West of Forever (Heartstone Ranch #1)(93)

This time he laughs once, but there’s no humor. “No harm to my family? What do you think dating her was going to do? Bring us all together?”

Her mother reaches across his lap and takes his hand. “Hush now, George. I saw the recording, and everything he says is true.”

Both of us stare at her, but Mr. Gatlin speaks first. “You saw the recording? And you…kept it to yourself?”

“Yes, because Lark was trying to fix things on her own, and you boys all have issues with rationality and the Stone family.”

He huffs. “I wonder why.”

She shakes her head with a smile. “Anyway, they fell in love, no different than you and I did.”

His eyes widen. “No different? Are you hearing yourself? He’s a Stone, Millie. A Stone.”

“And she loves him. I don’t care if he’s the Devil himself if he makes my little girl happy. Lark loves him, and I know our daughter—she couldn’t love someone if they weren’t worthy. Besides, he came from Ginny Hart, and that woman was lovely in every way. Let’s just say he has more of his momma in him than his daddy.”

In this moment, I see just how wonderful her mother is. She reminds me of my own mother. She’d be saying the same things, shutting down the hate that has festered between our families for far too long. Virginia—or Ginny, as everyone called her—Stone was the kindest woman I’d ever known. She would always roll her eyes whenever my father would rant about the Gatlins.

Mom was from a few towns over. She didn’t understand the family rivalry and thought it was ridiculous.

Mr. Gatlin huffs and looks to me. “If you love her, why didn’t you come to me like a man and tell me?”

Fair question, and hopefully he will accept my answer. “Because I didn’t want to complicate her life. I loved her too much to cause her pain. The idea of her family taking anything out on her because of me was too much. I wanted to protect her from it. I was willing to walk away if it meant she didn’t hurt any of you.”

He shifts his jaw side to side and looks away. “I see.”

Mrs. Gatlin’s eyes shine with approval. “Did you know I used to have coffee with your momma every week?”

Both Mr. Gatlin and I stare at her. “No, ma’am,” I say.

“You what?” he asks in disbelief.

Her smile grows. “We would get you kids off to school on Tuesdays and then meet up for coffee.”

“Millicent?” Mr. Gatlin nearly chokes on her name. “Are you kidding me?”

She rolls her eyes and then turns to me. “Your mother was a lovely woman. I miss her friendship. We knew we had to keep our meetings just between us for the same reason. That we had hardheaded husbands who wouldn’t understand. While I don’t think the road ahead for you both is easy, if you love each other, I hope you’re willing to fight against all the people who will be against you.”

“I am.”

Mr. Gatlin grunts. “Great.”

She smiles and winks at me. “Lark is worth it.”

“Lark is worth everything.”

“Good grief,” he mutters under his breath before speaking directly to me. “You better be worth it, because if you break her heart, I’ll break your neck.”

“Understood.”

I’ll never do anything to hurt her once I fix the mess I already made.









Chapter 38





Tristan




Sadie is holding my hand, trembling as we walk into the waiting room. Yesterday the doctor informed us he was considering taking Lark out of her coma and allowing her to wake on her own. The swelling has gone down, but he wanted to give it a little more time considering where she hit her head and how long it took before her brother found her.

I learned that Lark had set up a shortcut on her phone. It’s something she does with anyone she trains. When she told her phone she fell, it alerted two contacts that she chose with her location and a text stating she’d been hurt and needed help.

That’s how she was found so fast, and the doctors said it probably saved her life.

Deacon raced out to her and immediately got her medical care.

It’s really smart and something I plan to do with Sadie and my sisters.

“Daddy?” Sadie pulls my hand, stopping us both.

“Yes?”

“I don’t know if I should go in there. They probably hate me.”

I shake my head. “No one hates you, love. It’s me they hate.” I joke, but it’s also not a lie.

Her brothers are barely tolerating me, and, really, it’s only because Mrs. Gatlin threatened to put them in beds next to Lark if they did anything that might threaten her recovery. Yesterday I asked whether Sadie could come and explained why.

All of them agreed without hesitation—even her brothers.

Then it was my turn to threaten that if anyone made my daughter cry, I’d kill them.

“That’s not funny,” she says.

“I know. No one hates anyone today. We’re all here for Lark, okay?”

She nods. “Do they know it’s my fault?”

I cup her cheek. “Sadie, none of this is your fault. No one thinks you did anything wrong.”