Page 33 of Imperfect Saint
“Sorry, I didn’t see you there.” He apologized.
“I figured, otherwise you wouldn’t have been sticking your tongue down my daughter’s throat.” Chuck made a sound somewhere between a harrumph and a snort. “I wasn’t expecting you either. I was looking for my daughter. Thought I’d find Millie hiding out down here alone. She likes to ride by herself. Always has. Says it gives her time to think… but she took you out riding with her today. Like I said, you should feel mighty special.”
“I do, sir.”
“Don’t, sir me.” The elder man took a big swig of his drink and waved the comment away with his free hand, “My Pop was Sir. I’m just Chuck. Call me Chuck.”
It wasn’t that he was slurring, not really, but Hunter had a feeling the man had been drinking for a while already. His tolerance must have been high though. He gave almost no outward signs of drunkenness. He didn’t stumble or sway. But Hunter knew an alcoholic when he saw one and Chuck Turner had to be the most high-functioning one he’d ever met if he’d been drinking since breakfast.
“Chuck.” Hunter offered a smile, “I don’t know if you remember me or not but I’m Hunter St. James. I’m Millie’s…”
“Boyfriend.” Her father finished for him, squinting as he eyed him up and down, “Gotta say, I had my doubts when you first showed up with her, but this thing between you two is more than some game she’s playing, huh?”
“Yes, sir. I mean, yes, Chuck.”
“Good catch.” The man pointed at him with his pinky and sipped at his drink again. “You know she’s too good for you right?”
Hunter swallowed the urge to argue, knowing it was pointless. To Chuck, Millie was a Turner. She came from wealth and privilege. Hunter was nothing but an Army grunt with scars, a simple man that couldn’t give her half of what she deserved. Of course he thought Millie was too good for a man like Hunter.
The thing was, Hunter agreed.
Millie was too good for him. She was sweet and kind and generous. She was a better person than he’d ever been and just being near her made him want to be a better man. That wasn’t the kind of goodness that Chuck Turner was talking about though and Hunter wasn’t about to start an argument with the man right before his son’s wedding, so he nodded.
“I know.”
“Good. So long as you know that she’s too good for you, I expect you’ll treat her right.”
“Always.” He promised with a firm nod.
Chuck Turner sighed and leaned back against a wood beam, “That’s all I’ve ever wanted for her, you know? The best. It’s what she deserves. I tried to give it to her but… I’m just a man and I didn’t know a damn thing about raising a girl alone in this world all by myself.”
Hunter tilted his head and watched as Chuck Turner drank down the remains of his glass of whiskey and then tossed it aside. The glass broke somewhere behind a bale of hay but the man didn’t seem to notice. He looked around and then sat down on the stack of hay, dropping his head into his hands. Hunter looked around too, wondering where Hank the horse guy was and if he was coming back anytime soon.
He wasn’t entirely sure what was happening. He’d thought Chuck Turner intended to confront him about his intentions for Millie. Now he thought the man was about to spill his guts like Hunter was some kind of priest and this barn was a confessional. He wasn’t sure which was worse but he stood still and kept quiet, not knowing what else to do.
“I made mistakes.” Chuck Turner shook his head, “I didn’t do right by her mama. I know that. I let her down. I let my girls down, the both of them. If Cami had been alive, she’d have known something was wrong. Millie could have gone to her. She would have gone to her mama but she didn’t come to me. She doesn’t trust me. She doesn’t think I’d care or help her or… I guess I just I let her down too many times.”
Hunter had no idea what the older man was saying, not really, but he listened intently. This was about Millie and he wanted as much information about her as he could get. He knew from his internet search that her mother, the original Camilla Evelyn Turner, had passed when Millie was just a little girl and he’d noticed since their arrival that she wasn’t particularly close with her father, but she hadn’t opened up enough to talk to him about that, not yet.
“I’m sure she knows you care.” He finally said, hoping he could keep Chuck talking now that he’d started.
Chuck only scoffed, “She thinks the only thing I care about is that damn company.”
“Turner Bell?” Hunter narrowed his eyes, watching for a reaction when he already knew that was the company the older man meant.
“Turner Bell.” Chuck harrumphed. “If it’d just been Turner, we’d all be a hell of a lot better off, especially my Millie.”
Hunter felt the words like a punch to his solar plexus. This was about the Bell family. Realization sank in and brought new questions with it.
Did Chuck Turner know that Joshua Bell had hurt his daughter? Did he know there was more to the story than just the infidelity? Did he know what the more was? And if Millie hadn’t told him, which seemed the most reasonable bet considering Chuck’s confession that his daughter didn’t trust him or come to him for help, who had told him?
“You mean Joshua?” He pressed his luck by asking another question.
“Joshua.” The older man spit the name like it was a bug he’d accidentally swallowed and Hunter had his answer.
Millie’s father knew enough. Maybe he only knew as much as anyone else seemed to. Maybe he only knew that the Bell heir had cheated on and broken his daughter’s heart. Was that enough to have him this distraught? For him to seem to hate the kid so much? And if he hated him, like it seemed he did from the venom in his voice, why was he pushing Millie to take the bastard back?
“I thought you wanted Millie to get back with Joshua and marry him?”
