by Liz Isaacson
“Me too.” Callie lifted her eyes to his, and Liam didn’t have any gum with him. No breath freshener. The last minty thing that had touched his mouth was his toothpaste, hours ago.
He leaned down and kissed Callie anyway, instant heat filling his body. He pulled in a breath without removing his lips from hers, thrilled when her fingers slid up the back of his neck and into his hair.
She was kissing him back.
Liam had imagined this moment for a long time—too long. He’d planned the most romantic places, and fantasized about the perfect conversation they’d have before he’d lean down and make sure she knew how he felt about her.
This kiss was so much better than any of that, though he’d never thought he’d kiss her next to the horse pasture on her own ranch.
He broke the kiss, every fiber of his being vibrating like he’d been hooked up to a powerful energy source. He didn’t know what to say, and that was a first for him. Callie wrapped her arms around him and leaned into his chest, giving him the opportunity to hold her, breathe in the soft floral scent of her hair, and bask in the glory of this moment.
Liam closed his eyes, wanting to memorize everything about this situation, right down to the smell of dust and horses in the air, the mid-morning sun on his back, and the shape of Callie in his arms.
“Do you want to keep going?” she eventually asked, and Liam nodded. He held her hand as they moseyed around the ranch. Callie pointed out the things she did, and those seemed to be in good repair, from the hay troughs for the cattle, to the stables where the horses were sheltered. The fields closest to the epicenter of the ranch had been cleared for the winter, but Callie didn’t actually know how big the Shining Star was.
“I feel way out of my league,” Liam said as they started down the road that would lead in front of the abandoned cowboy cabins.
“Tell me about it,” Callie said miserably.
“At least you know more than how to fill a water trough,” he said. “That’s what I do at Seven Sons, and only if Jeremiah says he needs me.”
Callie stepped in front of him, and Liam met her eye. “So we help each other,” she said. “That’s what, uh…people do, right?”
“People?” he asked, because he wanted to hear her say the words.
“Husbands and wives,” she said, lifting her chin a little. “You can’t be good at everything, Liam.”
“I know that.”
“Do you?” she teased. “I think you sometimes forget because you’re so good at everything.”
“I am not,” he said.
“Name one thing you can’t do.”
“I’m a terrible golfer,” he said. “I can’t throw a ball to save my life. I mean, I can, but it doesn’t go where I’m aiming.”
Callie giggled and snuggled into his embrace again. “Keep going. I like this game.”
Liam rolled his eyes though she couldn’t see him. “I’m good at making desserts. I like trying different ice creams the best. And flavored popcorns.”
“I can’t wait for that,” she said. “But I’ve already gained a ton of weight this year, so I might have to pass on the ice cream.”
“You’re perfect the way you are,” he said.
She backed up, a dangerous glint in her eyes now.
“What?” he asked, but he should’ve just taken her hand and asked her to tell him about the cabins on his right.
“Nothing,” she said.
“I think you’re beautiful,” he said. “I’ve told you that before.”
She said nothing, and Liam decided to let the subject drop. He didn’t need to grab a shovel and start digging himself into another hole. Maybe then she wouldn’t marry him. Maybe they’d go another month or two without speaking.
They arrived back at the homestead, and Callie took him upstairs to the bedrooms there. Honestly, he’d gut the whole thing and start fresh. New paint. New flooring. All new appliances and furniture.
An idea started forming in his head, but he knew Callie would never agree to it.
“And that’s it,” she said once they made it back to the kitchen. She picked up her bag with the candy cane cookie in it and looked inside.
“Cal, what about a honeymoon?” If he could get her out of the homestead for a bit, he could hire a whole team of people to come in and spruce things up. She’d lived here her whole life—and so had that carpet in the family room.
“A honeymoon?” Her eyes rounded, and Liam had his answer. “I don’t…do we need to do that?”
“Do we need to do any of this?” Liam asked. “I just settled your account. We don’t need to get married at all.” And there the words were. He’d offered to buy her ranch and give her the deed.
She’d said no.
He’d asked her out on dates.
She’d said no.
Rhett had suggested applying for historical status.
That hadn’t worked.
She simply wouldn’t take charity from the Walker brothers, and so Liam had gone to his last resort.
But they didn’t really need to get married.
Callie stared at him, searching his face. He didn’t need to buy a bride. In fact, the idea of her marrying him as a sort of repayment for him paying her bills really left a bad taste in his mouth. His stomach squirmed, and he fell back a couple of steps.
“I’m going to go,” he said, because he wasn’t comforted by her silent stare-fest either. He’d spoken true. They did not need to get married for him to help her with the ranch. He could fund everything silently and effectively from half a mile down the road, in the safety of his own office.
He pulled open the front door and nearly plowed into a man standing there. “Oh,” he said, trying to stall his forward momentum. He did, and he also noticed the freshly pressed suit the man wore.
One quick glance over his shoulder revealed the shiny, black SUV parked in the driveway. So he was a land shark, and he smelled blood here at the Shining Star.
“Do you own this property?” the man asked, his voice as greasy as his hair.
“I sure don’t,” Liam said, turning as Callie came up behind him. “She does.”
“Ma’am, are you aware this property is going to auction next week?” He actually extended his hand for Callie to shake.
She stood beside Liam, her displeasure rolling off of her. Liam detected anger too, but the suited man on the porch just smiled like he’d invited them to a picnic. “I’m here to offer you top dollar for this ranch.”
“The ranch isn’t for sale,” Callie said.
“Everything is for sale,” the man said, his smile stuck in place. “You can’t pay for this place, and the worst thing that can happen is someone buys it out from under you in an auction.” He clicked his tongue as he shook his head. “Bad business, those auctions. Places go for very low. Very low indeed.”
Liam thought this guy was a very low human, and he took a half-step in front of Callie. “It’s not going to go to auction,” he said. “She just paid up on her mortgage this morning.”
Surprise moved across the man’s face. “Oh, well. Hopefully that posts before the auction is announced.” He saluted them and spun around. Liam stood there and watched him stride back to his car, and then Callie sagged into him.
“What does that mean?” she asked.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “We paid the bill.”
“You paid it,” she said.
“It doesn’t matter who paid it,” he said. “The bank doesn’t care where the money comes from.” He glanced down at her, and she wore a terrified look on her face. She blinked, and it disappeared.
“I’m going to go call the bank,” she said. “Make sure the payments are there.”
“All right.” He watched her bustle into the kitchen too, picking her phone up and opening that Jurassic computer. He’d replace that too. Rewire the house with lightning fast Internet. Install security cameras. The works.
He turned away from Callie and left the house, bringing
the door closed behind him. Would she even marry him now?
Why did he want her to so badly, especially if he knew she didn’t love him and had only agreed to it so he’d pay her bills?
Hopeless fool, he told himself as he went down the steps and got behind the wheel of his own truck.
“Guide me, Lord,” he said, but no promptings came. So he went back to his own ranch and sat down in front of his command center. After all, he had work to do, and no one at Pixelate cared if his personal life was in complete turmoil.
Chapter Seven
Callie couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “But I paid this morning,” she said. “Like, an hour ago.”
“I realize that, Miss Foster,” the man on the other end of the line said. He’d said his name when she’d been transferred to him, but Callie couldn’t remember it. Right now, she was having a hard time remembering her own name.
“The bank is still concerned about your future ability to pay your bill,” he said. “So while your account will be marked current by the end of business today, there’s still a chance of foreclosure.”
“How big of a chance?” she asked, feeling lightheaded. She collapsed onto the couch and glanced over when Simone walked in the back door.
“That’s up to the loan officer,” the man said. “Her name is Lois, and she won’t be in until the fifth.”
“The ranch was supposed to go into foreclosure on the second,” Callie said, her throat so, so tight.
“Oh…yes…I see that.”
And? Callie wanted to scream. She ran her hand down her face and bent over, a full-blown panic attack starting. She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. She rocked back and forth, trying to find a way through this dark maze her life had become.
Simone’s touch on her back brought her back to the present, and she looked up at her sister.
“What’s going on?” she whispered, but Callie just shook her head.
“Can’t someone else look at the account?” Callie asked. “I mean, I paid this morning.”
“Ma’am,” the man said again, and he sounded like he was working really hard to be patient with her. “You’ve had a notice of foreclosure for sixty days.”
“I just got the money today,” she said. “And I paid before the sixty days were up.” She hadn’t even told her sister about the foreclosure, and absolute guilt hit her squarely in the chest.
“The loan officer will have to review the situation,” he said.
“Will there be an auction?” Callie asked, thinking of that slimy man on the front porch. She also thought about how Liam had stepped right in front of her to defend her. When he’d said they didn’t need to get married at all, Callie’s brain had stalled. Of course they didn’t need to get married for him to logon to her bank and pay her mortgage. He’d done that a couple of hours ago, no marriage license needed. No diamond ring. No dress. No rules for how they could live their lives.
“Possibly,” the man said. “That’s generally what happens when a property goes into foreclosure. We try to get whatever we can for it, to recoup some or all of the loan.”
“But I’ve paid,” Callie said, pushing her confusing situation with Liam from her mind.
“Ma’am,” the man said. “I really don’t know how else to tell you this.”
“Tell me like I’m five years old,” she said. Simone threaded her fingers through Callie’s and squeezed. Her eyes were so earnest and afraid, and Callie couldn’t believe she’d brought them to this point.
“You were ten months behind on your mortgage,” the man said. “So yes, I can see a pending payment here that will bring your account current. But the fact remains that we have no guarantee of future payments, and your account has been flagged as high-risk for us.” Tapping sounded on his end of the line. “Over the past five years, you’ve only made one payment on time. Honestly, ma’am, I don’t see us hanging onto this loan.”
Callie closed her eyes, her mind going dark. The man continued to talk, something about how he couldn’t really say, he wasn’t a loan officer, her account could be sold to another bank, blah, blah, blah.
What she needed to know was how to get the loan officer to keep her account and stop the auction from happening.
“What do I need to do?” she asked when he finally stopped talking. “What’s the solution?”
“I see you have a savings and a checking account with us.”
“That’s right.”
“Your checking account is in the hole right now, ma’am. And you have seventy-three dollars in savings. If those accounts had more money in them, or if there was another account you had linked to yours, where we could see that you had the means to continue to pay the loan….” He let the words hang there, and Callie thought of Liam’s bank account.
She hated herself keenly in that moment.
“Can I ask how you paid your bill this morning, ma’am?”
“I got a gift,” she whispered. Liam was a gift to her, and so was his money. He’d said they didn’t have to get married, but Callie wasn’t sure how to accept charity from him if they weren’t. Could he really just write the checks while she…did what, exactly? Ran the ranch further into debt?
“The loan officer will want an LOE for that.”
Callie pinched the bridge of her nose. “A what?”
“A letter of explanation. And will you be getting more gifts? We generally frown upon that type of income, as it’s not reliable enough to pay something that comes due every month.”
Callie just wanted this call to end. Just when she’d thought she’d hit rock bottom. “Thank you,” she said, hanging up even as the man started to say something else.
“Callie,” Simone said. “What is going on?”
She leaned back against the couch and closed her eyes. “We’re going to lose the ranch. There could be an auction, and it’s been in foreclosure for months, and even though Liam paid this morning, it might be too late.” Tears streamed down her face. She opened her eyes and looked at Simone. “I’m so sorry. I can’t do this. I’ve ruined everything.”
Simone gathered her into a hug and held her tight. She didn’t say it was okay, because it wasn’t okay. They had no money. And in eight days, they might not have a place to live.
She couldn’t stand to be comforted right now, and she broke the embrace with her sister. “I can’t fix this. I thought I could, but I can’t.”
“I thought you were going to marry Liam,” Simone said.
“I said yes.” She studied her hands. “But it doesn’t matter. He paid the mortgage this morning, and it still doesn’t matter.” She looked up at Simone. “And we don’t need to get married for him to pay our bills. It’s not necessary.”
“You like Liam,” Simone said, as if that mattered at all.
“I do,” she said. Callie liked Liam a whole lot. “But what kind of marriage is it if he’s just around to pay the bills?” She shook her head. “He’ll end up resenting me, and I already feel so guilty. I mean, what does he get out of doing this?”
“He gets you,” Simone said.
“So what? He’s bought me?” Callie’s fury came roaring back. “And I have to do what he says?”
“He’s not like that.”
No, he wasn’t. But it was a very slippery slope, and Callie knew she could slide right into his bed to show him her gratitude after he’d hired the cowboys they needed to get the ranch running well again. Or after he bought a new refrigerator that actually made ice. Or when he paid for anything at all. And she’d never been with a man, and she was absolutely terrified of being intimate with anyone, most of all Liam, who she wanted to think so highly of her.
But how could he?
He’d pay for things, and she’d have sex with him? Liam wouldn’t respect her then.
She bolted to her feet. “I’m not a prostitute.”
“Callie,” Simone called, but she couldn’t stay in the house for another second. She burst out the back door, great wracking sobs shaking
her shoulders. She ran as far as she could before her lungs felt like they’d burst.
She bent over and braced her elbows against her knees, sucking at the air. “Help me,” she begged. “Please help me.”
God knew what she wanted. She’d been praying for a way to save the ranch for years now. And those Walker brothers had moved in right next door.
When I learned to accept help from who God put into my life, everything got better.
Callie straightened, a sense of calmness coming over her. “So Liam’s in my life,” she said to the still air around her. “I’ll accept his help. But I’m not sleeping with him so he’ll pay my bills.”
He doesn’t expect you to. She wasn’t sure if the voice was hers or someone else’s, but she managed to wipe her tears.
She pulled her phone from her pocket and called the bank again. After another transfer, she got the same man she’d been talking to. “Yes,” she said. “Callie Foster again. What if I linked my husband’s account to mine? Would that be enough?”
“That depends, ma’am,” he said. “But a balance big enough to cover things for a while would definitely help.”
Callie nodded, her solution becoming crystal clear. “How do I do that?”
“Does he have an account here?”
“I don’t know,” she said.
“You don’t know where your husband’s bank account is?”
Callie didn’t appreciate the condescending tone, but she ignored the river of fury-frustration moving through her. “We’re not married quite yet,” she said. “I’ll find out.”
“If he had an account here, that would be best.”
“Thank you.” Callie hung up and faced east. She couldn’t see the homestead at Seven Sons from here, but she knew it was there. Everything to the east was far superior to the buildings and accommodations here at the Shining Star, and Callie started another walk.
She’d once asked Evelyn if she was doing something illegal or something to be ashamed of when she’d married Rhett the first time. She hadn’t been—and Callie wasn’t either.
She went in through the back door of the homestead at Seven Sons, like she’d done countless times before. Jeremiah stood in the kitchen, his back to her as he looked at his phone, something whirring in the microwave.