Loving Her (Mitchell Family #9)(33)
Author: Jennifer Foor

Jake pulled on his brother’s vest. “Take it off!”

I grabbed them and pulled them apart. “Alright, let’s not fight about it. If your mom says it’s fine, then let your brother wear it. It’s his body. If he wants to look like a complete freak of nature with a Kid Rock obsession, it’s his choice.”

I heard the door closing and the women coming into the house as Jax ran out of the bathroom.

By the time I reached where they were standing, Miranda had already gotten an eyeful of Jax’s choice of attire. “Seriously? Jax Mitchell, get your butt in that bedroom and put on normal clothes.”

He put his hands on his hips and stood still. “No! Dad said I can wear it.”

I noticed Izzy laughing, but as soon as our eyes made contact, she froze in place. It was as if there was no one arguing in the room. Only the two of us existed in a bitter stare down.

Miranda nudged me as she grabbed Jax by the collar and started walking him back into his bedroom. His arms were flailing around as he tried to fight free. Izzy followed behind them, heading straight to her room without saying a single word to me.

All I could do was stand there next to Jake, feeling like I meant nothing to her. I don’t know why I couldn’t help myself, but I followed her into her room, where she refused to turn around and acknowledge me.

I started to say something, when she suddenly turned around. She was focused on my face, but her demeanor wasn’t friendly. Her eyes looked like she was trying to telekinetically hit me with things. That knot in my stomach returned, but this time, it was filled with both pain and disappointment. “I just wanted to wish you a good first day back at school, Iz.”

When she didn’t reply, I walked out of the room, saying nothing more. In fact, I headed out to pick up Conner and start on our rounds without saying goodbye to anyone.

Conner, like every morning, was already outside. He was feeding the hunting dogs in their pen and giving them fresh water. “I thought you said you were going to make the girls start doing that.”

Conner turned around and rolled his eyes. “That shit lasted one day. They dumped the whole bag of food in the pen and left it there, and then it rained. These two idiots would eat themselves to death if they could.” He pointed to the two dogs.

“I’d rather be in there with them than at my house right now.”

Conner turned off the hose and wrapped it back up. “What’s that supposed to mean? Randa cut you off or somethin’?”

I blew air out of my mouth. “Shit, you know that’s not happening.”

“I heard about Bells. That’s messed up, man. I know how much you two wanted to take that to the grave.”

“Yeah.” I kicked around some gravel. “It would have been nice.” I ran my hand through my hair. “Everything is so f**ked up now. I don’t even know who to be mad at. I mean, I hate that Noah and Iz took it upon themselves to look into Tucker, but I can’t blame them. I would have done the same thing. Kids are curious that way.”

“Have you talked to her?”

“I tried. She slept at my parent’s house, and this morning she refused to speak to me. It’s never going to be the same again, man. I can tell. She’s never going to look at me as nothing more than a liar.” My throat started burning and I had to fight my emotions. It wasn’t like I wanted Conner to see me all vulnerable. He’d have a field day for weeks picking on me.

“Give her time. If she’s anything like her mother, she’ll forget about it soon enough.” Conner seemed sure, but nobody knew Iz like I did. I saw the pain in her eyes, and it killed me. She also was full of her mother’s spunk. That woman could hold a grudge.

We headed off to work and separated like we did each day. Since my dad was getting older, he stuck to the easy work, like driving the tractor around or picking up things from town. The old man didn’t want to admit that it was time for him to enjoy his life. He also didn’t want to admit that Conner and I had made his small farm a very lucrative ranch. Not only were we raising and selling cattle, but we still had produce and even chicken houses. For the most part, I handled the chickens, Conner worked with the cattle, and my dad and the other farm workers managed the produce. It was what he knew, and trying to teach him something new was just a waste of time.

Halfway through the day, I got a call from Miranda. I could hear a blow-dryer in the background and knew she was at the salon. “Ty, I need you to go get Bella.”

“Why? Is she sick?”

“No, she punched a kid in the face. She’s suspended.”

“What? You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“I’m not. Listen, I’m booked solid today. Your mom is at the doctors. Please, just go get her.”

“I’m leaving now.”

Of course I dropped what I was doing and headed to town to pick up Iz. After hearing the story from the principal, Izzy came out of the office and walked with me to the truck. She said nothing as she buckled her seat belt. I started the engine, but didn’t put it into drive. “Are you going to tell me what happened?”

She shrugged her shoulders.

“Izzy, I’m not playing around. Tell me why you hit that boy. Now!”

She looked out the window and refused to answer me.

“When you get home, go straight to your room, young lady.”

I started driving and got halfway down the road before she spoke and it was nothing that I would have expected her to say. “I don’t have to listen to you. You’re a liar and you’re not my dad.”

She may as well have had an arrow and shot it straight through my heart. I was stunned, hearing her say something that would crush me, without any regard for my feelings.

It was difficult to continue driving with her sitting there, but I managed to make it to the house without losing it. “Get your little ass in your bedroom and don’t even think about coming out.”

She got out of the car and slammed the door. I waited until she went inside before covering my face and weeping like a small child. I couldn’t take much more and it had only just begun. I didn’t know how I was going to be able to look at her day after day and see that hate in her eyes. It would destroy me.

Chapter 22

Miranda

It was impossible to concentrate on styling someone’s hair when I knew that my daughter had been suspended from school. My hands were shaking, and more than anything, I worried about Ty having to pick her up.

She thought I didn’t notice her ignoring him earlier in the day. I wanted to scold her, but the boys were in the car, and Ty and I both thought it was best to leave them out of this. If things worked themselves out, they never had to know.