Holly leaned closer and peered at the engraving. “Oh, that’s lovely. Such a wonderful sentiment. That’s funny. He doesn’t strike me as an expressive sort of man. ”
Callie smiled. “Oh? What does he strike you as?”
Holly frowned for a moment, her lips pursed in thought. “He seems…hard. Unyielding. Like someone used to getting his way, which of course would never work with you so clearly I’m wrong. You’re such a hardhead. Always have gone your own way, much to your fathers’ and my despair. ”
Laughter bubbled out, nearly choking Callie. If her mother only knew.
“You’re pretty dead-on,” Callie said. “Max is very used to getting his own way. ”
“Until he met you, anyway,” Holly said cheekily.
She wouldn’t blush. She would not give herself away. She bit her cheek and remained silent, content to let her mom make of her relationship what she wanted. What was between her and Max was private. She wasn’t comfortable with her family knowing the dynamics of their relationship. It would only cause them concern, because they’d never imagine her happy in a situation where she gave up so much control.
“Oh look, the guys are here with Lily,” Holly said as she craned her neck to look out the kitchen window.
Eager to see her sister-in-law, Callie hurried from the kitchen. She cast a quick glance to see her fathers deep in conversation with Max. No one looked like they were ready to kill anyone else, so she took that as a good sign.
Dillon was first inside. He hugged Callie fiercely and cast a dark look in Max’s direction. He moved to the side to hug his mom but made no effort to walk over to Max.
Lily was next inside and Callie pounced on her immediately. Lily hugged her and then whispered urgently in Callie’s ear. “There’s something I have to tell you. ”
Callie pulled away in puzzlement. “What’s wrong?”
Lily’s mouth turned down into an unhappy frown. “It’s Seth. He’s been doing some checking. ”
Lily was cut off when Seth barreled through the door, his face grimmer than Callie had ever seen it. It went beyond his sheriff look when he tried to be all intimidating. He looked…pissed.
“Seth, what on earth is going on?” Callie asked.
Seth paused, his gaze softening. He pulled Callie into his arms. “I’m sorry for what I’m about to tell you, baby girl. ”
“Seth Colter, what’s the meaning of this?” Holly demanded, hands on hips in true don’t-mess-with-mama mode.
Callie’s fathers rose from their seats, answering frowns on their faces as Michael trailed in behind Seth not looking any happier than his two brothers.
Panic scuttled around Callie’s belly until she felt near to puking. What was going on? Why were they so angry? Why were they all looking at Max like they wanted to murder him?
She instinctively moved away from her brothers and to Max. He was there, putting his arm around her and pulling her into his side. Seth’s nostrils flared as he stared angrily at Max.
“I’m going to kill you for what you’ve done, you son of a bitch. ”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Seth!” Callie gasped. Seth ignored Callie and advanced on Max. Max pushed Callie toward her father as he faced Seth down. He made no effort to defend himself or even to question what the hell Seth was talking about.
“Whatever you have to say to me can be said outside,” Max said. “I don’t want Callie involved or hurt. ”
Seth’s lip curled. “She needs to hear what I have to say. You may not want her to hear it, but she needs to know what a bastard you are. ”
Callie turned toward Max. “Max?”
Max put his hand up. “Let me handle this, dolcezza. ”
“You used her,” Seth spit out.
Adam stepped forward, his face drawn into a storm cloud. “Seth, what the hell are you insinuating here? This isn’t the time or the place. Not in front of your mother, your sister and your wife. ”
Callie looked around in bewilderment. Everyone was either angry or confused. Her fathers circled her and Max while her brothers stood in front of them, boring holes in Max.
Michael stepped forward. “Let him talk, Dad. This is important, and Callie needs to hear it, however painful it might be. ”
Lily stepped up beside Callie and pulled her away from Max before wrapping a supportive arm around her.
“Lily, what’s going on?” Callie whispered as her heart squeezed painfully in her chest.
Suddenly her mother was on her other side as if she knew that Callie would need her support more now than at any other time. Callie hated the sympathy that shone in Dillon’s and Michael’s eyes. Hated the anger that bristled from Seth in black waves.
But most of all she hated the fatalistic look of inevitability in Max’s eyes, as if he’d expected this and was resigned to the outcome.
“What is going on?” Callie demanded. “This is ridiculous!”
Dillon and Michael flanked Lily and their mom who hugged Callie tight against them. Callie swallowed as she waited. Waited in agony, not knowing what to do, who to listen to. She wanted to go to Max. She wanted to scream at Seth to stop. But the look on Max’s face stopped her. There was something terrible in his eyes. The knowledge of his fate. And hers.
Never taking his gaze off Max, Seth began in a terse, clipped voice. “I did some checking on Wilder here. Turns out he has some very interesting connections. He owns Capitol Investment Properties. ”
Adam sucked in his breath. “I know the name. They’ve approached me numerous times about selling Callie’s Meadow. ”
Callie looked at her dad and then at Seth in confusion. “So?”
“There’s more, Callie,” Dillon said in a low voice. “Listen to him. ”
“Max’s mother is the one who sold Callie’s Meadow to the dads,” Seth continued.
“Don’t you mean she was coerced to sell,” Max bit out.
Ryan’s head whipped around in surprise. “Coerced? There was no coercion. We’d tried to buy the land many times and the owner always refused. ”
“My stepfather,” Max said. “And no, he wouldn’t sell. The property had been in our family for a century. It was a legacy passed down for generation after generation. A legacy that should have been mine and my sister’s. ”
Callie went numb. Her blood turned to ice and she simply stared at Max, too baffled to comprehend what was happening. But the anger and bitterness in Max’s voice came through loud and clear. It was unmistakable.
“After your…stepfather…passed away, your mother came to me,” Adam said tersely. “I’d already given up trying to get your stepfather to sell. She said she needed the money, and believe me, I paid more than the land was worth because we wanted it that much. She said she had two children to raise and that her husband had left her in poor circumstances. ”
“Bullshit,” Max swore.