Hitched (Steele Ranch 4)

She cocked her head to the side. “Sort of. I’m going to get a Coke. You guys want one?” she asked, walking into the kitchen.

We followed.

“Princess,” I prodded as she took a can from the fridge.

“When I was younger, I kept who my father was a secret because of my mother. She’d made it a secret and it was difficult enough dealing with her.” She held out a second can and I took it from her, wanting to do something with my hands other than making a fist. I hated her mother.

“I really dislike your mother,” King said, voicing my thoughts, skipping the word hate, although I knew that’s what he wanted to say.

He shook his head when offered a can of his own.

I popped the top, took a swig.

Sarah closed the fridge, moved to her small dining table set in front of a bay window that overlooked her snow-covered backyard. “When I was older, I kept it a secret because, well, I thought I owed it to my father. He paid for all of my college, housing, books. All of it so I didn’t have to work at the same time. Since he hadn’t told anyone about me, I chose to do the same about him.”

“You mean he paid for your silence,” King added, dropping into the chair across from her, his long legs sticking out across the wood floor.

I leaned against the counter, set the can down and crossed my arms over my chest.

She shook her head. “He paid for my col

lege—not that my mother knows that. He lived a year past that. Let it go. That’s not the point here.”

King pinched his lips together when he realized she wasn’t going to budge. She might not hate him, but we could.

“Even after, what, seven or eight months, I haven’t told my mother that I inherited. She thinks I didn’t get a dime and I want it to stay that way. The minute she heard he died, she called me. Asked if I’d inherited the ranch since I was his daughter, that it was owed to me. At the time, she didn’t know about the other sisters, no one did. She started making all kinds of plans about the main house, what she was going to do to it, the furniture she was going to buy, how she was going to sell all the animals and then talk with a developer to build a golf course or something.”

Oh shit.

“I lied. I told her I hadn’t even been named in the will. Riley is the executor of the estate and I asked him to keep me a secret. Since he’s my lawyer, he has followed my wishes. While people know now there are five daughters, no one knows one of them is me. Until now, until you.”

She took a sip of her drink, used the back of her hand to wipe her mouth. So unladylike, but I doubted she even knew she’d done it.

“Riley has helped me set up a trust for the money so it’s not obvious that it’s mine. But now, I guess it will be out there.”

“Why?” King asked.

“Because I’m marrying you.”

“That’s right, you are,” he said, taking her hand in his, kissing the knuckles in a remarkably gentle gesture. “But that doesn’t change a thing. I don’t give a shit about that money. If you want Riley to write something up, a pre-nup or whatever that’s fine, but he better do it tonight because you’ll be legally mine come morning.”

“And mine,” I added. “I don’t have a ranch to give my wife like King does.”

I didn’t. My dad was a dentist and my mom was a homemaker. While they weren’t rich, they’d certainly never hurt for money. I’d had everything I could have ever wanted growing up. The important stuff like family. Love. The safety of belonging. Sarah never had that.

Sarah stood and came over to me, wrapped her arms about me. I pulled her close, put my chin on the top of her head. “I don’t want to be rich,” she told me. “I never did. I like this house, my quiet life. I knew going in that a library science degree wasn’t going to make me lots of money.”

“A quiet life we can give you. As for this house? We won’t all fit. We’ll live at King’s ranch if that suits you. Lots of room for a family.”

She tilted her head up, smiled. “All right.”

I kissed her. There was no way I could resist. She tasted sweet like her drink and beneath, just like her.

“Where are you taking us later, princess?” I murmured, staring into her dark eyes, which were now hazy with need from the kiss. “Riley mentioned you bringing us with you somewhere.”

“To Steele Ranch. Sunday dinner.”

King stood, turned Sarah to face him, cupped her jaw with his hand. “I thought you wanted it to remain a secret.”