34. Remi

Chapter 34

Remi

“L et me get this straight.” Myles leaned against the handle of the broom in his hand. “You’re confronted with a woman who was obsessed with you enough to fly here and surprise you on a holiday, and you throw the keys at her and say make yourself at home, then you run after another woman?”

“Sounds about right.” I gripped the black trash bag tighter and shoved the fluffy stuff from my gutted pillows into it.

With the demands of the neighborhood and the farm, I hadn’t had time to clean my room after Kathryn destroyed it. We’d managed to repair the tornado in the living room and kitchen. She’d broken all our dishes and cut holes in our couch cushions. The TV hadn’t even been spared from her rage. She’d taken one of our tractor seat stools and pummeled the hell out of it.

In an amazing show of strength, the Samsung screen hadn’t broken, just the pixels behind it. The only image that came on were vertical line shards connected like a puzzle. Sure, the TV would never function again, but if left on, it could be viewed like a digital Jackson Pollock.

“I deserve everything she did to me.” After Angie had left me in the barn, her awful words I’m such a fool tainting the air like a week-old carcass, I’d done some introspection.

I’d returned to find the house trashed and …

“She stole your truck.”

… my truck gone. Maybe Kathryn had gone a little overboard. Still, I should never have treated her like an object.

“Have you filed a stolen vehicle report?” Myles swept his pile into the dustpan.

“I can buy a new truck.”

He shook his head and walked out of the room without responding. I could send the police after Kathryn, but why ruin her life when I had plenty of money to pay for the damages? Of course, all expenses would be put on my business account.

This time, I’d buy myself a brand-new truck.

The first thing I did after discovering the mess Kathryn had left was call Matthew. He hadn’t answered, the coward.

But nothing hurt more than Angie’s rejection. Through all my mind-numbing cultivating—I straight-up ignored her refusal to let me use the tractors now, at Tony’s request—I hadn’t been able to keep myself from reliving what went down in the barn.

I’d told her I loved her; then she’d called herself a fool. I hated this feeling. If this is what love is, how do I turn it off?

Myles walked back into the room sans broom. “Are you sure you’re in love with Angie?”

I dropped the bag and leaned back onto my mattress. “We’ve been over this.”

“But you’ve never been in love before. This is foreign territory for our friendship. You’re usually the one in my position, helping me piece together my shredded heart.”

His latest love of his life, Samantha, had nearly destroyed him when she left him. I’d be no better off if Angie cut all ties with me. Which was where our relationship was headed? On a one-way collision course with a bull whose nut-sack had been shot with a paintball gun.

“You could have influenza, maybe COVID?” Myles persisted. “I hear the brain fog can cause all sorts of problems.”

“I’m not sick. Just in love.” Hearing my own words made me want to gag, and yet I couldn’t keep the goofy grin off my face. Who am I? Did I fully transform into a small-town romance groupie?

It’d be a lot easier if I didn’t love Angie. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy their land out from under them. Now with my feelings involved, I lost my killer instinct. For days, I did nothing but try and find scenarios in which I took Angie’s land from her, and she still ended up with me. Not Smoot.

Myles leaned against the broom handle. “Measles can cause hallucinations! You have the measles.”

“Nope. Sorry. I love her.” The more I said it, the more I knew it to be true.

“I think I should report you to the CDC. You’ve got all the symptoms.” Myles kept going as if I hadn’t spoken.

“Ha. Which CDC are we talking about here?”

“The most annoying one, of course.” Myles scratched the back of his head and took a couple swipes at the floor with the broom. “Look. I know I’ve put a lot of pressure on you with our Texas Bros dream, but if you love Angie, I’ll support you in whatever you decide to do. We’ll figure it out.”

I knew Angie well enough now to come up with the basic equation: CDC buys land equals Angie hating me forever. I’d forfeit any chance I had at winning her over. If I didn’t buy it, the dream Myles and I had been working on since grade school went up in smoke. My phone buzzed in my pocket. I looked at my screen, and my far-too-sentimental response froze in my throat.

Matthew.

“You might want to leave the room,” I said to Myles instead.

“He finally called back, huh? Took him a while to grow some balls.” He walked into the living room.

With a tense swipe of my finger, I answered the FaceTime call. “What the hell were you thinking, sending her here?”

“You need to focus. That farmer’s daughter has made you soft.”

“The hell she has. You’ve jeopardized everything, you asshole.”

Matthew adjusted his glasses. He might not show much emotion, but I’d figured out his tells over the years. Any time he touched his glasses, he was pissed. Point for me.

“Stooping to name-calling? And we’re not even two minutes into the call.”

“What did you expect when you pull a dick move like that?” I paced the room, now clean of debris thanks to Myles. “She stole my truck and trashed the model home.”

“Then you shouldn’t leave me to do your dirty work.”

“I’m not buying their land.” I stopped moving, my unfocused world becoming clear. “And I’ll make for damn sure you won’t be able to buy it either.”

Money, goals, and dreams didn’t matter if Angie wasn’t in my life.

“You can’t do that.” Matthew’s normally pale complexion flushed red.

I’d always been a burr in his coat, and now I had an opportunity to really hurt him, and my father.

“Oh?” I leaned close to the screen. “I’m the one who’s formed a relationship with Tony and Nora. I’m the one who’s been with them every day. You don’t think I know how to do my job well enough to manipulate them to exactly where I want them to be?”

“Don’t do this.” He rubbed his forehead and temples, just like he’d done when I’d filled his suit pockets with gravel. “Not because of a girl. She’s not worth it.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” I held the phone back and placed my free hand over my heart. “She’s worth everything I have.”

“That won’t be much once I cut off your magical business credit card. You won’t have access to the big pot of money at the end of the rainbow.”

“So, you’re a leprechaun now?”

“Shut up.” Matthew sounded too much like a teenager, not a business tycoon. “You and I both know you’ll come crawling back. Without money, you can kiss all your extreme-sports hobbies goodbye. I won’t fund them anymore.”

Matthew couldn’t handle being in the spotlight. He didn’t like crowds, press interviews, or dealing with people, which was another reason the company needed me. Maybe they’d replaced me, but at this point, I didn’t care.

Tony and Nora were far happier than my parents and lived on next to nothing for most of their lives. I’d much rather live like they had, than own multiple properties, marbled mansions with gold fixtures as cold and unwelcoming as stone, or even my Bugatti … Okay, I had to admit, that one would be hard to give up. Maybe someday I could eke out enough of a living to buy a Corvette.

For the first time in my life, I didn’t feel lost. I had a place, and that was here with Angie. If only she’d look past Smoot and see me—the real me.

“Your threats don’t scare me.” I hung up the phone, the bright call screen replaced by the wallpaper I’d taken of my baby corn.

No more skydiving, BASE jumping on the Greek Isles, no more rappelling down the world’s tallest building in Dubai. I tightened my grip on the edge of the bed, my dark-blue comforter bunching in my hands. Somehow, even without the financial backing of my family, I’d figure out a way to take Angie on as many adventures as possible. I wanted to share everything with her—experience all that life offered.

Almost instantly, my phone started buzzing again. Although tempted to ignore it, I picked it up, ready with a fresh wave of anger. But that all eased out of me when I saw who the caller was.

I answered and held the phone to my ear. “Lili?”

She didn’t bother with a greeting. “Angie just left my house. She’s going rappelling with Smoot. I’m worried.”

Of course, she’d keep going with Smoot. Even after I told her I loved her. With Smoot being the Darwin-in-action he was, I didn’t trust him with Angie’s life.

“Where are they at?”

“City of the Rocks. She said he has something special planned.”

“City of the Rocks?”

My conversation with Smoot at the bar.

Her favorite place.

My vision swam, and my head dizzied like it did when I saw blood.

Smoot was going to propose.

And maybe get her hurt in the process. I jumped into action. Without properly saying goodbye, I hung up. I pulled out my phone and opened the locator app, hoping Angie hadn’t uninstalled it.

A small dot pinged on my digital map. I looked heavenward. Thank the heavenly angels.

“Myles,” I called into the next room. “I need the keys to your car.”