Daddy’s Wild Girl (Montana Daddies #16)

Chapter 44

44

T he next day, her phone started ringing.

Glancing at the screen, she saw it was her father.

Taking a deep breath, she fired off a quick text to Corbin before answering it. She’d just finished a therapy session, so it was good timing. She was holed up in one of JSI’s meeting rooms again.

Bebe answered the call on her laptop, unsurprised to find both her mother and father there.

“Bebe,” her father said with relief. “There you are. I’ve been so worried.”

He had? Funny way to show it.

The door opened in front of her, and Corbin slipped in, but she made sure not to move her gaze away from her parents. She didn’t want them to know someone else was there.

She also knew that there were recording devices in this room that Corbin had likely turned on. He’d warned her about them.

“Worried? You’ve got a funny way to show it,” she said.

“Bluebelle,” her mother said sharply. “Don’t speak to your father that way. We’ve been very concerned. And now we’ve received a message through Melanie that you’re about to make a big announcement about your stalker.”

Her father shot her mother a look before turning back to her. “Sweetheart, I’m sorry I’ve been so busy that I haven’t called. You know what touring is like.”

“I know,” she said bitterly. “But I thought you might have at least returned one of the three dozen calls I made to you. Or listened to at least one of the messages I left.”

“What calls? What messages?” he asked, looking genuinely confused. “What is going on?”

Her father might be neglectful, but she actually believed that he was confused.

“I’ve been calling for days. Ever since I was attacked and had to leave the city.”

“Attacked?” Her father grew pale. “Who attacked you?”

“Well, we thought it was the stalker.”

She watched her mother carefully and saw how the other woman’s face went completely blank. Easily done when it was filled with Botox.

She had nothing against using Botox, but overusing it could very well be a problem for her mother.

“I was out running when a man with a knife attacked Corbin. Sliced his arm while he was protecting me. We decided it would be safer if I moved to Sanctuary Ranch with him.”

“With him?” her mother asked. “What do you mean, with him?”

She raised her eyebrows. “I mean that I’m with him.”

“You’re . . . you’re dating him!” her father said. “I’ll need to speak to Kent about that. It seems extremely unethical.”

“We’re both adults,” she pointed out. “And he quit his job as my bodyguard, which you’d know if you had bothered to answer any of Kent’s calls.”

“I’ve had no calls from anyone!” her father said. “There has to be something wrong with my phone.”

“I left messages with your assistant too,” she told him.

“Did you?” His face grew stern. “I’ll talk to her.”

Sure. Right.

Bebe wasn’t expecting much.

“Is this your news that you’re going to release?” her mother asked. “That you’re dating your bodyguard? Really, Bluebelle, if you’re after publicity, Melanie can help.”

“No, like I said. The news is about my stalker. We think it might be a good idea to go public with the fact that not only have I had a stalker, but that we now know who it is.”

Did her mother flinch slightly?

“Is that a good idea?” her father said. “Isn’t it better to let the police deal with this? They won’t like it if you go public with the stalker’s identity.”

“Oh, but it will make for good publicity. For me, seeing as apparently, I’m going to be a part of The Benner Life .”

That was definitely anger in her mother’s face.

“What do you mean?” her father asked. “Your mother has recently decided to start filming again, but I know you won’t want to be a part of it.”

“That’s not what the television ads are saying. Haven’t you seen them, father? Oh, but they were pulled quickly, weren’t they?”

“They weren’t supposed to be released yet,” her mother said tightly.

“What? Were you going to release them after I came home to hide from my stalker? Was that it? Were there going to be more cameras in the guest house, Mother? Is that why you invented a stalker for me? To scare me into moving home?”

“You have no idea the things I do for you, you ungrateful girl!” her mother yelled.

“Why do you want me in that show so badly?” she asked.

“Because that’s the only way the network would consider the show again! They called it washed up and tired without you. Apparently, you brought the drama and the viewers!”

“So you told them I would be a part of it. And then you created a stalker for me. Who did you hire to attack me, Mother? Or did you just put out an ad for a knife-wielding psycho to attack me?”

“I never hired anyone to attack you! That wasn’t meant to happen until after the bodyguards left!”

Holy. Crap.

“What?” her father whispered. “Barb, what did you do?”

“I . . . I didn’t do anything, dear,” her mother simpered.

“She wrote those threatening messages to Bebe,” Corbin said, coming around to sit next to her. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders for support. But she didn’t lean into him.

Not yet.

Later, she’d fall apart.

“I don’t understand,” her father said. “You’re accusing Barb of being Bebe’s stalker?”

“She made up the stalker and sent the messages to me in the hopes that I’d move home. To create drama for the show. And God knows what other reasons. I’m guessing they released the information about the show too early, or at least my part in it.”

“I’d also guess she’s been shielding all of that from you, Benton,” Corbin added. “Erasing messages and paying off or threatening your personal assistant.”

“You can’t believe this, Benton!” Barb said.

“There were a few comments from reporters about Bebe’s return to the screen, but I ignored them. I thought they were trying to get a rise from me. But it’s true, isn’t it? You really thought to get Bebe back in the show by threatening her? And you hired someone to attack her?” her father demanded.

Benton moved away from Barb, and she could see the panic in her mother’s face. But, honestly, Bebe couldn’t feel any sympathy for her.

“Fine! I did it. I sent the messages. And I also used your assistant to redirect calls from her and Corbin. All of her calls and texts came to my phone. My ratings are down the tube, the network is threatening to drop them all and will only consider The Benner Life with Bebe back. She won’t do it because I’m her mother, so I thought I’d force her home. And add some drama because that’s what people want. What I did not factor in was you hiring bodyguards or her falling for one of them! But the person I hired to attack you was supposed to do it after the bodyguards left! On camera! He won’t get paid.”

They were all silent.

Her mother, obviously realizing what she’d just revealed, turned ghostly pale and spun to her father. “Benton?—”

“Save it,” he said in the coldest voice Bebe had ever heard from him. “Get out. Now.”

“Benton—” she said hastily.

“No, Barb. Get out. Now. Before I do something I regret.”

Barb, because she was no longer her mother, glared at her. “I hope you’re happy!”

“What about this would make me happy?” Bebe asked. “To learn that my own mother is happy to terrorize me? Nope. Nothing about this makes me happy.”

“All I ever tried to do was make you someone! Now, you’re with a bodyguard. You’re no one, Bluebelle! Certainly no daughter of mine.”

Well, that made two of them. Because she didn’t consider Barb her mother. Barb stormed out and her father stared at Bebe in horror.

“Bebe, I’m so sorry. I never saw what she was like with you . . .”

“I’ve tried to tell you over the years. You’ve never been interested in listening.”

“I’m listening now if you want to talk.”

“Maybe,” she said. “Not yet, though. We . . . we aren’t actually going public with the stalker. That was just a threat to get her attention. But I am staying here in Montana. With Corbin.”

“Understood,” her father said. “I will . . . I will try to call you soon, all right?”

She wasn’t holding out much hope, but she nodded. When the call ended, that’s when she broke.

Turning her head, she buried it in Corbin’s neck. He picked her up and settled her on his lap.

“It’s all right, baby. It’s all done now. And we know the truth. Let it out if you need to.”

She tried to hold it back, but she couldn’t. It was like a tide rushing out and there was no stopping it.

His poor girl.

She’d been brave for so long. But it was time for her to let go and allow him to care for her.

Turning her in his arms, he held her pressed to his chest, her legs hanging down on either side of his.

And he just held her.