𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 | 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐬.

Chapter two.

Hardin 

Yep. My daughter is a damn Scott woman. They like to scream.

"Grammy! Aunt Emme!" She took off running and I was spared the new mommy ordeal—at least for a week.

My sister Emmeline dropped to her knees and caught Chloe as she barreled into her.

My mother made a beeline straight to me. Her blonde hair was pulled up, leaving me a clear view of her blue eyes, which danced with happiness. The bits of brown that ran through her hair seemed to glow in the sun. "Hardin, darling I'm so happy to have you home."

Holding out my arms, I held my mother tightly. "It's good to be home, Ma."

"Your things came two days ago. I hope you don't mind, but Emmeline and I took to placing everything in the house. If you don't like it, you and your brothers can change it up."

"I'm sure it's fine."

She pinched her brows together. "Steed, I know the house is fully furnished and that's why you didn't have any furniture, but there's no bedroom set for Chloe. Of course you're more than welcome to keep the furniture that's in the house, but I thought you might want something a little more kid friendly."

I shook my head. "I want to start fresh. The fewer memories of Mia...the better. We stopped at Harvert's Furniture on the way here and Chloe picked out a brand-new bedroom set. It will be delivered on Saturday."

My mother smiled. "Oh, she'll love that! I'm sorry you couldn't bring your things."

With a weak smile, I replied, "It's not a big deal."

Mia had never physically abused Chloe, but mentally she had done a number on both of us. Her constant screaming had grown worse as the years ticked by. But she also stayed away more, giving both Chloe and me a much-needed break. I was having a private detective follow Mia in the hopes of catching her in an affair.

When she showed up to my job one day with divorce papers and legal paperwork signing all parental rights over to me, I wanted to jump for joy. Once she figured she wasn't getting a dime of money from my family, she realized she had better things to do with her life. Chloe and I weren't part of the plan and that was fine by me. I'd wasted over six years of my life on a relationship that had started out as a desperate attempt to fuck Tessa out of my mind. Look where that shit got me.

My mother shook her head as we walked toward the front door where Emmeline and Chloe had disappeared. "I still don't understand how a mother could walk away from her child."

"It was easy. She never wanted a daughter. Chloe was a bargaining tool to Mia, not a child."

We entered the large foyer, my heart about to burst because my dad was holding up Chloe as she laughed. My whole family had flown out to Oregon right after Chloe was born, unfortunately giving Mia ideas about my family's money. My parents had come to visit twice a year the first few years of Chloe's life and never questioned why I couldn't bring Chloe to Texas. Then when Mia went full force bat-shit crazy, I had to get creative with my parents' trips. We had gone on a few weekend camping trips where my folks had met up with us. Chloe had been old enough to know it had to be kept a secret from Mia. I hated making Chloe keep such a secret, but it was necessary if I wanted to keep her in my parents' life and get us away from Mia. Other than the few visits, only Skype calls kept Chloe involved in their world. She had loved calling my brothers and sisters and was so excited to finally meet them all.