Isabella Read online

  I took two steps toward him, so that I could jab him in the chest with my finger as I replied. “Stop actin’ like you know what’s best for me. I’m a grown damn woman. If I tell you that I’m fine, then leave it be. God, you can be so annoyin’. You ain’t my daddy, and you sure as shit ain’t my keeper.”

  He lifted his hands to sit on my shoulders, looked down and peered into my eyes. I could already see the worry in his stare. Noah wasn’t trying to make me hate him. His determination was built on months of doing everything in his power to make me see that Tate was no good for me. “Bells, look at me. Have I ever given you bad advice? Have I ever steered you in the wrong direction?”

  “No.” I turned away so that he couldn’t see the agony on my face. He was right and I was wrong. What else was new?

  “Look, cuz, I love you. Shalan and I like you livin’ here in Kentucky at the ranch, but I’ll be damned if I sit around watchin’ you make this kind of mistake again. The last time this shit happened I was rescuin’ you in some flea-bag motel. Please, for the sake of your livelihood, sever ties with that fool for good. I promise you that there’s someone out there that’s better for you. There’s someone that will appreciate you.”

  I darted for my room in an attempt to end the conversation, huffing and puffing with no means to otherwise defend myself. He didn’t know what I was going through. How could he, when all Noah had ever known was to control his own relationships? He’d never been on my side of the situation, or experienced heartache. Hell, he was engaged to a famous country singer that practically worshipped the ground he walked on. Not all of us could be that lucky.

  After it slammed in his face, Noah beat on my door, trying to get me to talk as if we were still teenagers arguing over some immature object. I buried my head in my pillow and put my ear buds in, so that I couldn’t hear him any longer. The vibration against my leg let me know that I had a new text message. My heartbeat became rapid as I pulled out my phone eagerly hoping it was Tate.

  I opened the message to see that it was from my dad. My trip home was only a day away, and for the first time in a long time, I wanted to be there.

  One more day until you get to smell your mother’s farts. I bet you can’t wait. Love: Best Dad on Earth

  I laugh at his humor. My dad was a silly man. While everyone in my life called me Isabella, Bella, or Bells, he’d called me Izzy. He always had and he always would. It was just something that made our bond so special. I can’t wait, Dad. Love you too. – Iz

  Don’t forget to pack underwear and deodorant, as we’ve stopped using both here on account of saving the environment. – Dad

  I refuse to come home if you’re free-balling. That’s where I draw the line, Dad. - Iz

  Honey, I’ve been free-balling since before you were born. It’s your mom that’s made the change. She loves letting it all air out. – Dad

  My father’s sick sense of humor actually made me feel better. Believe it or not, after being raised by the constant jokester, it was comforting hearing his banter. My dad had this thing about making me smile. Even in my darkest of times, he would find ways to make it happen. I loved him for it, too. Throughout my life, he’d been my constant rock.

  I thought back to the day I discovered that he wasn’t my biological father. I’d never felt such heartache as I had in that moment. He’d been my everything, since the day I was born. In fact, he’d helped deliver me in the back of my aunt Van’s car. Of course, I was too young to remember that day, but I’ve been told that from the moment I came out of the womb I’d been wrapped around my daddy’s finger. I didn’t care what a blood test showed, even though he’d adopted me, he was my one and only father, and I was a Mitchell in every way that counted.

  I may have just thrown up in my mouth. – Iz

  Better eat light before you come then. – Dad

  Having a comedian for a dad wasn’t the only perk to being the daughter of Tyler Mitchell. He was my biggest fan, aside from my mother, and because of the way they raised my brothers and me, we’d learned the real meaning of family and love. They’d instilled us with morals, and I knew that one day I’d pass them on to my own children, if I ever had any.

  After arguing with my cousin, and very best friend, it was nice to be able to smile at something. For the past couple of weeks I’d been talking to my ex, Tate, again. I’d tried to keep it a secret, but Noah had seen his name appear on my phone one night and hadn’t let it go since. He was determined to make sure I had no contact with him. Little did he know that I had my own plans for my visit home, which included a secret rendezvous with the man that I couldn’t fall out of love with.

  I wasn’t a fool. I knew about all of his faults. I also knew that he’d been going through hell since I’d moved to Kentucky. After months of not seeing me, he’d been begging for me to just spend some time with him. As much as I wanted to end up in his arms afterwards, I was determined to be strong. My new life was in Kentucky, and I was going to have to keep reminding myself of that.

  My next message came through right as I was getting up to finish packing. I thought it was my dad again, so I ignored it and kept placing things in my suitcase. Once I had it zippered up, and double-checked my list to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything, I peeked at my phone.

  You thinking about me, sexy? – Tate

  A rush of heat overwhelmed me. He’d been my first real love, and every time I heard from him I would get enthusiastic. Always – Bella

  I’m craving your pussy. – Tate

  Admittedly, reading that made me even hotter. Tate had been my high school boyfriend. We’d experienced so much together, good and bad. My time away had only made my love for him stronger, and it scared the shit out of me, since I’d moved to get as far from him as possible.

  Tate said he missed me. He’d been messaging more this week than the whole time I’d been gone. I had to believe that maybe moving away from him had taught him a lesson. I wanted him to know that I wasn’t going to stick around and let him walk all over me. He could either change his ways, or lose me forever. I wouldn’t allow him to cheat on me and get away with it anymore.

  I’ll see you tomorrow night. We can meet once my parents go to bed. I’ll message you as soon as I’m able to sneak away.– Bella

  So we’re sneaking around like high school? – Tate

  For now. You know why, Tate. They don’t trust you. – Bella

  I’m going to rectify that, baby doll. I promise. – Tate

  I hope so. I love you so much. I can’t wait to see you. – Bella

  Love you too. See you tomorrow. – Tate

  Sneaking around did feel a lot like high school, but it was necessary. If my dad or brothers found out that I was slipping away to see Tate, they would string him up and feed him to the pigs.

  A knock on my bedroom door startled me. I put my hand to my heart, even knowing who it was the whole time. “What do you want, Noah?”

  I glanced in my mirror as I awaited his reply. My blonde hair was up in a messy ponytail, and my green eyes had red around the white parts. I was tired, and lonely, and it was affecting my appearance.

  I walked over and opened the door seeing him standing there with his bottom lip out, as if he was pouting. “You still mad at me?”

  I looked at the door, sighed, and then peered back at him. “Maybe. It’s my life, you know?”

  “Yeah, but you’re a part of mine. Bells, I just want what’s best for you. Can’t you see that?” I could, except admitting it was only going to make him think he had an advantage over me. I couldn’t let that happen, especially when I was lying to the whole family about Tate. If Noah knew the truth he’d tell. When we were kids we would have covered for each other. Times had changed. Sure, we still had each other’s backs, but Noah hated Tate just the same as the devil himself. Knowledge of me sneaking to see him wouldn’t sit well in his eyes. He’d tell on me to prevent it, causing an uproar with my parents on purpose. I couldn’t ever let that happen, at least until
I knew for sure that he’d changed his ways. “I get why you’re tryin’ to protect me. I do. Sometimes it feels like I’m not allowed to make my own choices.”

  “Bells, promise me one thing.”

  “What?”

  “Promise me that you won’t see him while you’re in North Carolina. I know you’ve been talking to him again, but don’t see him. You may have gotten over everything that guy’s done to you, but I haven’t. It wasn’t so long ago when I was drivin’ to save your ass, after that whole fiasco with that other chick. That girl beat the shit out of you, and he let her. I don’t care about nothin’ else. He’s a bastard, and I don’t want him near you.”

  I bit down on my lip and tried to keep a straight face, avoiding the whole fact that he’d brought up that awful experience again. In Tate’s defense, he thought I was an intruder. I’d snuck into the house knowing that it was illegal. Why couldn’t Noah see that?

  Still, I had to lie to my cousin, and he was good at reading me. I kept my face the same, remaining as calm as possible. “Fine. I won’t see him, Noah. Are you happy?”

  He lifted my chin up and forced me to look into his eyes. I stared at him, focusing on the fact that this man in front of me knew me better than I knew myself. If I could get past him, I was in the clear from anyone else.

  “Yeah. For now at least.”

  I lightly punched him in the abdomen. “Now get out of my face. You smell like cow shit.” I shrugged him off as he came at me, trying to get me to smell his nasty pits. “I’m not kiddin’. I hate it when Shalan’s out of town, because you never shower.”

  “That’s a lie. I shower once a day. When she’s home I don’t work so late, so you just notice it more. It ain’t like you haven’t smelled manure ever in your life. For Christ sakes, we both grew up around it.”

  “That doesn’t mean I have to like it, Noah.”

  He shook his head, while laughing at my comment. I knew he didn’t like it, but still had to deal with it. Part of running a ranch was dealing with animal fecal matter. That’s why I steered clear of going anywhere near it. Thankfully, my great aunt had gotten me a job in an office, because there was no way that shoveling up shit was going to work for me. I had a degree in business, and used it to my advantage.

  “You may not like it, but you’ve dealt with your fair share of shit, whether it’s the kind that stinks or not.” He left me to be alone and sit on his comment. I hated when he got the last word in edgewise. It was a ploy to somehow win every bickering battle between us. Noah was more like my brother, than my cousin. We had the same blood flowing through our veins, since his dad and my mom were first cousins. It just so happened that my dad was also his cousin on the other side of his family. Though my parents had no relation to each other, because that would be totally weird, they’d grown up spending holidays, and summers hanging out. It was bizarre, and extremely hard to explain to people. Either way you looked at it, I was Noah’s cousin, through both blood and adoption.

  Noah was right about one thing, his last words becoming an echo as they sunk in. I was tired of dealing with the bullshit. My trip home was going to tell me once and for all if Tate could be trusted. When I could make that determination I knew I’d be able to make the right decision for what might come of my future.

  My only problem was sneaking around to be able to make it happen. In less than twenty-four hours I’d be in his arms, and that was enough for me to be excited about.

  Chapter 2

  Isabella

  After being on the long highways for hours, I was ecstatic to pull down the dirt road to my family’s farm. Ahead of me was my grandparent’s house. I hadn’t seen them in months, and looked forward to being able to give them both huge hugs. My grandfather was battling with his heart, and the idea of being so far away always scared me.

  Just as I went to pull in next to my father’s pickup truck, a dirt bike came racing in, stealing the spot before I could get there. Jax, one of my younger twin brothers, took off his helmet and flipped me the finger.

  I smiled to myself. “So great to be home.”

  This was only the beginning. Between my dad, my brothers, and my uncle Conner, I was bound to be amused for my entire stay.

  He approached the car, covered in muck from head to toe. I hesitated stepping out, in fear of getting filthy. Of course, the first thing he did was drag me out and pull me into his welcoming arms. “What’s up, sis? I missed you so much,” he said in a sarcastic tone.

  I shoved him away, looking down at my now dirty attire. “Seriously, Jax. Was that necessary?”

  He slapped me on the backside when I tried to saunter past him. “You bet your ass it was.”

  “Where’s your girlfriend?” I inquired, making all attempts to get him to go away, quickly.

  “I don’t have a woman anymore. There’s way too much pussy out there for Jake to have all of the fun,” he snickered. I looked my brother up and down. Even through the filth I could see that his once scrawny body had changed. His shoulders were now broad from years of playing football and working out. By the age of thirteen they both towered over me and my mom, and somehow even though I was years older, they made me feel safe.

  Their new idea of womanizing wasn’t something I wanted to stick around and hear about though.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me. What is with you two?” My brothers were in college, still learning how to be human, obviously. I tried to avoid them like the plague, failing at every attempt, usually.

  “Nope. Last night we went out and took these sisters home. You should have been there.”

  I put up one hand to motion for him to cease, while tossing him my suitcase. “No, thank you. I’ll pass on those details.”

  He followed behind me, walking straight into the house covered in muddy clothes and boots. My mother smiled when she saw my face, only to look disgusted when she peered behind me. “What the hell, Jax? How many times do I have to tell you to change in the barn before bringin’ that mess in here? I just scrubbed the floors.”

  Jax dropped my bag and went back outside, while my mother came toward me. She lifted her arms and stretched them around my back. “Hi, honey. How was the drive?”

  “Long and boring.” Kind of like every day had been since being away from home.

  “Come in and sit down. Daddy will be out in a minute. We went into town to pick up groceries and ate at this new place. He’s been havin’ problems ever since,” she snorted.

  “Well, as much as he jokes about poop, he probably brought it on himself.”

  “Exactly.” She grabbed my bag and walked toward the bedroom hallway. “I’ll put this in your room. Everyone is comin’ for dinner tonight. We’re goin’ to eat in the barn so there’s room. Your dad installed a new floor last month. Wait until you see it. I can hardly recognize the place, except for the pool table. I tried to get him to toss it, but you know how much he likes to go out there and shoot balls around.”

  I giggled to myself as she disappeared into the hallway. It was horrible that I was so used to pranks that the mere mention of balls caused me to lose it.

  I heard the powder room door opening and saw my dad coming out. A huge grin could be seen when he spotted me across the room. Even under a face full of hair, I could see it. “Hi, Daddy.” I only called him that during endearing moments like this one, or when I wanted something.

  He walked over and hugged me tight, pulling away to look at my face. “Yeah, you still look the same.”

  I laughed and held him tight. “I missed you.”

  “I missed you more. Mom’s been cooking all day to welcome you home.” He leaned near my ear. “If it tastes like shit just pretend it’s amazing. She got this new cookbook and everything tastes the same.”

  My mom came up behind him and put her hands on her hips. “Seriously, Ty? You told me you liked dinner the other night.”

  “I did,” he cackled. “It was good. I just asked if you didn’t make it ever again.”

  My mom
pushed him out of the way and wrapped her arms around me again. “It’s good to have you home. Ignore your father. When he gets the shits there’s no tellin’ what he’ll complain about.”

  “Nothin’ changes, does it?”

  My dad grabbed my mom and started rubbing his whiskers over her face. She screamed and pulled away. “Seriously, your father has decided that he wants a beard like those men on television. You know the ones that hunt? Wait until you see your uncle’s face. They are competing on who can grow it the fastest. I wake up every morning havin’ to look at that.”

  “She thinks I’m sexy,” my dad corrected.

  My mom faced me and gave me a look. I smiled knowing that she hated the beard, not that she could do anything about it. Once he and my uncle had a bet going, it wouldn’t end until someone was declared the winner. This could go on for years.

  My poor mother.

  “You look like a mammoth already, Dad. Can’t you trim it up a little?”

  He rubbed the hair and smoothed it under his chin. “This is how it’s supposed to look.”

  “It’s creepy. You look like a pedophile,” I joked.

  Dad took a magazine off the kitchen table and mumbled something as he headed back into the bathroom. “That’s it! You hurt my feelings,” he stammered before shutting the door behind him.

  “Wow.” I turned to face my mom. “I’ve been here for five minutes and am already exhausted. How do you do it?”

  She started working in the kitchen again. “When you’ve been married as long as we have you kind of learn to ignore it. Your dad means well. He is how he is, and we love him for it.”