Love Finds You in Valentine, Nebraska

by Irene Brand

  “Oh, mercy me! Let me fix you something to eat.”

  “I’m not hungry. I need a soaking bath and some rest more than anything else. We can have dinner at the usual time.”

  “You seem different,” Rosita said. “Oh, by the way, Steve Martin is back from Europe, and he’s called two or three times to see when you would be home.”

  “You seem different,” Rosita said. “Oh, by the way, Steve Martin is back from Europe, and he’s called two or three times to see when you would be home.” Just the news I need to hear, Kennedy thought. She had hoped that Steve would have taken her e-mail message as final, but she should have known he wouldn’t.

  He was persistent—a good trait for a lawyer—but she didn’t have any answers for the questions she knew he’d be asking. She wished he would leave her alone.

  The next morning, Kennedy called her attorney and made an appointment, telling his secretary, “And I need at least an hour. I have several things to discuss.”

  “Then it will have to be next week. I’ll tell him you called, and he may find an earlier time for you.” She called a few of her close friends and made luncheon dates for the following week. And since Rosita had been so shocked at her appearance, she made an appointment at a beauty salon for a haircut and a facial. Not that she was displeased with her appearance, but she didn’t want her friends asking questions she couldn’t answer.

  It was late the following day before Derek called. “Sorry I didn’t call sooner, but I didn’t have any news. The sheriff and state troopers combed Cherry County and couldn’t find Lazaro. He was finally caught in southern Colorado and is on his way back to prison. Hopefully this is the last we’ll hear about him.”

  “Then I wasn’t in danger after all.”

  “No, and I’m sorry I insisted that you leave. I’ve made a lot of poor decisions, Kennedy.” She could tell that he was in low spirits, so she said as cheerfully as she could, “All of us have. Don’t beat yourself up about it. I had a good visit with Matti and talked to her about helping out with the conference center if we decide to go with it. She’s interested.”

  “How are your feet?”

  “Still tender, but they’re getting better. What’s Wilson doing?”

  “Moping around like he’s lost his best friend. He misses you.”

  Kennedy’s throat tightened, and she couldn’t answer. They chatted for several minutes, but she felt as if she were talking to a stranger, for they didn’t say any of the things that really mattered.

  She lay on her bed for a long time, dry-eyed, staring at the ceiling. She had disregarded her Morgan pride all summer, but there were limits as to how much she’d humble herself. Although she might change her mind, at this point she was determined she wouldn’t return to Valentine until Derek asked her to.

  The next morning she got out of bed with new resolve. She would take up her life as if the interlude in Nebraska hadn’t occurred. She would finish preparations to take the bar exam in October. She’d worked too many years to become an attorney not to follow it through to the end. Whatever her future with Derek, she intended to become qualified to practice law in California.

  Mr. Talbot’s secretary called and told her that he could see her at two o’clock the next day. She was glad she had made the appointment at the beauty salon, for she didn’t want the lawyer to be as shocked at the change in her as Rosita had been. And after spending two hours in the beauty shop, she thought Mr. Talbot wouldn’t be. But when she glanced in the mirror after her hairdresser had styled her hair to look as it had when she left California, Kennedy knew instinctively that it was the expression in her eyes that had changed, not her outward appearance.

  Resigned to a quizzing by Mr. Talbot, she drove to his office in time for her appointment. When she walked into his spacious office, he stood and gave her a tight hug as he’d done since she was a child and had come to the office with her parents. If she seemed different to him, he didn’t comment.

  “Thanks for seeing me so soon,” Kennedy said, as she sat across the desk from him. “Besides receiving a report on Dad’s affairs, there are several new matters I need to discuss with you. But let’s take care of the estate first.”

  “All is in order, and we’ll have the final papers ready for you to sign soon. From our previous conversations, I understand that you want to retain me as your father did.”

  “Oh, yes. I’d be lost without you.”

  “Very well. I’ll represent you to the best of my ability, just as I did for Kenneth.” He handed her a large file of documents. “These are copies of the papers you will have to sign. Take them home and study them closely. I will answer any questions or make any changes you want before we close.”

  “What have you concluded about Smith Blaine’s embezzlement?”

  “I’ve reported him to the IRS and suggested that they make an audit of all of his clients’ accounts. By the way, your new manager must be on top of things—that accounting system of his is excellent.”

  Kennedy felt her face flushing, but she said, “He’s very competent. His father managed the Circle Cross for several years, and Derek spent his teenage years on the ranch. I told Smith I didn’t need him any longer.”

  “Good. We can have another meeting whenever you’ve finished looking over those papers, but what can I do for you today?”

  “You received the handwritten copy of my will, I’m assuming, but I want you to draft a new document so we can have it witnessed and notarized. The one I sent was just an emergency measure.”

  “As your attorney and friend who had advised you to make a will as soon as your father died, should I know why you felt pressured to make that will and send it to me in the manner you did? Even without knowing what the contents were, I don’t mind telling you that receiving it disturbed me considerably.”

  “It would take hours to tell you all that’s happened this summer, but I suddenly realized that my closest living relative is my maternal grandfather, Gabriel Morgan. You’ve heard of him?”

  With a slight grimace, Talbot nodded. “Your father was my close friend. I’ve known for years about the way he rejected your mother.”

  “When I realized that, if I should die, he would inherit the Blaine property, I had to make sure that didn’t happen. I’ll tell you more later, but there were times this summer when it seemed likely I might be killed. That problem is solved now. Will you take time to read the will I sent to you? If it is valid enough to prevent Gabriel Morgan from getting Dad’s money and the Circle Cross, we won’t make any changes now. However, as soon as you have time, I want your advice on how I should handle what I’ve inherited, and then you can write a new will.”

  Talbot called his secretary on the intercom and asked her to bring Kennedy’s file from the safe. Kennedy watched his face carefully as he read the document.

  His eyebrows arched inquiringly when he finished. “In the event of your untimely death, you can be assured that your grandfather won’t get anything from you, but there are better ways of handling your bequests. I’ll gladly advise you on how that can be done. I’ll give it some thought, and we’ll set up a date in a few weeks to discuss your options. You bequeathed the Circle Cross to Derek Sterling. Do you want that to remain in the new will?” Kennedy shook her head. “No. I want you to take any necessary steps to give the ranch to him now.” It took a lot to surprise Elliott Talbot, and Kennedy smiled at the stunned look on his face. When he was able to speak, he said, “Give? Not sell?”

  “Give it to him. He doesn’t have any money and would never make enough to buy the Circle Cross, but he loves the land, and I want him to have the ranch now while he’s young enough to enjoy it. I will keep the Blaine home, Riverside, and a parcel of land known as the West Eighty.”

  “Does Derek know you’re doing this?”

  “No, and I don’t want him to know until all the paperwork is done. That’s legal, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, but highly unorthodox.”

  “I know, but
I won’t keep the ranch unless he operates it, and I won’t reward his hard work with nothing but wages. And since you’re too much of a gentleman

  “I know, but I won’t keep the ranch unless he operates it, and I won’t reward his hard work with nothing but wages. And since you’re too much of a gentleman to ask, I’ll tell you that I fell head over heels in love with him, and he could have me and everything I have if he’d ask. He loves me, too, but he’s poor, an adopted kid who knows nothing about his background, and full of pride. He thinks he isn’t good enough for me and I don’t know how to change his mind, but I haven’t given him up yet.”

  Obviously concerned, Talbot said, “I hope you know what you’re doing,”

  “I do. Dad always said that the Circle Cross was the least of his investments, and you know I’ll have enough to live on for the rest of my life without the ranch. If I can’t have Derek I don’t want anyone else, and I won’t marry someone I don’t love just to have children to inherit my estate. I’ll be more content if I know that Derek has the Circle Cross, regardless of what happens to me. It will be his decision whether he wants to continue with my plans to register the ranch with the NRHP. I think he’ll want to because he encouraged me to investigate the possibility. I haven’t filed any papers yet.”

  “What if he takes the ranch and marries someone else?” Talbot questioned. “Has that occurred to you?” Kennedy took a deep breath. “It would break my heart. Not for losing the ranch, but for losing him.” Talbot threw up his hands in defeat and looked at his watch. “Is there anything else?” Perhaps this isn’t a good time to tell him what I want to do with the West Eighty, Kennedy thought humorously, or he might take measures to have me committed.

  “Yes, there is, but I’ve already used my appointment time, so I’ll wait until you’ve taken care of all we’ve discussed today. I’ll go over the papers you’ve given me and call you about them soon. You can take your time in preparing everything else. I’m intending to take my bar exams in October, but in the meantime I may get a job to keep me occupied. I have too much time on my hands.”

  “I can help you with the bar exam,” Talbot said, “so write down any questions you have. I’ll drop by the house some Saturday and give you pointers on what you should review. And you know you wouldn’t have to look far to find a job,” he said with a smile. “I’d take you in as a partner anytime.”

  “That’s good to know, and I may take you up on the offer. I’m too emotionally unsettled to make decisions like that now.” Now that Lazaro had been apprehended and everything seemed to be going well at the Circle Cross, Kennedy didn’t have any probable reason to contact Derek.

  How many days should pass before she should call him? To keep her mind off Valentine and all the summer memories, she spent the next three days at the university in the law library reviewing some of the courses she had taken in her early college years. One minute she was elated over the many things she remembered only to groan inwardly about facts that she’d completely forgotten. It would have been difficult enough to prepare if she didn’t have the added complication of Derek and the ranch intruding into her thoughts.

  On the third day, she closed her briefcase and left the library determined that she would call Derek as soon as she got home. Maybe if she could just hear his voice it would be enough. In the parking lot near her car, she heard someone call.

  “Kennedy!”

  Oh, great! Just what I need, she thought. She turned to greet Steve Martin, who was hurrying toward her. Steve was slender rather than tall, and Kennedy couldn’t help but compare him to Derek’s powerful figure. However, Steve was a handsome man with fair features and blond hair, and Kennedy had always liked him.

  “Hey, Kennedy. When did you come home?”

  “About a week ago.”

  “I told Rosita to have you call me.”

  “She gave me the message, but I’ve been busy. And, really, I didn’t think we had much to say to one another.”

  “Why not? Even if you don’t want to marry me, we can still be friends. Besides, I didn’t take that as a final answer.”

  “Read my lips, Steve. It was a final answer.”

  He shrugged his shoulders, and Kennedy wasn’t sure if he took her words seriously. “Are you going up for the bar exam in October?” he asked.

  “I intend to. I studied some while I was in Nebraska, and this is my third day here in the library. I didn’t realize how much I’d forgotten.”

  “My mind was completely off my profession while I toured Europe this summer, too, so I also have a lot of work to do. Why don’t we study together?” She shook her head, at first thinking it was a bad idea, but then reconsidered. Why not? Steve didn’t seem to be demanding anything of her. “I’m always running into things I don’t remember, so we might help each other,” she admitted. “We’ve studied together for the past two years. If we do this, it will be strictly on a colleague basis—nothing more. But let me think about it. I’ll call you.” She opened the car door and stepped inside. “Are you leaving now, too?”

  “No. I have a job, so I have to study on weekends and at night.”

  “I’ll be in touch soon.”

  Pride has its disadvantages, she thought, as she held the phone in her hands for fifteen or twenty minutes, trying to decide whether she should call. But Derek had his pride, too. She did have some important news to tell him, so using that as an excuse, in the end she dialed his cell number.

  “Hello,” she said, when he answered his phone on the first ring.

  “Is this a bad time to call?”

  “Nope! I’m sitting on the porch resting before supper. How are you?”

  “Busy. I’ve been at the university library for the past three days, and my mind is overworked.”

  “What you need is a moonlight ride along the Niobrara River.”

  If that was his way of telling her he wanted her to return to Nebraska, he would have to do better than that. “It’s too far away for me to do that tonight, so I’ll have to pass up the offer. How are you, Derek?”

  “All right. But I’ve been out in a hot wind all day, and I’m tired. Mom and I saw Tony at church on Sunday, and he asked about you.”

  “I’ll call him one of these days.” She paused briefly. “Tell me everything you’ve been doing on the ranch.”

  “One of us checks on Riverside every day, and it’s all right. Mom has been canning tomatoes she bought at the market in Valentine. She made an apple pie today.”

  “Eat a piece for me, will you? Rosita makes delicious desserts, but she can’t match June’s pies. And, by the way, the mystery of who wants the Circle Cross has been solved. Mr. Talbot received a letter yesterday from a real estate agency in Denver—they wanted to buy the ranch for a development of an upscale vacation area, expensive homes, and a golf club.”

  “And?” he asked, with a hint of concern in his voice.

  “Mr. Talbot told them that the ranch wasn’t for sale.”

  “Then I guess all of our summer mysteries are solved,” Derek said. “Smith has admitted that he was responsible for the warning notices you received. It seems

  “Then I guess all of our summer mysteries are solved,” Derek said. “Smith has admitted that he was responsible for the warning notices you received. It seems that he would have made a sizable percentage of money from the sale of the ranch, and his greed made him desperate for you to sell it. He denies killing the cattle, but that crime is still being investigated. The sheriff is almost certain it was Lazaro.”

  “But what about the NRHP sign they found by the cows?” Kennedy asked.

  “They think Lazaro must have found one of Smith’s signs and put it there to deflect attention from himself.” Although they talked for a half hour, when Kennedy hung up, she felt empty and unhappy. If she was wise, she wouldn’t call him again and instead build a life that didn’t include him. But her wisdom had flown out the window the day she met Derek Sterling.

  What a difference a month can mak
e, Derek thought, as he cantered along the trail paralleling the Niobrara River on his way to Riverside. It was the last week of September. The leaves of the elm and cottonwood trees were quickly taking on their fall colors, helped along by two nights of frost. Some of the songbirds had already migrated.

  It was a month today since he’d taken Kennedy to the airport. He’d wished more than once in the past three weeks that he’d had more faith that she would be safe in Nebraska and hadn’t insisted that she leave the state. But he’d been needling her to return to California almost from the day she came to the Circle Cross. He had no one to blame except himself that she wasn’t here beside him.

  Their few phone conversations hadn’t been very satisfactory, for she hadn’t once mentioned returning to Nebraska. He rounded the bend and Riverside was before him, looking as it had the day she’d left. With autumn upon them, he knew he should store the porch furniture, but he didn’t want to admit that Kennedy wouldn’t show up some day as unexpectedly as she had the first time. Derek had hoped, with the apprehension of Lazaro and Smith Blaine’s financial problems keeping him occupied, that Kennedy would return to Nebraska. He tied his horse to the hitching post that had probably been in front of the house when it was built.

  He looked at the front door almost expecting Kennedy to come to greet him as she had so often. A feeling of desolation swept over him when he knew that wouldn’t happen today.

  His feet seemed as heavy as lead as he climbed the steps to the gazebo and stretched out on the lounge. He closed his eyes and felt as if he could smell the roselike fragrance that always surrounded Kennedy. If only he could hear her voice. But it had been a week since they’d talked, and he’d called her then. He thought she should call him this time.

  As he daydreamed, his cell phone rang, and he quickly took it from his pocket expecting to hear Kennedy’s voice.

  He heard his mother’s voice instead. “I’m just checking to see what time you’ll be in for supper,” June said. “I’m grilling T-bones, and I don’t want to start them until I know where you are.”