by Soraya Lane
“Seriously? I thought you wanted to be put in the family burial plot?” Cody asked.
“Not anymore. I love this goddamn river, and I want to be cremated and left there in peace. Just sprinkle me around and leave me be.”
“Okay, so you’re telling me this so I can tell the others?” Cody asked. “Because everyone thought you wanted—”
“I want this, and that’s final.”
Walter rode off and left them to catch up with him.
“It’s not unusual, you know,” Lexi quietly told Cody. “People often change their minds or become very firm about their plans as they cope with being terminal. It’s something we talk about a lot in respite care.”
Cody grunted, and Lexi’s heart fell as she saw tears shining in his eyes. They’d been so busy sparring, she hadn’t taken the time to think how he might be feeling, but suddenly her heart went out to him.
“Oh, Cody, I’m so sorry. All this bickering between us and I didn’t even stop to think what this must be like for you.” How could she have been so heartless? He might have been a jerk in the past, but right now he was just a son watching his dad deteriorate before his eyes. A son who’d already seen his mom die only a decade earlier. It was no different than her coming to terms with her mother’s illness.
He cleared his throat loudly and she watched him swallow a few times, his jaw steeled as he moved his horse on and followed his father. She nudged her mare gently in the side and rode beside him, reaching out as she got closer.
“This isn’t the end for him,” she said in a low voice. “He’s not well, but he’s got a lot longer to go. So don’t go thinking this is the last time you’re going to see him, because it’s not. I promise.”
Cody’s gaze met hers and she couldn’t read what was reflected in his eyes. “Have you heard how often I come home?”
“Well, make it more often then,” she said. “At least you have the chance to spend time with him before he goes. You’ve been given something so many people would love to have, and that’s time.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? That I was given it before and didn’t use it?”
She blew out a breath. “No, of course not! I just…” Her voice disappeared and she sat a little straighter before finding the words to continue. “My mom has Alzheimer’s, Cody. One month she was my mom, and the next … everything seemed to change. There was no warning, no time to prepare myself, and the next thing. I’m putting her in care and I lost my best friend and my son lost his grandma. Up until then, she’d been like a second mom to him. He spent all his time with her, and then it was just the two of us.”
“I’m sorry,” Cody said, as if somehow it was his fault. “I’m so sorry, Lexi.”
And this time when he said “sorry,” she didn’t call him out. Instead she took hold of his hand and squeezed it, and for a few beats she didn’t let go, hoping he knew that whatever their past might have been, right now she would have done anything to help him through his pain.
Walter reached the river before they did, and she saw Tanner waiting up ahead, hovering. It was strange to see him like that, because she’d known him for years and he was usually so relaxed he could have fallen over backward.
“If you still want to spend some time together, maybe we could have dinner tonight?” she suggested. “But it’s not a date. This is just two old friends catching up, for old times’ sake.” She wondered if she’d regret it, but seeing him suffering as he watched his dad, it made her realize that she needed to let go of the past, at least a little.
Cody was silent for a moment. “Hold up, now you’re volunteering to spend time alone with me?”
She shrugged. “I could easily change my mind, but I’m starting to think I was a little hard on you. You were an easy target when I was feeling low, but there’s no reason we can’t get along. Especially given the circumstances.”
“I deserved it.”
She wasn’t going to say she agreed, but she also didn’t have to say anything in reply.
“Cody, you couldn’t have splurged on a better lunch?” Tanner yelled out.
“Made it myself!” he called back. “Don’t be so particular, there’s nothing wrong with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!”
Walter made a roaring noise as he glared back at his son. “Peanut butter and jelly? I rode all that way for a goddamn kid’s lunch?”
Cody looked guilty and put his hands up in the air, and Lexi couldn’t help but laugh. Here was a man who probably dominated a boardroom every day of the week, who did multimillion-dollar deals without blinking, and yet he was just a regular guy who couldn’t make a decent lunch to save himself.
“Want me to take you back home in the car and make you a proper lunch, Walter?” she asked, as sweet as pie as she grinned at Cody.
“Hell yes! It’s bloody freezing out here anyway.”
Lexi dismounted, her feet making a loud thump as she landed. She stroked the mare’s neck and took the reins over her head, offering them up to Cody.
“See you back at the house.”
He took the reins. “This isn’t exactly how I planned our day.”
“Is that right? How exactly did you plan it?”
Cody shrugged. “I thought Dad would be tired from the ride, and after lunch he’d fall asleep against a tree and I’d be able to remind you why we were so good together back in the day.”
“Really. That’s how you thought this day was going to go?”
“Really.”
“Man, you always did have a vivid imagination.” She tried not to laugh. Or say in your dreams to him.
“I guess I’m riding a horse back, huh?” Tanner called over.
As she passed him he smiled and patted her shoulder, and she watched as he took his father’s horse and easily swung up into the saddle.
“Looks like it,” Cody muttered.
She walked behind Walter, biting her tongue as the old man insisted on opening the door for her. Southern men did things the old-fashioned way, and she wasn’t going to complain. Maybe that’s where she’d gone wrong with her ex-husband—going for the guy who didn’t think to open her door for her.
She started the engine and watched the retreating figures of the three horses and the two Ford brothers, both as broad and tall as each other, so relaxed in the saddle, looking no different than any ranch hand riding around the land. But they were different—they were heirs to a multimillion-dollar fortune, and Cody was easily the most eligible bachelor in Texas right now.
And for some crazy reason, she’d ended up asking him out for dinner.
Chapter 6
“YOU know, you don’t have to go out with my son just to be nice to me.”
Lexi stopped what she was doing and turned to look at Walter. The morning out had been a lot for him, and she’d insisted he rest afterward, but instead of sleeping, he was sitting up and tracking her as she moved about the room. She’d known the man long enough to think that he was enjoying himself.
“Cody and I have history. It’s complicated between us,” she said.
“He’s a loner and he’s terrible at relaxing or coming home, that’s what he is,” Walter muttered. “Did he treat you badly in the past? Is that why there’s so much fire between the two of you?”
She inhaled and let her hands rest on the desk in front of her, carefully considering her words. Walter treated her well, in a familiar way like he treated his daughter, but it didn’t mean she wanted to open up to him when it came to his own flesh and blood.
“We were young, but yeah, he did treat me badly.” He broke my heart. “I should have forgotten all about it by now, but to be honest, I’ve never forgiven him. Seeing him suddenly brought the past roaring back to life for me.”
“Huh,” Walter grunted. “Well, take it from an old man, it’s not worth dwelling on those things. I spent years angry at the world for taking my wife so young, and I wished later that I’d just got on with life. I had a lot of living left to do, and I should
have enjoyed it instead of being bitter.”
She listened to him, not sure what to say in reply. In the end, she went with honesty. “I can’t get past the anger stage over my mom,” she admitted. “Sometimes it’s all I think about, and I think it makes me react badly to other things that I’d usually be level-headed about.”
“There anything I can help you with?” Walter asked. “You’ve been so good to me, Lexi.”
She wished he understood that he’d been the good one, just by giving her a well-paying job and putting a roof over her head.
“Enough talk, it’s time for you to rest,” she said, switching back to nurse mode. “I’m going to leave you for a bit. Call if you need anything, otherwise I’ll check in on you every hour.”
Walter was silent, but she heard him moving. She opened the door, but before she could walk out, he spoke again.
“There’s an old saying that leopards don’t change their spots, Alexandra,” he said softly. “But when I first met my wife, I was too young and stupid to see how incredible she was, and we broke up after a few months of dating. But when we crossed paths again five years later, I knew that I needed to grow up and be the man she needed. I proved myself to her, that she was more important to me than anything else, and my marriage, well, it was the best twenty-five years of my life.”
Lexi leaned into the door for a second, eyes shut, wishing he hadn’t said that. She didn’t want to pin her hopes on Cody or let herself go back in time and feel that way all over again.
“Thanks, Walter,” she murmured, before shutting the door behind her and standing in the hallway to catch her breath.
Cody was a wolf in sheep’s clothing on the ranch. Even if he wanted to change his spots, he couldn’t, because he had a life in New York now, a life that would never, could never include her, and there was no point in ever letting herself get lost in that fantasy. And it wasn’t just her now, she had to think of Harrison, and he was already seeing enough of sad mommy as it was these days.
She’d have dinner with Cody, clear the air, and then they could both move on. Nothing more, nothing less.
* * *
Cody rode alongside his brother, the mare Lexi had been riding walking between them as Tanner rode with one hand and led her by the other. The weather was crisp and clear, still with no sign of snow, and even though the day hadn’t gone to plan, Cody was still happy he’d taken his dad out. He gave his horse more rein so she could stretch her neck out, stroking one hand down her neck as she did exactly that, her nose almost touching the ground she stretched so long and low.
“So how did it go today, with Lexi?”
Cody grunted. “Ah, good as can be expected I guess.”
“She still hate you?”
“Hey, hate’s a strong word.” Cody sighed. “But yeah, I guess so. Although she did agree to have dinner with me, which was weird.”
“Huh, well, that’s something.” Tanner grinned at him. “You need me to babysit Harry for you or will he be tagging along?”
“Aw hell,” Cody groaned. “I never thought about the boy. She’ll probably organize family or a babysitter or something, right?” How could he not have thought about Harry?
Tanner gave him a strange look. “She hasn’t told you anything? Her mom is in care now, there’s no dad in the picture with her boy, and I don’t think she has any other family.”
“Ah, yeah, she did kinda tell me all that.”
“Yet you still thought she was going to just snap her fingers and have someone look after her kid tonight?” Tanner laughed. “Man, you don’t live in the real world, do you? I think you’ve been living the bachelor-in-his-immaculate-apartment lifestyle waaay too long now.”
“Says the guy who lived in fantasy land riding bulls when his body was broken and refused to give up?” Cody shot back. “Don’t go lecturing me on lifestyle, brother.”
“Okay, fair enough. But the point is I did grow the hell up and figure out what I should be doing.”
“And I grew up in college and did the same. Just because you don’t understand living in the city doesn’t mean I’m doing anything wrong. I’m just not used to kids, or dating women with kids for that matter.” Dating was probably pushing it, but Tanner didn’t seem to notice.
They were silent awhile, before Tanner finally broke the silence. “Sorry. It’s stupid to be fighting. I’m just glad you came home.”
“Yeah, me too.” Cody watched his brother, the easy way he sat astride the horse, so sure of his place on the ranch. He wished he felt like that, that he’d had the connection to the land and an affinity with animals like Tanner had. As a kid he’d loved the ranch, but as the years had passed he’d started to feel like a prisoner counting down the days to see more of the world, to get away from the pain at home.
Tanner suddenly started to trot and Cody gathered up his reins and nudged his horse in the sides, taking a second to find the rhythm before rising up and down to the beat of the trot.
“You know, some asshole’s bought the Bright Life Retirement center to develop for some high-rise apartment complex or something,” Tanner said. “Lexi was telling Mia about it the other day. Means her mom’s going to be kicked out and she can’t find anywhere else for her to go. I’ve been trying to think how we could help her, but I haven’t brought it up with Dad yet.”
“Fuck,” Cody swore as he kept up with Tanner’s fast pace.
“What?”
Cody groaned. “That asshole is me.”
“You? What the hell would you do that for?”
“Why the hell wouldn’t I do it? That piece of land’s been underutilized for years as an assisted-living facility, and it’s going to be a homerun getting the land rezoned for development. We’ll make a fortune from it. And besides, I’d thought you’d all be happy that I was looking at investments closer to home.”
Tanner slowed and Cody did the same, his breath making white puffs in front of him as the air become colder.
“Hold up. You’re kicking all those old people out to develop the land for condos or something?”
“It’s just business, Tan. And I’m giving them a decent amount of time to find somewhere new, I’m not just kicking them out onto the street. This is a huge deal for me, and I’m starting to realize why Dad liked developing land so much. Property gives me more of a buzz than the share market or buying businesses.”
Tanner nodded and broke into a trot again, but Cody knew he was holding something back.
“What? You don’t approve?” he called out as he trotted fast to catch up.
His brother shrugged. “I never said that. I just didn’t expect it to be you, that’s all.”
“You’d do the same in my shoes. It’s a great deal, it makes sense on paper. There’s no emotion in business, Tanner.”
“Yeah, I get that. You don’t need to talk to me like I’m a kid.”
“Well, you’re acting like a kid right now,” Cody said, surprised that his brother wasn’t being more supportive. “What part of great deal and lots of money didn’t you hear?”
“Cody, I’m just a part of this community still, that’s all,” Tanner said, his words cutting deep. But then Cody guessed that had been the purpose, reminding him that he’d turned his back on Texas and never looked back. “Business might be business, but you don’t hurt your own, Cody. There’s a lot of folk we know who’ll be affected by this, and I don’t care how much it’s worth, it’s not good business.”
“You’re acting like I’m the bad guy here. It’s just a business deal. Dad would have done the same thing if he’d been given the opportunity, and if I hadn’t done it, someone else would have. It’s inevitable.” Cody couldn’t believe the way his brother was behaving. “There’s no point having a fancy MBA if you don’t have the backbone.”
Tanner shot him a look and suddenly launched into a canter, leaving Cody to play catch-up again, only a whole lot faster this time. What the hell was it with this place? He dug his heels in and sat forward in the
saddle, urging his horse faster as he raced to catch up with Tanner, but he knew he’d never get past him. Tanner had spent his life being competitive on the back of an animal, and if he was angry, there was no way he was going to be beaten back to the barn.
When they finally got back, Tanner at least a full thirty seconds before him, Cody’s lungs were burning and he could feel his horse heaving beneath him. She’d seemed to love the race though, her ears pricked and her pace fast as they’d rocketed across the field. He’d thought Tanner might have been handicapped by having to lead another horse beside him, but it hadn’t seemed to slow him at all.
“Keep walking her until she cools,” Tanner ordered as he dismounted and started to walk, a horse on each side of him.
Cody did as he was told, walking a few paces behind. “Were you serious about offering to babysit tonight?” he asked.
“You going to tell Lexi that you’re the one kicking her mom out onto the street?”
Cody grit his teeth. “No. Not yet, anyway.”
Tanner all but growled back at him. “Goddamn it, Cody, if she finds out and you’re not the one to tell her…”
“I’ll tell her, just not tonight.”
“Fine, I’ll babysit for you. Lauren’s back tonight and we can make a fun night of it. But don’t come crying to me if it all turns to shit when she finds out, okay?”
Cody shrugged. “It’ll be fine.”
“Wishful thinking, brother. Wishful goddamn thinking.”
* * *
“Hold up, Tanner’s going to babysit Harrison so we can have dinner?” Lexi was certain she’d heard that wrong. “We can’t ask him to do that! Harrison can just come along. He’ll be quiet as a mouse if I let him have his iPad and—”
“When was the last time you went out without your son?”
She planted her hands on her hips. “Today. Horseback riding with you. Which he’ll be furious about by the way, because he’s dying to ride a horse.”
Cody’s smile made her uncomfortable. She liked him too much, felt too much when she was around him, and she didn’t like it.