Jared double-clicked to open the email.
Jared,
It’s time you and I sit down and have a serious conversation. I’ve been trying to call you, but that crazy-ass family of yours keeps sticking their nose into business that doesn’t pertain to them. This is about my son.
Jared noticed the “my” in that statement. Legally, Derrick was his son.
I’m done playing games with you. I wanted to give you one last chance to talk to me before I contact a lawyer. I’ve changed my mind on handing my son over to you. I want him back. I needed some time to get my life together and I’ve done that. So, unless you and I can come to some sort of agreement, it looks as though I’m going to be a part of your life again. If, that is, you can convince a court that you even deserve to be Derrick’s father. And in case you’re thinking about deleting this, I want you to know, I will be seeking sole custody of him. Think about that. I’ll give you two weeks, Jared.
Always yours,
Sable
Jared sat there, completely stunned, rereading the email over and over again. He tried to rein in the fury that seemed to soar in his veins.
It was a wonder he didn’t break the computer.
I SIMPLY WANTED to hear your voice.
Even two hours after Hope got off the phone with Jared, she couldn’t stop thinking about what he’d said.
Then again, she couldn’t stop thinking about what she’d said.
She was going to see him on Friday.
Friday.
That was only three days away, and she wasn’t sure she could handle the stress of anticipation for that long. She was going to spontaneously combust.
Part of her wondered if Jared Walker was for real.
The guy was intensely attractive, perhaps the best kisser in the entire universe, and he managed to easily balance his dirty talk with sweet words. From her experience, men who could manage all of that didn’t exist. Something had to be wrong with him.
Hope wanted to get him naked. So, of course, she could check for herself.
“Hey, Hope!”
Shit.
Spinning around and dropping the brush she’d been using to groom Ambrosia, Hope saw her sister Faith standing only a few feet behind her. She’d been so caught up in her own thoughts she hadn’t heard her come in.
“A little jumpy there, are ya?” Faith asked, studying Hope’s face a little too intently.
Hope shrugged. Anything she said would only look defensive, and Faith would be all over it in a second.
“What’s up?” She bent down and retrieved the brush, then moved out of the stall.
“I was talkin’ to Dad earlier. He told me about the family reunion scheduled for late October. I need to know when they’ll be paying the deposit.”
Hope put the brush back where she got it from. “They’re still working out the logistics.”
“So you haven’t quoted them a price yet?”
“Not yet. Once they tell me how many people, I can get it pretty quickly. Why?”
“Just wanted to stay on top of it.”
“As soon as I know, you’ll know.”
Hope turned to see her sister staring out through the stable doors. She followed her gaze and noticed Faith was staring at Rusty Ashmore, one of their best wranglers. Didn’t surprise her.
“Have you asked him out yet?” Hope asked, not waiting for her sister to respond as she headed back to the main house.
“It’s not like that,” Faith stated, running to catch up.
“I think you’ve said that before. For, you know, like, the past three years.”
“And I meant it. Then and now.”
Hope couldn’t give Faith a hard time. She’d learned long ago that she would be a hypocrite if she teased her sisters about the men they didn’t go after. After all, she was guilty of not going after what she wanted. That didn’t mean she wasn’t happy, because she was. She had everything she needed right here on this ranch.
Well, except for maybe Jared Walker.
But, in her defense, he was new and sparkly and exciting. His luster would eventually dim, as did all the others, and she’d be right back, her sole focus being the ranch and all that it entailed. That was the way it’d been for her ever since her mother died. She’d made a promise that she would fill those giant shoes as best she could by taking care of her sisters and ensuring the ranch ran the way her father wanted it to. As time went by, she’d grown into that role. And she liked it.
Sure, it was a little lonely at times, but Hope wasn’t worried about being alone. She found it much easier to be alone than to sit in the wings, waiting for the other shoe to drop. She hadn’t had but a couple of relatively serious relationships in her life, but she’d learned from them. No matter what, she ended up alone, so it was just easier not to get her hopes up.
Maybe that was what she liked about Jared. He didn’t beat around the bush. He wanted sex from her. That she could handle. She was almost thirty-four years old, completely capable of making good decisions for herself. No reason she couldn’t have a brief affair with him.
But she hadn’t been entirely truthful with him last night. When they agreed to proceed and address this crazy sexual chemistry they had, she’d told him that once the reunion was over, they’d call it quits. She might’ve fudged a little on the timing, because she had absolutely no intention of letting it go on that long. For one, the man had a son. If she stuck it out until after the reunion, there was a serious chance of her meeting that little boy, and she didn’t want to do that. Not to herself, not to Jared, and certainly not to some little kid who she knew she would want to spend time with.
Her heart couldn’t handle that again. She could remain aloof and detached yet still enjoy some physical gratification with a sexy-as-shit cowboy, but that was as far as she was going to let it go.
“You have dinner yet?” Hope asked Faith.
“Nope. You?”
Hope shook her head. “Come on, let’s grab a bite. I think I’m gonna call it a night.”
And hopefully, unlike last night, when she’d been too keyed up to sleep, she’d manage to catch a few z’s before she had to get up and do it all over again tomorrow.
Chapter Eleven
JARED STARED ACROSS the table at his cousin, waiting for Travis to respond. He’d done his best to lay out his plans for the reunion, and he wanted to ensure he was on the right track. It wasn’t that he doubted his abilities, but he knew Travis. If the man wasn’t happy with the way things were going, he would take over, and Jared wasn’t about to let that happen.
“I think it’s a great idea,” Travis said, staring at the sheet of paper Jared had printed out for him. “But why me? Why not rope Zane into handling this?”
“You’re the oldest. It’s the easiest way to divvy it up.”
Travis lifted his eyes, meeting Jared’s gaze. “How many people do we have coming to this?”
Jared shrugged. “I don’t have a firm count yet, but I’d say around a hundred.”
“Damn. And the ranch’ll hold that many?”
“That’s what I’m told.”
“You figured out a cost yet?”
“Working on that next. As soon as I can get Hope a firm head count, we can determine lodging and all those costs. Food, entertainment, and the like.” In fact, he was planning to talk to Hope when he saw her tonight. Okay, maybe he wasn’t exactly going to talk about pricing tonight, but in the very near future he would.
Travis nodded. “I’m covering the cost of this. Make sure everyone realizes that. They’ll only need to cover the cost of getting to the ranch.”
That was a generous gesture on Travis’s part, for sure. “I’ll do that.”
“So we’re all set then?”
“For October twenty-ninth, yes.” Jared knew Travis had been anticipating so
oner, but he couldn’t make that happen. He did have a full-time job to do in between trying to figure all this reunion crap out. Not to mention, the bullshit his ex-wife was trying to stir up. Jared wasn’t sure how much worry to give it. He only knew that ignoring her wouldn’t make her go away.
Travis set the paper down on Jared’s desk and leaned back in his chair. “You hear from Sable?”
Staring at his cousin, he contemplated how much he wanted to tell Travis. Being that Jared had been in Coyote Ridge for almost two years, he’d seen Travis in action. The man took the saying “take the bull by the horns” to the extreme. That could probably work out in Jared’s favor right about now.
The usual anger he felt when he thought about that woman was right there, heating his skin and pissing him off. “Yeah.”
Again, Travis stared at him, clearly waiting for Jared to elaborate.
Reaching in his top desk drawer, Jared pulled out the email he’d printed. He leaned over and passed it off to Travis.
Jared leaned back in his chair, waiting patiently. He hadn’t mentioned the email to anyone yet. He’d been trying to figure out what the best plan of action would be. He needed to contact his lawyer, see if Sable had any leverage here. She’d given up her parental rights, and from what he knew, their agreement was ironclad. But when it came to stuff like that, Jared figured there was a lot of gray in a world that definitely wasn’t black and white. Especially if Sable was claiming she had needed time to get her shit together before she could be a good mother to the boy.
It was a crock of shit, that much he knew for certain.
“Lemme ask you somethin’,” Travis prompted, peering up from the paper.
Jared lifted one eyebrow.
“If Sable comes back around, you have any plans to let her into Derrick’s life? Clearly she’s gearing up for something.”
He should’ve expected that question. Hell, he’d thought about it more times than he cared to admit. The problem was, Jared didn’t know if there was a right answer for it. The woman was Derrick’s mother. “My first answer is no,” Jared explained. “But I guess it would depend on what she wants.”
“Say she wants you back.”
“Oh, fuck no,” Jared snapped, sitting up in his chair. “That’s not even an option.”
Travis didn’t seem a bit surprised by that. “Okay. Say she just wants to be with her son.” He lifted the paper. “And she’s really gotten her shit together.”
“I don’t trust her, Trav,” Jared told him honestly. “I don’t trust her not to walk out on that little boy again. Do you know how long he cried for her? It broke my fucking heart. He wanted his mother, and she didn’t want to have anything to do with him. I can’t let her do that to him again.”
Travis got to his feet. “That’s what I needed to know.”
Jared stood. “No way, man. You don’t ask me somethin’ like that and then walk outta here. What’re you thinkin’?”
At least Travis had the decency to look him in the eye. “I’m not thinkin’ anything. Not yet anyway. I just want you to remember that in the future.” Travis waved the paper. “I’m takin’ this with me. Let me do a little diggin’ before you respond.”
Jared nodded.
“Sable’s comin’ back, Jared. She’s trying to insinuate herself in your life.”
“What? Who told you that?”
“No one,” Travis stated firmly. “But she’s threatening you, hitting you where it hurts. She knows you’ll do anything for Derrick. My guess is she’s either outta money or she’s rollin’ solo and needs… I’m not gonna say it.”
“Dick?” Jared had no problem saying it. That was exactly what Sable was after. Only she wanted a dick with money attached to it. She’d thought she would get that with Jared in the beginning, but he’d had none. Or so he’d convinced her. When she had signed the prenup, she honestly didn’t realize all that she’d be giving up. In the end, she had gotten what she’d wanted. When it came to Derrick’s happiness, Jared would’ve given her every fucking penny he had.
“It’s not my place to tell you what to do, so I won’t. But if you need someone to talk to, I’m here.”
Jared nodded. He knew that. Although he’d grown up in El Paso, his father the only Walker who had moved out of Coyote Ridge, Jared was still close to most of his cousins. Especially Travis since they were relatively close in age, Travis being three years older.
“Lemme know if we can help with the reunion.”
“Oh, now you offer,” Jared called after him.
Travis grinned. “Somethin’ tells me you ain’t as willin’ to give up the job as you’re pretendin’ to be.”
Jared flipped his cousin off because, damn it all to hell, the asshole was right.
“See ya,” Travis hollered as the door shut behind him.
“IS THAT IT?” Lane asked when he and Grant set the couch down against the wall.
“Looks like it,” Hope told him, glancing over at the clock on the wall.
“You got a hot date or what?” Lane questioned. “About the fourth time you’ve looked at the clock in the past fifteen minutes.”
Hope glared at her soon-to-be brother-in-law.
Lane grinned from ear to ear, putting his hands up in mock surrender. “Got it. Hot date. We’ll just be gettin’ outta your hair then.”
“Shut up, Miller.” Hope had known Lane would tease her relentlessly, and yes, it was her fault. She had been glancing at the clock ever since Lane and Grant stopped by with the furniture she’d asked them to bring.
“You check everything else out?” Grant asked as the pair moved toward the front door. “Make sure it was workin’ all right?”
“All the necessities, yes.” Hope knew they’d worked double time to get the cabin cleaned and ready for permanent living—new shower curtain, full-size refrigerator, that sort of thing—as best they could. They’d had to remove the furniture that’d been there to make room for Hope’s, and that was all done after the guests had vacated at ten o’clock this morning. It would’ve been better if she could’ve given them another week to work on it, but as she’d expected, staying in the main house was too difficult for her.
For one, her father and Jan were staying there. Granted, the master bedroom was off in its own wing of the house, sectioned off from the guests, but still. It was a little disconcerting to know that her father and his girlfriend…
Yeah, she did her best not to think about that.
“All righty then,” Grant said. “Holler if you need anything else.”
“Thank you both,” Hope told them when they stepped out onto the porch. “I really do appreciate it.”
“Uh-oh,” Lane grumbled with another of those face-splitting smiles. “Who’s the hot date with?”
Hope frowned, confused.
“You’re bein’ far too nice. Must be lookin’ forward to the date.”
“Shut the hell up and go home,” she ordered, trying to keep her face stern. She was usually good at it, but Lane somehow managed to make her smile. Hope understood why her sister had fallen in love with the guy. Hell, she understood why Gracie had fallen in love with both of them.
For the longest time, Hope had watched the three of them sneak around as though no one was wise to it. Of course, Gracie had been concerned with how their father would react. After all, Lane and Grant were both employed by the ranch, and their father had ordered the employees to stay far away from his daughters. In the end, love won out. And Hope was glad that it had. The three of them deserved to be happy.
Not that she would ever admit that to anyone. It would ruin her reputation.
Grant grabbed Lane and pulled him toward the truck. “See ya tomorrow.”
Hope offered a quick wave but then hurried back inside.
It was already six o’clock. The text she’d received from Jared said he’d
be there at seven and he’d be bringing dinner. He had asked if she had a problem with steak. She’d told him no. He hadn’t told her where he was getting food, only that this time he was going to be the one making the decision on where. Something about not trusting her choice in restaurants.
That meant she had an hour to get the sheets on her bed and to take a shower. Aside from the furniture and a few of her clothes, the rest of her stuff was at the main house, and she would work on getting it all moved back over the weekend when she had time.
For right now, she didn’t figure she needed much more than herself.
Oh, and the box of condoms she’d picked up when she went into town yesterday. If things went the way she thought they would, she’d definitely be needing those.
Chapter Twelve
ALTHOUGH IT TUGGED at his heart to leave Derrick at Travis’s for the night, Jared managed to finally leave. Probably didn’t hurt that his boy practically pushed him out the door.
“Bye, Dad,” Derrick said, wiggling for Jared to put him down. He’d purposely picked the kid up for a hug, knowing that once Derrick was inside, he wouldn’t see him again.
“You gonna be good?” Jared asked.
Derrick turned toward him, cupping his face, his expression serious. “I’m awways good.”
Travis’s laugh could be heard as he made his way into the foyer. “Always.”
Jared grinned. Right.
“He’ll be fine, Dad,” Travis teased. “Don’t worry your pretty little head.”
Jared fought the urge to flip Travis off. He turned to Derrick, cupping the back of his head and pressing his lips to Derrick’s cheek. “Later, big man. Seriously. Be good.”
Derrick nodded enthusiastically and practically jumped out of Jared’s arms, making a beeline for the kitchen. Jared heard the door squeak open and then Derrick’s excited squeal.
“Kate’s in the kitchen. They’re making cookies.” Travis grinned. “Have fun tonight. Don’t do nothin’ I wouldn’t do.”
Jared cocked an eyebrow. “You know, coming from you, that’s not exactly a warning, right?”
Jared (Coyote Ridge) (Volume 2) Page 10