Enchanted Enough, page 22
“That fifth rider in the back there, behind…” Uncle Ty’s voice trailed off.
“Beck,” Uncle Brock added.
Josh looked around at all of us like we were crazy. “Yeah, of course it’s always been there. You have to look hard to see it, though. Rose pointed it out to me a long time ago.”
Everyone stared at Aunt Kaylee.
“Why are you all looking at me like that?”
It was then I noticed Beck sitting down on the sofa. He looked like he’d just seen a ghost.
“What are the odds that you paint this painting, and it comes to life over twenty-five years later?” Uncle Tanner asked.
“I mean, the sky often looks like that at sunset, and I don’t really remember why I painted the four brothers.”
“It’s not four brothers,” Beck softly said. “It’s me with my three uncles, and my father watching over me, over all of us.”
A chill ran down my spine, and I was pretty sure everyone else felt the same thing.
“How is that possible?” Aunt Kaylee whispered, dropping into a chair with a hand over her mouth. “But he’s right. Beck is right.”
Everyone remained silent for a good two minutes before Josh said, “I cannot wait to tell the guys at school my mother can see into the future!”
Chapter Twenty-Three
BECK
I stared at my grandfather’s name on my phone, willing myself to make the call.
My head felt like it was spinning. After the whole painting thing at Ty and Kaylee’s, I’d taken Avery out to eat in Hamilton, and then we went back to the hotel room I still had booked. I told myself I was simply going to hold her, but somehow, she knew I needed to escape from the world for a bit. I didn’t want her to think I was using her for that reason, and I told her so. She had other plans.
She slowly started to undress me, and before I knew it, we were making love, and the only thing I could think about was the woman kissing me so tenderly. After, we both got dressed in silence, and when I took her home, I cupped her face in my hands and desperately wanted to tell her that I was falling in love with her, but the words wouldn’t leave me. Not yet.
There was something I needed to do before I could say those three words.
Drawing in a deep breath, I tapped Granddad’s name and listened to the phone ring. It was early morning still back in Texas, so I knew he’d be at his desk, preparing for the day.
“Beck, it’s about time I’ve heard from you. When that assistant of yours comes back, I’m firing her. She hasn’t answered her damn phone once!”
I closed my eyes and prayed for patience. “She’s on vacation, Granddad. I told her not to answer the phone. She works hard and deserves some time away with her husband and kids.”
“She has kids?” he asked. “I didn’t even know she was married.”
My hand went to the back of my neck, where a sudden throbbing pain started.
“Forget about her. When are you coming home from this foolish trip of yours?”
“That’s what I’m calling you about. I’m going to be staying longer.”
I could see my grandfather right now, his face full of pure rage as he stood and started to pace across the expanse of his office.
“I don’t believe I heard you correctly. You’re staying longer?”
“You heard me correctly. Maybe another few weeks…or more.”
The sound of his fist hitting the desk caused me to jump. “I demand that you come home right now, Beck Dahlstrom. This is your home. This is where you belong. Not up in the frozen tundra. Is it a woman? That Ava girl you mentioned?”
“Her name is Avery, and she’s part of the reason.”
He cursed. “For the love of God, Beck. You can get a woman anywhere! If you’re still trying to get over Rachel, just find someone else here. In the end, they’re all the same when the lights get turned off.”
I could feel the anger rushing through my body. “This has absolutely nothing to do with Rachel. She hasn’t crossed my mind in a very long time, Granddad. This is more about my family in Montana.”
He huffed. “Your family is here. I raised you, sent you to school, gave you a very good life. Are you willing to turn your back on that? Not to mention the inheritance you’ll be getting from me?”
I rolled my eyes. Money was everything to my grandfather, and had been ever since I could remember. “I believe it was my mother who paid for my education, I simply went to the college you insisted I go to. And I don’t need your money. You and I both know that.”
My grandfather was well aware that I had a hefty amount of money in a trust my mother had left for me. My mother’s mom came from a wealthy family in the Boston area. They were old money, and I’m pretty sure that was why my grandfather had married my grandmother to begin with. When she passed, everything was left to my mother since she and my grandmother were the only family left, except for a few distant cousins. The amount of money was insane, and after selling some properties in Boston, my mother made even more money. Much to my grandfather’s dismay, Mother wouldn’t let him tell her what to do with the money. She’d put most of it into a trust that would go to me, should anything have happened to her.
He sighed into the phone. “Beck, you’re all I have left in this world. I can’t run this business without you.”
I laughed. “I’m low on the totem pole, Granddad. You’ve always handled the business just fine without me.”
“You’ve had to learn every aspect of the business, Beck. I couldn’t just make you vice president of the whole damn company. It doesn’t work that way. You have to earn it so you have the respect of your employees. That was how my father did it, and his father before him. You’re a Dahlstrom, Beck. Not a Shaw. A Dahlstrom, and that’s what you’ll always be. Nothing can change that.”
“Do you know how easy it would be to legally change my name, Granddad? I would be a Shaw if my father had lived. My mother would have been happy if only my father would have…”
My voice trailed off. My father would have what? Been more careful? Taken fewer risks if he’d known he was going to be a father?
I pushed a hand through my hair and internally cursed. “There’s more to life than a last name.”
He laughed. “Your last name is everything. People stop and take notice of you because of that last name. You get respect. People look up to you and envy what we have.”
“I don’t care about any of that.”
“Bullshit.”
I wanted to argue with him. I knew I didn’t crave the same things as my grandfather…but what did I want?
A family. A real family. A family that loved me for who I was, not what I could do for them. A family that wanted me to come over for big dinners and game nights. What did I have with my grandfather?
Work. Money. And more work.
Deciding arguing was pointless, I said, “Listen, I’m going to stay a few more weeks. I’ll let you know when I book my flights.”
“You’re not going to budge on this?”
I shook my head, even though I knew he couldn’t see me. “No, I’m not.”
“Fine. Waste time with your newfound family. But I want you to know I’m having them investigated. Just like I tried to tell your mother and she wouldn’t listen to me, they only want your money.”
Closing my eyes, I sighed. “Granddad, they don’t need my money.”
“Ha! Everyone wants more money.”
Resisting the urge to tell him that he was the only one who felt that way, I said, “I’ll check in with you in a few days. If you have something pressing, send it to me. I’m sure I can take care of it from here.”
He grunted, then said, “I have a meeting I need to get to.”
I started to say goodbye, but the line went dead. With another sigh, I dropped my phone to the bed, staring at nothing.
Avery and I walked hand in hand along the road leading to the future garden for her new business. A light dusting of snow had fallen last night, giving everything a clean look, but the air didn’t feel that cold. That, or I was getting used to it.
“We haven’t really spoken a whole lot since last night, after we left the hotel,” she said, gazing up at me.
I blew out a long breath. “I know. I’m sorry, I’m stuck in my own head.”
Squeezing my hand, she replied, “It’s okay. I just want to make sure it isn’t something to do with me?”
Stopping, I turned to face her, and she faced me. “You’re the best thing about my life right now, Avery. It’s just that I’m feeling a bit lost at the moment. Spending the day with my uncles yesterday was great. I never laughed so much in my life, and I felt so at peace. I don’t know how to describe it. Then that painting…it really threw me.”
“I imagine it would. It’s crazy that Kaylee painted that, and she hadn’t even realized she’d painted a fifth rider.”
We started walking again, and I saw the survey markers laid out for what would be the future gardens and greenhouse for Avery and Emily’s flower subscription business. “Wow, that’s a lot of land.”
She smiled. “Ten acres!” Doing a little jump, she looked at me and grabbed my arm. “Ten acres, Beck. Of nothing but beautiful flowers! I’m so excited for spring, I can hardly think straight.”
Her happiness was infectious, and I found myself smiling so big, my cheeks ached. “Have you gotten your website going?”
“Not yet. I haven’t found a web designer who can accommodate us as soon as we’d like. We met with the tech guy from the community center, but turns out he’s not able to get started for at least a few months. We were hoping to have it up as soon as possible, so we can start getting the word out and have people subscribing for late spring and summer. It’s already mid-March, so that is top priority.”
She looked out over her newly acquired land, no doubt already seeing rows and rows of flowers.
“I can do it for you.”
Spinning around, she gaped at me. “What?”
Shrugging, I said, “I can build your website for you.”
Her eyes went wide. “You know how to do that?”
I laughed. “My grandfather has basically made me learn everything about running a business. From my first job working in the mail room, to designing and maintaining the websites, to knowing how to do the accounting.”
It was obvious that she was attempting to contain her excitement. She cleared her throat and calmly said, “We can pay you, of course.”
Grabbing her coat, I pulled her to me roughly. “The only payment I want is you.”
Biting down on her lower lip, she gave me a flirty look from beneath her lashes, and I was once again struck by how beautiful her eyes were. I could get lost in them for days. “I know a place where I can give you a down payment right now.”
My brows lifted. “Really? I’m listening.”
Taking my hand, she led me back toward her parents’ place. The Littlewood Ranch had two homes on it, if you only counted the cattle ranch side. What they called the main house, where Dirk and Merit lived, and the original ranch house, which was now Bradly’s place. On the side that was Merit’s family farm, there was the original farmhouse, now home to Merit’s brother Michael, and an apartment above a huge barn, where Mackenzie normally stayed. But she was currently living with Bradly because her sister, Emily, and her fiancé, Doug, would be arriving in Hamilton in a few weeks after moving from New York.
“Where are we going?” I asked, as she went straight to my rental.
“Get in, and I’ll show you.”
Doing as she said, I started the car. “Where to?”
“The other barn.”
I frowned. “The other barn?”
Before she could reply, a knock on my window caused us both to jump, and Avery let out a small scream.
Turning, I saw Dirk smiling at us.
“I swear, it’s like they can sense when I’m about to have sex.”
Snapping my head to look at her, I hissed, “Avery!”
“Roll your window down!” Dirk called out, knocking on said window again.
“Hey, Daddy, what’s up?” Avery asked, leaning forward to look at her father.
“Your mother wanted to know if you two kids wanted to have lunch with us. She made chicken pot pie.”
Avery said, “I’m not hungry, thank you.” At the same time, I said, “That sounds amazing!”
She punched me on the side of the leg, and I stifled a grunt.
“Great! Get out of the car and let’s head on in. By the way,” Dirk said as he opened my door while I turned off the engine, “did you see the surveyed area?”
That caused Avery to brighten up. “We did! It’s so huge, Dad. Are you sure you can afford to give up that much land?”
He simply chuckled and put his arm around her as they walked toward the house. “Anything for you, princess. Besides, that is nothing compared to the rest of the ranch and farm, Avery. It’s the least we could do for you.”
Frowning at his use of my pet name for Avery, I decided I needed to find another one immediately. I could not be using the same one as her father. I shivered at the very idea.
“Are you coming, Dahlstrom, or what?” Dirk called back to me.
It was then I realized I’d stopped walking. “Yes! I’m coming.”
Avery glanced over her shoulder and gave me a look that said I could have been coming…but in a totally different way. I couldn’t help but smile and wink at her.
The moment we stepped into the house, I drew in a deep breath, wowed by the scent of Merit’s cooking. I took Avery’s coat before her father could and hung it up, then did the same with mine.
“That smells heavenly,” Avery said, grabbing my hand and dragging me through the house to get to the kitchen. “Mom! I haven’t had your pot pie in so long. Did you make sourdough bread too?”
Merit grinned. “I sure did.”
“I’m starving,” Avery declared.
Dirk glanced at me with one brow arched. “It’s funny how she got her appetite back so quickly.”
Deciding it was best if I said nothing, I pressed my lips together tightly and acted like I hadn’t heard him. The corner of his mouth twitched with a hidden smile.
When I asked Merit what she needed help with, I soon found myself setting the table for four in the eat-in kitchen. Avery asked her father if she could open a bottle of wine, and he said yes, which surprised me since she wasn’t old enough to drink.
“Don’t look at me with those judgmental eyes, Dahlstrom. She was drinking over in France before she came home.”
Holding my hands up, I replied, “No judgment here. At all.”
Avery laughed. “My father has let me and Bradly drink a bit of wine since we were like twelve.”
That time, I couldn’t hold back my surprised expression. Dirk simply popped a piece of bread into his mouth and winked at me.
Leaning into Avery’s ear, I whispered, “Your parents were cool as hell, weren’t they?”
She smiled. “They did let their fifteen-year-old daughter go off to France alone.”
“Touché.”
We sat down to eat and soon fell into an easy conversation. Dirk and I talked about the cattle ranch some. I asked Merit what it was like to grow up on a farm…and then Avery decided to make an announcement.
“Mom, Dad, I have something I need to tell you.”
Both Merit and Dirk turned to me with looks on their faces that made me slide my chair back a bit.
“This has nothing to do with Beck.”
They both focused back on their daughter, and I released the breath I’d been holding.
“Is it good or bad?” Dirk asked, shooting a warning look in my direction nonetheless, before looking back at Avery.
“A little of both.”
It was my turn to look at her. I had no idea what she was about to say.
“Morgan and Georgiana offered the apartment over the shop for me to live in, and I said yes.”
Oh no. Oh shit. This isn’t going to be good.
My eyes swung over to see Merit and Dirk, both blinking at their daughter.
“You just got back home?” Merit said, or maybe asked. I wasn’t sure.
“What do you mean, you said yes?” Dirk asked, dropping his fork to the plate, causing a loud clattering sound.
Avery glanced at me, silently asking for help. I slowly shook my head. She was on her own with this one.
Sitting up taller, she cleared her throat. “I just think it’s best if I move out.”
“Why?” they both asked at once.
For a moment, it seemed like Avery wasn’t going to come up with an answer—then she closed her eyes briefly. “Because the other day, I heard the two of you having sex in Dad’s office.”
I dropped my head back and groaned, “Oh God.”
“Wh-wh-what?” Merit asked, clearing her throat.
“So what? It’s our house,” Dirk responded.
Avery’s mouth opened at the same time Merit hit Dirk on the arm.
“What? It is our house, and if we want to have sex in my office, we will.” He narrowed his eyes at Avery. “What were you doing at my office door?”
Her eyes widened. “The door was left open. And I didn’t see anything. I came home to change from work before I went to Aunt Kaylee and Uncle Ty’s, to meet up with Beck. I went looking for you to say goodbye and heard a noise coming from the office, so I went to investigate—but don’t worry, that will never happen again!”
Merit buried her face in her hands and groaned. Then she suddenly dropped her hands into her lap and glared at Dirk. “I told you we shouldn’t have done it in your office.”
“We always do it in my office when the mood strikes.”
I started to excuse myself, but Dirk and Merit both told me to sit back down. I quickly did.
“If you would have been a little bit quieter—”
“Me?” Merit shrieked.
“Actually, I think it was you whom I heard first, Dad.”
I kicked Avery under the table, and when she looked at me, I mouthed not helping.
Dirk leaned back in his chair and folded his arms over his chest. “I’m not going to apologize for having a healthy sex life with my wife.”
