by Carsen Taite
“I look forward to seeing you tomorrow,” he said.
Lily hung up the phone and quickly switched to the incoming call, but she was too late. She stared at the phone display for a few seconds, willing a message to appear.
“Your phone not working?” Courtney asked.
“Not well enough to screen out the people I don’t want to talk to. Can you believe that was my father’s lawyer? He’s hustling me to sign some paperwork and doesn’t understand why I would want to actually read it first.”
“Any reason you’re still staring at the phone?”
Buzz. Her phone lit up to signal a new voice mail. Lily held up a hand to Courtney while she listened to the message.
“Lily, hi, this is Peyton. Sorry I didn’t call earlier. It’s been a really busy day and a few urgent things came up that are going to keep me busy for a while. I’ll call you when things break free. Have a good week.”
Lily played it twice to make sure she hadn’t missed anything, like the part where Peyton didn’t give her a complete brush-off. The second time was just as brusque as the first. She clicked off the line and tossed her phone into her purse.
“What’s up?” Courtney placed an arm around her. “You look like someone stole your lunch money.”
“Hardly. Guess I just misjudged a situation.” Foolish. That’s what she’d been. Foolish to get excited about Peyton and the possibilities, none of which had been promised. Maybe Peyton really was busy with work, but her terse tone hadn’t matched her casual, “Hey, I’ll call you later,” words. Her message had definitely been a don’t call me, I’ll call you or I won’t. Lily could take a hint.
Courtney knew her well enough not to push, and Lily wasn’t sure what she would say anyway. Peyton Davis swept me off my feet and now she wants to sweep me under the rug. Silly that she even cared since they barely knew each other, but the brush-off stung partly because it called her instincts into question and mostly because it just plain hurt.
Well, she didn’t need another woman to make her feel good about herself. She could take care of herself just fine. And maybe it was time to start taking some steps in that direction.
“Hey, Courtney, didn’t you say you know a good realtor?”
“Sure. She has an office in Highland Park. It’s a boutique agency. She has access to lots of properties before they even go on the market. You thinking about finding your own place so soon?”
Lily reflected on the last week. Lunch with her well meaning, but controlling father. Social bullying by her mother. Placing too much hope in a couple of encounters with a beautiful, but unavailable woman. She needed some space, and finding her own place would be one step in the right direction. “Yes, I am.”
*
Peyton clicked off the call. As much as she’d hated leaving such a vague message, she’d been relieved Lily hadn’t actually answered the phone, as it saved her from having to answer questions she wasn’t prepared to answer. She stared at the phone for a moment before finally deciding to turn off the ringer. Still not convinced she’d done the right thing, she slid into a seat and waved the bartender over. “Two drafts, whatever’s local.” When he left, she turned to face her brother. Zach was smiling like a kid in a candy store. “What?”
“Nothing. I was just surprised to get your call. Out on the town on a Monday night. What’s the occasion, sis?”
“Just wanted to talk, is all. We haven’t had time to catch up.”
“Neil keeps me pretty busy. I had to slip away tonight before he could start in on everything he wants me to do in the morning.”
“What’s he got you doing?”
“A little bit of everything.” He stopped while the bartender placed two frosty mugs in front of them. Lifting a glass, he offered a toast. “To good times, now that the whole family is back together again.”
Peyton raised her glass, but she didn’t return his smile. Their family might be physically back in the same place, but they were a long way from being back together again. She’d barely spoken to Neil since the night of Cattle Baron’s and, after her mother’s proclamation the day before, she knew tougher times were ahead. “I heard he’s had a couple of prospectors out on the property looking to drill.”
Zach stared into his drink. His silence was telling. “You think we should drill?” she asked.
Zach pushed his beer aside. “I don’t know. Neil says it’s better, more reliable money than the horses. And with Dad…Well, someone’s got to do something to make sure we stay afloat.”
“Afloat? What are you talking about?”
Zach’s eyes widened, like he was scared he’d said too much. Peyton knew him well. “Zach, if you don’t tell me I’m going to have to ask Mom and Dad. With everything that’s going on, don’t you think it would be best if I heard it from you?”
Shoulders slumped, he started talking. “A new ranch opened up near Decatur. Run by a woman who moved here from the valley and she’s breeding champion bloodlines. Her horses won the Futurity the last two years running. Everyone’s using them for breeding, and anyone who wants a winner thinks they have to get it there. Our business has fallen off, and we just can’t keep up. Mom’s never been interested in all the newfangled breeding methods no matter how much Neil tried to convince her, and Dad, well, he’s in no position to make any decisions.”
“Watch yourself,” Peyton said.
“Come on, Peyton, you can see it for yourself. We’ll be lucky if he sees the year out. Anyway, Neil’s just doing what he can to keep things going. If we can bridge this rough spot with some oil money, what’s the harm?”
Peyton shook her head. Drilling on the ranch wouldn’t be illegal, and it wouldn’t violate the terms of her mother’s inheritance, but it did go against everything her family had ever stood for. The land that housed them was to be respected. They’d take from it only what they needed and cherish and protect the rest. No matter what an oil company promised, digging wells, building rigs, and driving tankers on and off the property would do damage and fly in the face of the legacy they’d worked hard to keep. But that wasn’t her only concern. She tried to remember the name of the company her mother had mentioned.
“Zach, what do you know about the company Neil signed with?”
“Some outfit out of Odessa. Ray Explorations. I don’t know anything about them.”
Peyton breathed a sigh of relief. If he’d said Gantry Oil, she would’ve marched back to the ranch that night and insisted Neil rescind his agreement. Bad enough she had to dismiss any possibility of pursuing anything with Lily Gantry because of what Bianca had told her, but if her own family was involved with the Gantrys, she wasn’t sure what she’d do. Still, something needed to be done about Neil’s headstrong willingness to sell out the family legacy. She’d told her mother she needed time to think about her suggestion that they assume control over the day-to-day operation of the ranch, but time was apparently running out. She’d taken this new job to be closer to home, but she’d never intended to be an attorney and rancher both. Surely she’d have to sacrifice one for the other. She owed an allegiance to her family, but what about those dead souls who’d been gunned down when all they’d wanted was a taste of freedom? Didn’t she owe it to them to finish what she’d started?
A few hours later, Peyton sat at the desk in her old room at the ranch, typing notes into her laptop in an attempt to clear her mind of all the must-dos that cluttered her thoughts. She stretched and yawned, relieved to finally feel the promise of a good night’s sleep. She reached to close the lid of her laptop, but a tickling urge stopped her. She opened a Web browser and typed in the name of the oil company Neil had contracted with to dig the exploratory well.
The first page of the search engine revealed ten results, some press, some corporate listings on sites like Dun and Bradstreet. Peyton clicked through them all, pushing past ads and sponsored links, unsure what she was looking for, but wanting to be diligent, wanting to be wrong. After an hour of tunneling, she found what she had
n’t wanted to unearth. Ray Explorations was a partially owned subsidiary of Gantry Oil, but that wasn’t the kicker. Ray also happened to be Lily Gantry’s middle name.
Peyton shut the laptop without reading another word. She’d seen enough to know she had a problem. If Bianca Cruz was right and Cyrus Gantry was in bed with the Cartel, trouble was brewing and she was smack in the middle of it.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Peyton walked into the toolshed beside the barn and found Neil rummaging through a toolbox. He barely glanced her way as he spoke. “You’re up early.”
“I need to talk to you and you’re kind of hard to catch.” She’d tried to corner him around the ranch over the last week, but between her schedule and his elusiveness, she hadn’t managed to snag a minute alone with him.
“Oh, I’m around. I’m all over this place. There’s a lot of work to do in case you haven’t noticed.”
“I noticed.” She hadn’t wanted to start this conversation on an acrimonious note, but there didn’t seem to be a choice when it came to him. She searched for a topic they could agree on before she got into the real reason she’d gotten up before dawn to try to talk to him. “Dad doesn’t seem to be improving.”
Neil tossed a hammer onto the workbench and turned toward her. “He’s dying, Peyton. What did you expect?”
She kept her tone low and even. “Don’t be a jackass. Mom says the doctors have some hope this new round of treatment will help.”
“You’re all fooling yourselves. He’s doped up on painkillers so of course he feels better, but he’s declining more every day. You’d have a little more perspective if you’d been around to see him the past few years.”
She didn’t bother pointing out that she’d been home for holidays and the occasional rare vacation. He would know that if he hadn’t made himself scarce whenever she visited. “I’m here now and I want to help out.”
“You can help by staying out of my way. I’ve got it handled.”
“That’s exactly what I want to talk to you about. Did you have Roscoe go over the papers you signed with Ray Explorations?”
He shook his head. “Didn’t need to. Lawyers only get in the way of real deal making. I looked the owner of the company in the eye and shook his hand. That’s how real men do deals.”
“Is that so? You shook hands with Cyrus Gantry?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Ray Explorations is a subsidiary of Gantry Oil. You signed an agreement that puts us in business with Cyrus Gantry.”
Neil’s eyes signaled surprise, but he recovered quickly. “According to Zach, you’re sweet on Cyrus’s daughter, so that should make you pretty happy. Of course, if I’d known I was doing you a favor, I might’ve reconsidered.”
Peyton didn’t bother pointing out Neil had made his dubious business decision before she’d even met Lily Gantry. She didn’t want to mention Lily at all, and she sure hadn’t planned to talk to him about anything to do with her investigation into Gantry Oil. She took a different tack. “You know Grandma would be rolling over in her grave if she knew there was drilling on the ranch.”
“Times change. The horses aren’t paying the rent, but Mom won’t give them up. I’m doing my part to keep the place afloat. What are you doing to help out?”
“That’s between me and Mom, but I’ll tell you right now, there won’t be any drilling on the Circle Six.”
“Says you.”
“Says me and a court order if you force me to get one. Did you know Dad signed a power of attorney and appointed me to handle his affairs? That means Mom and I are the only ones authorized to make decisions about the ranch, and that includes signing contracts with oil companies.”
Neil didn’t recover as quickly from his surprise this time, and his tone turned nastier. “Bullshit. You can’t come back here after all this time and tell me how to run this place. Dad’s been sick and Mom has no business sense. If it wasn’t for me, this entire place would have already gone under.”
Peyton stepped close until she was right up in his space. “Don’t you disrespect the rest of this family. Dad loves this land more than you ever will, and if he were in any condition to realize what you were doing, he’d be the first to put a stop to it. Mom has plenty of business sense, but apparently she’s been trying to make up for the fact you never had a birthright to this place by giving you way too much latitude. And what about Zach? From what I can see, he helps out plenty. You’re not the only one who has a stake in the future of this place.”
“Zach is dumber than I thought if he thinks any of his work will amount to something. You’ll just swoop in and take it all from him.”
“I’ve never wanted to take anything from you. Can’t you see that?”
“No. You may have Zach fooled, but I saw firsthand how entitled you think you are.”
Anger burned in Peyton’s belly. She wanted to punch Neil in the face, anything to stop the steady stream of vitriol, but she knew it would accomplish nothing except to put an even bigger wall between them. She backed up until she was no longer standing right on top of him and raised her hands to signal she was done fighting.
“Look, I don’t want to fight with you. I’ve never wanted to fight with you, and I’ve never wanted to take what’s yours. There was a time we both shared the same dream, and we can do that again. We can make this ranch the finest in the county without selling out to make a fast buck. But it will only happen if we do it together.”
She watched closely to see if her words were having any affect on him, but his jaw was tight and his expression sullen. In the face of his silence, she issued an ultimatum. “Here’s the deal. You have until the end of the week to get out of the contract with Ray Explorations. I don’t care how you do it as long as we don’t get sued for nonperformance.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Then I’ll intervene and take you to court. You had no right to sign that contract and everyone will know it. You do what I ask and you can stay in charge, help make the ranch great again. You fight me and your days here are numbered.”
Neil picked up the hammer and hefted it in his hand. For a second it looked like he was going to say something, but suddenly he lifted it in the air and slammed it onto the workbench. Peyton flinched at the sound, but she didn’t move. His temper would get him into trouble, but she wasn’t about to give him the benefit of thinking he’d scared her. Even if he did.
She left him stewing in the shed and walked back to the house. Although she’d started a habit of skipping Fernanda’s big breakfasts in favor of getting to the office early, Peyton decided to make an exception today. When she walked into the kitchen, her father was already seated at the table, propped up in his chair with a couple of pillows and a plate of half-eaten pancakes in front of him. Fernanda fussed over the both of them.
“Good morning, Miss Peyton. Mr. Davis just finished his breakfast, but I’ll get you some coffee straight away. Mrs. Davis is with Mr. Zach on the back porch and they’ll be right in. Pancakes sound good to you?”
Peyton’s stomach rumbled. “Pancakes sound heavenly. Especially yours. Thanks, Fernanda.”
“Make sure she gets lots of syrup,” her father said. Fernanda smiled indulgently and assured him she would.
“Thanks, Dad. How are you feeling?” Peyton braced for the answer. His skin was gray, and he was hunched in his chair, and she didn’t expect a positive response.
“I’m doing well. Lots more hay to bale in the lower pasture. And that fence along the northern boundary won’t fix itself. It’s going to be a busy day.”
She couldn’t quite tell if he meant he thought he was going to do the work or if he was asking for her help. She started to reply, but Zach, who’d just entered the room with her mother, shook his head and held a finger over his lips. He placed a hand on her father’s shoulder and leaned down to gently whisper, “Hey, Dad, sounds like you have a big day planned for us. Why don’t we help you out to the porch and you can make a list while I
grab a bite to eat?”
Peyton took the hint and rose to help Zach guide their dad to the porch. It was another unseasonably warm November day, but her father clutched a blanket around his middle as soon as he eased into his rocking chair. He looked small and frail, and all she could think about was protecting him and the rest of her family from the dangers Neil had invited into this, their safe haven. By staying away to keep the peace, she’d missed making memories with the rest of her family. She bent down and kissed him on the cheek. Neil was right about one thing—their father was dying, and she’d be damned if she was going to let his final days be ruined by Neil’s recklessness.
Back in the kitchen, she told Zach and her mother about the ultimatum she’d given to Neil.
While her mother nodded her head in approval, Zach asked, “But, sis, I’m pretty sure all he’s doing is getting a survey done. He won’t do anything else without a family vote.”
“I wish I could believe that, but after talking to him this morning, I think he’s hell-bent on finding oil. The company he hired, Ray Explorations, is owned by Gantry Oil. I can’t share everything with you right now, but in addition to not wanting to violate the land, I have a good reason for not wanting to do business with Cyrus Gantry. I need you to trust me on this. I gave Neil until the end of the week to get out of his deal with Gantry, but if he doesn’t then I plan to go see Roscoe and do whatever’s necessary to take control. Do I have your support?”
Zach glanced at the door as if he thought Neil might come strolling in. Peyton understood he was torn. After all, Neil had been here on the ranch and they’d been working side by side for the past few years. No doubt the bond between her brothers was strong, and she had no desire to come between them, but she would do whatever she had to do to keep her entire family safe and their legacy intact. She reached over and grabbed his hand, but it was her mother who sealed the deal.