Page 37 of The Awakening (The Morton Family Saga #3)

I stomped off to the bunkhouse which was across the yard from my parents’ house. Years ago I’d converted it to a little apartment, because I was the one who stayed. A whole lotta good that did me.

I paced around my kitchen. It wasn’t very big, and the island took up the majority of the floor space.

I got dizzy making laps around it. Slamming my hands down on the counter, I let the bottled up tears fall.

I wanted to yell. I needed to hit something, or better yet, some one , but there was nobody.

No one followed me, and that hurt almost as much as this convoluted arrangement.

I snatched up a coffee mug that was beside the sink and threw it across the kitchen.

It hit the doorjamb, shattered, and fell to the floor.

Grumbling to myself, I grabbed the broom and bent down to sweep the china into the dustpan.

“Hey, Kate, it’s nice to see you again.” My eyes followed his legs up to his head and I saw Tyler Morton standing at the threshold of my home, too good to knock.

Or maybe he thought that because we were an unofficial family, what was mine was his.

Or I hadn’t closed the door when I came home and it was an open invitation for him to come in. With him, who knew?

I had to admit; he was handsome. He was muscular; his eyes rivaled the clearest blue water, brown hair with highlights of gold from being in the sun, and the perfect amount of scruff on his unshaven face.

It was just enough without encroaching on beard territory.

And most importantly, he had the best Wrangler butt I'd ever seen.

“Hey, Tyler, come on in.” I stepped out of the way and most definitely did not look at his butt as he walked by. Removing his ball cap, he sat down at the table. “Would you like a cup of coffee?”

“Sure, as long as the delivery is a little softer than what you used on that last cup.” He smiled, and his eyes danced with laughter that he was smart enough to know not to let out.

“You saw that?” I cringed as I walked to the garbage can and dumped the broken cup. It clattered loudly as it hit the bottom of the can. The sound reverberated through my tiny house.

Tyler nodded. “Good throw.”

“Do you know what’s going on?” he asked, a little apprehensive.

“Kinda… wait. It’s you?” I turned away from the counter, full pot of coffee in hand, barely avoiding splashing it, and looked at him. “You’re the Morton brother I’m supposed to marry?”

He nodded his head, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly.

What? Seriously? I’d had a secret crush on Tyler Morton since they moved here from Montana.

Carefully, I turned back to the counter to fill both cups.

I looked out the window and fidgeted with the coffee pot, avoiding eye contact.

My heart raced and palms suddenly sweaty.

I thought back to the times I had seen him around.

I had been too afraid to talk to him, and now here he was, in my kitchen, telling me we’re going to be married.

How was I supposed to pull myself back together to form sentences?

I turned to face him again, took the cups back to the table, and went back for the milk and sugar.

“None for me, thanks. Black is good.” Tyler shifted in the chair.

I smiled and walked back over to the table and took a seat across from him. “Did you just find out about this, too? It’s a bit of a shock.”

“No, our fathers wanted to keep this quiet. I told them there’d be no more hiding this from you and I was coming to see you today.” Tyler took a sip of his coffee and waited for my response. “What’s wrong?” The confused look on my face must have been more prominent than I thought.

“How long have you known about this?” I looked into my cup of coffee, refusing to meet his gaze.

“A week and a half.”

My head shot up and my mouth fell open. I had so many words and questions, but not a sound came out.

My eyes darted from my cup to Tyler as I searched my brain for the words.

I felt like someone had slapped me across the face.

This wasn’t something that had just happened.

Everyone around me knew the plan for weeks, and apparently, I wasn’t good enough to be included.

They had decided my life for me, and here I’d been wandering around, living what I thought was my best life, only to find out I’d been fooled. The world around me was out of control.

“Look, we've known each other for ten years now, it’s not like we’re complete strangers. It’s not like we’re going in blind.”

“Tyler, you know who I am, but you don’t know me.” I pointed to myself.

He nodded his head and took another sip of his coffee.

“May I ask your expectations for this marriage?” All of the sudden, I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear his answer.

It frankly terrified me to actually know what he was going to say.

My hands were folded in my lap. I needed to start thinking of this as what it was - a business deal.

I straightened in my chair and took a deep breath, locking my stare on Tyler.

I was ready to argue with anything he had to say.

Tyler peered over his mug and smiled. “I want to get to know you. Learn who you are, but ultimately, I want us to have a real marriage. You know, a true husband and wife.”

“Well, I’ll tell you that’s not going to happen for a very long time. And I’m not hopping into bed with someone I’ve only really known for a week and a half. I’m not that kind of girl.” My brow arched, waiting for his response.

“And for some reason, you think I’m that kind of guy?”

The town playboy, the eternal bachelor. He preferred busty blondes who wouldn’t last on a working ranch. Yet he sat here, trying to convince me he was an angel.

I rolled my eyes before I glanced back over at him. “You kinda have a reputation. I may not know you all that well, but I’ve heard stories. Girl’s talk.”

“My reputation isn’t something I can deny. There was a time in my life when I didn’t give much thought as to who I was seeing, or how long we were together.”

“Days, Tyler. Most of them were days.”

“You seem to have kept tabs on me, Kate.” A sly grin stretched across his face.

He made my blood boil. He had the nerve to think that I had followed his every move? “That, I assure you, is not the case. It’s a small town, Tyler, and gossip spreads faster than flies on a horse's ass.”

“Well, I’m happy to be an open book; what would you like to know?”

I stared at him blankly, then shook my head. I dropped my face into my hands. This was not how I imagined my life would end up.

“This is too much, Tyler. I don’t know if I can do this.”

“You don’t have to, but my father will not back down. I’m willing to marry you if you want to save your ranch, but ultimately it’s your choice. Saying I’m totally thrilled about this would be a lie. I don’t enjoy having choices made for me.”

Really, I shouldn’t have been surprised by his answer.

That was the story of my life. I can’t deny that it stung a little to know I wasn’t who he wanted to be stuck with.

“Well, I’m glad we both can agree this isn’t the choice we would’ve made.

I’m not sure I’ll ever like it, Tyler. I’ve had about all I can take today.

Thanks for coming over; I’ll see you at the wedding. ”

He stood, walked to the door, and quietly left.