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“Well, my uncle was going to give him the whole farm, for one. They had an arrangement. Why would he keep something like that from me? He knew I was working only to appease my mother.”

“Maybe he didn’t think you were willing to stay.”

Her head snapped toward him. “Willing to stay?”

“Weren’t you considering it?”

She looked down at her hands. The thought had crossed her mind but only briefly. If Mason had asked her to stay with him, she didn’t know how she would have answered.

“Did you love him?”

“Yes,” she whispered, her eyes brimming with tears. “I think I did love him.”

Anthony pressed his lips together and then released a breath out his nose. “Then maybe that’s what’s causing these unsure feelings deep down. You know it’s not right for you, and you’re trying to rationalize that this is what you’re supposed to be doing… and for what?”

“I told you,” she said hesitantly, not sure if he would make fun of her. “I want to use the money for good. Being here for a couple months has taught me a few things—shown me how I can make a difference in the lives of the people who live here. Did you know that Mason is one of twelve children? His folks abandoned them when they were kids. They’ve had to learn how to get on in this world without the help of anyone. I can’t believe they’ve made it this far.”

He lifted his brows in surprise.

“If I go home to my mother and tell her I’m not going to marry you or anyone she approves of because I want to make a difference here in Copper Creek, then I might as well set fire to my entire inheritance. I won’t be able to help out one family, let alone a whole town.”

Anthony didn’t move. She couldn’t tell if he was proud of her or if he finally realized what she’d meant when she said she wanted to use her whole inheritance for charity. There was a chance he might have thought she was kidding or that she was just trying to make herself look good to him.

Harley sighed and stared out the window. There was nothing more she could say on the matter.

“If you really love him, you should go back.”

“I can’t,” she insisted.

“Why not?”

“You know why not. I’m sticking with our arrangement. I’m going to do whatever it takes to get my mother off my back. If that means being married to someone she approves of, then that’s what I’m going to do.”

Anthony shifted closer to her, but she refused to look him in the eye. “And what about love? Is that important to you?”

She shrugged. “I don’t think I ever expected to find love in my life.”

“But you did.”

Glancing at him then, Harley offered him a sad smile. “And maybe I’ll find it again.” That was all she could promise—the hope of something in the future that both of them could gain. Anthony had found love once. She had no clue if he was anticipating that he’d find love again—or even if he thought he might find it with her. At this point it didn’t matter. They’d both agreed before they got on this plane. No amount of uncertainty would be enough to derail her plans.

Anthony nodded, not saying anything more. He turned to his computer and started his work. The landscape passed beneath them through the window as they made their way to New York, each minute bringing her closer to the woman she dreaded seeing since she’d come to Colorado in the first place. The woman who always tried to control her life.

With Anthony by her side, she’d have a buffer between herself and her mother. Maybe this next encounter wouldn’t be nearly as bad as she expected.

Harley glanced out of the corner of her eye toward Anthony. He was a terrific man.

But he wasn’t Mason.

He looked up to find her staring at him.

“I have an idea…” she said, the corner of her mouth slipping into a smile.

29

Mason

A knock on Mason’s bedroom door had him lifting his eyes reluctantly from the book he was reading.