Nate didn’t answer.
Drake rushed on. “I could get Emma a nurse. The best out there. I could get her the best pain medications. Anything. Tell me what you need and I’ll do it.”
Looking out at his land as if studying for a final, Nate worked his jaw. After a moment, he turned to look at Drake, cynicism hard in his eyes. “I don’t need crap from you, Drake. You’ve been gone all this time...” He shook his head just a little, just enough that Drake could sense his illogical ire.
“Not by choice. And certainly not to play around or waste time.” Drake threw his hands up in frustration.
Leave it to Nate to let pride get in the way of taking care of Drake’s sister. Maybe Nate didn’t love Emma as much as he said.
Nate leaned back in his chair, arms folded. “What makes you think I need your money anyway?” He met Drake’s eyes intently. “I have plenty here. I’m providing just fine for my family.”
Drake huffed, rolling his eyes. “Are you serious? You’re selling your family home for Emma’s medical bills. You just said you need the money.”
Nate cocked his head back, chin up. “No, I didn’t. I said things will be easier once we sell this place.” He looked away again.
Drake leaned forward. How did he describe his frustration to Nate who didn’t seem to care one way or the other? “I don’t have any words for this right now.”
“Well, that’s your problem then. I don’t need your money. If I need anything, I’ll ask.” Nate tapped his finger to his lower chin. He considered the outdoors. Then he glanced at Drake. “You know what you can do for me? Since I don’t need your money, you could talk to Emma, make her realize she needs to fight this. Fight. Stay alive. Not give in to this cancer.”
The way he said it told Drake that was exactly what he wanted to talk to Drake about. Emma had already beat Nate to Drake. She’d already staked her claim on his promises. He’d committed to his sister and sometimes... sometimes even that had to take precedence.
Drake ran his hands through his hair. “What makes you think she’ll listen to me?” He wasn’t going to get into a contest of wills with Nate. The man was his host after all and his brother-in-law. No matter how much Drake hated him. Or how infuriating he was. Or how pathetic he seemed with his situation looming before him.
“You know, Stefanie’s not the only one losing the land. Emma’s not the only one dying. You aren’t just losing a sister. And your parents aren’t just losing a daughter.” Nate turned, his cheeks ruddy and tight. His voice came out strangled as he tried to work through it. “I’m losing my wife. She’s dying in front of me.”
His tone dropped into a whisper. “I can’t hold her because she hurts so bad. How do you think that makes me feel? I can’t fix her. She doesn’t listen when I have suggestions or come up with a new plan. She won’t let anybody do anything for her. She won’t even tell me exactly how she’s feeling. She’s honest, but she won’t tell me because she doesn’t want to put me out. She doesn’t want me to worry.” Moisture gathered in his eyes and frowned, his lips pressed as hard as possible together.
Drake stifled the emotions welling inside him. He wouldn’t deal with the inevitable grief, not yet.
Not yet.
He swiped his hand through the air, turning at the last second to slap his thigh. “The hell you say. I’m not gonna try and change my sister’s mind. This is what she believes and how she feels. You weren’t there when we were growing up.” Drake couldn’t ignore everything Nate said.
Of course, Nate was losing his wife. Drake got that. But Drake had made a promise to Emma, and he couldn’t break that, especially with someone like Nate, someone who was losing his mind to the emotional side of the situation. The only way to get through to Emma was to appeal to her logical side. She’d never responded to the emotions of anything.
Too many emotions would’ve drowned her growing up.
“How dare you try to pit me against my sister. I came all this way to get her to move back with me. Everything about her life is horrible, because you’re in it. The only reason I’m not pounding your face in right now, is because you’re still in control of what happens to her at the end.” Drake stood, calmly.
As if he hadn’t just threatened Nate. Drake continued matter-of-factly. “I’m going to go inside now and help Hannah clean up the house. She needs help just like Emma does. Maybe I’ll get a housekeeper for Bella Acres. Heaven knows you’re not doing anything.”
Taking advantage of Nate’s stunned silence, Drake leaned down and whispered, “Stop running around trying to find medical miracles that aren’t there. Emma needs you here with her before she’s gone. For good.” He glanced at Nate and shook his head. “Trust me. You don’t want this to play out the way you’re handling it.”
Emotionless, Nate didn’t flinch or pull back as Drake crowded his space. He didn’t respond to anything Drake said. The cold bastard. Maybe he didn’t care. What kind of a man wouldn’t worry about where his family was going to sleep at night?
Drake was going to buy Bella Acres and kick Nate off the land. Then Drake would get Emma the care she needed, for whatever way she wanted her health go. She could die in her home, and not feel guilty about it costing anyone money.
Drake could do that for her.
Pissing off Nate was what he could do for himself.
Chapter 5
Stefanie
Preferable to sleeping in the house, the barn’s cool flooring helped stave off the stifling evening heat and welcomed in the early morning chill. Covered in barn blankets, Stefanie couldn’t have been more comfortable.
She rolled over in the stall, sticks of straw clinging to her hair. The soft smell of dusty hay and warm animals was more comforting than anything else in the world – short of her mother and father’s scents.
One of their last horses nickered beside her, his breath hot as he lowered his head to nuzzle Stefanie’s shoulder. She giggled and pushed at his cheek playfully.
“Oh, you. Go on. I probably look atrocious.” She sighed. Her pride hadn’t hurt anyone but herself. No one even realized that she slept outside. No one even cared.
She grunted, pushing herself from the hay-strewn cement flooring. “Alright, let’s get this day started.”
Outside, the crisp Montana air woke her up the rest of the way and she breathed deeply, filling her lungs.
Just over the mountain ridge to the east the sun tinged the sky a soft pink and orange. Stefanie rarely stayed in bed past the sun – unless it was winter. Usually during those darker months the call of the bed was stronger with the dark skies and chilly temperatures.
A soft wind stirred the dry grasses and Stefanie couldn’t imagine any other place to live. She couldn’t leave her home. She’d lived there her whole life. Her mom and dad had lived there. She’d grown up with her brother and sister there.
They knew where the best place to find berries in the woods behind the prairie was. Fences and barns had been maintained by all of their hands. Even the cement out back by the pump had their hand prints from almost fifteen years before.
Stefanie’s entire being was tied to that land.
How could Nate just get up and move? He didn’t even care. She ignored the stinging bite of emotion pricking at her eyes. She wouldn’t cry. She wasn’t that way. But she’d growl, if she saw Nate in the immediate future.
In the house, she tiptoed up the steps, skipping the creaky third stair. She tossed her braid behind her, glancing down the still dark hallway. She needed a shower, desperately.
They didn’t have a guest room. Not a conventional one anyway. When Emma had lived with them, she’d had to use Stefanie’s room which had irritated Stefanie so much. But as Stefanie had grown to know and love Emma, she hadn’t resented her encroachment into her world all that much.
Except when it meant that Emma’s brother would be sleeping in Stefanie’s sister’s room, moving her into Stefanie’s last private space on earth. The presumption rankled and had Stefanie
rethinking her and Emma’s relationship, okay, maybe not seriously, but pretty close.
A clanking from the kitchen stopped her mad dash to her room. She turned to look over her should, holding her breath to hear better. The lack of further noise let her expel her breath on a whoosh.
She whirled back and slammed into Drake’s chest.
His bare chest.
On eye level with his collarbones, Stefanie had a clear view of the muscles and lines of his upper body. She breathed shakily, her lower lip trembling. Her gaze darted everywhere but at his face and lower than his stomach. She didn’t want to know if he was naked. Well, secretly she might but she’d die before admitting it to him or anyone else.
She harrumphed at her obsession with all things Drake.
Drake arched his eyebrow in amusement. “Are you grunting at me in the dark?” He smirked, lifting his hand and plucking a stray straw from her loosening braid. “Are you ever clean?”
Stefanie hardened her jaw, crossing her arms tight across her chest. She jerked her gaze to his chest then back to his face. “I can see you spend most of your time at the desk. They don’t have real work where you’re from?” She bit her inner cheek at the blatant lie. There was nothing soft about him.
Shocked, he ran a broad hand over the expanse of his chest. “But, Stef, I’m from here.” He winked at her as she watched his hand travel his skin.
She scrunched her lips. “Of course. How had I forgotten? You’ve been gone so long, it’s like you were never here.”
She hid the draw she had to him. He didn’t need to know that her mouth was coated in cotton. Of course, he’d use it against her. Why wouldn’t he?
He inclined his head, an amused smirk curving his lips. His soft hair curled in spots and stuck out in others, creating the most charming picture of innocence above his body that screamed knowledgeable. “Touché. What are you doing today? Shoveling horse crap?”
She shrugged, grateful for the distraction. “I’m not sure. Maybe I’ll go to town or something. I haven’t decided. Why, are you offering to do the stall mucking?”
She couldn’t tell him she was going to the bank. She couldn’t tell anyone about how serious her plans had become.
Hannah had barely heard anything and she’d laughed Stefanie’s intentions off.
She didn’t need to be the laughingstock for Drake’s amusement, too. She’d see who was laughing when she walked in with the deed to the house. They wouldn’t be laughing then. No, they’d be thinking differently about her. They all would, even Drake.
“I can help. When are you starting?” He didn’t try to cover his naked chest. Instead, he held his gaze on her, watching her like he knew her pulse beat erratically and she was having a hard time processing any oxygen.
“You want to help me muck out the stalls?” Stefanie could only avoid his chest for so long. Finally she gave into the draw of his form, gazing at the smooth skin in front of her. And then lifted her gaze to his.
His knowing grin was pronounced. Of course, he would catch her doing the obvious.
“I’ll help you do whatever you need, Stefanie.” His voice had dropped into a husky whisper, one that caught her breath and shoved it under the carpet.
She bit back her response and replied curly. “What I need to do is take a shower. I don’t need your help with that.” Stefanie opened her door and looked back at him.
He braced his arm on the door jam and looked down her, pushing into her space. Not uncomfortably, just in a way that created more awareness. “Are you sure?”
Stefanie didn’t reply. What did she say to that? She wasn’t sure. All she knew, was she had to get out of there. And quick. There’s only so much Drake-without-a-shirt-on a girl could take.
~~~
The keys dangled from the key hook by the front door.
Nate didn’t like any of them to use the truck unless it was absolutely necessary. That’s the paranoia their parents’ death had caused.
Stefanie had given up a job in town at the gas station to go help out at the ranches. When they had jobs, they made more money than normal work. In between jobs, though, like now, they had to rely on savings or other creative measures.
She snatched the keys from the hook and hoped that the sound didn’t carry up the stairs.
Starting the old rig up, she fought back melancholy tears as every scent, every line of the interior of the truck reminded her of her father.
Her parents had been so full of life, so happy. She never got to really know them before they died. Her life had been too full of school, activities, friends, and chores. She never really had a chance to get to know her parents.
Luckily, Nate hadn’t sold the truck yet. He was thinking about keeping it, saving it, so that he had something to carry them all around in.
But that didn’t help. Stefanie didn’t want to be carried around. She wanted Bella Acres. That was it.
She didn’t have memories of both of her parents in the truck. She had memories of her parents at home.
Like memories of her mom brushing her hair as they were getting ready to go to the store.
When Hannah was born, Stefanie had stood at the window waiting for Dad to bring home her mom and the new baby.
The smell of her mom’s famous waffles wafting through the house or when she baked her famous cinnamon rolls for the town fair. Even Dad had a special dish that he made, ribs on the barbecue.
When the boys had the forge going all of the acreage was covered with the scent of burning charcoal and blanching metal.
Stefanie didn’t want to leave all that behind. Not because Nate couldn’t figure out how to handle finances. Not because they couldn’t seem to get the money together. Not because of anything. Certainly, not because she wouldn’t try.
The engine rumbled a lot quieter than she remembered.
Rolling down the road, her excitement mounted. If she could get to the bank, she could convince the bank owner she was the one they wanted to loan the money to.
If she could buy Bella Acres out from underneath everybody else, anybody who wanted it, she could keep the house. She could save Bella Acres. She could save her home.
Saving her home would be her dream. She could do it. She just had to convince someone to give her the loan for the house.
~~~
Stefanie had never tried to buy a house before.
Obviously.
There wasn’t a bank in Taylor Falls.
Stefanie made the trip into Colby. She had heard about the bank owner, Ronan James. Rumor had it he was a tough man who took business very seriously until he’d married his second wife and she’d softened him.
Stefanie could handle him. She could handle most men.
She cleaned up well, even put on a dress. Part of her had hoped Drake would see her before she left the ranch, but he was nowhere in sight.
He probably went back to bed. Typical.
Parking the truck parallel was more like throwing mud at a wall and hoping it stuck. She got as close to parallel as she could. Wasn’t her fault the tailgate stuck out into the road.
Trees created a barrier between the street and the buildings, dotting the sidewalks in a strange connect the dot pattern on the south side of Main Street. There wasn’t much of a sidewalk on the south side.
Main Street was bustling, people walking to and fro on the busy Saturday morning. People she didn’t know waved and smiled as she walked by. Birds chirped. She could’ve sworn the sun and clouds winked at her from the sparkling blue sky.
A blast of air conditioning hit her in the face as she pushed through the double-sided glass doors of the bank.
“Elegant” was the only word she could think of to describe the interior of the bank. This Ronan James knew how to keep the joint classy.
Plush couches lined the walls and the waiting area was more like a living room than a place someone waited for an appointment. She trailed her fingers over the wooden railing separating the wainscoting below the gold and cream co
lored wallpaper above.
A teller approached her from the register, her hair tight in a chignon and her smile pleasant. “Can I help you?”
“I’m here to see Ronan James.” Stefanie tried not to wring her hands. She didn’t have any other nervous tics. What else could she do? She probably wasn’t supposed to ask to see the actual owner of the whole bank, but that was the only name she knew and if she was going to go for it, she’d better just do it big.
The teller nodded and motioned for her to wait in the expensive lobby area.
After Stefanie claimed a seat, the woman disappeared down a hallway and re-emerged alone a moment later. “Mr. James will be along in a moment.” She nodded politely at Stefanie and repositioned herself at the receptionist desk set off to the side.
Stefanie’s mouth had gone dry, too dry to thank her and too dry for her to concentrate on the time. She sat rigidly on the edge of the couch cushion with her hands clenched over her knees pressed together. She stared at a blue and gold fleur-de-lis pattern in the rug at her feet.
The arrival of shiny black cowboy boots in her peripheral vision snagged her from her nervous thoughts and she glanced up to meet the blue eyes of a tall blond man.
“I’m Ronan James. Natasha said you would like to see me?” He held out his hand and Stefanie rose from the couch to accept it. His hands had the calluses of a rancher when he shook her hand.
The blue of Ronan’s eyes reminded Stefanie of her brother’s and a small of twitch guilt ate at the back of her chest.
Of course, she hadn’t checked with Nate.
She didn’t know what she was doing. But if she asked Nate for help or advice, there was no question he would say no.
The whole reason he was giving up on Bella Acres was to save Emma.
He probably would think Stefanie would shackle them all with more debt, more problems and less resources to help Emma. But that wasn’t true. Stefanie could do it. She knew it. “Hi, Mr. James. I’m Stefanie Rourke. I’m really excited to meet with you. Thanks for seeing me on such short notice.”
The blond man nodded and smiled. “It’s nice to meet you, Stefanie. I knew your parents. Very nice people. I’m sorry for your loss.” He nodded to the teller and then looked back at Stefanie. “Why don’t you come with me to my office? We can discuss things in there.”
Hidden Trails Page 4