Page 70 of Promised to the Cowboy
Evie’s eyes fill again.
Jenna walks over and stops in front of her, taking Evie’s free hand. “I’ve stood where you’re standing. I know exactly what you’re afraid of. You’re waiting for someone to decide you’re too close to the monster to deserve a place here.”
Evie’s chin trembles. “It isn’t the same.”
“No,” Jenna agrees quietly. “It’s worse. Because it’s your father.”
She squeezes Evie’s hand. “But blood doesn’t make you him. I know what fear looks like.” She smiles sadly. “I’ve looked at it in the mirror.”
She looks around the room before her gaze settles on Jacob. “So before anyone in this family decides who Evie is, remember that every single one of you chose to believe me.”
Jacob closes his eyes for a second. When he opens them again, they look older somehow. “I believe you, Evie.”
His words surprise everyone, including Evie.
“I believe you didn’t know,” he continues, his voice rough. “I believe you aren’t responsible for what your father has done.”
He rubs a hand over his face. “But…”
The single word hangs in the room.
“I’ve watched this family bleed for years fighting that man’s company.”
His gaze drifts to Luna. “Watched Angus nearly lose the woman he loves.”
It moves to Kitty. “Watched Kitty lying in a hospital bed because somebody decided profit mattered more than people.”
His eyes find me. “And I watched Gabriel carry the weight of forged papers that made it look like he’d betrayed his family.”
Gabriel. Not son. Thirty years and he still reaches for my name instead.
He shakes his head slowly. “I’ve only just started getting my family back. I don’t know what to do with this.”
Jacob looks at Evie again. Not accusing. Just… heartbroken. “God, I wish we’d met under different circumstances.”
Evie lowers her eyes. “Me too.”
“You walked in carrying my granddaughter.” His eyes drop briefly to her stomach. “And the name of the man who’s beentrying to tear this family apart.” Jacob’s shoulders sag. “I don’t know how to hold both of those truths at the same time.”
Ben sets his coffee mug down. He’s been so quiet, I’d almost forgotten he was there.
“Jacob, I reckon you’re carrying two conversations in your head.”
Jacob lets out a weary breath. “Am I?”
“One’s about Alexander Voss. The other’s about this young woman standing in front of us.”
Ben’s gaze shifts to Evie. “I’ve watched her all day. Watched her laugh with Kitty. Watched her listen to Luna. Watched her fuss over Max. And I watched the way she looks at Gabriel when she thinks nobody’s paying attention.”
His eyes settle on me. “Son, I’ve known evil men. They don’t raise daughters who drive from Nevada to Montana to tell a man he’s gonna be a daddy. They don’t raise daughters who give a frightened mare more patience than most people give another human being.”
He shakes his head. “So don’t ask me to believe that Alexander Voss is standing in this room. Because he isn’t. Evie Gale is.”
Evie takes a slow, unsteady breath. “I appreciate what all of you are saying.” She looks at Ben, then Jenna, and finally at me. “I really do. But none of it changes what’s coming.”
She looks directly at Jacob. “I need you to understand something about my father. He doesn’t think the way normal people do. He doesn’t accept when people tell him no. I always thought it was business.” A sad smile touches her mouth. “I know now it never was.”
She looks around the room. “You’re fighting a man who doesn’t lose. He doesn’t simply want your land for what’s underneath it. He wants it because your family refused to give it to him.”
