Page 35 of Aisle Be The Groom (Bristlecone Springs #1)
GRAY
A few of the ranch hands had stopped to watch the drama unfold. The weight of their stares, their silent judgment, stung more than I was willing to admit.
“Car, can we have this conversation inside?”
“Why?” Carter’s voice increased in volume. “You don’t want anyone to know you’ve been fucking my boyfriend while I’ve been gone? Tell me, why should I spare your feelings when you clearly weren’t thinking about mine?”
“That’s not true. You’re my son—”
“So, how exactly did it work? Did you conveniently get selective amnesia whenever you got into bed with him?”
“Carter.” Matty placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Dad’s right. You should do this inside. No need to air our family’s dirty laundry in public. It’ll be all over town later.”
“Did they give any consideration to me when he was sleeping with Ozzie behind my back?”
“I know, and I don’t agree with it either, but at least go inside and talk it out.”
“Fuck you, Matty. Of course you’re going to take his side like you did after high school.”
Carter stormed past me into the house and slammed the door shut. I winced.
Matty sighed. “I did what I could. You’re on your own now, Dad.”
“Thank you, son. It means a lot that not everyone is against us.”
“I may not be against you, Dad, but it doesn’t mean I’m for what you and Ozzie have done either. Right now you should worry whether Carter ever forgives you for this, and quite frankly, I wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t.”
Matty strolled back to his truck and drove away.
With slow and heavy steps, I went into the house to face Carter and hash things out until he unleashed his anger. He needed to before he could listen to what I had to say.
I walked down the hall, my footsteps echoing on the hardwood floor. Carter wasn’t in the living room, but Emma was.
“He went to your office,” she said.
With a nod, I turned and headed toward the office, the dread in my stomach growing with each step. I paused outside the door, took a deep breath, and opened it.
Carter was looking at a picture of us—him, me, and Matty from when they were younger.
“I used to think I had a father who loved me.”
“And he does. I do.”
“Love doesn’t stab you in the back.”
“I know it feels that way, but we didn’t set out to cheat.”
“It just happened?”
“Honestly?”
“That’d be refreshing for a change.”
“The first time we met, that Christmas, you allowed him to drive the unfamiliar road alone—”
“No, this isn’t about that.” He spun around. “Don’t make me out to be the bad person here. I already got that lecture from you that Christmas. We’re talking about why you felt the need to sleep with my boyfriend when I wasn’t around.”
“Because you weren’t around!” I cried, adrenaline giving way to an outburst. “I accept it, okay? I’m a terrible father. I slept with your boyfriend and damaged our relationship. Did you think I wanted to get close to him? I had no say in the matter because you abandoned him and kept pushing him at me. And because you weren’t around for your wedding, he sought comfort in me.”
“So you take advantage of him?”
“So I tried to make him feel welcome in the family. I tried to make him smile because he was so fucking sad. I tried to fill a void you had left, and one thing led to another.” As I deflated, my knees went weak, so I dropped into the nearest chair. “He was so insecure and so unhappy. I loved to make him laugh and to see him come out of his shell. Son, I understand I hurt you, but at the time, Ozzie needed me more as a man than you needed me as a father, and I love being that man for him—someone who treats him with all the love he deserves.”
“This is all my fault? Is that what you’re saying? That I never treated him well?”
“Have you?” I raised my eyebrows. “Whether you want to admit it, you created the conditions that made us find each other. You have all the right to be mad with me, but Ozzie doesn’t deserve your anger. In fact, I’ve been weighing my words because I don’t want to seem as if I’m blaming you. I know the part I played in this, but you treated him like garbage, so can you blame him for moving on with someone who actually sees him?”
Carter’s face flamed a bright red. At least he had the decency to look ashamed of the way he treated Ozzie. “Did you plan all this?”
I frowned. “What?”
He snapped his fingers. “It all makes sense now. You never wanted me to get my hands on my inheritance because you don’t think I’m ready for it. Why did you insist on me having the wedding here? Admit it, Dad. You sensed things were shaky between Ozzie and me, and you drove a wedge between us to stop me from inheriting that money.”
I scowled, jumping to my feet. “Do you realize how ridiculous that is? I invited you to the ranch for your wedding because I thought after you got that money, you wouldn’t come around anymore. That way, I’d at least have this last memory of you here.”
Carter snorted. “Nice try, but I’m not buying it.”
I narrowed my eyes and folded my arms. “You just said things were shaky between you and Ozzie. If you knew that, why did you insist on marrying him? My hunch was true, wasn’t it? You were using Ozzie to get your inheritance.”
“Doesn’t matter now, does it? You made sure I’ll never get my hands on it.”
Bile rose, leaving an acidic taste in my mouth. “You’d use him that way? And have the gall to be upset that he found someone better?”
“You think you’re better than me?”
I gritted my teeth, took my phone out of my pocket, and opened my banking app with my fingerprint. “Just so you don’t do anything this selfish again and ruin somebody’s life for personal gain, there, I sent you the money I promised you and Matty when you got married and started your own family. That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it?”
Carter swallowed. “You sent the money?”
“It may take a couple of days for you to get it, given the amount, but it’s done.” My voice was as cold as the arctic wind. “I just have one request, Carter. Can you at least pretend, for Ozzie’s sake, that you cared about him even a little?”
“Of course I cared about him.”
“That’s good. Pretend just like that. I don’t want Ozzie to ever know all he was to you was a bank balance.”
On heavy feet, I trudged toward the door. I didn’t want to talk to Carter anymore. He might be my son, but I didn’t like him very much at that moment.
I opened the door. Ozzie stood in the hallway.
“Oh, that self-righteous act is hypocritical coming from you, Dad,” Carter shouted from behind me, his voice ringing loud and clear. “It still doesn’t negate the fact that you thought you should help yourself to my sloppy seconds.”
Ozzie’s gasp echoed off the walls, a chilling sound that made my heart clench. He was pale, his eyes wide with shock, disbelief, and hurt. Carter looked just as shocked as if he wasn’t the one to utter the words.
He rushed past me. “Ozzie, I—”
I stepped aside, blocking his path. “Get out.”
“What the hell’s going on?” Heels clicked on the floor. Emma rounded the corner, a scowl forming when she saw Ozzie. “What are you doing here? Haven’t you done enough?”
“No, this has nothing to do with Ozzie.” I dismissed her. My sole focus was Carter, who was still trying to reach Ozzie. “Get out, Carter.”
“Wait, what? You’re throwing our son out?”
“You don’t disrespect the man I love under my roof,” I said through clenched teeth. “And frankly, since I’m already the villain and you’re the victim, I might as well play the part. You’ve hurt Ozzie enough, and I’ll be damned if I let you hurt him again.”
“Now wait one damn minute!” Emma cried. “You’re kicking your son out because of this cheap gold digger?”
“That’s right, and not just him. You too. You want this house, Emma, you can contest me for it in court, but I won’t hear any more of this kind of language and talk when it comes to Ozzie.”
“Gray, calm down.” Ozzie hurried over to me and cupped the side of my face. His hand on my skin felt cold. Or it might be that I had gone numb at how far we’d all sunken. “I’m sure we can talk about this reasonably.”
I wrapped an arm around his waist and tucked him to my side. “Don’t worry. I won’t let anyone abuse you anymore. Not while I’m here, they won’t.”
I raised my chin and stared Emma down. Carter took his mother’s arm. “Let’s go, Mom. This will only get worse if we stay.”
“Gray, you’re going to regret this!”
The second they were out of sight, tremors shook Ozzie’s body, confirming that I’d done the right thing. I hadn’t loved on him over the past few weeks just for Carter and Emma to tear him down.
“Hey, hey,” I murmured, wrapping both arms around Ozzie’s trembling frame. “It’s all right, sweetheart. You’re safe here.”
“I’m so sorry.” A sob escaped Ozzie, and he buried his face into the crook of my neck, his tears seeping into the fabric of my shirt. “I didn’t expect it to get this out of hand. You should apologize and get Carter to stay so you can work things out. You don’t have to worry about me and my feelings.”
I cradled the back of his head. “I can apologize for sleeping with you while you’re still engaged, but I won’t ever apologize for kicking him out after what he said about you. You’re nobody’s seconds. You’re the man I love, and don’t you ever forget that, Ozzie.”