Page 38 of Wilde Hearts

I closed my eyes and whispered, “Fucking hell.”

Later that day, I found my father alone in the kitchen, his head stuck in the freezer.

“Looking for something?” I asked.

“Ice cream. Your mother hid it, and I have no idea where it is.”

I smiled. “I think she threw it out.”

My father shut the door and turned to look at me, a horrified expression on his face. “She threw it away?”

Nodding, I replied, “I believe so.”

“Well, shit.”

“Where’s Mom?” I asked, grabbing an apple from a bowl on the counter and holding it out to my father.

He rolled his eyes. “Can I get peanut butter with that?”

Laughing, I motioned for him to sit at the breakfast table. “Yes. Take a seat. I’ll cut it up for you.”

Dad sat down and started to speak, but I went first.

“Everything’s been taken care of. The checking account and all the bills.”

His eyes widened in shock. “What do you mean, it’s all been taken care of.”

“I paid all the bills and put back the money that was stolen from your savings account. I think tomorrow we need to go to the police department and file a report. Also, was Ryan the only one working on the ranch? Ensley mentioned he was.”

He nodded and rubbed at the back of his neck. “Tim and Jack, the ranch hands who have worked for me forever, retired this last year. I thought I could handle this place on my own, but I was wrong. I hired Ryan to help out. He’s a nice kid. Polite and all.”

I sighed. “Well, being polite doesn’t mean you’re honest.”

He frowned and looked confused.

“Does Mom know?”

He shook his head, looking at the table.

“Dad, when did you find out about the negative account?”

“The morning I had the heart attack.”

Nodding, I got to work on the apple while Dad got up and went to the pantry.

“What in the fuck is this?”

He walked out with a jar and showed it to me. “When in the hell did your mother change out my peanut butter?”

Dad was holding up a jar of all-natural peanut butter. I couldn’t help it; I laughed.

“Probably earlier today.”

He set the jar on the counter and returned to his seat. “I’ll pay you back every cent,” he said quietly.

“You will not, and I don’t want you worrying about it, Dad. I have money saved up. A lot of money. I’ve been living rent-free the last five years on the ranch, so it wasn’t a hardship for me to take care of it for you.”

His eyes filled with tears, but he blinked them away.