by Myra Johnson
The man was definitely Lindsey’s father, though looking much older than Spencer’s memories of him. He stumbled forward, then turned back with a scowl. “Have it your way. But eventually, you’ll have to hear me out. Either that, or deal with my lawyer. Because this isn’t over by a long shot.”
Owen McClement stomped down the porch steps, halting when he noticed the vehicle parked behind his. He looked from Spencer to Lindsey, still standing in the doorway, before clamping his jaw shut and climbing into his car. The engine roared to life, and he circled around and sped down the drive.
Spencer didn’t waste another second debating his next move. He threw open the car door and untangled himself from behind the wheel. By the time he made it to the porch, Lindsey was shaking with rage.
“Hey...hey,” he murmured, reaching out to her. “It’s okay, Linds. He’s gone.”
Audra came up beside her and squeezed her shoulders. “Lindsey, calm down. You can’t let him get to you like this.”
“Why did he even come here? What gives him the right?” Then, as if noticing Spencer for the first time, she cast him a regretful frown. “Oh, no—our plans. I’m not even...” Shifting on bare feet, she looked around distractedly.
“Don’t worry about it. You’re shivering. Let’s get you inside.”
Moving into the entryway, he kicked the door closed behind them. Audra excused herself to get Lindsey a glass of water. The woman seemed far less disturbed by her brother’s arrival than Lindsey. If anything, Audra appeared...undaunted.
Spencer guided Lindsey to the living room sofa, then sat down next to her. “What happened, Linds? When did he show up?”
“I was getting dressed for tonight.” She plucked at her calf-length Southwestern-print skirt. “I heard the car, then Audra telling him he couldn’t stay, but he insisted we had to talk.”
Audra returned with a water glass. “Here you go, honey.” While Lindsey sipped, Audra went on, “Owen’s throwing his weight around, still trying to convince me to sell the ranch. I told him Lindsey has a plan and we need to give her a little more time.”
“And that’s when he started in with the legal threats.” Lindsey set the glass on an end table. “After which, I blew my cool and threw him out.”
“So I noticed.” Spencer wished he’d come over ten minutes sooner so he could have personally booted the slimeball out on his rear.
“Please, kids.” Leaning forward, Audra clasped Lindsey’s hand. “Don’t let him ruin your evening.”
“Your aunt’s right,” Spencer said, shifting closer. “You’re stronger than he is, Linds. Don’t give him that kind of power.”
Lindsey shook her head. “I know, and I’m sorry, but I don’t feel much like celebrating anymore.” She looked shyly up at him. “Would you stay, though? Please.”
Eyes locked with hers, Spencer arched a brow. “Just try getting rid of me. I don’t scare off nearly as easily as your dad.”
Silently, Audra slipped from the room. Once they were alone, Lindsey cast him a wry smile. “What is it about you, Spencer Navarro? For some crazy reason, being around you makes me feel...less worried. More hopeful.” Her glance swept the corners of the room as if she were searching for words. She returned her focus to him. “More grounded.”
Her tender expression made his chest ache. Of all the times for words to fail him, when there was so much he wished he could say to her. “Linds...”
“You don’t have to say anything. Your being here is enough.”
His hand found hers. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
* * *
It wasn’t the fancy New Year’s Eve date Lindsey had been anticipating, but in many ways it was so much better. Spencer really did have a calming effect on her, so after the upsetting and unexpected visit from her father, spending a quiet evening at home with Spencer was exactly what she needed. Leaving him to choose something from among Audra’s collection of favorite movies on DVD, she went upstairs and changed into a sweatshirt, faded jeans and fleecy slipper socks.
A few minutes later, while Lindsey popped a frozen pizza into the oven, Spencer pried the cap off a chilled bottle of sparkling cider and filled three glasses. Together with Audra, they toasted the new year. When the pizza was ready, Audra shooed Lindsey and Spencer to the living room with their plates and drinks after insisting she’d eat in the kitchen then make it an early night.
Lindsey fully intended to check later to see how much of the pizza her aunt had actually consumed. She’d been eating noticeably better over the last few weeks, looking not quite so gaunt, her clothes fitting more snugly. But after Dad showed up with his demands and threats, Lindsey only hoped Audra was as unruffled as she appeared.
When the movie ended just before eleven, Lindsey tuned the TV to a channel showing the celebration in Times Square, where it was already almost midnight. As the countdown to the ball drop began, she became acutely aware of Spencer’s nearness. They’d been sharing the sofa in comfortable companionship for the past couple of hours, but now Lindsey’s pulse hammered with the possibility of the time-honored New Year’s kiss. The last time she’d been kissed by any man had been at a New Year’s Eve party three years ago. She’d been dating a guy from work, and they’d attended a gathering hosted by friends. The midnight kiss had been a surprise and not entirely welcome since she’d already decided their relationship couldn’t go anywhere.
It was only tonight that she realized why. All these years, she’d been subconsciously holding every man she dated to the standard of Spencer Navarro, the good and honorable man she’d always known he’d grow up to become. Kind. Compassionate. A steadfast friend through the best and worst of circumstances.
The kind of man she hoped one day to spend the rest of her life with.
Five...four...three...
Spencer’s arm brushed hers, the tension in his muscles palpable.
Two...
Breath quickening, she moved her hand closer to his until their pinkies were touching.
One!
The Times Square crowd broke into joyous shouts, and the panning cameras zoomed in on one kissing couple after another.
Lindsey held her breath, willing Spencer to turn toward her. Slowly, he did, his dusky brown eyes filled with longing and a silent question. She leaned ever so slightly toward him. His Adam’s apple working, he shifted sideways and stretched one arm around her shoulders. He lowered his gaze to her lips, and she held herself utterly still for his tender and all-too-brief kiss.
“Happy New Year.”
“Happy New Year.” Her words came out on a contented sigh.
He shifted again, drawing both her hands into his. “Whatever this year brings, I want you to know—” He inhaled a quick breath. “I hope you know how much I care.”
She ran her thumbs across his knuckles, the hands of a hardworking man both strong and gentle. “Being with you these past few weeks, knowing I have your friendship and support... It means more than you’ll ever know.”
Spencer’s voice roughened. “I want to be more than your friend, Lindsey.”
“I... I want that, too. Always have.” She searched his face, seeing the same doubts there that crowded her own thoughts. “But a McClement and a Navarro—is it even possible?”
“I don’t know. I hope so.” A darker look replaced his brief glimmer of optimism. He stood abruptly. “It’s probably best if I go now.”
Loath for him to leave with so much left unspoken, she followed him to the door. “See you tomorrow?”
“I’m always around.” He snatched his black Stetson from the coat tree in the entry hall.
“Thanks again for all the painting help today. I can’t believe how much we got done.”
“It looks good.” He studied his hat brim. “Everything around the place is looking really good. You’ll be ready for business in no time.”
/> An edge of disappointment had crept into his tone. Or was it worry? “Are you having second thoughts that I can pull this off?”
“No. I’m just...” Opening the door, he gave his head a quick shake. “It’s nothing, really.”
“Why don’t I believe you?”
His gaze drifted toward something in the distant darkness. Far away, in the direction of town, a faintly pulsating glow lit the horizon, accompanied by the dull whump of exploding fireworks. “I care too much to see you get hurt, that’s all.”
She crossed her arms. “There you go again, talking like you know something I don’t.”
When he didn’t immediately deny it, she grew even more suspicious.
“Spencer?”
He stepped onto the porch, then pivoted to face her, the intensity of his stare making her stomach churn. “Between your father and my grandfather, all I’m saying is...” One hand reaching up to cradle her cheek, he brushed his lips across her forehead. “Watch your back.”
As he strode to his car, she touched her face where his fingertips had rested and imagined she could still feel the warmth. She had every reason to take his warning seriously, so why did she have the nagging feeling he was deflecting—that there was another, more personal reason behind his abrupt departure?
When her aunt sidled up next to her, she startled. “I thought you’d be sound asleep by now.”
“My mind won’t shut down,” Audra said with a yawn. “Been praying and reading my Bible and was on my way to the kitchen for a glass of milk when I saw Spencer leave.” She wrapped an arm around Lindsey’s waist. “Did you have a nice evening after all?”
“We did.” Lindsey nudged the front door shut and twisted the lock. Odd how she rarely concerned herself with locked doors and windows out here in the country...until Dad had shown up. Stifling her own yawn, she suspected that even as tired as she was, sleep would be long in coming for her as well. “Think I’ll join you for that glass of milk.”
* * *
On a working horse ranch, one day was pretty much the same as the next, and Spencer and his father worked as hard as the hired hands, even more so on holidays. “We’re the ones with skin in the game,” Dad always said, “so if we expect our employees’ loyalty the rest of the year, we carry the load so they can take time off to celebrate with their families.”
Skin in the game. Exactly what Lindsey’s father didn’t have since he’d checked out on his family. Early on New Year’s morning, as Spencer mucked his rescue horses’ stalls in Audra’s barn, the encounter with Owen McClement yesterday played heavily on his mind. He hadn’t spoken a word to the man, but Lindsey’s reaction—and her mood for the rest of the evening—had said plenty.
For a couple of hours, though, munching on pizza and chuckling over the romantic comedy DVD he’d selected because he thought Lindsey would enjoy it, he could almost imagine they were a normal couple on a stay-at-home date. No concerns about ranch foreclosure sales. No stressing over equine rescue fundraising.
No feuding relatives conspiring to keep them apart.
Spencer couldn’t shake the sense that there was something off about the timing of Owen McClement showing up when he had. Why now, when he’d had months to try convincing Audra to sell?
And Tito’s mysterious business in town—what was that about? Spencer had no doubt his grandfather was still working on some scheme to position himself to snatch the McClement ranch if Lindsey’s efforts failed.
“Hey.” Lindsey’s lazy greeting caught him by surprise. He swung around to see her resting her arms on the open stall gate.
“Hey, yourself.” His breath caught at the sight of her—hair in a lopsided ponytail, faded jeans, the tails of a wrinkled flannel shirt peeking out from beneath an oversize gray sweater. “Thought maybe you’d sleep in today.”
“Couldn’t. Literally.” Lips mashed into a thoughtful pout, she glanced away.
Oh, how he’d love to kiss away her worries and make everything all right.
He returned to plying his pitchfork. “Had a little trouble sleeping myself.”
For the next few minutes, Lindsey silently watched him work, occasionally dodging a misaimed forkful of shavings on its way to the wheelbarrow. When he finished with the stalls, she walked out with him to empty the soiled shavings into the collection bin. All the while, he had the feeling she wanted to talk about something but didn’t know how.
Last night’s kiss, perhaps? Because he sure hadn’t stopped thinking about it.
When she still hadn’t said anything by the time he was ready to head home, he paused outside the barn. Hands on hips, he faced her. “Are we okay?”
Her brows shot up. “Of course. Why would you even ask?”
“Because until now, you’d said exactly three words to me this morning, and then you dogged my every step like you had plenty more on your mind.”
Hands jammed into her jeans pockets, she heaved an exaggerated shrug. “Guess I wanted to be sure you thought we were okay. After last night, I mean. Because you left in kind of a hurry, and I thought maybe you were sorry—”
“About kissing you? Never.” Spencer’s throat thickened with emotion. “The only thing I’m sorry about is how the trouble between our families is messing with our lives. Our futures. And I want to protect you from that, but I’m not sure I can.”
“I don’t expect you to. But maybe...” Her gaze drifted toward the Navarro ranch. “Maybe it’s time we stopped giving this feud so much control.”
“Ignoring it won’t make it go away.” Not while Tito was alive, anyway.
Spencer immediately berated himself for the direction of his thoughts. He’d never wish his grandfather gone. He only wanted the man to release his bitterness to God and find contentment in what he had, before it was too late.
“You’re giving me that look again.” Lindsey skewered him with her pointed stare.
He flinched. “What look?”
“The one you get when you’re about to cut the conversation short.”
Wow, she knew him almost better than he knew himself. He had no reply.
“Fine.” Hands raised, she retreated. “You have work to do and so do I.”
“Linds—”
“No rest for the weary, and all that. Thought I’d get started on the inside of the chapel today.” Her fake cheeriness wasn’t fooling him. “See you around?”
“I’ll try to come over later and help.”
“Sure, if you have time.” Tossing him a jaunty wave, she pivoted on the toe of her sneaker and strode toward one of the utility buildings.
Great. Once—just once—couldn’t he trade his crummy communication skills for his twin brother’s silver-tongued charm? I’m in love with you, Lindsey, he’d say, and I’m scared to death that once you’ve saved your family’s ranch, I’ll lose you. And I don’t think I’d survive the heartbreak.
Chapter Eleven
After two days of sweeping debris, scrubbing grime off windows and sanding rough spots from the chapel benches, Lindsey stood in the center of the small space and assessed her progress. A few more repairs had to be made, but the building was beginning to look functional again.
“Looks pretty good,” Audra said, peering in through the open door. “Wish you’d let me help.”
“You have plenty to do with the horses and cattle every morning. I’m the one who should be helping you instead of...” Lindsey flicked a limp strand of hair off her forehead. There she went with the self-doubts again. Her emotions ricocheted all over the place lately, so much so that she’d turned away Spencer’s latest offers to lend a hand with the chapel. Considering he played a huge part in her current state of confusion, she’d tactfully suggested he’d be of more use tidying up around the barn and other outbuildings.
He hadn’t complained, but she could tell from his expression that she’d disappointed h
im. It was better this way, though. They were naive to think anything could come of these feelings neither of them seemed able to open up about.
Audra wandered inside and plopped onto the end of a bench. “What’s on your mind, honey? You’ve been awfully subdued since...”
“Since Dad showed up uninvited?” Lindsey took the bench across from her aunt. “You’d tell me if you heard from him again, right?”
“Of course I would.” Audra’s focus wandered, then returned to Lindsey. “I can handle his bluster and threats. I’m not sure you can.”
“I don’t understand him. Much less why he thinks he should have any say in what you do with the ranch.”
Tires on gravel drew their attention. Audra rose and looked out toward the driveway. Shoulders stiffening, she cast Lindsey a meaningful frown. “Keep your cool this time, and maybe you can ask him yourself.”
Lindsey clutched her roiling stomach as she edged to the door. “He’s back?”
“I won’t have a repeat of the other night, do you understand?” Audra wrapped her fingers around Lindsey’s forearm and gave a light squeeze. “We’ll handle this calmly and respectfully.” She closed her eyes briefly. “And prayerfully. God is in control, honey. Never forget that.”
Lindsey inhaled a shaky breath before following her aunt toward the front of the house. Calmly and respectfully? Those qualities would definitely require divine intervention where her father was concerned.
When they reached the front porch, she found her father pacing and fuming. He swung around, his gaze connecting with Lindsey’s, and for a fleeting moment she thought she sensed regret. He quickly covered it with the swipe of a hand down his face. “There you are.”
“This is a ranch,” Lindsey stated. “We’ve been working.”
Audra eased in front of her, a subtle message to rein in her emotions. “Come inside and I’ll put on a pot of coffee. Then we can talk.”
Her aunt’s cordial tone settled Lindsey’s dad. His stiff posture relaxing slightly, he moved aside to let Audra lead the way. Stalling, Lindsey motioned him through the door ahead of her. She’d take advantage of every spare moment to prepare herself for another showdown.