He watched as the happiness faded from her face, worry and stress replacing it. Shit. “Baby, before I tell you what’s happening, I want you to remember that you don’t ever have to see them again. Your family is here now. With me. On this ranch. Right?”
She let out a deep breath. “Right. I know. What is it?”
“The night before your hen party, when I sent you to bed early, they called.”
“They called? Why?”
“They told me they were upset they weren’t invited to the wedding,” he told her carefully.
She frowned. “What? How did they even know about the wedding?”
He knew not telling them had been a difficult decision for her. Even though her parents had treated her horribly, he knew she still loved them.
“I don’t know. They didn’t say. My guess is someone in Russell who knew your Aunt Rose told them.”
“Oh, yeah, maybe. Why would they want to come, though? They made it clear they want nothing to do with me anymore. I don’t understand.”
“I didn’t either. That’s why I had Corbin do some looking.”
Her eyebrows rose in surprise. “You had them investigated?”
“I wanted to know what was going on and I didn’t think they had called you because they’d suddenly realized that they’d made a mistake. I don’t want you hurt again, Ellie.”
Some of the tension in her body eased and she gave him a hint of a smile. “You always protect me.”
He’d protect her from this if he could, but this wasn’t something he could keep from her.
“Baby, Corbin discovered that they’re nearly broke.”
“What?” She sat up straight, staring at him in shock. “How can they be nearly broke?”
“Corbin did some searching around. Seems they’ve been living beyond their means. They hired someone to come take care of them and that doesn’t come cheap. Also, your father has been dabbling in the stock market, and he made a few bad investments.”
“And you think they want to come to the wedding, because they want money from me?”
“That’s our best guess,” he told her. “I’m really sorry, baby. I could be wrong. Might be they feel bad about the ways things ended and they want to come see their girl get married.”
“I’m not their daughter. I was never their daughter. I was their servant.” She tried to push off his lap, but he held her tight, not letting her go.
“Bear, let me up!”
“Nope.”
“I’m going to call them.”
“No, you aren’t.”
“I’m going to tell them exactly what I think of them trying to get an invite to our wedding when I haven’t spoken to them in over a year, and Bear, will you please let me up!” Her cheeks were pink with exertion, her face filled with frustration and he thought she looked adorable.
Although that would probably just make her mad if he told her that.
Well, madder than she already was.
He leaned in and kissed the tip of her nose. “You’re not calling them.”
“What? Why not?”
“Because I’m going to call them back and tell them you don’t want them there.”