Reuniting With the Rancher

by Rachel Lee

  She stood up. “When did you become so cruel? I have nowhere to go!”

  He felt a twinge of conscience, but tried to quash it. If this woman weren’t poison, he’d give her the two weeks. But he’d learned his lesson the hard way.

  Without a word, he got up and went back to the kitchen. Jean was sitting at the table at a time of day when she would ordinarily have been working on something for the midday’s big meal for him and his hands. He dumped the cereal, rinsed the bowl and sat facing Jean.

  “She says she has nowhere to go.”

  Jean scowled.

  “For two weeks.”

  Jean’s frown deepened. “Do you really believe her?”

  “Damned if I know. The thing is...”

  “The thing is, you’ve always been too generous for your own good.” Since Jean had helped raise him, he was used to her having her say. “You don’t want her here. I don’t want her here. She’s a troublemaker.”

  “But if she’s not lying...”

  Jean sighed. “If she’s not lying, then whose fault is it she has no one to turn to but you?”

  Hard to argue with that. But despite his anger that she was here, he couldn’t exactly kick her to the curb. “Can you handle it for a few days?”

  Jean rolled her eyes. “I knew it. I knew it the minute she marched into this house right past me with a suitcase. As if she owns the place even now.”

  “I know what she’s like. I’m asking you.”

  “I put up with her for two years for your sake. I suppose I can manage a few days. But I warn you, I’m not going to bite my tongue this time. Not like I did before.”

  “It’s better for you if you don’t. I’m going to figure out a way to get her out of here as quickly as possible.”

  Jean just shook her head. “When did you ever get that woman to do what you wanted?”

  Good question, he thought as he marched back into the living room. Lisa had given up on the sultry pose, exchanging it for one that looked like avenging fury. As if she had a right. But Lisa had never needed anyone else to grant her a right. She took them all as she chose.

  “You can stay here a couple of days until you find something else. That’s it. And be forewarned, I don’t want Jean or anyone else upset. Period.”

  He watched Lisa struggle to find a grateful smile. She almost made it. “Thank you.”

  He grabbed a couple of bananas and headed out to work. All of a sudden it seemed the world was determined to turn upside down.

  Oh, to hell with it. They could endure anything for a couple of days, even Lisa.

  Chapter Four

  Holly had spent the day puttering around, getting used to the silent house, deciding which things she should keep and which should go. Martha’s clothes needed to be donated, but beyond that she found decisions remarkably hard. She did find a small stack of bills in Martha’s desk, unopened, so she pulled out her new checkbook and paid them. She supposed she needed to have the utilities and so on put in her name. She wondered if she would need Cliff for that.

  She didn’t especially feel like seeing him again, even if her thoughts kept wandering his way. She wished she could just understand why she felt so attracted to him. That should have faded, shouldn’t it?

  Apparently not.

  On and off, though, she remembered his remark about bringing some of her kids out here. During the late afternoon, she went outside to water the tree and walked around, thinking of what she might be able to do on the land that hadn’t been fenced. There was a surprising amount of space. Martha’s big vegetable garden, now mostly a memory under a layer of grass and weeds, was still there. There was room to build some kind of bunkhouse, maybe two, where the kids could stay, either with their families or with counselors, depending. There was even enough room to make a pen for a few goats or sheep for them to work with.

  She stood there for a long time, envisioning, still wondering if it would be good or bad to take these kids into a whole different world for a few weeks or months. She ought to call her friend who was a child psychologist and ask. Opening up possibilities seemed like a good idea overall. Sending them back home to a misery that might feel even worse once they knew it didn’t have to be that way, not so good.

  “Hello.”

  Startled by the voice, she pivoted to see a striking woman astride a horse at the fence line. She wondered if she had been so deeply lost in thought that she hadn’t heard her approach or if the wind had whisked the sounds away.

  Either way, it astonished her. Could she have relaxed so much here already that her situational awareness had dulled? She didn’t like the way her stomach sank at the possibility that this was Cliff’s current girlfriend. He hadn’t mentioned one, but that didn’t mean a damn thing.

  “Hi,” she said, managing a smile, trying to tell herself she didn’t care. Her visitor was quite a beautiful woman, with inky hair and dark eyes. Exotic, even in jeans and a plaid shirt with rolled-up sleeves.

  “I was looking for Martha,” the woman said.

  “I’m sorry, she passed away. I’m her niece, Holly. Did you know Martha well?”

  “I used to. I’ve been away. I’m Lisa. Cliff’s ex-wife.”

  Talk about a bombshell. Holly didn’t quite know how to answer that. In fact she didn’t know if she wanted to say anything at all. Even less when she suddenly realized that this woman had totally skipped the usual and conventional first response of “I’m sorry about Martha.” She remained silent, waiting. Maybe she was being rude, but something about this woman raised her hackles. She hoped it wasn’t jealousy, because she certainly had no reason to be jealous. The part she didn’t want to think about was the way her stomach had sunk. She ignored it as best she could. She had no hopes here, no reason to feel kicked by this news.

  “So do you own the place now?” Lisa asked.

  “Yes.” Every instinct warned Holly that this conversation wasn’t headed somewhere casual. It had a direction.

  Lisa smiled broadly. “I was coming to ask for Martha’s help, but maybe you’ll help me out instead.”

  Bingo, thought Holly. “How’s that?”

  “I need a place to stay for a few weeks. Cliff won’t let me stay for more than a couple of days.”

  Good heavens. The chutzpah! Asking her ex to take her in, and then when he was reluctant she asked a total stranger? Without even a brief expression of sympathy for Martha’s passing?

  Holly felt as if she were looking at an alien. However, she wasn’t prepared to be rude just yet. Maybe this woman was in need? If so, she had to help. That was a deeply ingrained part of her nature. “Are you talking about renting a room?” That would be impossible, given that Holly had to go back to Chicago. She didn’t know that she wanted to turn this house over to a total stranger, certainly not when it was full of Martha’s belongings.

  Lisa looked woeful. “I wish I could. I’m between jobs and it’s just awful that Cliff won’t let me stay. I can’t afford to rent a place. Am I supposed to live in my car?”

  “A lot of people do,” Holly couldn’t help saying, and while those people didn’t like it, almost none of them whined about it. They felt fortunate to have shelter better than a cardboard box. “I work with some of them.”

  “Then you know how awful it would be!”

  Holly couldn’t deny that. Especially for a woman alone. And, in spite of herself, she was getting interested. Regardless, she could either do the decent thing or feel guilty. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d taken in a stranger, although when she did it in Chicago, it was usually a woman in much worse straits than this.

  “I can offer you a room,” she said finally. “But not for long. I’ll be closing the place up in ten days because I have to get home.”

  “That would still be a great help! I’ll get my things
.”

  Holly watched her ride away, wondering what she had gotten herself into. But ten days? It was a short time and the company might be welcome. At least she wouldn’t leave the woman to live in her car.

  And at least she wouldn’t be alone in the echoing silence.

  * * *

  “You did what?” Cliff demanded as he watched Lisa load her car. They stood outside in the driveway, near her red sports car as she put suitcases in her trunk. He didn’t offer to help her.

  “You didn’t want me, but the woman who owns Martha’s place now said I could stay with her until she has to go home.” Lisa sniffed. “She’s kinder to a stranger than you are to your ex-wife.”

  “There’s a reason you’re the ex.” He swore.

  “Well, you got what you wanted,” Lisa said with a toss of her head. “I’ll be out of your way, and your precious Jean won’t be bothered.”

  He watched Lisa drive away, then hurried into the house to grab a phone. Holly answered on the second ring.

  “You offered my ex a place to stay?”

  “Well, why not? It’s only a few days. Maybe I need the company.”

  “Not this company.”

  “Cliff, I understand she’s your ex, but we’re strangers. We don’t have any problems between us.”

  “You will,” he said grimly. “Jean nearly left me because of her. I had three hired hands quit because of her.”

  “Oh, she can’t be that bad.”

  “Wanna bet? She’s a princess in her own mind. I hope you’re ready to take on cooking, cleaning and laundry for her.”

  “I just won’t do it.”

  “Right. I’m coming over.”

  “You don’t need to.”

  “Look, she’s on her way. I’m coming over and you and I are going to have a talk about Lisa.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I need to defend myself and maybe you.” He hung up. Hell and damnation!

  * * *

  This was getting truly bizarre, Holly thought as she hung up the phone. If Lisa was homeless, even temporarily, then it was only right to help her out. Her conscience wouldn’t allow otherwise. She could understand why Cliff wouldn’t want his ex to stay with him. Regardless of what the woman was like, there was probably a lot of tension there. But what had he meant about his hired hands and Jean?

  She guessed she was going to find out, just as she was going to find out why he needed to defend himself and possibly her.

  Sheesh, she thought with amusement. He was making Lisa sound like the plague. Surely she couldn’t be that bad. Insensitive, yes, that was already apparent, but short of thievery or murder, how bad could she be?

  She went back inside to check Martha’s room to make sure it was ready. Fresh sheets already graced the bed, but after a moment’s hesitation she took Martha’s jewelry box to her own room. Not that Martha had had any expensive jewelry, but Holly had liked some of it since childhood, like an enameled pin of a black cat with a rhinestone eye and gold collar. She didn’t want to lose any of it until she’d had a chance to go through it.

  Then she grabbed some bags and began to fill them with Martha’s clothes. Sorting could wait, but for now she needed to make space for her guest. If guest she was.

  She had just finished emptying the drawers and closet and dragging the bags to the top of the stairs when she heard a car pull in. That must be Lisa. Once more she wondered what she had gotten into, but decided yet again that it ought to be interesting, whatever it was. The distraction would be a good thing. Rattling around in this house, expecting Martha to come around a corner or out of a door, was just making her sadder. She needed to grieve, yes, but nothing said she had to do it in solitude and without interruption.

  Besides, she was beginning to discover that time was hanging heavy on her hands. Deciding what to do about the house and its contents seemed almost beyond her right now, and she wasn’t used to being alone all the time. She was used to having a job. Having friends. Needing solitude only after a truly trying day. Being alone too much was also allowing her mind to wander all kinds of paths, too many of which seemed to lead her right back to Cliff. Cliff, who should have just remained firmly in the past, but now was very much in the present.

  Along with his ex-wife. She almost laughed at the total absurdity of all this.

  She dragged the bags down the stairs, but before she reached bottom Lisa had opened the front door and walked in. No knock, no ring, no polite request to enter. Just Lisa and a suitcase.

  Holly began to get an inkling of what this was going to be like. Maybe Cliff hadn’t been exaggerating.

  Nor did Lisa offer to help her with the bags of clothing. She just stepped to the side, set her suitcase down and said, “When you get done with that you can help me with my other things.”

  In a flash, Holly’s dander rose. “I am not your maid. Get your own things. Top of the stairs, room on the right.”

  “That wasn’t very courteous.”

  “Neither were you.”

  Wasting not another glance on the woman, Holly placed the bags by the back door. Just as she was considering what the heck she was going to do about dinner when all she had was one small chicken breast and some leftover salad, she heard another vehicle pull up. Cliff?

  Leaving dinner for later consideration, she hurried to the front. It was indeed Cliff and he was standing with Lisa beside her car, looking very stubborn.

  She opened the door and stepped out in time to hear him say, “You never asked anyone if you could come here, you just showed up. Now you’re imposing on my friend, who is in the process of grieving and trying to sort out her aunt’s affairs, and the only thing that concerns you is whether I’ll carry your suitcases?”

  “It seems like the polite thing to do.”

  “When you learn some politeness, we’ll talk about mine.”

  He turned from Lisa and saw Holly. “Let’s take a walk, Holly.”

  “Now that really is rude,” Lisa snapped. Then she, too, turned toward Holly. “Don’t believe a word he says about me. Exes never have anything nice to say.”

  Holly kept silent while she and Cliff walked toward the fence, far enough from Lisa that they wouldn’t be heard if they kept their voices low. Then she said, “I guess I really stepped into the middle of it.”

  “It’s not your fault. She put you in the middle. I just wish I knew what her game is.”

  “Why does there have to be a game? Maybe she really does just need a place to stay for two weeks.”

  He leaned against a fence post and faced her. “Maybe. Not likely. Regardless, I know I look like a total boor refusing to carry her bags for her, but I am absolutely not going to help her move in on you. Maybe she’ll get mad enough to find another place. I’m certainly going to try to find her one.”

  Holly hesitated. “Was she always this demanding?”

  “It got worse with time.”

  “And Jean was really prepared to leave?”

  “When the woman who helped raise you says, ‘It’s her or me,’ you listen. Which is not to say I divorced Lisa just over that. I’d been building up a head of steam in that direction for quite awhile.” He paused, then gave a shake of his head. “I got so I couldn’t stand her anymore. She was driving me and everyone else nuts in her own special way, but I’d taken a vow. Funny, but I take vows seriously. Even when keeping them is driving everyone away and nearly ruining my business.”

  “Wow! What in the world was she doing?”

  “Like I said, driving people away. Spending as if money grew on trees.” He shook his head again. “I finally got sick of getting to the bills, only to find that I needed my credit extended because there was nothing left. Or getting overdraft notices. So I gave her her own checking account and told her that was all she got for the mo
nth.”

  “How long did that work?”

  “For about two weeks. Then the bank would be calling. Then she’d be whining or screaming. Honestly, Holly, if I’d had any inkling I’d never have married her.”

  Holly frowned, looking down at the ground and kicking at a tuft of wild grass. “Some of that is straight up abusive behavior. I’ve watched men cut their girlfriends and wives off from everyone until they hadn’t a friend or family member left to turn to. I’ve seen men, and women, who’d spend all the money as soon as a spouse’s paycheck arrived and leave nothing for food, nothing for the kids. It’s common enough, sad to say.”

  “I guess. My friends started dropping away because Lisa was always there, then three of my hands quit because she treated them like her personal servants and was always asking them to do things they hadn’t been hired to do, and Jean began to feel like a maid....” He sighed. “I’ve never seen anything like it. But I guess you have.”

  “Some of it anyway. It’s never a happy situation.”

  “So anyway, my reputation began to suffer, my business began to suffer and by the time I figured out just how bad it was all really getting, Jean threatened to leave. So I made my choice.”

  Holly wanted to reach out and touch his arm in a gesture of sympathy, but resisted. Lisa might be watching, and there was no telling what that might precipitate.

  “Well,” she said after a moment, “I did offer her a room. I don’t want anyone to sleep in a car if I can avoid it. Since I’m not in love with her, dealing with her ought to be easier for me. I’ve met the type, if not the exact version.”

  “You’re kindhearted,” he said. “You took her in so she wouldn’t have to sleep in a car?”

  “Anyone would.”

  “A stranger? But apart from that, don’t be so kindhearted that she takes advantage of you. And don’t let her know Martha left you any money, or she’ll find a way to wheedle something out of you.”

  Holly laughed. She couldn’t help it. “News flash, Cliff. I’ve dealt with manipulative people before. The hardest part of being a social worker in the early days, aside from the horrors you see, is realizing that some of those cute, sweet kids you want to help are master manipulators. It’s survival and they learn it early.” She paused. “I take it Lisa didn’t grow up here?”