Shocked, Matt stood. “What the hell?”

“You ass**le. You begged her to open up to you and when she did, you threw it in her face. You proved her right. You dumped my sister for sharing with you. Bravo. She’s never, ever opened up that way to anyone before. I actually encouraged her to do it. I’m a f**king fool and you’re an ass**le. Your shit will be out on the street by nine tonight so don’t bother my sister to come inside to get anything.” Nathan spun to leave but Matt grabbed him.

“Wait! I didn’t dump her. I just needed some time away from home. I’m not moving out!”

“Yes you are. Leave her alone, Matt. You blew it.”

“That’s my f**king house! You can’t tell me what to do. Tate is my woman. I get that you’re her brother and all but this isn’t your business.”

“It’s my business when I have to listen to her cry. It’s my business when she blames me for making her tell you something she didn’t want to tell you to begin with because she wanted to protect you and the rest of us. You promised her you wouldn’t let anyone hurt her and you did it yourself.”

Matt reached out to grab his arm when Nate turned to leave again and Nathan shoved him back. “Don’t touch me, ass**le. I thought you’d be good for her. But you’re just like the rest of them.”

Shane came in and quickly moved to them. “What the hell is going on? Cassie called me and said Tate is holed up in her bedroom and her family is packing up your stuff. You broke up with her? Are you out of your mind?”

“Packing my stuff? I didn’t break up with her! Why won’t anyone believe me? Jesus! She holds on to this f**king horrible shit with her father for five months! She thinks I’d just walk away from her if her father showed up at my doorstep? How much trust does that show? Am I never allowed to feel anything? Only Tate gets to feel pain now? She didn’t trust me to stand by her.”

“No one ever has!” Nathan yelled it so loud and his words were so filled with emotion that everyone who hadn’t already been watching the scene unfold stopped and turned.

“Yes, she should have told you. She should have told all of us but you can’t know what it cost her to keep it to herself. Have you thought of that? How alone she must have felt as he terrorized her?”

Nathan took a step back and sneered at him. “Damn you, Matt Chase. This isn’t about you, not in the way you think. I got more out of her, she’s paid him seven thousand dollars. Why? Because she adores you. She loves you and she wanted to protect you and your family from the sickness we’ve had to endure our whole lives. From the shame of what we come from. Probably part of it was she was worried that when you were confronted with the reality of Bill Murphy you’d walk away. And until you’ve spent ten minutes with him, you can’t possibly understand what a powerful motivator that is. He’s…” Nathan shuddered in disgust, “…he’s a horrible man. He’s poisonous. She wanted to shield you from him. And not just you, he used everyone she wanted to protect, our nieces and nephew too because William and Tim are the ones other than her hurt the worst by my father. This isn’t about her not trusting you, it’s about her protecting you. That’s what Tate does in case you hadn’t bothered to notice.”

Matt’s head spun. He didn’t know what to think. There was no question he loved Tate. He hadn’t broken up with her, he just needed some damned time away to nurse some hurt feelings.

“She sold a bracelet I gave her two years ago to send Jill spending money. She dipped into savings to pay for the renovation but didn’t want to take more because it’s where she keeps the money for their tuition and any other emergencies. So feel your pain, Matt. You go ahead on. She told you she was broken at the very beginning and she is. But you’re wrong to turn this and make it about you.”

Nathan moved to leave but it was Shane who stopped him this time, looking back at Matt, who had to grab a chair as he took in the words.

“I’m not moving out. You can bet on that, Nathan. When I get back, Tate and I will work this out. This is not about you.”

“Fuck you, Chase. For the better part of my life Tate took responsibility for me. Paid my father hush money so my siblings and I could live safely and be fed. That’s why we’re always at her house. She feeds us emotionally and physically. There’s never a bare pantry at Tate’s house, not in her heart or in her kitchen. This is about me because Tate is about me. Tate is more of a mother to me than the woman who gave me birth. I owe Tate everything I am and I won’t stand by and let anyone hurt her. Not my father and certainly not you. Get out of my way Sheriff Chase unless you plan to arrest me.”

Shane sighed and moved to the side. “Nathan, don’t do this. Tate needs Matt, she loves him and he loves her. You know that. I know you’re upset but you have to let them work things out.”

Nathan said nothing more but left The Pumphouse.

“Whatcha gonna do?” Shane looked down at Matt.

“I’m going to go home and kick people out. Tate and I need to fix this without an audience.”

“I’ll go with you. I don’t think it’s going to be as easy as you think.” Shane rode over with Matt.

“I just needed some damned time to nurse some hurt feelings. I didn’t tell her I was breaking things off. I told her I’d be back,” Matt explained to his brother after he’d told him about the payoffs.