“Brody might not have a job and life in Last Ride if we can’t meet the terms of Abe’s will,” Janessa said, getting this conversation back on track. “And it’s not just the ranch. Abe owned businesses all over the state, and they’ll be sold if we don’t try to do the right thing.”
“I’m here, aren’t I?” Sophia countered. “But I want a look at Abe’s will. If I can challenge it and win, you won’t have to be here with my grandchild for even a minute much less weeks. I’m so pissed off that Abe would try to manipulate us this way, and I don’t want you and my precious little darling grandbaby to have to live under Abe’s roof for a single minute if I can prevent it.”
Sophia stopped again, both of them turning in the direction of the road past the barn, and Janessa saw Brody’s truck coming toward the house. He no doubt saw them, too, and while he didn’t slam on the brakes, she was pretty sure he slowed down. Pretty sure, too, he was muttering some choice profanity. He’d made it clear that he didn’t want to see her.
He parked not in front of the house but on the side, and for a moment, Janessa thought he’d just go inside without speaking to them. Something he no doubt wanted to do. However, it wasn’t long before he came around to the front porch.
“Brody,” Janessa said, her breath automatically rising. Probably her pulse, too. The man looked just as good clean as he did riding back from doing ranch work. “This is my mother, Sophia Wainwright.”
Brody tipped the brim of his hat in greeting. “Pleased to meet you.” He motioned to the side of the house where he’d just come from. “I’ll be in my office if you need me.” And he turned to walk away.
“We were just talking about you,” Sophia called out, stopping him in his tracks.
When Brody turned back around, Sophia gave Brody a long look. Not a lustful one that most women gave him, either. This was a hefty serving of mom stink eye.
“I’m sure there’s a lot of talk going on,” he said.
And Janessa knew he was doing his own version of stink eye. The kind where he was silently asking why she hadn’t already remedied that lie with her mother. Kyle’s lie that she hadn’t clearly spelled out to Brody, but that didn’t mean Janessa hadn’t had a valid reason for not clarifying it sooner. It was because if the truth had been spilled, Sophia likely wouldn’t still be here.
Janessa answered his stink eye with a somewhat cowardly shrug, and she was about to mention that she and her mom were on the way to the inn. Where much talking would ensue. Fast-talking on Janessa’s part where she would do the non-cowardly thing and fess up about the nonexistent grandbaby.
However, she didn’t get a chance to say anything because another vehicle turned into the driveway. Another truck, but this one was scabbed with rust and backfired a couple of times before the driver pulled to a brake-squealing stop.
Janessa didn’t recognize the tall sandy-haired driver when he got out. At least not at first. But she groaned when she got a better look at his face.
“Trouble?” Brody immediately asked, and he came back to the porch. “Who is he?”
“That’s Riggs Burkhart, and yes, he could be trouble,” Janessa admitted. “He’s the baby daddy.”
“The father of the child you’re adopting?” Sophia muttered.
Brody didn’t come out and ask, but Janessa could practically see the question in his head. He was no doubt remembering that she’d told him she was fostering a baby, not adopting one. And that was the truth. But it was a truth Sophia didn’t know yet, and Riggs would surely blab it.
This was so not the way Janessa wanted Sophia to find out.
“Miss Parkman, we have to talk,” Riggs insisted, his glare pinned to Janessa.
Wearing jeans and a white tee and a snug black leather jacket that was no doubt meant to show off his muscled body, Riggs strode toward her as if ready to pick a fight. In the handful of times she’d seen him, it’d been his default swagger.
Riggs was young, twenty-two and hotheaded. A bad combination that had led to many run-ins with Teagan. Riggs had resorted to intimidation and stalking, and that had been the final straw for Teagan. She’d broken things off and refused to see him.
“You drove all the way from Dallas,” Janessa remarked. “How’d you know I was in Last Ride?”
“I called Bright Hope,” Riggs explained in a snarl as he closed the distance between them. “Teagan wasn’t working in the office today like she usually does. It was somebody else, another girl, and she said you were away on a trip, that your father had died.”
Janessa wasn’t sure who would have given Riggs that info, but some of the residents, including Teagan, worked part-time in the office unless they had other jobs. Teagan also worked as a sales clerk in a nearby store because she was trying to earn and save some money. Whomever Riggs had spoken to probably didn’t know that Janessa had come to Last Ride, but it wouldn’t have been hard for Riggs to do a computer search to find Abe’s name and learn where his funeral had been held.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Janessa said. Like Teagan, she’d made it clear often enough that she didn’t want to see or speak to him.
“I had to come,” Riggs insisted.
Brody obviously picked up on the young man’s riled tone and stiff body language because he moved to Janessa’s side. So did Sophia. She was flanked by two people who obviously wanted to protect her, and when this was over, she was going to owe them both an explanation. She’d told Brody that a lie had brought Sophia to the ranch, and now she’d need to spell out for him what that lie was all about.
Riggs stopped right in front of her. “You’ve got to talk Teagan out of giving up my baby. She has to marry me so we can raise our daughter together.”
Janessa’s sigh was long and weary, but she straightened her shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes. “We’ve already gone through this. Teagan doesn’t want to marry you, and she doesn’t want you to have any part in raising the child. Do I need to remind you why?”
“I’m the baby’s father,” he argued as if that negated the reasons why Teagan had made her decision.
Janessa commenced with the reminding him since he hadn’t opted for it. “Along with a lengthy juvenile record, you were also arrested for assault and drunk driving,” Janessa reminded Riggs. He might want to gloss it all over, but she certainly wouldn’t. “In fact, you’re on parole.”
Riggs shook his head and jabbed his finger at her. “That doesn’t mean I can’t have my daughter.”
“Actually, yes it does.” And Janessa pulled out the big guns, guns that Riggs was already well aware of. “You signed away your rights to the child.”
Riggs cursed, and his face went red, like a toddler about to throw an ugly tantrum. “I did that only so I wouldn’t go to jail again for arguing with Teagan,” he shouted.
“Lower your voice,” Brody warned him and took one menacing step toward Riggs.
Janessa groaned. She couldn’t let this turn into a fight. “You didn’t just argue with her,” Janessa countered, responding to Riggs. “You grabbed her and tried to shove her into your truck. That’s assault and attempted kidnapping, and it happened when she was four months pregnant.”
“I was trying to make her understand that I didn’t want her to give up my baby.” Riggs didn’t shout this time, but he spoke through clenched teeth while volleying furious glances between Brody and her.
Again, that wasn’t anywhere near a valid argument on Riggs’s part, and his temper was fueling her own. That’s why Janessa reined it in. She didn’t want this to escalate.
“He signed away his rights?” Sophia asked.
“Because Teagan blackmailed me,” Riggs snarled before Janessa could answer. “She said if I didn’t sign papers giving up the baby that she’d have me arrested for that assault and kidnapping shit. That woulda put me back in jail.”
“Teagan had a lawyer draw up an a
greement that Riggs would surrender any and all parental rights,” Janessa explained to her mother.
Sophia turned to Riggs. “You signed the papers for forfeiture of custodial rights?” she pressed, sounding very much like the lawyer she was.
“Because Teagan blackmailed me,” Riggs repeated, and this time his voice went up too many notches in volume.
“You’re leaving now,” Brody demanded, taking another step toward Riggs.
“Not until she tears up those papers and says I can have Teagan and my baby.” He flung an accusing finger at Janessa.
Brody got right in Riggs’s face. “No, you’re leaving now.”
Riggs lifted his fist as if ready to throw a punch, but Brody latched on to his arm, holding him in a fierce grip. Brody didn’t issue any other warnings. Didn’t have to. His entire body was a warning right now.
Even though Brody looked more than capable of kicking his butt, Riggs still didn’t budge. He glared at Brody, but he must have seen something in Brody’s eyes that told him this wasn’t a fight he stood any chance whatsoever of winning.
“This isn’t over,” Riggs declared, and the moment Brody released his grip, the young man started for his truck. “I’ll convince Teagan to take me back,” he added from over his shoulder. “You’ll see. I’ll convince her, and we can raise our baby together.”
Riggs got in his truck, and he slammed the door with far more force than required. Gunning the engine, he sped away.
“Well, what an asshat,” Sophia mumbled. “What’d you say his name is?”
“Riggs Burkhart,” Janessa answered.
Sophia took out her phone, scrolled through her contacts and Janessa saw her text Savannah Maddox, the PI her mother sometimes used for her cases.
“I’m requesting a thorough background check on our Mr. Burkhart,” Sophia told Janessa as she composed the text. “I’ll also get started on a TRO. A temporary restraining order,” she spelled out. “I’ll have it include both the ranch and Bright Hope House.”
Janessa didn’t mind her mother taking such measures, but Sophia might back off when she learned the truth. Then again, Sophia might go into her champion mode and carry through on whatever it took to keep Riggs away from Teagan and Colts Creek.
“When I’m done with him, that asshat won’t get anywhere near the baby.” Sophia hit Send on the text, brushed a quick kiss on Janessa’s cheek and turned to go.
“Mom, we have to talk,” Janessa said.
“Later,” Sophia insisted. “Call Kyle and tell him what just happened. He’ll want to alert Dallas PD in case this baby daddy shows up there.”
Janessa sighed as her mother started for her car.
“Who’s Kyle?” Brody asked.
Sophia stopped, turned and a twinkle lit her eyes. “Kyle McKinney,” she provided. Paused. Smiled. “Janessa’s husband.”
CHAPTER SIX
HUSBAND.
Of all the things Brody had expected to come out of Sophia’s mouth, that wasn’t one of them. Nope.
“It’s not what you think,” Janessa said, whirling around to face him.
Brody was about to tell her that it was none of his business—even if it felt a little as if it was—but her phone rang. Janessa muttered some mild profanity when she glanced at the screen and then added, “I have to take this.”
He gave her as indifferent a nod as he could manage and headed around the house toward his office, but he glanced over his shoulder to make sure the hothead idiot hadn’t doubled back.
He hadn’t.
Riggs’s truck was thankfully nowhere in sight. Brody would keep an eye out for it, though. Would alert the hands, too. He didn’t know this Riggs Burkhart, but he didn’t want him on the ranch. Brody was pretty sure, had he not been there, the man would have tried to bully Janessa. Or worse.
Brody had just reached the porch outside his office when he spotted Margo. Even though she lived on the grounds of the ranch, it was rare to see her anywhere near the main house. Then again, these weren’t usual times.
Margo had driven here from her place and parked her car by the side of the barn. She was practically running toward him. No easy accomplishment, considering she was wearing needle-thin silver heels. Margo might have lived on the ranch for going on twenty years, but the woman always dressed as if she were heading to a fancy big-city luncheon.
“Is it true?” Margo asked before she even reached him. “Is Sophia actually in Last Ride?”
“She is,” Brody verified. “Not sure how long she’ll be staying, though.”
He thought of what Janessa had said. About a lie. One that she was supposedly going to tell her mother about and it would send Sophia back to Dallas. Brody was betting Janessa hadn’t clarified that yet. Then again, she seemed to be good at keeping details to herself since she hadn’t once mentioned she was married.
“But she’s here.” Margo blew out a long breath and patted her heart as if to steady it. “Did you talk to her?”
“Some.”
He figured Margo wanted details but she wasn’t wearing a coat, and since the air had a bit of a bite to it, Brody stepped up onto the side porch. He flipped on the switch for the pair of brass column heaters positioned in the seating area. It wouldn’t keep her toasty warm, but it would stave off enough of a chill for them to have a short conversation.
Brody didn’t want to invite Margo into his office because he really didn’t have time for a long talk. He needed to get started on the work schedules for the upcoming week, and conversations with Margo tended to last a whole lot longer than he wanted.
“Some?” Margo repeated in protest. “Surely, you asked Sophia if she was going to do the right thing by staying or royally screw us over by leaving Last Ride before the three months are up?”
“It’s Abe’s will that’ll screw us over,” he reminded her.
Margo huffed. “Yes, but the screwing will end if Sophia stays.”
“I didn’t ask Sophia her plans,” Brody settled for saying. He took hold of the doorknob to his office to give Margo a not so subtle hint that he had to go.
“Well, you should ask her,” Margo insisted. “In fact, you should ask her other things, too.”
Brody gave her a flat look because he was sure he wouldn’t care for the rest of what Margo was about to say. “Like what?”
Margo shrugged. “I read about Sophia on the internet. She’s a lawyer and has been divorced a whole bunch of times. I didn’t see any mention or pictures of a significant other on her social media page. So, maybe you could ask her out or something.”
His look got even flatter. “You want me to pimp myself out to keep Sophia in Last Ride?”
“Yes,” Margo answered with plenty of conviction. “You could think of it like taking one for the team.”
“No. And just to make myself clear. No,” he repeated.
Margo’s eyes watered, and he wasn’t immune to the worry he saw there. Colts Creek was as much her home as it was his, but there were lines he wouldn’t cross to keep his home. He damn sure wouldn’t try to bed Janessa’s mother. Or Janessa for that matter. The heat between Janessa and him would stay just that. Heat. And he had no plans whatsoever to act on it.
“I’m not sure where I’ll go if I lose my place,” Margo went on, blinking back more tears. They were sticking to the thick layer of mascara on her heavily lined eyelashes. “You’re the only family I have, and my friends are all here in Last Ride.”
“Then stay in Last Ride. You can buy or build another house.”
He didn’t snap it out. Brody softened his voice and gave her arm a gentle squeeze. Because in a weird kind of way, Margo was his family, too. Heck, so were plenty of others on this ranch. Unlike some of those others, though, Margo could actually afford to move.
She shook her head and stared at him with her watery eyes. “It wouldn’t be the
same.”
No, it wouldn’t be. But either way, things would never be the same. Abe’s death had stirred their lives around in a big metaphorical stewpot, and he wasn’t sure the stewing would stop until they were all cooked.
If by some miracle, Janessa talked her mother into staying and she did end up inheriting the ranch, she might change her mind about offering it to him. And if she did offer it, Brody wasn’t sure he would accept.
Correction: he wasn’t sure he could accept.
Yeah, there was a lot at stake, but he wouldn’t feel 100 percent right having Colts Creek just handed to him. If Abe had wanted him to have it, he would have spelled that out in the will.
“You should try to prepare yourself for the worst,” Brody murmured to Margo just as he heard the hurried footsteps coming around the corner of the house.
Janessa.
“Sorry about that, but...” Limping toward him, she still had her phone in her hand and stopped when she spotted Margo.
“Is everything okay?” Janessa asked, probably because she’d seen Margo’s tears. However, she waved off that question. “Sorry. It’s obviously not okay. I’m working on that, though,” she added to Margo. “I very much want to make everything as right as it can be.”
Margo dried her eyes, managed a smile. “That’s good,” Margo said with more hope than Brody wanted to hear in her voice. Obviously, Margo wasn’t jumping into preparing for the worst.
“I have to go.” Margo checked the time. “An early lunch with the Last Ride Society committee.” She shifted her attention back to Janessa, and Margo’s eyes and tone brightened. “The drawing’s tomorrow. I’d love for you to go with me, especially since this is part of your Parkman legacy.”
Janessa shook her head and limped up onto the porch to stand beneath the fans. “What drawing?”
“Oh, it’s wonderful,” Margo gushed, causing Brody to roll his eyes. A wonderful waste of time as far as he was concerned. “The founder of Last Ride, Hezzie Parkman, set up the Society so that future generations of Parkmans would research the tombstones in the local area.”
Christmas at Colts Creek Page 7