"Ridge?" Phil leaned over to whisper. "Are you all right?"
"Fine," he said, but his mind and body were on fire with the epiphany. Could the answer be that simple? Other people hadn't been rejecting him all along. He'd been rejecting himself.
His cell phone dinged, letting him know he had a text. Once. Twice.
But Kaia's lesson had sunk in. Mr. Yan was his host. He deserved Ridge's undivided attention. The phone dinged again, but he ignored it until he excused himself from the table. Slipped off to the restroom.
When he finally pulled the phone from his pocket and checked the text messages and saw they were from Kaia, his heart grew wings.
I lied, said the first text.
Intrigued, he scrolled to the next one.
I'll wait for you.
His chest tightened and his heart raced.
However long it takes.
He couldn't exhale. He staggered against the wall to keep from falling over.
I'll be here.
I miss you.
I love you.
And the last one.
I cherish the day when you can tell me you love me too.
Finally, finally, he could breathe again. And in that moment, Ridge absolutely knew exactly where he belonged.
The minute he got out of his plane at the Silver Feather Ranch, Duke was there to greet him.
He'd called his father when he left Beijing, telling him he was coming home so they could have a long talk.
"Welcome home, son," Duke said, and stunned Ridge by giving him a hug.
"What's this all about?"
"Vivi threatened to leave me if I don't make things right with you this time," Duke said. "I can't lose her, so here I am, hugging you."
"Is she watching?"
"On the front porch."
"You'll do anything for her, won't you?"
"Pretty much."
"You're better for her than I ever was," Ridge said.
"I know that." Duke grinned and Ridge didn't take offense. Not at all.
They stared at each other, not in hostile tension as before, but in companionable silence.
Something monumental had shifted.
Not in Duke, but in him.
"I'm glad you came home," Duke said.
"Glad to be here." Ridge meant every word.
"After my heart attack, well, I've done some thinking and I want you to know I'm changing my will. I'm leaving the Silver Feather to you. Although I'm leaving the mansion to Vivi of course."
"What?" His jaw unhinged. A silver feather could have knocked him over. But this was Duke. Ridge had narrowed his eyes, hopeful but still guarded. "Are you just trying to stir up trouble between me and my brothers? Because I don't need your money or your ranch."
"I know that."
"Why then?"
"You're my son, what do you mean, why?"
"You have three other sons."
"You're the oldest."
"I'm the bastard."
"That doesn't matter. This isn't 1854."
"You always treated me like it was."
"I'm an asshole. Is that what you want me to say? There it is. I'm an asshole."
"Well, okay. We both already knew that."
"I admit it," Duke said. "I was furious when your mama got knocked up and put the screws to me for money. I took it out on you. I shouldn't have. That was wrong. Happy now?"
It wasn't quite an apology, but it was something. Baby steps.
"Besides," Duke went on, "you're the only one who loves the ranch like I do. Ranger's a good hand, but his head is in the stars. Remington's got a chip on his shoulder and a score to settle. And Rhett don't give a damn about anything he can't ride. You're the only one with soil in your blood . . ."
"Have you talked to them?"
"I haven't. They'll get their due. I'm not cutting them out. There's the silver mine and other real estate holdings. But the ranch is yours." Duke's voice faltered as if the conversation was taking way too much out of him. "I want you to have it . . . son."
"Thank you . . ." Ridge hesitated a moment, and then went ahead and grabbed the impulse seizing him. "Dad."
Duke looked stunned, pulled a palm down his face. "You called me Dad. You haven't called me that since you were-"
"Twelve years old, and we got into our first fistfight. I know."
"You don't have to wait until I die," Duke invited. "I'm not up to snuff and the doc says I have to take it easy. While Archer is an ace foreman, he's not family. You did a fine job with the business while I was in the hospital. I shouldn't have yelled at you. I just saw the changes you'd made. Good changes. Changes I should have made years ago and I felt inadequate and put-out-to-pasture and I took it out on you."