22. Hailey

TWENTY-TWO

"There we go, girl. You are gorgeous, aren't you?" I was in one of the exterior covered corrals that ran the backside of the main stable, gently running my hand down the neck of the filly that had just arrived this morning, whispering love and peace into her ear.

She was a blue roan, a perfect melding of white and black, her coat appearing almost gray though her face and mane were dark.

She had those soulful inky eyes, which this morning were just a little on edge since she'd made the trek from my father's ranch to Cambrey Pines.

Five new horses had been purchased to be delivered throughout the month to keep up with the demand of the resort, and I planned to ease them in slowly.

Get them accustomed to their surroundings.

Make sure each was comfortable here and came to know this as their home.

"That's right, you are doing just fine," I murmured, rubbing that spot between her eyes and gazing at her, letting her know she could trust me.

"She is a beauty, isn't she?" The voice that came from behind brought a smile to my face, comfort wrapping me like a hug.

I swiveled to find my father on the other side of the metal railing, his arms draped over the top as he watched me interact with the horse.

"Why am I not surprised to see you here?" I almost teased. He might have been a savvy businessman, but he loved his horses. I thought he mourned a little bit each time one of them left his ranch.

"I had a couple beautiful girls I thought I'd better come check up on this morning."

His gaze was tender as he looked at me, and affection wound through my chest. I caressed down the mare's neck. "I think we're both doing pretty great."

I saw the second his expression dimmed in worry, as if he had a reason not to accept what I said.

"Is that true? You're really doing fine?" he urged.

My stomach clenched, and my teeth ground in an attempt to prepare myself.

I already knew what was coming.

Still, I played oblivious. "I shouldn't be?"

"Pruitt's in town." His voice sounded of an apology.

Incredulity coursed through my system.

Of course, Pruitt would go to my father.

Play the victim.

He'd blinded my father just as thoroughly as he'd blinded me, though my father hadn't been around enough to see the veil being peeled back.

He hadn't been exposed to the shady side, only seeing the pieces that Pruitt presented.

Part of the reason I was afraid to expose Pruitt was I didn't know what it would do to my father. If my father would somehow be implicated since he was the one Pruitt purchased his horses from.

Plus, my father would just be devastated all around.

Believing in someone that way. Supporting them. Trusting them. Then they turned right around and drove a two-foot blade through your back.

I released some of the dread I'd been carrying since last night.

At least now I knew how Pruitt was playing this.

For the time being, he was going to manipulate and twist and coerce rather than attempt to force.

I found some comfort in that. It bought me time. Time to figure out what I was going to do.

"He came to the house," I said, voice flat.

"He wants to see Maddie." There was my father, the peacekeeper.

Disbelief shook my head as I stepped away from the horse, and there was no keeping the spite out of my words that time. "Dad, he doesn't care a thing about Maddie."

"How could you say that? He's been a mess since you left."

I bet he'd been a mess since he could no longer use me as a cover. My name on those papers. It made me sick.

"I know you think you know him, and I know you only want what's best for me and Maddie, but trust me when I tell you that Pruitt is not the man you think he is."

Apprehension creased the edges of my father's eyes. "I'm not sure I know what you mean by that."

"It means he isn't the man for me, and I don't want anything to do with him, and I sure as hell don't want him around my daughter."

"I know sometimes successful men can be difficult, Hailey. Selfish. And I can only imagine he spent a lot of time away from home, and you likely felt ignored and neglected, but?—"

"This isn't a lonely housewife issue, Dad, and I need you to drop it because you don't understand."

"He's your husband, Hailey."

"He's not my husband," I defended.

At least I didn't consider him that, and I was praying to push through the divorce as quickly as possible.

He kept right on like he wasn't hearing me. "Times get rough, Hailey. That's all this is—a rough patch. And it's time you pick yourself up and fight through your problems the way I taught you to do when you were young. Stand by your commitments."

Hurt impaled my chest, and a harsh breath heaved from my lungs.

Taking the horse by the reins, I moved to the gate and opened it.

My father still rested right there beside it, concern deepening every line on his face. "I am fighting, Dad. I'm fighting for the life I want," I told him.

I saw the war go down in his spirit.

He wanted to support me, all while remaining staunch in what he believed to be right for me.

When my mother had died in a car accident when I was young, he'd been crushed.

Devastated that he couldn't give me the perfect life that they'd imagined.

Somewhere along the way, he'd turned to hoping for that perfect life for me.

"I think you need to hear Pruitt out," he pushed.

"He's said everything he needs to say." With that, I tugged at the reins, and I turned my back to him as I led the filly around the side of the stables to the entry at the far end.

A power tool whirred up the way, carried on the breeze, the sun blazing down from the endless expanse of blue sky and covering the scenery with glittering light.

My heart that had been pounding with regret and anger sped in a completely different way.

I slowed, stumbling to a stop.

Unable to look away.

Cody stood over his crew who were digging a long trench to put in a new watering system, and he pulled the cap off his head and dragged his fingers through his hair as he pointed at something and gave instructions.

Even in the distance, I could see the sheen of sweat that glistened his golden skin, his white tee dampened with the exertion. His big body towered like a sanctuary I had the foolish notion to run to.

He must have felt me staring because he shifted to look back at me.

His promises from earlier pummeled and bashed into my consciousness, battering in the sweetest way.

His oath to be there for us. To stand as a hedge of protection.

I kept worrying that would only make matters worse.

Inflame a situation that was already volatile.

At the brink of imploding.

The presence bristled beside me, and I turned to find my father glowering with loathing, hatred rolling.

Wave after wave.

"Please tell me you aren't acting a fool and messing around with that loser." His teeth gritted as he released the words.

Arrows of affliction speared through my spirit.

I struggled to get a breath of air in around the barbs of pain my father inflicted.

"I don't see how that's any of your business."

Horror creasing his face, he grabbed me by the wrist as I went to pass. "Tell me you wouldn't do something so reckless and stupid."

Air wheezed from my lungs.

"What I do is none of your concern. I know you think you know what's best for me, but I'm a grown woman, and I don't need you or anyone else to tell me what I need."

It wasn't like Cody and I were anything. But that didn't mean I was going to allow my father to debase Cody's name when he didn't know anything about him.

"Now, I need to get back to work." I wrenched my arm free of his hold and started down the path.

"Hailey." In an instant, my father's voice had changed, my name becoming a plea when he realized how offensive he was being. "Hailey, I'm sorry, I just…don't want you making mistakes you can't take back."

"I think this conversation is over."

He vacillated behind me, clearly wanting to continue, to apologize, to mold.

And how could I really blame him that he would never truly get it, but I'd chosen that. I'd chosen to keep him in the dark.

But I could blame him for judging. Judging a man like Cody when he was so much better than the garbage dressed as prestige that was Pruitt Russel.

Soon I might have to shed light on the secrets that I'd been keeping like a festering wound. A weight that made me sick to carry, guilt eating away at my conscience.

Soon, my father might really see.

"I love you, Hailey," my father murmured before he finally relented and strode back up the pathway to where he would have parked his truck on the other side of the stables.

He might have tried to hide it, but there was no missing the storm that raged around him.

Unease twisted my stomach when Cody caught the action, his giant body rigid as he watched my father leave.

And this mess I'd dragged him into? I was sure it'd just gotten dirtier.