by Taylor Hart
Beau glared at both of them then shrugged away. “Yeah, the process. The process hasn’t ever helped out a Hardman.”
Even though Ryan had gotten in some good shots on Nathan, it unnerved him that he would have hit Nathan more. It unnerved him that he had felt so out of control. It unnerved him that, for the first time since coming home, he wished he had done more damage to another human being.
He didn’t have too long to worry about it because Joe Watkins and Sheriff Bards came down the hall and opened the cell.
Beau scowled at Joe. “What are you doing here, Watkins?”
Ryan was surprised to see Joe, but he assumed Joe was there to tell them what Nathan was formally charging them with.
Joe let out a long sigh and looked at each of them. “First off, I want to apologize. I never should have tried to keep this secret. It has cankered my soul. I should have done this a long time ago.”
There was something different about Joe. He looked pale and sweaty and fidgety.
“What’s this about?” Ryan stepped next to Beau. Sean flanked his other side.
Joe passed a sheet of paper to each of them. “I just gave this to my attorney. He’ll work out the details.” He handed a sheet to Sheriff Bards.
Beau started to crumple the sheet. “We don’t need formal charges to read.”
Ryan, on the other hand, was already reading.
I, Joe Watkins, watched Nathan Love crash into Mr. Hardman and Stan Love pull his son, Nathan Love, from the vehicle and then move his son, Caleb Love, to the driver’s side of the vehicle. Stan Love paid me to keep silent. He has paid me out of his trust for the past eight years. His family has known about this incident and the different scheduled payments mentioned below. Following Stan Love’s death, Nathan Love has continued the payments for my silence.
I understand that, in admitting this, I admit to having broken the law. I also understand that I was a minor at the time of the incident and hope to have the mercy of the court.
I want to publicly apologize to the Hardman family for their pain and suffering.
Joe Watkins
Ryan stopped and scanned Joe’s face. “My dad didn’t cause the accident?”
Joe’s face was somber. “The report said your dad’s level was below the legal limit that night.”
“But he was drunk.”
Joe shrugged. “I saw Nathan crash into your dad. There was no way your father was responsible for that accident.”
Ryan’s hand started to shake, and the paper fell to the floor.
The growl that came out of Sean was louder than Ryan had ever heard. Sean pounced on Joe and threw him against the jail bars. “You son of a b—”
Beau pulled Sean back. “Hold up, bud. Hold up.”
Everything inside of Ryan shifted. It was like he couldn’t really hear or put in place the things Joe was saying, his brothers’ shouting, or the fact that his father hadn’t been responsible for the accident that night.
That accident had set off a chain of events that had changed the course of his life. The way it all unraveled before him made him feel like he was in some sort of time warp. His father hadn’t killed Nathan’s brother. His father had been innocent. He stumbled back, barely catching his footing before he fell.
Sheriff Bards had already begun escorting Joe to another cell.
Sean cried and fell to the floor. Beau held onto him and stared at Ryan with wide eyes.
Time came back to the present, and Ryan bolted forward to help Beau hold Sean up.
Sean’s harsh sobs charged the air with the anger of a child who’d had his childhood ripped away from him.
He and Beau both held him and each other.
Beau’s face screwed into agony. “He didn’t do it, Ryan.” Tears fell down his cheeks. “He didn’t kill him.”
Ryan hugged his brothers and felt his own tears spilling.
Chapter 51
Charlotte packed the boxes in her mom’s kitchen and tried to ignore the way her stomach hurt. This kind of hurt could only be caused by Ryan Hardman. She didn’t know what would happen to him, how he would be tried, if this whole mess with Nathan would once and for all totally ruin his life.
Star, Angela, her mother, and Sam were scattered throughout the house, packing.
There couldn’t have been a worse time for this move. If she weren’t so nervous about Ryan and his brothers, she would have been a complete mess over packing up the house. With the situation as dire as it was, all she could do was succumb to the same numb feeling that had taken over the early part of her marriage when Nathan had been at his worst—when she could never make him happy.
It all felt sticky, unsortable, and convoluted.
So she packed. One box at a time.
Sam had been somber. He’d asked about the court case when they’d all shown up to pack the house. She’d told him the good news—that he would stay with her. That Nathan would never try to take him away again.
He’d nodded and been quiet. He hadn’t asked anything else. He’d only taken a box up to the tree house to pack his “treasures.”
Sam hadn’t even asked about her eye. It was getting black and swollen, kind of turning to a yellow bruise, but not too bad.
Charlotte wondered if Sam just knew not to ask.
She certainly hadn’t offered any details.
Of course, her mother had freaked out and insisted Charlotte lay down and put a package of frozen peas on it.
Angela and Star had filled her mother in on all the details. The case. Nathan assaulting her. Ryan and his brothers beating the crap out of him.
Her mother had simply put her hand to her head and closed her eyes. It had looked like she was quietly praying, which she did a lot. Her mother had said Charlotte’s father’s name, too. So maybe she was complaining to him.
Charlotte wrapped another glass and carefully packed it. There weren’t any options left.
Her mother had to be out of the house.
Star had lined up some of their friends to help them haul all the boxes to a storage unit early in the morning.
Of course, her mother would move in with Charlotte and Sam.
Charlotte had wondered if things could be different when she saw Ryan in court walking to the front with Richard.
She thought their whole lives might be different.
Something crazy and insane and erratic came over her.
She laughed. Out loud. She had to hold onto the cupboard to prevent the crazy hysteria from washing over her. How could she have ever thought it would be different?
That anything would be different.
Her laugh melted into a cry. The cry shook every part of her. Her life would never be different. Nathan would always be in charge of this crazy town, and Ryan would most likely end up behind bars for beating him up.
Justice.
The justice of Hidden Falls. She wiped beneath her eyes and tried to get a hold of herself.
The back screen door opened and shut. Sam came in. “Mom, we got company.”
She looked up, and Ryan was there.
“Charlotte.” He stepped through the door.
Her knight in shining armor—bloody, sweaty, and with a look on his face that told her he was as shell-shocked as she was.
She ran to him, and he opened his arms.
How could he be here? How was he holding her in his arms?
Beau, Sean, and Richard filed in the door behind him.
She laughed, this time it was a real laugh, and pulled away from him.
His face looked different—young, sad, nervous, and stunned. He looked the exact way he had that night all those years ago.
The night of the accident.
Her heart skipped a beat. “What happened?”
Her mother, Star, and Angela entered the room.
Her mother gasped. “Oh my goodness, how are you boys all here?”
Ryan looked back and Sean and Beau moved up to stand beside him. Their faces were stern and pale and serious
. “Joe Watkins came forward with a statement that tells how he saw the accident that night with my father. He saw Nathan driving the truck. The accident was Nathan’s fault and Stan Love covered it up.”
Star gasped.
Her mother steadied herself with a chair and let out a yoga hum.
Angela held her hand out, palm out. “I knew something was going to happen today.”
Charlotte didn’t understand. It was like she couldn’t get the words straight in her mind.
Until Sam spoke. “So, my dad wrecked the truck?”
His voice was small, quiet, and uncertain.
Charlotte rushed to him and put her arms around him. “Oh, Sam.”
He shrugged out of her grip and turned an angry face to her. “Dad lied?”
Her heart beat fast. She didn’t know how to answer. “It’s okay, baby.”
He frowned. “I just want the truth.”
Charlotte didn’t know what to say.
Her mother moved forward and crouched in front of him. “The truth is that we are sorting things out. We’ll be honest with you when we find out all of the answers. You have so many people that love you. We all want you to feel safe and know that we love you.”
He hesitated and then nodded. He looked up at Ryan. “Do you want to go look in the telescope with me?”
Tears budded in Ryan’s eyes. “I can honestly say that nothing would make me happier.”
Sam grinned. “Really? Now?”
Ryan nodded. “Give me two minutes with your mother then I’ll be out.”
Sam darted out the door.
Charlotte couldn’t stop the rush of emotions that swept over her.
Richard cleared his throat. “I have other news, too.”
Charlotte stared at Ryan and didn’t think that anything could top the news she’d just heard.
Ryan turned to her mother. “If you’ll still have the Hardmans, we still want to be your business partners.”
Her mother stumbled back and held onto Charlotte’s arm. “What?”
Richard moved forward, holding out a folder. “All the papers are in order. I took the liberty of transferring the necessary funds to the IRS this afternoon. All you have to do is sign the papers, and the Hardman’s and the Talon’s are officially partners.”
Her mother laughed. “I can’t believe it.”
Charlotte laughed, too, as she looked at Ryan.
Ryan grinned at her and winked at her mother. “So what do you say, Sara? Will you throw your hat in with an old ranch hand?”
Her mother whooped and leapt forward to hug Ryan. “Oh, praise the Lord, you’ve finally come home.”
Chapter 52
One week later.
Charlotte still didn’t like to look at her reflection. That’s why she didn’t pause to check her hair when she got to her mother’s back door.
The bruises were healing nicely, but the pain had nothing to do with that. She flung back the door and balanced the cake in one hand while holding the door for Sam.
He followed her with a bag of chips in one hand and a bag of carrots in the other. “Do you think Ryan and I could look in the telescope tonight?”
Charlotte smiled. She couldn’t explain how good it felt to be gathering, once again, with the Hardman family at her parents’ table. “Absolutely.”
Star was already there. She and Charlotte’s mother were moving the autumnal decorative placements to different spots on the table. Star grinned and gave her an up and down. “I like the top, but the jeans are old.”
Charlotte shrugged and set the cake on the counter. She stuck her chin in the air. “I like my jeans.”
Angela looked up from a pot of something that smelled beefy and hearty and comforting. Sean stood next to her with two different open bottles of herbs in his hands and a slightly puzzled look on his face. Angela pulled the spoon out of the stew and blew on it. “Will you taste this and tell me if it needs more rosemary? He’s no help.”
“Hey,” Sean protested, “I’m an expert chef. I’m the one that cooks in our house.”
Charlotte agreed and relished the sweet awesomeness of her friend’s creation. “It’s perfect.”
Beau strode in and smacked Star on the butt. He turned to Sean. “Did you say you were the cook? Is that what you call it?”
Star smacked him in the shoulder. “Hands off.”
“You like it.” Beau laughed and took Charlotte into a big hug. “How are you?”
Charlotte let herself be hugged. “I’m good.”
Ryan walked into the room, and their eyes met. He leaned on the doorway.
Sam immediately went to stand beside him. “Hey, I found a new constellation on the internet that I think we could see from here.”
Sam, Ryan, and Charlotte had had several long talks over the past few days about what it meant to have Nathan in jail and what it meant to have Ryan be his biological father. Nathan and Joe Watkins had both been put in jail until the state put their case together.
Surprisingly, Sam seemed very grown-up about it. Charlotte still worried, but she figured she would take a page from her mother and have faith that kids were resilient.
Ryan gave Sam a high five. “Sure thing.”
Her heart picked up speed as she looked at Ryan. He wore dark jeans and a simple white t-shirt. He had his hat off, but she saw the imprint of it around his head. This moment reminded her so much of growing up with him. Him—standing just like that in the doorway talking to her father. Him—wearing jeans and a white t-shirt. Him—turning to her with that look that told her there was nowhere else he wanted to be except right here staring back at her. He tilted his chin up, gesturing for her to come to him.
She moved toward him.
Sam ran for the back door. “How long until dinner?”
Her mother pulled him in for a quick hug. “You have ten minutes tops. Don’t go too far.”
Sam rushed out the door.
Ryan gently pulled her into him. The smell of his fresh rain cologne surrounded her. The solidness of his chest made her feel so good, so right, so exactly the way she’d always remembered it feeling. He kissed her softly on the cheek and inspected her bruises. A slight frown touched his lips for a second. Then he kissed the worst of the bruises even more lightly. “I missed you.”
Warmth surged through her, starting in her chest and flushing down her arms. It was the warmth of the sunshine penetrating through on a dark, winter day. “I missed you, too.”
Without warning, she noticed the quiet. Everyone stood there watching them.
Ryan followed her gaze and stood up straighter, folding her tighter into his arms. “If you all want a show, I’ll give you a show.”
Charlotte laughed and dipped into his kiss.
“She’s still my daughter, Ryan, and there’s a no smooching rule in this house.” Her mother’s voice was extra playfully firm and commanding.
They all laughed.
Ryan tugged her to his side and kept his hand in hers. “I have something I want to talk to everyone about before dinner.”
Charlotte searched his face and her stomach knotted. He was serious. Very serious. He looked at his phone, and she heard another car driving down the road. Ryan grinned. “They’re right on time.”
Charlotte stared at the window and saw Richard’s red Porsche moving down the driveway. “What is he doing here?”
Ryan squeezed her hand. “You’ll see.”
Her mother went to the front door and greeted not just Richard, but Alan, too.
Her stomach turned to knots. “What’s going on?”
Ryan winked at her and moved to hug his friends. “You were almost late, Richard.”
Richard kissed her on the cheek and frowned at Ryan. “No, my friend. I’m never late.”
Alan laughed and shook her hand. “So nice to finally meet you.”
Her mother shooed all the others. “Everyone come into the living room for this.”
Beau, Sean, Angela, and Star all greeted R
ichard and then introductions to Alan were made.
Charlotte looked at her mother. She was in on this, too? “What is that about?”
Ryan tugged her with him into the living room, and a slow grin spread over his face. “You always hated being out of the loop.”
She smacked him playfully on the shoulder. “You bet I do.”
Her mother looked at Ryan expectantly. “We have an announcement.”
Ryan tightened his grip on Charlotte’s hand.
The pit of her stomach flip-flopped. This was crazy.
Her mother’s smile widened. “I’m selling the ranch.”
Ryan moved in front of Charlotte and reached for her hand.
“I—” Charlotte didn’t know what to do, and the look in Ryan’s eye confused her.
Abruptly, he got down on one knee. “I asked her this once, and it didn’t go so well.”
Everyone went quiet.
Ryan grinned, and Charlotte wondered if she’d be able to contain the emotion that bubbled inside of her.
“But I thought I should ask it again. Charlotte Montgomery Talon—will you marry me?”
A surging, flowering happiness fell over her in a cleansing wave. Her eyes instantly filled, and her nose felt runny.
Her mother laughed behind them. Charlotte turned to look at her. Her face was radiant and happy and smug.
Charlotte laughed.
Angela squealed and Star beamed at her.
Ryan pulled a ring out of his pocket. It wasn’t in a box or tied with a ribbon or put on a silver plate, but it was his mothers. He held it out. “Char, will you marry me? Will you start a life with me and seal a destiny that started a long time ago?”
Her hand trembled as she touched the ring. “Yes.” More tears fell. “I would be honored.”
A cheer went up from the group and Ryan gently slid the ring onto her finger.
He stood and she kissed him.
The back door slammed, and Sam rushed in. He stopped when he saw her—her hand in Ryan’s. He frowned. “What’s happening?”
Charlotte stayed next to Ryan and held out her hand to him. “Sam, can you come here?”
