Page 75 of Take My Name

Although it’s a twenty-minute drive to my parents’, it’shardly enough time to clear my head, but my brain’s working overtime to try to make sense of how I feel.

Once I’ve parked, I do my best to wipe my face and fix my makeup before walking inside the house.

“Maisie.” My mother’s booming voice catches my attention after I cautiously shut the door.

She’s in the sitting room in her nightgown and sipping tea.

“You’re still up.”

“As are you,” she says pointedly.

“Dinner ran late.” I grip my clutch in front of me, needing to get out of these heels and away from this conversation before she says what I think she’s going to say.

She sets her mug down, stands, and walks toward me to close the gap between us. Without a word, she brushes her thumb over my cheek and tsks at my smudged makeup.

“This has to stop,” she warns. “You’re actin’ foolish. Stayin’ out late and comin’ home with smudged lipstick. It’s no way for a lady to act, especially one engaged to another man.”

A man who doesn’t mind going days without hardly talking to her.

I swallow hard, amping myself up to express the thoughts that consumed my mind on the way home. “I’m gonna tell Hayes. He deserves the truth about why I came home and?—”

“Absolutely not,” she snaps. “You’re not gonna ruin your relationship over a few days with Warren. Get him out of your system once and for all or whatever it is you’re doin’, then you go back to Hayes and marry him.”

I wince at the verbal slap. “Mama?—”

“You will not embarrass this family, do you understand me? After everythin’ we’ve done, you can do this one thing for us.”

“Providin’ me with food and shelter as a child ain’t the same as askin’ me to marry a man just because you approve of him.”

“What about your career, then? You worked your ass off to get where you are. Why would you give that up for some young love you once had?”

“Young love?” I huff, ignoring the part about my job. She knows I work from home and could live anywhere if it came to it considering I’ve been on my laptop since I got here. “We were together for seven years.”

“And apart for another seven,” she snaps. “He can’t give you what you need, Maisie. You’re thrivin’ in New York. You felt suffocated here, don’t you remember? Your dreams were bigger than Willow Branch Mountain.”

“Doesn’t mean things can’t change,” I say weakly.

And it’s clear to me they have.

“Sure, but not about this. Hayes is your future. Warren is your past. Finish up the week, get the divorce papers signed, and move on. It’s time to grow up.”

She walks past me without saying another word, and I’m left standing frozen in shock at my mother’s harsh words.

Swallowing down the urge to cry, I go to my bedroom and fall apart against the door until I collapse to the floor. She’s always had a problem with Warren’s family being ranchers. Although they run a successful resort, nothing’s ever good enough for my parents if it doesn’t involve fame or loads of money.

When they found out Hayes was a well-known author, they latched onto the idea of me being his wife and how it’d make them look better to their friends and community of rich snobs.

I do love Hayes. We have a lot in common and our relationship’s been easy for the most part. We aren’t codependent and each stays busy focusing on our work withoutworrying about the other person getting upset. He got me out of an emotional spiral I couldn’t snap out of and rescued me when I thought I lost hope of being in a happy relationship. He’s good to me, even if he doesn’t always make time for us, but it’s not because he doesn’t want to. He has deadlines to meet, as do I.

But it’s clear I’m still in love with Warren. The boy I fell for at the age of fifteen, who experienced all of my firsts with me and made me feel special, not because I came from money but because he truly adored me. If anything, he helped me feel normal in a family who tried their hardest to be above everyone else. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I can’t deny the way he makes me feel when we’re together. Kissing him only reminded me of how compatible we are and how our intense passion comes naturally.

Two very different men—who have my heart for very different reasons.

And no matter what I do, one of them will get hurt.

Myself included.

chapter thirteen