“The bachelor auction’s tonight,” he reminded me. “Not sure whose wrath is worse, Mandy or Alice.”

It was my turn to grimace at how my housekeeper would respond if I didn’t show. Kale had practically grown up on the ranch with me and my brothers and knew Alice well. “Fine. I’ll call her instead. Make a visit some other time.”

I’d been informed the on Wednesday I was to be in the fundraiser that was at the community center tonight. Alice had volunteered me along with Sawyer and Thatcher for the event. Kale was one of the bachelors as well, but he obviously was out now. The event and cause were a good one, but I wasn’t interested in dating. I had a kid, and I wasn’t bringing just any woman around Claire.

I thought of Sarah O’Banyon. Long blonde hair that I used to capture with my fingers. Full lips that turned pink and swollen from my kisses. Small breasts that fit my palms perfectly. A pussy that I’d sunk into and found heaven on earth.

I’d thought she would be mine, every inch of her… until her dad threatened me. Told me I was a punk, partying and drinking, not giving much of a shit about anything since my parents had died. All of that had been true. Sarah had deserved more, he said. Her older sister, Lynn, had been dating Bunky at the time, and her dad had used her as a comparison. They were married now, and if what the rumor mill said was true, it was far from a happy marriage.

Bill O’Banyon had wanted Sarah to go to college and make something of herself. Something better than to be with a little shit like me. His words had hit their mark because he’d been right. I had been a little shit. But not to Sarah. She’d been the only person to see past my wild ways to my hurt. To my grieving.

I’d been man enough to stand up to him all those years ago, defending what Sarah and I had, until he said he’d cut her off and not pay for her college.

I’d laughed because with the Manning money, I could give Sarah anything she ever wanted.

Except her father himself.

And that was where I’d stopped the fight. I’d had to walk away. It had been a fucking nightmare, lying through my teeth to her, breaking both our hearts because her dad was a dick. Because he’d tossed out the one ultimatum I couldn’t fight.

I’d lost my parents in a plane crash when I was fourteen. I knew what it was like without a father. I wanted to be Sarah’s family, but she needed more than me.

So I’d walked. Let her go to college. I’d gone to the academy with the hopes of being worthy of her love.

Until Mandy and then Claire.

When Sarah had returned from her first year at college, I’d had a newborn. To Sarah and the entire town, I’d moved on. No one wanted the truth. They’d assumed. I’d hoped, perhaps stupidly, that Sarah would come to me after she saw I’d pulled my shit together. But she hadn’t.