The Ranger's Reunion Threat

by Lara Lacombe

Diego shifted, leaning forward. Wyatt could tell he was growing agitated. “I can’t believe you’re actually considering this.”

  Jose’s eyes were full of patience as he focused on his grandson. “It is good to have options.”

  What was going on here? Wyatt glanced at Isabel for clarification, but she was focused on her grandfather and didn’t meet his gaze.

  “This is a bad option,” Diego muttered.

  “Times change,” Isabel said. “We should, too.”

  “Not at the expense of our family legacy!”

  “Enough!” Jose’s voice cut through the budding argument. Both Diego and Isabel shut their mouths and leaned back, wearing similar expressions of frustration and disgust.

  Jose turned to Wyatt. “You’ve heard of the Praline Energy Corporation?”

  Wyatt nodded. It was a local company that had started small and grown rapidly. Now it seemed that any time Wyatt drove into the city of Alpine or one of the other towns near the park he passed several tankers bearing the company’s name.

  “They’re looking to expand their operations. They’ve gotten into the fracking business, and since they’re not allowed to drill within Big Bend, they’re trying to get as close to the edges of the park as possible.”

  “They want to drill here,” Wyatt said. Of course they did. The Cruz ranch represented pristine land right on the border of the park. By drilling on the ranch, the company would be obeying the letter of the law, if not quite the spirit.

  “Yes,” Jose confirmed. “They’ve made a generous offer for our mineral rights.”

  “Blood money,” Diego said darkly.

  Wyatt glanced at him. “I take it you’re not a fan?”

  “No.” He shook his head for emphasis. “The last thing we need is a fracking well on our land. I’ve heard too many stories of the chemicals and contaminated water leaking into the surrounding area and destroying the land. Not to mention the uptick in the number of earthquakes in the areas where a lot of fracking occurs. It’s just not worth it.”

  “We need the money,” Isabel injected. “Expenses are up and profits are down. We have to find some way of increasing revenue if this ranch is going to survive.”

  “And what if we have a spill, or the release of toxic gas kills our cattle? What if, God forbid, we have an explosion? There won’t be a ranch if we let these people on our land to strip away its resources.”

  “There won’t be a ranch if we can’t pay our bills,” Isabel shot back. “Face it, brother. People don’t eat beef like they used to. We’ve got to adapt.”

  “Letting the oil company wreck our land for profit is not a viable long-term strategy. Sure, the money would help us out now. But what happens in a few years when they’ve extracted all they can out of the ground? We’ll be stuck with a mess that will take generations to clean up. What good will that do us?”

  “It won’t be that bad—” Isabel began.

  Jose held up his hand, cutting her off. “As you can see,” the old man said to Wyatt, “there are several points to consider.”

  “What do you want to do?” Wyatt asked. He understood why Jose was including Diego and Isabel in the decision-making process; one day the ranch would belong to them. But, ultimately, this was Jose’s choice to make.

  He shook his head and looked down. “I’m not sure,” he confessed. “Isabel is right,” he said, glancing up and over to his granddaughter. “We need money. We won’t be able to keep going for much longer if we don’t figure out a way to increase our profits.

  “But,” he continued, turning to gaze at Diego, “my grandson makes some good points, as well. If we let this company drill on our land, we run the very real risk of destroying it.”

  “Do they have to put the well on ranch land?” Wyatt asked. “I know there are some locations where they use horizontal drilling, so the well is located a decent distance away from the shale. Maybe that would work here.” He glanced from Diego to Isabel, gauging their acceptance of this possible compromise. “You’d get your funds from the sale of the mineral rights, but the actual drilling would occur off-site, so you don’t have to worry about contamination of the land.”

  “I asked if that was an option,” Jose said. “The men from the company said they needed to put the well here to maximize its output.”

  “In other words,” Diego said, temper flaring in his brown eyes, “they’re quite happy to have us assume all the risk of property damage in case something goes wrong.”

  “It sounds like there’s no good compromise to be found,” Wyatt said.

  “There isn’t,” Isabel agreed. “We either take a chance on a better future, or keep our heads in the mud and hope things will go back to the way they were.”

  “I’m not in denial about our situation,” Diego snapped. “I’m just not willing to wreck our environment for a little financial gain.”

  Isabel shot to her feet and began to pace the confines of the office. “Why won’t you wake up and see what’s in front of you?” She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear with one hand and gestured with the other. “Praline Energy is not going to go away. They want our natural gas, and they’re going to find a way to take it. Right now, they’re trying to play nice by making us a generous offer. If we refuse, they’ll try another approach.”

  “They can’t just take our property,” Diego said.

  “Maybe not outright,” Isabel shot back. “But they’ll get the state to declare eminent domain like they did for the pipeline a few years ago. Make no mistake—these guys are not going to accept no for an answer.”

  “So you think we should just roll over without a fight?” Diego stood, gesturing out the window to the land beyond. “We should just sign away our ranch with a smile and say thank you for not taking it by force?”

  “Of course not! But if we cooperate with them, we might be able to shape the terms of the deal. I’d rather have a bit of control over the situation, wouldn’t you?”

  “We do have control,” Diego insisted. “This is our ranch. Our land. Our decision.” There was no mistaking the passion in his voice.

  “I’d like to hear what Wyatt thinks about all of this.” Jose’s voice was quiet, but as soon as he spoke, his grandchildren went silent. Three heads swiveled in his direction, three pairs of brown eyes focused on him.

  Wyatt swallowed, trying to tamp down a surge of anxiety. He cared about these people, and in the case of Jose and Diego, thought of them as family. No matter what he said, someone he loved was going to be disappointed in him.

  “I understand the ranch needs to bring in money,” he said. He met Isabel’s eyes, knowing his next words were going to hurt her. “But I don’t think fracking is the way to do it.”

  Diego smiled in triumph. Isabel merely shook her head, her disappointment obvious.

  “Come on, guys,” Wyatt said pleadingly. “I’m a park ranger. You know how I feel about the environment. I get where you’re coming from, and I understand what you’re saying about trying to control the situation. But there are ways we can fight back so they won’t overrule your refusal to let them drill.”

  Isabel’s eyes flicked from Wyatt to Diego, suspicion building along with her temper. He could tell from the look on her face she thought he was only siding with her brother because of their friendship. “We, Wyatt? There is no ‘we’ here. This is Cruz Ranch business. Last time I checked, you’re not one of us.”

  The hit landed, but Wyatt refused to flinch. I deserved that.

  “Isabel.” Jose’s tone was censorious. “That is no way to treat a friend.”

  A flicker of regret passed over Isabel’s face but she remained silent.

  “It’s all right,” Wyatt said. He ran a hand through his hair, hating that he’d contributed to this rift in the family. “She’s right. I shouldn’t get involved.” He stood, tilted his head toward Jose. “Thank
s for your hospitality. I think I should probably collect my horse and head out. I don’t want to upset anyone by staying.” A lump formed in his stomach as he realized he’d just destroyed the tentative truce they’d reached in Diego’s room.

  Everyone spoke at the same time.

  “No.”

  “Absolutely not.”

  Wyatt glanced at Isabel, surprised by her response. She shook her head. “You don’t need to leave. You’re our guest. And our friend,” she added. “We’re not going to have you set off by yourself at night. It’s not safe.”

  Her words were an echo of what he’d said to her ten years ago. A tingle shot down his spine at the memory.

  Isabel must have felt something, too. Her eyes widened briefly and she glanced away.

  “Please stay,” said Jose. “This argument has been going on for weeks. It’s not going to be resolved tonight. I value your input.” He glanced at his grandchildren. “And your honesty.”

  Maria appeared in the doorway. She read the room in a glance and nodded to herself. “Come. It’s time to eat. Leave your discussion in this room. There will be no fighting at my table.”

  Diego helped his grandfather stand and the pair of them headed for the door. Wyatt hung back, hoping to have a word with Isabel.

  “I’m sorry,” he said when they were alone. “I know my answer upset you.”

  “It’s fine.” Isabel brushed aside the apology. “I wasn’t surprised. I know what you do for a living.”

  “No hard feelings?”

  Isabel shook her head. “Just tell me this. If Diego had thought drilling was a good idea, and I’d been the one to argue against it, would your answer still be the same?”

  Wyatt’s stomach flip-flopped. “Of course. Why do you ask?”

  “Because I know your friendship runs deep,” Isabel said. “I already feel like the deck is stacked against me—Diego doesn’t want to listen to my thoughts on the matter. But we have to do something or the ranch won’t last. I’m not exactly celebrating the idea of letting the oil company drill on our land. It’s simply the best offer we have right now, and I think we should take it while we can.”

  “Surely there’s another way?” Wyatt suggested. “A compromise you can all agree on?”

  Isabel shook her head. “I haven’t found one yet.”

  “You will.” He was confident a solution would present itself. “You’re the smartest person I know, Isabel. You’ll come up with something.”

  “Maybe,” she murmured. “I wish it were that simple.”

  “I’ll do some brainstorming, too,” he offered. “We can work on the issue together.” Once again, he was inserting himself into her family’s affairs. But he couldn’t stand to see her looking so frustrated and worried. Maybe the two of them could come up with an idea that would bring in money for the ranch so they wouldn’t have to accept the energy company’s offer.

  Isabel’s eyes widened a bit. “You really want to do that?”

  “Yeah,” he replied. “I do.” The Cruz family was his family. Anything that helped them out made him feel good. But his motives weren’t entirely altruistic; he knew his suggestion meant he’d be spending more time with Isabel.

  After their near kiss in Diego’s bedroom, it was a sacrifice he was all too happy to make.

  Chapter 5

  Isabel sat in the breakfast nook of the kitchen, clutching her coffee cup the way a drowning man might grip a life preserver. She was no stranger to sleepless nights—in her training to become a vet, she’d worked countless hours and dealt with the fragmented sleep that accompanied call shifts at a busy animal hospital. But last night had been different. Her emotions had been all over the map thanks to their pre-dinner family argument, the increasing stress of the energy company’s attention and the three dead cattle.

  Oh, and the man who’d dropped back into her life.

  Her knee-jerk desire to avoid Wyatt was fading. That old familiar tug of attraction was taking its place. There was just something about the man that pulled her, made her want to get closer. She’d thought the passage of time would have changed things, made her less susceptible to his presence. But, if anything, she found herself even more drawn to him, as though she needed to make up for lost time.

  Even the fact that he’d taken her brother’s side in last night’s argument hadn’t been enough to shake off the hold he still had over her. She knew he didn’t support the plan to drill on the land, and she understood why he wouldn’t. As a park ranger, he was all about conservation and protecting the environment. Those were admirable traits, and Isabel didn’t necessarily disagree with his stance.

  But the ranch’s accounting books painted a grim picture of the future of the business. And as much as she might want to sit around a campfire and sing about the circle of life, that attitude wasn’t going to pay the bills.

  He’d surprised her with his offer to help brainstorm a solution to their money problems. Maybe they’d actually come up with something. But she feared this gesture was merely his attempt to bridge this ideological rift between them. It was a nice thought, but was there any common ground between her pragmatism and his starry-eyed idealism?

  It doesn’t matter, she told herself. She and Wyatt didn’t have to come to a compromise because they weren’t emotionally involved. He was Diego’s friend, and the two of them didn’t need to share the same outlook to be polite to each other when they were all together.

  She’d just have to go back to lusting after his body from afar. A tingle started in her stomach as she pictured his bare chest, his skin still damp from the shower. She hadn’t meant to watch him dress last night, but she hadn’t been able to take her eyes off that expanse of lean muscle and golden skin, or the inverted triangle of dark hair that tapered into a straight line, bisecting his belly and dipping below the waistband of his pants...

  She took another sip of coffee and sighed, closing her eyes as the caffeine began to take hold. She heard the scrape of ceramic on the table and opened her eyes to find Maria had slid a plate of food in front of her.

  “Gracias,” she murmured, grateful for both the food and the distraction.

  Maria eyed her from her position at the stove. “You didn’t sleep.” It wasn’t a question.

  Isabel set down her coffee cup and picked up a tortilla. “I’m fine.” She placed a piece of bacon on the tortilla, then piled eggs on the strip.

  “You’re not.” Maria brought over a bowl of shredded cheese and a container of salsa. “You need to rest. It’s not good for you to work the way you do.”

  Isabel smiled and patted the empty spot at the table next to her. Maria sat, watching her as Isabel added cheese and salsa to her burrito. Once all the ingredients were in place, Isabel folded the tortilla and offered it to Maria.

  The older woman shook her head. “Mami,” Isabel said softly, “you’re a fine one to talk about working too hard.”

  Maria narrowed her eyes but took the proffered food. “That’s different,” she said, taking a bite. “It’s my job to take care of you all.”

  “And it’s my job to see to the animals,” Isabel said, knowing it was futile to dispute Maria’s statement. They were all adults, but Maria had the soul of a caregiver. Isabel knew the other woman was happiest when she had someone to look after. Still, she and Diego tried to make things easy for her.

  “Things will slow down after calving season ends,” Isabel continued. “You know how it is.”

  “Sí. And I also know I have never seen you and your brother so at odds before.”

  Isabel folded her own burrito and took a bite. “That will be fine, too,” she said.

  Maria’s eyes were kind. “One of you will be very disappointed by your abuelo’s decision. You will both have to come together to live with the consequences.”

  Isabel’s mouth went dry. She swallowed, washing the food down wi
th another sip of coffee. “I know,” she said softly. “I hope it won’t take too long.”

  “It won’t.” Maria sounded more confident than Isabel felt. “Your brother is a good man. He can be overbearing, but his heart is in the right place. You two will work through this.”

  “Have you seen him this morning?” Diego had been uncharacteristically quiet during last night’s dinner, and had gone to his room soon after the meal was over.

  Maria shook her head. “I heard him leave this morning. He hasn’t come back for breakfast yet.”

  “Maybe he’s avoiding me,” Isabel murmured.

  “Perhaps,” Maria agreed. “But if you wait long enough, his stomach will get the better of his pride.”

  Isabel smiled. “You’re right, but I don’t have that kind of time. I have my own things to do today.”

  The clomp of footsteps on the stairs announced Wyatt’s arrival before he even stepped into the kitchen. He paused in the doorway. “Good morning, ladies.”

  “Come in, come in.” Maria beckoned him forward with a wave. She stood and walked to the coffeepot. “You sit. I’ll get you some breakfast.”

  A startled look crossed Wyatt’s face, as if he hadn’t been expecting such a warm welcome. He sat in Maria’s vacated chair. “Thank you, Tía.”

  She tsked as she brought him a cup of coffee. “I hope you like it black,” Isabel said softly. “Maria is philosophically opposed to cream, and she thinks sugar should only be used for baking.”

  A smile played at the corners of Wyatt’s mouth. “This is fine,” he murmured. “It’s hot, which is all I care about.” He took a sip, watching her over the rim of the mug. “Long night?”

  “How’d you know?”

  His gaze tracked over her face, lingering on the dark circles under her eyes. “Just a hunch,” he replied.

  Maria slid a plate of food in front of him. He smiled up at her, his blue eyes glowing with genuine affection. His expression made Isabel’s breath hitch. He was so handsome—like a cowboy out of central casting rather than a real person.

  He glanced over, caught her watching him. His mouth curved in a half smile, the question plain. Isabel shook her head and looked down, focusing on her breakfast.