Finally, after she got enough to eat, I hurried us out of the house before I buried my face in her pussy and we never left. There are things to be done at the arena, and I want to get them done as quickly as possible.

“So tell me what you think,” I say as I pull out of the driveway and we head toward the Circle C.

“About what?” She smiles and shakes her head. “Breakfast, your house, all of this?”

I think for a second and then nod. “Yeah.”

She laughs, and it’s the sweetest sound. “Be careful what you ask for. I’ve been told I talk too much.”

Tracy looks away from me and out the window as I drive, and I can feel the change in her. It’s so abrupt it makes me angry because I want to know who the fuck told her she talks too much. Who made her feel like she had to keep quiet instead of saying what she thinks and feels? It can’t have only been her father, but I’m putting the heap of the blame on him.

“Hey,” I say, taking her hand in mine. She turns my way at the touch, and I squeeze my fingers around hers. “Go ahead and talk my ear off, sweet thing. I’ve got two for a reason.”

She gives me a little smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes, but she nods. “Breakfast was great. I don’t think I’ve had homemade pancakes since my mom left. I was around three, but I remember them.”

“Where’d she go?” I ask, and Tracy shrugs.

“My father never told me. He just said she ran off, but I think he had something over her that kept her away. I’m not sure why she’d leave me behind with him otherwise.”

“It might have something to do with the Circle C,” I say, and Tracy’s brows furrow.

“What do you mean?”

“He had part of the deed in your name. Not the controlling share, so you couldn’t make decisions unless he died. But it looks like when the land was purchased, it was put under your name too. Maybe your mom had a hand in that?”

“He never told me,” she says quietly and looks out the window again.

“I’m not surprised.” Her dad was a real piece of shit, and I can only assume he kept Tracy around because he didn’t have one hundred percent of the control on the property. If her mom was around, she could have made trouble by not allowing the sale to go through. Maybe that’s why he waited until now to do it? “I need your help.”

“Me?”

I smile and nod. “Yep, you.”

“How in the world can I help you? You’re the one with all the money.”

“True, but I need to know how to spend it.”

“I think that’s the easy part.” Her smile is back, and it’s a reminder of just how special she is. No matter what life throws at her, she keeps on smiling.