Читать книгу The Cowboy She Couldn't Forget - Patricia Thayer - Страница 11

CHAPTER THREE

ANA’S EYES WIDENED. “What do you mean, there aren’t enough funds?”

Wade leaned back in his chair. “It means the Lazy S has had a rough few years. I just recently learned this because I’ve been notified by the State Land Leasing Board.”

Ana turned to Vance. “Why didn’t you say something?”

He was as shocked as she was. “First of all, I didn’t know anything about the lease coming due. I knew beef prices were down and that we lost several head in that big storm last winter, but...” He’d never dreamed it had been this bad.

“What do you mean, you didn’t know? You’re Dad’s foreman.”

“I may physically run the operation, but Colt funds the business account. I use that money for payroll and for the feed and supplies. Colt kept the ranch finances.”

He thought about the land that Colt had given to him a few years back. He’d planted an alfalfa crop on the acreage. It should be ready to harvest in about six weeks. That gave them the time, but would the profit be enough?

Wade broke into his thoughts. “Ana, I’ve been trying for years to get your father to diversify. He lost a lot of his savings when the market tanked a few years ago. In the past, that money had always been his cushion through the bad years.”

Ana looked pale. “What do we do now?”

Vance wished he could offer a miracle, but he wasn’t sure there was one. “Like Mr. Dickson said, we have nearly six months.” His gaze met hers. “You can’t do this on your own. I think you need to get your sisters together.”

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Vance escorted Ana out of the Dickson law office.

“You look ready to drop,” he told her.

“Gee, thanks. What every woman wants to hear.”

He ignored her comment. “When was the last time you ate?”

“I had some toast this morning. I’m just not hungry.”

“It’s after one o’clock. You have a lot to deal with, so you need to eat.” He placed his hand on the small of her back and immediately felt the warmth of her skin, but resisted the urge to draw her any closer.

She sighed. “You’re right, but I should go home and figure out what to do about this mess.”

Nixing her request, he guided her a short distance down the sidewalk to a small family-owned restaurant, the Big Sky Grill.

“First, you’re going to eat.” He held open the door. When she didn’t move, he said, “I can keep this up all day.”

She glared at him with those big blue eyes, then finally relented. “Okay. A quick lunch.”

Once inside, they were greeted by the owners, Burt and Cindy Logan. Burt escorted them across the tile floor to a booth next to the picture window that looked out onto Main Street. Several patrons stopped Ana en route and wished her father well. When she finally got away, she slid into one of the bench seats while Vance sat down across from her and placed his hat on the space beside him. He pulled out a menu from between the salt-and-pepper shakers and went over the choices.

Cindy showed up with two glasses of water. “How’s your daddy doin’?” she asked.

“A lot better. He’s stable for now, but they’re still running more tests.”

The middle-aged woman placed her hand on Ana’s. “Tell Colt that we’re all praying for him.”

“He’ll appreciate that, Cindy. Thank you.”

They gave her their order and she left them alone.

Ana shook her head. “I can’t believe how many people care. Funny, isn’t it? He seems to have gotten along with everyone except his own daughters.”

Vance shrugged. “Why does that surprise you? The Slater family helped settle Royerton. Colt is well respected around here.”

Vance knew how Colt had treated his girls. It wasn’t that he was mean, he just pretty much ignored them. Over the years, Kathleen had always been the surrogate parent. “Okay, the man wasn’t the perfect father.” Vance leaned back in the seat. “So why did you stay, and not take off like your sisters?”

Ana stared at him with eyes that were the mirror image of Colt’s. “I stayed for my sisters, then I got the job at the high school.” She shrugged. “I’m not even sure it matters anymore.”

Vance leaned forward. “Look, Ana, I don’t know why Colt did a lot of things. There’s no doubt he isn’t a happy man. I’ve heard stories about how he was when he was younger, before your mother left.”

He watched Ana stiffen.

He wasn’t going to be put off. “Do you remember her?”

With a nod, she glanced away. “I was pretty young. But, yes, I can remember how beautiful she was. Her voice, her touch.” She turned back and he saw the tears in her eyes. “I wanted to hate her, but for years I just kept praying she’d come back and be our mom again.”

He reached across the table and touched her hand. “That’s understandable.”

She looked down at his hand and slowly pulled hers away. “Is it? Do you wish your mother would come back?”

“Sure. Every kid does, especially when your dad isn’t around to feed you and you’re hungry.” Vance blew out a breath. “And you can’t go to school because you don’t have shoes. Kids make fun of you for things like that. But sometimes you’re just too hungry to care, when you know you’ll get that free meal at lunch.”

He caught the look on her face and realized how much he’d disclosed.

This time Ana took his hand. “Oh, Vance. I had...had no idea.”

He shrugged it off. “No one did. At fourteen, I finally had enough and was trying to get away. I was big for my age and hoped I could go somewhere and get a job.

“I hid out in the back of a pickup truck in the parking lot so I could get out of town. I didn’t know it belonged to Colt until I found myself at the Lazy S. I decided to sleep in the barn before starting my journey in the morning. Of course he found me.”

Ana didn’t want to feel sympathy for the kid who had a rotten life. “And you became the son Dad always wanted.”

“As I told you before, I only wanted to survive,” Vance stressed. “Colt was my only way out of a bad childhood. I’m sorry if you thought you had to compete against me for your father’s attention.”

She shrugged. It all seemed so juvenile now. “It doesn’t matter anymore. Colt made his choices a long time ago and that’s why I can’t get my sisters to come back here.”

“Maybe if they know about the state of the ranch... I mean, it’s part of their heritage, too. Their inheritance. Wouldn’t they want to preserve it?”

Ana shrugged. “So far they haven’t seemed too interested in anything to do with Colt or the ranch.” She raised her gaze to meet his. “The trick is, how do I convince Josie, Tori and Marissa to come home?”

“Tell them the truth. Colt needs them and you can’t do it all. At the least, you need help with his care.” He paused, then asked, “Aren’t they all living in California? You could go see them.”

“Go there?”

He nodded. “If you show up on their doorstep they have to listen to you. They should help you with medical decisions about your father.”

She frowned. “You don’t know my sisters.” This could backfire in her face. “So I think you should go with me.”

* * *

The nurse raised Colt’s bed so he could finally sit up. What he really wanted was to get the hell out of this place. Not an easy task, since he was still weak as a newborn calf and he couldn’t move his right arm.

“Is that better, Mr. Slater?” the nurse, whose name was Erin, asked.

He grunted.

She smiled again as she put the call button next to his good hand. “Press this if you need me. Your daughter will be here, too. Plus, they should be coming to talk to you about your therapy soon.”

He grunted again. What good was that going to do?

“It’s going to take some work to get back in shape, Mr. Slater, but you’ve got a good chance for a full recovery. But you’ll need to work hard.”

As if he hadn’t worked hard all his life.

The nurse turned on the television to a game show, then walked out of the room, leaving him alone.

Most of the time he liked being alone. What choice did he have? Ranch work had filled in a lot of lonely hours. He released a breath and closed his eyes. What was he going to do when he didn’t have the Lazy S anymore? Sit in a nursing home somewhere until he died?

Sadness overtook him as he closed his eyes and thought back over his life. His chest tightened when he thought of Luisa.

He could still picture her as vividly as if it were yesterday. Small and delicate, Luisa Delgado was beautiful with all that thick, black hair and large eyes. Her olive skin was flawless. When he first saw her, at a rodeo, he’d thought she was an angel. When she walked up and talked to him, he figured he’d died and gone to heaven.

After they’d married, weeks later, he’d thanked God every day, and especially when they were blessed with the babies, every one of them a beauty like their mother.

The tightness in Colt’s chest worsened as he recalled the evening he’d come in from the range, so anxious to see his girls. Luisa had been moody and distant of late, with caring for the children. He’d offered to get her someone to help, but she said she wanted to be their mother full-time. Later that night he’d found her crying, and had asked her what was wrong.

She’d only said, “Just make love to me so all the bad things will go away.”

Colt released another sigh, recalling how intense their loving had been that night. When he’d walked into the house the next afternoon, there was a babysitter and his wife was gone. All that he had was a short note, telling him she no longer wanted a life with him and their daughters.

He’d searched for her, wanting to beg her to come home, but he never found her. Then he got the divorce papers. That day his life as he knew it had ended.

* * *

Two days later, Vance sat next to Ana as the plane landed at LAX. He had no idea how he’d gotten roped into going to California.

For one thing, he hated large cities and the crowds. Secondly, if there had been any animosity between him and Ana, it had been worse with the younger sisters. He had to just keep remembering he was doing this for Colt, and for Ana.

The plane taxied to the terminal. “I’m not sure this visit will change anything,” Ana said, feeling a little nervous. Maybe it had something to do with the close quarters. Vance was a big man, and that didn’t leave her much room. “What if Tori and Josie refuse to help?”

“Then we go back to Montana and figure it out on our own.” His hand rested against his jean-covered thigh. She was suddenly intrigued by his long, tapered fingers.

He went on to say, “And we will figure out something. I promise.”

She glanced at his face and saw his sexy smile. Her heart went zing and she had to look away. No! She wasn’t going to even think about this man like that. Okay, so maybe it was normal, since she hadn’t been in a romantic relationship in a while. That was still no excuse to think about Vance Rivers that way. She was no longer that dreamy-eyed teenage girl who wanted his attention. No way was she getting involved with him.

When the plane stopped at the gate, she unfastened her seat belt as Vance stood and reached up into the overhead compartment. He took down her carry-on and his duffel, along with his cowboy hat. He stepped back to let her out into the aisle. The small space made it impossible not to brush up against him. She inhaled his scent and could feel his hard body. Again the zings. Okay, so that hadn’t changed over the years; he still appealed to her, a lot.

Since they had their only luggage with them, they went straight to the car rental booth. Vance got a midsize sedan and started to climb into the driver’s seat.

Ana looked at him. “Can you drive the L.A. freeways?”

He took off his hat and tossed it in back. “We’ll soon find out.”

“Here’s the address for Josie’s business.”

Vance took the paper and entered the address in the GPS, then headed for the 5 Freeway. They ended up in the older section of Los Angeles not far from Griffith Park. It was a two-story stucco building with a Spanish design.

They got out of the car and walked up to the directory on the wall. It didn’t take long to find the right office. The sign on the glass door read Slater Style.

“Catchy name,” Vance said.

“That’s what Josie’s all about.” Ana released a breath. “Okay, let’s get this over with.”

Vance nodded, opened the door and allowed her to step in ahead of him. The small reception area consisted of a desk and chairs that lined the opposite walls. But there wasn’t a soul in sight.

Vance checked his watch. “I guess everyone’s at lunch. Did you tell Josie you were coming?”

“No. I didn’t want her to find an excuse to keep me away.”

Suddenly the door opened and a familiar woman, carrying a take-out food sack, walked in. However, it wasn’t the twin they expected to see here.

Vittoria Slater had dark hair, the same pretty smile as her older sister. “Ana? What are you doing here?”

“Tori?” Ana rushed to her and they hugged tightly. “I think you know my reason for coming to L.A. But what are you doing at Josie’s office?”

“Well, as of a few months ago, it’s my office, too. I quit my job and decided it was time I went out on my own.” She nodded. “Josie offered me office space here. I decided to give my own web-design company a chance.”

Tori had their mother’s coloring, the olive skin, midnight-dark eyes and ebony hair. Her hair was shorter now, cut just below her chin.

Ana was excited for her sister, knowing how unhappy she’d been with her previous company. But Ana was a little sad that she hadn’t shared this with her.

“That’s great. So how is business?”

“Good. Several of my old clients came with me, and I like being my own boss.” Tori finally noticed Vance across the room and she blinked in surprise. “Vance, good to see you.” Her smile faded. “Wait a minute, has something more happened to Colt?”

“No, your dad is still the same,” Vance told her. “I’ll let your sister explain the rest.”

“We need to talk about what to do,” Ana stated. “Dad isn’t going to get better right away, so we’ve got to discuss...some things. The ranch, mainly.”

The anger was evident in Tori’s eyes. “It can dry up and blow away for all I care. I hate that place.”

Ana wasn’t surprised by her sister’s reaction. “Tori, you can’t mean that. It’s our home.”

The younger twin shook her head. “It was just a big, old house to me. Dad was happier when we finally all left.”

Ana wasn’t surprised by the animosity toward their father. “I understand your feelings, but right now, Colt can’t speak, or make decisions for the Lazy S. I’m going to remind you that the ranch has been in our family for three generations.”

Tori began to speak when the office door opened and another sister walked in.

“Hey, Tori, it’s about time—” Josefina Slater stopped and stared. “Ana! What are you doing here?”

“Is there an echo in here?” Ana hugged the other twin. Josie had fair skin with long, golden-brown hair and the Slater blue eyes. Except for the shape of their faces and their smiles, the two twins couldn’t look less alike.

“To answer your question, since you didn’t come home, I thought I’d come here.”

Josie’s gaze went to Vance as he nodded in greeting. “And you felt the need to bring reinforcements? Hi, Vance. It’s been a long time.”

He smiled. “Good to see you again, Josie.”

Ana turned back to her sisters. “Vance is here to help convince you both of the seriousness of the situation.” She wasn’t foolish enough to think this would be easy.

Josie’s frown told her that she wasn’t going to be easily swayed. “Like I told you when you called last week, I have a big event coming up. I can’t leave right now.”

Ana was sad that they wouldn’t come back home for their father. “I understand that, being an event planner, you need to be here, but I’m talking about our father. We’re a family.”

Josie shared a glance with her twin, then said, “It seems you and Vance have it under control. You two seem to make a pretty good team. We’ll give you permission to make any decisions. So there’s no reason you had to come here and try and rope us into going back home.”

And it wasn’t getting any easier, Ana thought. “We came here because we need to make some decisions about Dad.”

“Has something else happened?” Josie asked.

Ana saw the flash of concern and was encouraged. “No, he’s the same, and he’ll start physical therapy soon.”

“That’s good, isn’t it?” Tori asked.

Good, there was more concern. “The reason we’re here isn’t so much about Dad as it is about the ranch.”

“What do you mean?” Josie asked. “Can’t Vance handle things while Colt recovers?”

He gave a nod, but didn’t say anything.

“It’s more than running the ranch.” Ana started to explain, then said, “I wish Marissa was here, too. She should be in on this.”

“Maybe I can make it happen,” Tori said, and motioned them into her office. Vance, Ana noticed, sat down in the reception area.

Her sister went behind the desk and opened the laptop. “If she’s not out on a location, Marissa should be home.” After several keystrokes on the computer, a picture came up, then the real thing.

“Hey, Tori.”

“Hi, Marissa.”

“What’s going on?”

“Quite a bit, actually. Got someone here who wants to talk you.”

Ana stepped in front of the monitor. She felt tears burning her eyes as her baby sister appeared on the screen, sitting at a desk. “Hi, Marissa.”

“Oh, Ana,” she sighed. “You’re in California?”

She nodded. “I only wish I could see you in person, too. How about I come down to San Diego? If you’ll be around.”

She saw the panic in her youngest sister’s eyes. “Well...maybe, but it’s not a good idea right now. I’m going to be out on a shoot all this week. How long are you planning to be here?”

“I need to get back soon to take care of Dad.”

Marissa hesitated, then asked, “How is he?”

Ana glanced across the office at Vance, happy for his support. “He’s holding his own. That’s why I’m here. Uncle Wade came to see me a few days ago. Since Dad is temporarily incapacitated, there needs to be an executor to take over.”

“So Uncle Wade is the boss now?”

“No, he isn’t. Dad named Vance and me.”

The twins shot a look across the office at him. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Josie said. “He’s always treated Vance like family.”

Vance didn’t say a word for a moment. It was true, Colt had always treated him fairly. Although he wasn’t happy about the man’s treatment of his daughters.

“Seems I’m the only one who knows about running a ranch,” he said eventually.

“That’s not our fault,” Tori retorted, then all the girls began to argue. That was when Vance put his fingers in his mouth and let go with a loud whistle. It got their attention.

“I didn’t ask for the job,” he told them. “But since I have it, I’m going to do everything possible to keep the ranch.”

Josie looked at Ana. “What does he mean?”

“It means the ranch is in financial trouble. Big trouble.” Ana told them about the amount of money owed for the lease, and their six-month extension. “So we need to come up with some ideas.”

“Dad doesn’t have the money?” Marissa asked.

Ana shook her head, knowing this wasn’t going as well as she’d hoped.

“Well, we don’t, either,” Tori stated. “Everything we have is tied up in the business here.”

“It’s not only money we want,” Vance said. “We need some ideas to add income to the ranch so this doesn’t happen again. So tell me, is the Lazy S important enough to you sisters to help save it? Can we count on your support?” After giving them his two cents’ worth, Vance turned and walked out of the office.

Tori sighed. “I have to say that cowboy of yours sure knows how to get a woman’s attention.”

“He’s not my cowboy or anything else.”

Josie looked at her twin and they both grinned. Then their baby sister’s voice said via the computer, “If you say so, sis.”

Ana was frustrated, having to defend herself. “I do say so. Vance and I have to work together.”

Tori shook her head. “Too bad. You’ve had that guy tied into knots since you grew breasts.”

What? Ana opened her mouth to deny it, but refused to add fuel to the fire. They had other problems. “We need to direct our attention to the ranch.”

There was silence and Ana saw the confused looks on her sisters’s faces. Of course they were torn. Colt never appreciated anything his daughters had ever done. Tori and Josie had been top students all during school. They’d even won academic scholarships. Marissa had been a star athlete, but over the years their dad had said little in the form of praise or encouragement to any of them. So why should they go back to Montana now?

Ana couldn’t make them, but didn’t want them to have any regrets, either.

“Okay, sisters,” she began. “If you won’t do it for our dad, I have another idea.” She glanced at the twins, then at Marissa on the computer screen. “Let’s do it for ourselves. Let’s show Colt Slater how his girls can run the ranch.”