A Rancher to Trust

by Laurel Blount

  Now it seemed like the whole world had been flipped upside down, shaken hard and handed to Dan to fix. He didn’t know what he was going to do, but he knew he couldn’t afford to mess up. And he sure couldn’t afford to put his personal hopes and dreams ahead of what he knew was right.

  No matter how desperately he wanted to.

  When Myron finally announced a total, Dan lifted an eyebrow. “That’s lower than I thought it would be. You sure you added it right?”

  The old man shot him a hard look. “I been doing this since before you were born, so don’t you go questioning my work. The total’s right. I gave you a discount. It’s a big order, and it’s for Bailey.” Myron jutted out his chin. “I’m right fond of that little lady. She always gets a discount here.”

  In spite of everything, Dan felt his mouth twitching upward. “She’s worth being fond of.”

  “Ain’t she, though? Spunky, too. Don’t take nothing from nobody and can outwork a man most any day. Not that outworking a man’s much to brag about these days. Men ain’t what they were back in my day, that’s for sure.” The old man shot him a look. “I hear you’re a pretty good worker, though.”

  Surprised by the compliment, Dan froze, his wallet halfway out of his jeans pocket. “Thanks,” he said finally. “I try to be.”

  “You planning on writing a check, are you? No, now, don’t go all hotheaded on me. I was just going to say, it’s fine by me if you want to. I’d have taken your check the last time if I’d known you was working for Bailey.”

  “As it happens, I’ve got the cash handy. But I appreciate it, just the same.” Dan counted out the bills, and Myron began fussing with making change.

  “Well, next time, you don’t worry about it. Your check’s fine here. Bailey Quinn wouldn’t put up with any shady dealings, not from you nor from anybody else. She’s a smart girl. But I reckon you know that much already. Heard you married her back when the two of you was just wet behind the ears.”

  “I did.”

  “Well, more power to you. I don’t care a bit what those old women say with their wagging tongues. I don’t blame you. A man finds a woman like Bailey Quinn, of course he’s going to marry up with her if he can. Parting company with her, that’s a horse of a different color. That there seems mighty stupid to me.”

  “I won’t argue with you.”

  “But then I don’t imagine you’ll be making that same mistake again. Will you?”

  “I don’t want to.” Dan accepted his change. “But some of that’s up to Bailey.”

  Myron nodded. “If I were a younger man, maybe I’d have given you a run for your money. But as it is, I’ll just give you a little advice. First off, you hang on to Bailey if you can, and don’t you hurt her or you’ll be answering to me.” The other man thumped his bony chest with one finger.

  Dan kept his lips straight. “I hear you. Anything else?”

  “Yeah. Don’t you pay any mind to all the stuff they’re saying on those internets. Nobody in their right mind pays any attention to that kind of nonsense.” Myron scrawled out a receipt. “I’ll get everything I got in stock delivered in an hour or so.”

  “That’ll work.” Dan folded up his receipt, puzzled. What did Myron mean about the internet?

  “That all you needed, son?” Myron asked. Suddenly there was something so fatherly about the old man that Dan found himself grinning.

  “For now.” Dan stuck out his hand. “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome enough, I reckon,” Myron said gruffly. His hand felt papery dry in Dan’s. “You be sure to give Bailey my best, now.”

  “I’ll do that.”

  Out in the parking lot, Hoyt Bradley was getting out of a hulking work truck. The building contractor caught Dan’s eye and nodded. “Danny.”

  “Hoyt, it’s good to see you.” Dan stuck out a hand, wondering if Hoyt would take it.

  Hoyt had been the quarterback of the football team back in high school, and Dan had been a running back who made more trouble than he was worth. Hoyt had taken plenty of heat for Dan back in the day, and they hadn’t parted on the best of terms.

  But Hoyt hesitated only a second before giving Dan’s hand a hearty shake. “Good to see you, too.”

  “Listen, Hoyt, I need a word with you. You got a minute?”

  “Right now? No, I’m sorry, I don’t. I got my guys waiting on some stuff out at the job site.” The other man hesitated a second then fished in his pocket and produced a business card. “Here. My number’s on there. You can call me tonight, if you want.” Hoyt waited a second before asking, “You needing some help, Danny?”

  “’Fraid so. I’m in kind of a jam right now.”

  “Yeah. I heard about that. You ask me, people ought to be ashamed, writing stuff like that online instead of saying it straight to a man’s face. Don’t know what I could do to help you out with that, though.” Hoyt glanced quickly at his watch. “Computers aren’t really my thing. And I really do have to get back to work.”

  Computer stuff? Dan’s mind flashed back to Myron’s remark about the internet. What were they talking about? “No. This has nothing to do with...that.” Whatever it was. “The help I need is more up your alley. And I’ll be paying you for your time, too.”

  Hoyt nodded, looking relieved. “Call me, then, and we’ll hash out the details tonight. See you, Danny.”

  Dan spent the rest of the drive to Bailey’s place mulling over Myron’s and Hoyt’s comments, but when he parked beside Bailey’s truck in the driveway, he wasn’t any closer to figuring things out.

  In fact, now he had another question. What was Bailey doing home at this hour? Had the twins been too much trouble for her to keep them at the store?

  If so, he owed her an apology. He took the porch steps two at a time and pushed open the door. Finn and Josie were lying on a red-and-white quilt folded thickly on the floor, kicking their feet and making soft grunting noises. Bailey was on the sofa, intent on the laptop she had propped on her knees.

  “Bailey?” When she heard his voice, she jumped and snapped the laptop closed. She looked up at him, her face stricken, almost guilty, and Dan suddenly felt a rush of weariness so profound that he wanted to lie down and sleep for a month.

  Maybe longer.

  Something fishy was going on for sure. And he honestly didn’t think he could cope with any more trouble at the moment.

  But as usual, he didn’t have a choice.

  “I guess you’d better tell me what’s on the internet that has everybody around here talking, Bailey.”

  “Dan, I don’t think—”

  “I need to know.”

  Bailey hesitated a second. Then she reopened the laptop and tapped a few keys. She set it beside her on the couch and rose to her feet.

  “Here. See for yourself. Watch Finn, won’t you? I think Josie needs a diaper change.” She leaned over to scoop up the baby and hurried out of the room.

  Chapter Eleven

  Fifteen minutes later Bailey came back down the steps, Josie cradled in her arms. As she turned to go into the living room, the baby stirred against her. Bailey nestled the tiny girl closer, settling her cheek against the infant’s downy head and breathing in the sweet baby scent. A quivering thrill ran through her, fierce and unmistakable.

  It might be wrong of her to feel so hopeful after reading the remarks on the webpage she’d found, but she couldn’t help it. Now maybe Dan would change his mind.

  Lord, please. Use all that mean-spirited sniping on the internet for good. Let it show Dan that Wyoming’s not as good an option for us as Georgia. Let him decide to stay here with the twins, because I really don’t think I can stand to let him go.

  She kissed Josie on the top of her head and walked across the sagging floorboards into the living room. It was empty. Her laptop was resting on the sofa, closed, but Dan and Finn were nowhere t
o be seen.

  She hurried toward the window. When she saw Dan’s truck was still in the driveway, she exhaled the nervous breath she’d been holding.

  He was still here, but where was he? She was about to check the kitchen when she saw Lucy Ball trotting around the corner of the house. The calf had picked up a fallen pecan branch and was carrying it carefully in her mouth.

  Dan must have let her out. That meant he and Finn were outside. Snatching up Josie’s rose-colored blanket, Bailey headed out to find them.

  She didn’t have to look long. Dan was standing in the side yard, Finn cradled in his arms, squinting up at the farmhouse. He seemed to be deep in thought, but when Finn squeaked and flailed a tiny fist, Dan gently raised the baby up and kissed the wiggling hand.

  “It’s okay, buster. I’ve got you.”

  “Dan?”

  He turned at the sound of her voice, and his slow smile warmed his face. It didn’t quite reach his eyes, though, and she could see the tired worry there. “That calf of yours was bawling, so I let her out for a minute.” Dan shook his head and chuckled softly. “You’re rubbing off on me, Bailey. Now I’m treating that little Jersey like a puppy, too.” He nodded back at the farmhouse wall. “You’ve got some rotten siding there that’ll have to be replaced. Not much, but some. I ordered some at the building supply today, and Myron should be delivering it pretty soon. But I didn’t think to get a ladder. You don’t happen to have one lying around someplace, do you?”

  “Not one that’s tall enough for that.” Bailey watched Dan closely. “Are you okay?”

  “Me? Yeah. Finn here is a different story.” Dan glanced down at the baby in his arms. “I’m thinking he may need a diaper change. I’ll take him inside and see to that before the delivery truck gets here.”

  He started toward the side steps leading up to the porch, but Bailey caught his shirtsleeve as he passed her. “Dan, don’t you think we should to talk about it?”

  “Talk about what?” He raised an eyebrow. “All that junk on the internet? Not really. It doesn’t matter, Bailey.”

  Bailey had been braced to see Dan angry and hurt, maybe even bitter. But Dan seemed none of those things. If anything, he seemed indifferent.

  Which, given how passionately he’d spoken to her about the Bar M and his friendships there, didn’t make a lick of sense.

  “Why didn’t you tell me about it?”

  He frowned. “I didn’t know about it, Bailey.”

  She waited, but he didn’t add anything else. She hated to rub salt in a wound, but he was going to have to spell this out for her. “You didn’t know any of it? You didn’t know people were saying you conned the McAllisters into leaving you the ranch? That you’d cheated the twins out of their inheritance?”

  He was looking down at her, his eyes shaded by the brim of his hat. A tiny muscle in the corner of his mouth pulsed.

  “People don’t generally say things like that to a man’s face.” He paused. “I got a feeling something was going on when I was back in Broken Bow, but it was nothing specific. It was more of a...whiff of trouble. Kind of like Finn’s diaper right now.” He smiled, but there was no humor in it.

  “Why didn’t you mention that to me?”

  “I don’t know.” The smile faded as he studied her. “Like I said, I didn’t think it mattered that much. Does it, Bailey? Do you need me to tell you that none of the things people are saying are true?”

  Something in his expression made her flush. “I don’t believe you conned anybody, Dan. But are you telling me it doesn’t bother you that people think you did?”

  Dan shrugged. “One thing I’ve learned, Bailey. People are going to think what they want to think.” One corner of his mouth lifted a little. “I guess when you’ve been on the ugly side of public opinion as often as I have, you get kind of philosophical about it. Changing people’s opinions is a dicey business, and it’s not something you have a whole lot of control over. I do my best, and I try not to worry too much about what folks say.”

  He waited a second or two, then added. “If you have questions, Bailey, you don’t have to go looking stuff up online. If you want to know something, just ask me. I won’t lie to you.”

  There it was—the first little note of hurt she’d heard in Dan’s voice. And it was there because she’d gone online rather than come to him with her questions.

  Fine. She’d ask him, then.

  “Is it true that the ranch is bankrupt?”

  “No.” Dan’s response came instantly. “There’s no denying that we’ve had some tough years, and money’s pretty tight. Before Gordon passed on, we’d gotten the ranch back in the black, but then Colt took over, and...” Dan trailed off and cleared his throat. “Colt was one of the best men I ever knew, but he wasn’t that good with money. He had big ideas, and he hadn’t spent enough time in the past couple of years actually working the ranch to know where the soft spots were. So from what I can tell, he dug himself into a hole.”

  “I see.” Bailey felt nerves start to form a lump in her stomach. Leaving Georgia to take charge of a ranch with money problems. It sure didn’t sound very...sensible.

  Dan crooked a finger under her chin and lifted her face so that they were looking into each other’s eyes. “It’s nothing I can’t fix, Bailey.”

  She nodded and managed a weak smile back. “Right.”

  “I saw Gordon build the place back up, and I know a little bit about how to go about that. I’m not saying I won’t make my share of mistakes while I figure stuff out, but we’re probably looking at only two or three more lean years before the ranch is turning a solid profit again.”

  Josie whimpered, and Bailey resettled the infant, patting her freshly diapered bottom gently.

  It was so hard to think with Dan’s hand under her cheek. His thumb was tracing her chin. The touch was gentle, but it was so...there. She couldn’t afford to get distracted. She needed to see this through. “Is it true that one of the neighboring ranchers wants to buy the ranch?”

  Dan removed his finger, but he held her gaze as he nodded slowly. “I haven’t had an offer, but probably so. The Jensens own the spread next to us, and they’d love to get their hands on the Bar M. I wouldn’t be surprised if I heard from Neal Jensen shortly.” Dan blew out a short, frustrated breath. “He’s a skinflint, so he’ll offer me half what the place is worth and get hot when I don’t take it. But he’ll come around in time, and so will the rest of them. The ranchers need each other too much to stay mad for long.”

  “How can you be sure? Some of those remarks seemed so mean-spirited. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to make this worse. I just...don’t see how you can be so determined to go back to a place full of people like that.”

  To her astonishment, Dan gave such a belly laugh that Lucy Ball, who’d been stealthily approaching them, dropped her stick and bolted back toward the barn.

  Neither of the twins was too happy with the sudden noise, either. They set up fussy protests, and Bailey and Dan spent the next few minutes shushing and soothing.

  When they had the babies calmed, Bailey spoke in a whisper, “I don’t get why that’s so funny! It’s a legitimate question.”

  “Bailey, maybe you don’t know because you haven’t ever lived anywhere but here, but every place is like that. Pine Valley is like that. Not for you, maybe. But for some of us, it is. People are people the world over. Folks are saying some mean stuff, sure. It’s what people do when they’re grieving. They talk out of their hurt, and they look around for somebody to be mad at. But underneath all that, most of these people are good folks. I know that about them, even if they’re not so sure about me right now.”

  That reminded her. “What about the other thing they said. About your drinking?”

  The world really didn’t get any quieter after she asked that question. The babies still snuffled, and Lucy Ball loped back by chasing a
gray-striped hen who’d escaped the coop and was squawking for all she was worth.

  But the silence from Dan was so loud that it was all Bailey heard as she waited for his answer.

  “I’ve been sober for over ten years. I saw that remark about me hanging out at the bars. That was wrong, or at least,” he amended, “it’s wrong now. I’m telling you the truth, Bailey.”

  She believed him, but—“You’re not worried that all this stress—the twins, the ranch and all the rest of it—won’t tempt you to—”

  “No. I fought that battle, Bailey, and with God’s help, I won it. My drinking days are behind me. So, no. I’m not worried.” He waited a second or two before speaking again. “Are you?”

  She started to tell him no, of course she wasn’t worried. But then she stopped herself.

  Because it just wasn’t true. “Yeah, Dan. I’m worried. Not necessarily about you drinking, but you’ve got a ranch that’s struggling and twins to cope with and a community that sure isn’t coming across as supportive as you made them out to be. And then—” She hesitated. She didn’t even like to bring this up, but—“Somebody mentioned that there was some question about the twins’ guardianship.”

  “There isn’t.”

  “Are you absolutely sure?” Of all the snarky comments, that one had struck the most fear in her. “Maybe we should have a lawyer here look over the papers. Do you have them with you?”

  “The papers are all in order, Bailey. Both Colt and Angie were only children. They didn’t have any close family to take their babies. I’m not saying they couldn’t have chosen somebody else, but they definitely made the twins my responsibility. They’re my son and daughter now, and I’m going to do the best I can by them.” He looked down into Finn’s face, and Dan’s expression shifted in a way that made her heart clench tight and warm up all at the same time.

  Dan Whitlock was a fine-looking man no matter what he was doing. But when he was looking down at his new son with his heart in his eyes... Well, then he was so drop-dead gorgeous that when he lifted his head and looked at her, all starch went right out of her knees.