Read Online Someone to Watch Over Me by Jerrie Alexander - Free Book Online

or Cash that warmed her heart on the walk to the house? Stacey was pretty sure she knew the answer to that question.
    Cash left her at the guest bedroom door and headed for the bathroom. She curled up in the wicker chair next to the bed to wait. She considered joining him but remembered her dad didn’t have her new phone number. She could at least give that to him. She grabbed her throwaway cell and dialed his number. Wait until he heard where she was staying. Talk about irony.
    “Hey, Dad.”
    “Stacey? Where the hell are you?” he barked.
    “In Oak Hill, right where I told you I’d be.”
    “Then why haven’t you returned my calls?”
    “Sorry. I changed phones and forgot to tell you. It’s been hectic here.” She hoped hectic would suffice. She rattled off the new number. “So, how are you? How’s Marie? I don’t have long to talk.”
    He’d gotten angry when she announced her decision to move home. Maybe she could change his mood. “Guess who bought our old home place and turned it into made a horse ranch?”
    “I’m not good at games. Who are we talking about?”
    “You remember Cash Butler?”
    “Of course I know that white trash. Bastard kid’s mama didn’t have two dimes to rub together. How’d he pull off a deal like that?”
    “What a horrible thing to say.” His tone shocked her. He’d always been a bit of a snob, but this was a new side of him. “Cash has worked hard to fix up the place.” She glanced around at the decor of the room. “In fact, I’m here right now.”
    The line went silent. She had enough problems without him being unreasonable. “Hello?”
    “What has he told you?”
    “About what?”
    “Stay away from him.”
    “Why would I? And why are you acting this way?”
    “Butler’s why you left Houston, isn’t he? I’ll not have that bastard worming his way into this family. You get your ass back to Houston.”
    “Stop it. I’m not a kid that you can order around, and I’m not coming back,” Stacey snapped out of frustration. Her father had always tried to pick her friends, but his attitude toward Cash was beyond her understanding.
    He grunted something Stacey could hardly make her mind believe what she’d heard. She picked out the words ‘should’ve sent him to jail.’
    “Wait a minute.” Realization swept across like wildfire. “Talk to me, Dad. What did you do?” Everything thing fell into place. Cash’s negative reaction when the subject of her father came up. Brady’s and Bubba’s comments. They knew something she didn’t. “I mean it. Tell me.”
    “I did what every good father would’ve done. I made damn sure he stayed away from you. I’ll not apologize.”
    “He’s why we moved? Dad, how could you?”
    Her question was met with silence.
    “I can’t talk to you right now.”
    She ended the call and stared out the window not knowing whether to cry or rage against the injustice. Her heart weighed heavy in her chest. All this time wasted. All this time, she’d blamed Cash for running out on her. She dropped her head to her hands and cried tears for the lost years.
    The faint scent of soap and woodsy cologne pulled her attention to the open doorway. His long legs carried him across to her. Concern furrowed his eyebrows.
    “What’s wrong?”
    “I know what my father did to you. To us.” The pain of betrayal swamped her, flooding her cheeks. “He drove you away. Didn’t he?”
    He knelt in front of her and thumbed away her tears. “It’s history. Forgotten. You’re here with me now, and that’s all that matters.” His facial expression revealed nothing.
    “It’s not forgotten. How could you not blame me? I certainly blamed you.”
    “Nonsense.”
    The young Cash had been talkative and open. The grownup version seemed unwilling to talk about the past. Stacey had to understand what happened so long ago.
    “I thought you’d abandoned me. Disappeared, preferring the military to me. At least that’s what I was told over and