”
“Idon’t!”
Her mouth snaps shut with how potent I am with my words. Pushing forward, I press my knees into hers and dig my fingers into her skin. “I truly don’t want it. We always had dreams of creating this big, beautiful farm together, buyin’ up land and expandin’, but it wasyouthat had the big ideas.Youwho told us how it would work and what we needed to do.”
She shakes her head slowly, but I refuse to let her disagree with me.
“You ran your place like it was nothin’ back when your Pap was around. Those past few years before we took off, you were tellin’ him daily what needed fixin’, coming up with schedules. Even when you came to visit at my place, you and dad would get into long debates over the best way to handle the employees.”
Betsy looks away from me, her eyes watering from the memories, but I cup her chin to bring her focus back to me. Blowing out a breath slowly, she shakes her head. “It was all of us. Ya’ll told me a woman could never—”
“I was fuckin’ wrong!” I say, raising my voice.
We both roll our eyes when we hear mom call out from the other side of the door. “Would ya’ll watch your language? For the love of God,” she mutters quietly.
