The Ranch (A Second Chance Romance)

“And she told you she wants you to be happy?” Nolan asked. “She said those exact words out loud? In front of your dad?”

I smirked. “Hard to believe, isn’t it?”

Of course, my mom had her opinions, and she could be as stubborn as my dad when she felt like it. But she normally kept it all behind closed doors—or at least tried to. She’d always expected Prue and me to act like polite little ladies when we were out and about, and she’d even done her best to tame Dad’s infamously wild temper. She’d had mixed results with all of us, but we’d more or less fallen in line over the years.

Our family had laid it all bare, though. All the things we’d been biting back and holding in for years spilled out right there in front of half the town.

It was a wonder she hadn’t had some kind of medical emergency before we’d finished.

“No wonder he looked so pissed,” Cooper said. “I guess I don’t need to ask, but did your dad take the news as well as your mom did?”

“Fun, Cooper, get serious. He didn’t. And that would be a pretty big understatement,” I confessed. “He said some pretty horrible things, which didn’t surprise me none. But no, he definitely isn’t on board with the idea.”

“And... how do you feel about that?” Nolan raised a brow. “If being with us means your relationship with your dad is going to be strained?”

“Strained?” I snorted. “You mean obliterated. Decimated. Non-existent after today.”

Cooper looked over at me as he backed the truck out of the parking lot. “You’re okay with that, though? A non-existent relationship with your family sounds pretty rough. He might come around.”

“It’s not my whole family,” I shrugged. “Just my dad. And yeah, it will probably be rough at times, but what can I do? I can’t force him to change his mind, and I refuse to live my life the way he dictates. So... here we are.”

“So here we are,” Nolan repeated. “Do you think he’ll come around? Eventually, I mean?”

I wasn’t sure how to answer. I hoped he would, for my sake as much as for his own. I’d learned that carrying around a bunch of anger and hurt feelings for years and years wasn’t a very fulfilling way to go through life. It wasn’t going to be how I lived my life in the future, but I didn’t want that for my dad, either.

Plus, even though I loved my mom, I had always been a daddy’s girl. It hurt my heart to hear him say those mean things about me. It had hurt even more to believe those were the last words we were likely to speak for a while.

“Perhaps he will,” I said, trying to sound more hopeful than I felt at that moment. “But I won't sit around holding my breath hoping for that day to come. I’m going to start living my life on my terms.” I looked at both of them and smiled. “With the two of you.”

“Damn, it’s good to hear you say that,” Cooper grinned. “It’s something I’ve waited my whole life for—and would have waited even longer if that’s what you’d wanted—for the three of us to be together like we’d talked about.”

“I’m sorry that I made all of us wait this long,” I said. “It kills me to think of all the time I wasted being stubborn.”

Nolan reached up to take my hand. “The important thing is that we got there in the end.”

“He’s right,” Cooper nodded. “You can’t blame yourself for what you didn’t know. Nolan and I did a stupid thing, and we’ve been paying for it ever since. I hate that we weren’t ever able to clear your name in all of it.”

“Until now,” Nolan added. “We’re going to start making things right. I promise we will.”

“I believe you,” I said. “And honestly, it doesn’t even matter to me anymore. I don’t care what people think of me as long as I get to be with the two of you. We still have a lot to talk about and a ton of details to work out between us, but I’m not worried. I love you both, and I’m ready to move forward together.”

“Together.” Cooper settled back in his seat with that same big grin on his face. “Damn, I love that word. He glanced over and reached out to put his hand on top of mine and Nolan’s. “Now, let’s get back to the house so we can celebrate.”

“Together?” I winked.

He and Nolan laughed. “Together,” they answered at the same time.

Cooper started driving, and we hadn’t been in the truck for many minutes when from a distance, all I saw were the flashing red and blue lights, but as we crept closer, it was easier to make out the police car parked in the middle of the road, completely blocking traffic.