Scandalous - Michael B Jordan

chapter 25

oak road. dirt, dust and one street sign with the road letters so faded you could barely see them. it was the exact same as in the picture. crops on either side, i drive down the single lane until it widened in front of an old farmhouse and barn.

not a soul in sight, nothing but the sound of wind, i got out of the suv. land as far as the eye could see, there were acres and acres of it. it was remote and isolated and so fucking quiet, the place made my skin crawl.

the crunch of gravel sounds behind me a split second before he spoke. "figured there had to be something that drove her back here." i turned around. an old man with a shotgun casually held in one hand eyed me. bright blue eyes, blond hair gone gray, he looked too old to be her father, but she sure as hell resembled him. "figured that something was a man," he added.

i glanced at the twelve gauge. "you got a problem with wildlife here, or just strangers?"

he ignored my question. "i don't know whether i should shoot you or shake your hand."

i took a calculated risk and held my hand out. "bakari jordan."

he eyed me skeptically but took my hand. "that a name or a statement?"

i didn't bullshit him. "both."

he glanced at my height. "don't suppose i can argue with that."

"not sure you'd want to." i wasn't being an asshole, i was just letting him know i wasn't gonna sit here and waste my time shooting the shit.

he nodded slowly. "she back for good?"

so she was here. "ask her yourself."

he scratched the gray stubble on his chin and looked out over his fields. "made a lot of mistakes in my day." his shrewd gaze made its way back to me. "you probably know what i'm talking about."

fuck. he was gonna do exactly what i hated. crossing my arms, i leaned back against the suv. "if you're implying i've made mistakes in life, you'll be right. doesn't mean i don't learn from them."

he nodded again, then looked back out at the farmland that stretched for miles. "my daughter one of them mistakes?"

"i'm here in a professional capacity, if that's what you're asking."

"bedding my daughter is a professional capacity?"

"i'm not sure what your daughter told you, but whatever it was, it was one-sided."

his eyes narrowed as he frowned. "she didn't tell me anything." he looked at me like he could see right the fuck through any bullshit i could dish out. "she never does."

i merely tipped my chin because i didn't wanna know what the fuck went on between them. "she around?"

"that depends."

"on?"

"why you're here."

fuck it. i told him the truth. "she needs to do something for me."

he eyed me again. "you don't look like you need any woman to do your bidding."

"you're right." i didn't. "i want her to do something for my boss."

"something for you, or something for your boss, which is it?"

i scanned the old house in the distance and the barn off to our right. "does it matter?" where the fuck is she?

"not to me." he admitted.

"you gonna tell me where she is?" this was a big fucking property. it'll take me a day to search it.

"still deciding."

"can't fault a father for protecting his daughter." not that i knew shit about being a dad.

he let out a grunt. "i protected her too much." his gaze met mine. "lost her ten years ago because of it."
ten days ago, u was so fucking mad, i would've told the old man to fuck off and get his daughter's ass out here.

but i had to admit, the shit i went through to find her had me curious about how she got from point a to b. a thirteen-year-old farm girl didn't often break into hollywood.

"well, she never told me about that." i admitted.

the old man looked pensive. "i'm sure there's a whole lot she never told you. women are like that."

i smirked. "i'm sure you're right."

"well." he inhaled deeply. "not my place to tell it."

i waited him out because the second someone told you they shouldn't say something, it meant they were looking for any excuse to tell you. and nothing made people talk like keeping your mouth shut. they rush to fill the void. me? i live in that fucking void. but apparently the old man didn't.

thirty seconds later, he was opening his mouth and dumping his regrets. "i didn't send my kids to school. had no use for it myself. nothing beats learning how to do an honest day's work." he nods at his fields. "been farming this land since i could walk. figured my kids would have the same life. it didn't matter one of 'em was a girl. you ask me, girls got two good hands and two good legs same as boys. both can learn to farm. figured my boy and girl would learn how to work the land together and it'd give 'em an easier time of it than i had after my daddy died." he kicked the dirt. "ain't a one-person job. not even with a heap of farmhands."

i didn't know shit about farming. "i imagine not." give me a gun over a shovel anyday.

"well, i didn't account for a girl growin' into a woman." he raised an eyebrow at me. "no idiot box, no proper schoolin', no time wasted sittin' in front of a computer that tells you about the world instead of you seeing what's right in front of you. i kept them kids honest. step off your front porch and you got life. that's how i always saw it, and that's what i taught 'em." he looked past me toward the house. "didn't realize it was all for naught." he paused, scratching the back of his neck.

i kept my mouth shut. he abruptly changed the subject. "you ever tried to hold on to a spooked horse?" i shake my head.

"it's impossible. a man's strength ain't no match for a horse when he's behaving, let alone when he's got the fear of god in him." he nodded slow, like he was agreeing with himself. "never was good at taming those wild beasts. you can't do nothin' but get outta their way when they get like that."

"i've never ridden." i admitted.

"i reckon you'd enjoy it, so long as you got yourself a horse that wasn't stubborn enough to throw you the second you told him to do something he don't wanna do." he shook his head. "women ain't no different than a stubborn horse."

"stubborn i can handle."

he lifted an eyebrow. "you sure about that?"

i didn't have time to answer. she walked out of the barn with a horse.