Page 92 of The Secret
Guys have lied to me so often that I’ve wondered if I have a radar transmitting that I’m a gullible fool. How do my friends end up with trustworthy guys who care about them while I keep picking manipulative bastards? But I’ve seen nothing in Dan to suggest he’s manipulative at all. I turn over, curling into his warmth, my hand coming up to run through his blond chest hair. He closes his eyes and kisses my head.
“I’ve got no way of proving any of this to you, Liss. You can talk to Jed, but Linda is long gone.” He draws back, eyes fixed on mine. “You’re going to have to trust in what I tell you.”
I nod. I know I am.
“That’s why I asked if it matters.” He rolls into me. “You can’t keep bolting each time someone says something. We’re going to meet a lot of bumps in the road. You can’t doubt me at every turn.”
Silence settles over us while I think about what to say. “I didn’t really come back here because I was running away.” This is a half lie, I know—itwaspart of it.
He sighs and rolls onto his back. “What am I saying? That was too harsh. I’m sorry. Shit, I understand, Liss. I had an asshole father too. Not the same as yours I think, but he was terrifying. I learned at an early age to stay quiet, to say anything he didn’t like would result in a beating. So, my instinct in a lot of cases is to dodge questions or say as little as possible. We’ve both got our own crosses to bear. All I can say is I’ll try. I’ll try and tell you more about everything.”
I nod at this. “And I’ll try not to take off every time I get panicked.” I smile at him, and he laughs. “So … Jed will inherit all of it?”
Dan snorts. “The farm has been in Jed’s name for a while. The one reason we’ve still got it is that my father transferred it to Jed two years before he died, partly because of Linda, but also because he knew Jed would look after it. If we realize any assets after all the legal shenanigans, then yes, he will inherit everything. But despite his surliness, I trust him. It was always him and me against the world.”
I think about my siblings. Jed’s as grumpy as hell, but I can see he has a good relationship with his brother.
“He encouraged me to come here,” Dan adds.
“He did?”
“He’s not a bad guy, just cynical, and he’s good reason to be.” Dan chews his lip. “There’s a lot of money tied up in Dad’s business interests: Shares in companies, land, you name it. At the moment, it’s likely we’ll lose all of it in lawyers’ fees.” He lets out a long sigh. “Dad was a public figure and had so many hangers-on in his life. As we got older, it affected us too. Jed was always more prepared to be involved in my father’s life than I was. My father was a very controlling man, and I fought it and Jed decided it was easier to go with the flow, to do what my father wanted him to do. There was an endless round of women, drugs, and booze. The only good to come out of it was that Jed learned about the farm. My father liked to play the big chief, but he didn’t treat the staff well and couldn’t run a business. Jed worked out how to run it. I’m grateful now—we would have been lost without his knowledge.
“I should be living in Cape Town. In theory, the lawyers have started sorting my dad’s will out, but they’re fleecing us. I can already see how it’s going to go: We’re five months in and they are still talking about the scope of the dispute. It’s in their interests to drag it out.”
He rolls over and curls into me, pressing up tight, arms coming around and pulling me into him.
“It’s one of the things I really liked about you when I met you. I mean you’re so bright and beautiful, Liss.” He leans back and strokes the hair away from my face when he says this. “But you don’t care about money—you’re always giving so much to help other people. Your drive and fire were inspiring then, and still are. How you do all this, work here, make money, go back?” He shakes his head.
I sigh. “Sometimes I think it’s stupid. Like I’ve spent my whole life trying to prove my father wrong.”
Dan laughs and moves, hardening between us as I shift my hips against him, forcing a groan from his throat. “I can’t lie in bed with you naked and not get a hard-on. Stay still, woman.”
I grin at him.
“Anyway.” He frowns. “What were we talking about? Oh, yeah. Proving your dad wrong. I’ve attempted to do that all my life too, and now he’s dead. You know he’ll never say sorry, right? He’ll always be an asshole.”
“Yeah, I guess. It’s significantly depressing. I want an apology; he makes everyone’s life a misery.”
“What’s happened with him?”
“My sister Lauren’s long-term boyfriend, David, finally proposed to her. They’ve been together for years. David asked my father’s permission—old fashioned, I know, but that’s the guy he is. My dad said no. Lauren doesn’t fight my dad normally, and she and David are both amenable, keep-the-peace-type people, but she’s mad and my family are in uproar about it. So I decided I needed to come here and have her back.”
“Against your dad?”
“Yeah.”
He grins at me. “Are you going to sort it out like you sort everything, Liss?”
I can’t believe the way he sees me sometimes. “Lauren told him where to stuff it. I’m just encouraging her not to invite him to the wedding.” I grin back at him. “And my mom is digging her heels in with my dad, which is radical for her.”
“Like mother like daughter?”
“Not at all. She never crosses him. I think that’s why everyone’s so jumpy.”
He hums at his. “My dad was such as bastard: If anything didn’t go his way, he dealt with it with his fists. I was under his thumb all my life. Going to Harare was the best thing that ever happened to me. I still can’t quite believe he agreed to it.”
“He paid for it?”
