Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 120708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 604(@200wpm)___ 483(@250wpm)___ 402(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 604(@200wpm)___ 483(@250wpm)___ 402(@300wpm)
My father, Ty, and Brock all looked my way, waiting for my answer.
Chapter Thirty
TIMBERLYNN
I sat on the kitchen counter of the lake house and stared at Tanner. “You want to go to Atlanta? What on Earth for?”
Tanner tossed the kitchen towel over his shoulder and turned to face me. I licked my lips and tried not to ogle his body but failed. There was something incredibly sexy about this man cooking. He wore his signature jeans, a black T-shirt that showcased his broad chest and shoulders, and his hair was rumpled from his fingers raking through it all day. He had gotten into the habit of taking his cowboy hat off at the door, like at his folks’ house, and I loved it. Don’t get me wrong, I loved seeing a hat on him too. But that brown hair, rumpled and sexy looking—Lord, it was one of my favorite things.
“I want to meet your father.”
I jerked my head back up and laughed. “Wait, I could have swore you just said you wanted to meet my father.”
“I did say that.”
“Have you lost your mind?”
“Well, for starters, we’re dating, and although it’s still early on, I think it’s important he meets me and knows my intentions for our relationship. Plus, I think he needs to know you have another reason for wanting to live in Montana.”
Anger pulsed through my body. “I don’t need to give him any reasons, Tanner. He doesn’t control my life anymore, and besides, I’ve already told him about you.”
He sighed. “That’s where you’re wrong, Timber. He does control it still. Have you forgotten about the house you tried to buy? He sends you a text at least once a week asking when you’re moving back to Atlanta. He’s not coming to terms with you moving to Montana.”
“He doesn’t get a say in it.”
Tanner raised a brow. “Do you really want to cut your father out of your life? You don’t want me to meet him? Have him be a part of our lives?”
I let out a defeated breath. “Tanner, he’s never wanted to be a part of my life before. Why should I worry about it now?”
Tanner walked up to me and stood between my legs. His expression was so serious. “What if the reason your dad kept you at a distance wasn’t because he didn’t love you or want you in his life. What if it was because he was scared?”
“Scared?” I asked, confused. “Scared of what?”
“Losing you like he did your mother. Have you ever thought about it like that, or had a therapist mentioned that to you?”
I looked down for a moment and thought about what he just said. Slowly, I shook my head. “No one has ever said that before, and honestly, I’ve never even thought of it.”
Tanner pulled me closer to him, and I draped my arms over his shoulders. “Think about it,” he said. “You told me that anytime someone he dated got close to you, your father broke up with them. Maybe it was because he didn’t want you to think it was a replacement for your mother?”
I let his words simmer in my brain.
“And his distance from you? Maybe in some weird sort of post-traumatic stress way he kept you at arm’s length thinking it would somehow keep you both safe?”
My eyes met his. “I…I hadn’t ever thought of it that way.”
“Timber, do you doubt your father loves you?”
I swallowed hard and pressed my lips together tightly. If I spoke right then, I knew I was going to cry. So I shrugged.
“He’s scared right now. The whole move with blocking you from buying the Covey place, maybe it was his way of showing you that he isn’t okay with losing you.”
“He hasn’t lost me,” I whispered.
Tanner raised a brow. “Maybe you both need to hear each other say that.”
My eyes stung as I tried to hold back my emotions. “I don’t honestly think I could take being hurt again by him, Tanner. All the moments in my life when my father promised to be there for me, and he never…he never really was.”
Tanner cupped my face in his hands and bent to look me straight in the eye. “Trust me on this? Please. Let me take you back to Atlanta to meet your dad. If you don’t want to go back, we could invite him here.”
“Here?”
“Yeah, he can stay with us.”
I smiled. “Is this a way to get me to fully move in with you and stop looking for my own property?”
“No, but if you think it would work, I’m down for it.”
Laughing, I pulled him closer to me and quickly kissed him before resting my forehead against his. “I don’t want to go back to Atlanta, and I don’t want you going either.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?” I asked as I drew back to look at him. “You wouldn’t go if I asked you not to?”