Page 55 of Suddenly Yours

“Cade.” My father’s voice was sharp, clipped, already irritated. Hell, he sounded like that all the time lately. “I’ve been trying to reach you for days.”

“I’ve been working,” I replied, shifting my weight on the rung.

“That’s exactly the problem,” he snapped. “You’re wasting your time up there. My son in construction? This is not what you were raised for.”

I closed my eyes briefly as I counted to three. “I wasn’t raised to live someone else’s life either,” I pointed out.

“You were raised to one day take over the family company, just like I was,” he shot back. “Walker Investments needs leadership, not someone playing contractor in the woods.”

I laughed once, humorless. “You’ve never been to Silver Cove. You don’t even know what I’m building up here.”

“I don’t need to see it firsthand, son.” Somehow he always made the word son sound like a curse word. “You’re throwing away a major opportunity, and power.”

God, he sounded just like Missy’s father.

“I don’t need or want power. What I’m building out here goes beyond that,” I said, my grip tightening on the ladder. “Families are going to live here. Kids are going to grow up here. I built that. That matters to me more than titles or dollar signs.”

“What matters,” he said coldly, “is legacy.”

“No,” I said quietly. “What matters is choice.”

There was a beat of silence. Then, sharper, “And what about her?”

I stiffened. “Who?”

“Don’t insult me,” he said. “Missy Sharpe. I’ve heard things.”

Of course he had.

“She’s my business,” I said flatly.

“She’s a distraction, always has been,” he countered. “Her family is a mess right now. Her father’s reputation alone…” He sighed. “You want to make sure you steer clear of what’s coming down the pipe in that area.”

I wanted to ask what my father knew but knew better than to open that can of worms. Instead, I warned, “Missy doesn’t have anything to do with her parents’ problems. Just like I’m not part of yours.”

“You think aligning yourself with that chaos is smart?” he pressed, as if he hadn’t heard me. “You think her parents would ever accept someone like you, someone choosing the slow life? I raised you to be smarter than that.”

I felt something snap. Clean. Final.

“I don’t care what they accept,” I said. “And I don’t care what you think anymore. I haven’t for years. I’m living my own life. We’re choosing how our futures go.”

“That’s a mistake,” he said.

“No,” I replied. “Taking this call was the only mistake I’ve made in a while.”

I hung up before he could say another word and slid my phone back into my pocket as it began to ring again. My hands were shaking slightly, not with doubt but with anger.

I climbed down and looked out over the whole job site. This little neighborhood, the many different homes in various stages of construction, this wasn’t a waste.

Neither was Missy.

And if someone thought they could scare me off, whether it was my father or Levi or anyone else, they were about to learn just how wrong they were.

It wasn’t just the model home that had been hit.

Lot four had a busted junction box. The cover had been ripped clean off and wires yanked out. Lot seven had a punctured pipe, just enough to flood the crawlspace without making it obvious right away. They were all small things on their own. All fixable.

But together?