by Ivy Jordan
A tall ladder stood in the bed of my truck, and I climbed to the top to reach the sign that welcomed visitors to the ranch. I smiled as I looked at the JJ Ranch sign, the second J obviously added in a different hand. It was added when Jasper decided he was leaving the place to me, and he said he liked the sound of JJ better than JL. I agreed.
I coated the large piece of wood with white paint on both sides and then sat down in my truck to drink some water while it dried. I finished it up with the stencils for the JJ Ranch logo, painted in red, and then the cattle images in black. A black outline around the oval sign, and it was complete. A smile smeared across my face as I took it in.
I had to believe Evelyn could make this work and that she would make sure I kept the place. Losing it now would be a kick in the sac that I couldn’t handle.
Back inside the house, I shot an e-mail to Evelyn, thanking her for all her hard work.
Evelyn,
I won’t lie and say I’m not a nervous wreck about this court date, but having you by my side is keeping me sane. You’re the smartest, most resourceful (not to mention, prettiest) woman I know, and I can’t thank you enough for all the hard work you’ve put into helping me keep this ranch.
I know you said you didn’t want payment for your work, but you can’t let me just pay you in sex, as an attorney of the law; I expect you already know that! So, please don’t send me to prison for prostitution, and send me a bill for what I owe.
James
I hit send and stretched in my chair before reading the other e-mails in my inbox. The first one, from the new buyer I scouted out in Amarillo, stated he would love to take a tour of the ranch, and if it was everything I claimed, he’d place his first order then and there. A loud hoot rolled from deep in my diaphragm as I replied with a quick thank you and to ask him when he would like to tour the place.
A few more e-mails, mainly on pricing, sales, and recalls on feed were opened and scanned quickly as I waited for Evelyn’s response.
Finally, she replied. I opened the e-mail and quickly starting reading, hoping to see an estimated number for my bill.
James,
While I understand that prostitution is illegal, I can hardly see you serving time in prison. You haven’t been paying me in sex, even though if you had been using it as a currency, the orgasms I’ve received would cover your legal costs until the end of time.
I said, I was doing this pro-bono, and that has not changed…but, nice try!
I’m extremely busy, so I can’t talk further about this. Give Gulliver an apple please, and I’ll call you when I can.
Evelyn
I was laughing as I read her reply but still frustrated that she wouldn’t accept payment. I had retirement money in the bank, although meager. It was enough, and once the rumors of me leaving, of a new buyer coming on and wiping out the ranch, the sales from the cattle would go back up again.
Even though I tried to let it go, I couldn’t. I called Axel, bitching about Evelyn’s stubbornness as soon as he answered.
“Whoa,” he scoffed.
“It’s just, well, it’s just not right, her working for free. I have money. I can pay her,” I growled.
Axel started laughing at my pleas, his behavior at the topic striking me odd.
“Okay, listen. She’d kill me if I told you this, but I think it’s the only thing that will calm you down,” Axel straightened his tone.
“What,” I asked.
“Evelyn doesn’t need the money,” he breathed.
“That’s not the point. She’s doing the work, she should get paid,” I argued.
“She will just write it off. She does pro-bono cases all the time; it’s not just for you,” he explained.
“There are people who need her help, and it’s amazing she does that, but I’m not one of the poor saps that can’t pay his way,” I protested.
“Look, she inherited her grandmother’s estate when she passed, and it’s worth millions,” Axel stated.
I stopped myself from interrupting, taking the time to catch my breath from the news I’d just been given. Millions?
“Promise me you won’t let on that I told you. She would be furious if she knew. She doesn’t care about the money, so she works really hard to hide it so others don’t treat her differently,” Axel explained.
“I promise,” I responded.
After hanging up with Axel, I leaned back in my chair and thought about Evelyn with all that money. No one would know she was a millionaire. She was quiet, most times underdressed, and she drove around that little car that was so basic it didn’t even have powered windows.
The last thing I wanted was for Evelyn to think I wanted her for her money, so there was no way I’d ever tell her what Axel told me. I was already struggling with the fear she thought I just wanted her for sex. I wanted her for so much more than sex. I wanted her for life.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Evelyn
The courthouse halls were empty as I took a seat outside the courtroom doors. My briefcase was organized for once, and I was ready to win this battle for James. He deserved the win.
The new clerk was shuffling papers in the small window, a female, older and soured in the face. I laughed at the thought of Jill sending John to Amarillo to seduce this clerk.
James walked through the large double doors wearing a black dress shirt with a blazer and gray slacks. His cowboy boots clomped with each step he took towards me, sending an echo through the open courthouse.
I stood to greet him, a handshake even though I wanted a hug and a kiss. The woman behind the small window glared in our direction as we took our seats on the bench.
“Where is everyone?” James asked.
“No idea. I thought the kids would be waiting at the doors when the court opened,” I rolled my eyes as I spoke.
“So, what happens today?” James asked.
I explained the process to him again, even though I’d gone over it at least a half dozen times before. His hands clenched together as I told him we would sit down with the judge, an informal hearing that would basically determine if we would fight it out in court or not.
“Don’t worry. There’s nothing they can say that would make any sane judge believe they have any rights to the land,” I assured him, checking my watch once again.
It was getting late, and it was strange that not even the kids had arrived.
“I’m going to ask what is taking so long. Maybe the kids were already here when I arrived, already in the chambers with the judge?” I questioned.
The clerk looked up as my heels clanked across the tiles floor. Her eyes were cold and uninterested as I approached her window.
“Can you tell me when to expect the judge to arrive?” I asked politely.
The woman wrinkled her nose as she pushed her thick-rimmed glasses down from her eyes.
“Name?” she asked.
“Evelyn Pierce. I’m representing James Laurie in the Martin Jasper estate case,” I explained.
“There’s nothing on the books,” she sighed as if I were wasting her valuable time.
“I’m afraid that’s a mistake; check again,” I insisted.
“There’s no need to check anything. No cases are being heard until this afternoon, and yours isn’t one of them,” the woman sneered.
I hustled back to the bench where James looked pale as his eyes watched me grab a document from my briefcase. I snapped my heels hard against the tile as I made my way back to the clerk’s window.
“Here,” I slammed the paper onto the counter, pushing it towards the rude clerk.
“What’s this?” she yawned.
“It’s the summons for the court date, and as you can clearly read, it is for this morning, thirty minutes ago,” I growled.
“Well, like I said, there’s nothing on the books here,” the clerk smirked.
“Get the judge on the phone right now. This is unacceptable, and I’ll not sit and watch more corruption take p
lace while entries, documents, and testimonies go missing,” I roared.
The woman pushed her glasses back to her eyes and sighed as she picked up the phone. I watched as she dialed a number, waited while she held it to her ear. Nothing was happening. Why wasn’t something happening?
“This is Mary. I hate to bother you on your morning off, but if you could be so kind to call me back when you receive this? There is an Evelyn Pierce standing here in front of me with a paper that states she has a hearing this morning with you, but there is nothing on the schedule here,” the woman hung up the phone and puckered her lips in a grimace.
“You can wait for him to call me back, but I doubt he will anytime soon,” she snorted.
“I’ll find out what’s going on myself,” I gripped my paper from the counter and swiftly turned away from the clerk.
James’s eyes were wide and his face even paler than before. My heart sank, giving wind to my anger and strengthening my determination to get to the bottom of this.
“Let’s go,” I snapped, grabbing James by the arm as I stormed through the courthouse. Obscenities spewed from my red painted lips in short huffs and under my breath.
In the parking lot, I directed James to my office, and then led the way. He followed me inside as I continued dialing numbers on my phone. I was determined to find someone who could give me some answers.
James took a seat across from my desk as I finally got the district attorney on the phone.
“Sir, I hate to bother you, but I need to find the judge,” I insisted.
I dropped to my chair as I listened to the man on the other end of the phone. My face must’ve displayed my shock, looking at James, his was suddenly filled with fear.
“Okay, thank you,” I hung up and stared across my desk.
“So, the judge was in a car accident and is in the hospital,” I gasped, finally taking a breath.
James’s face twisted as he looked for more answers, more assurances.
“It’s good at least, that the judge didn’t just stand us up, but still bad that the hearing wasn’t scheduled with the clerk,” I sighed.
“And the Jasper kids weren’t there, so they obviously didn’t have it on their schedules either,” James pointed out.
“You’re right. That is strange,” I agreed.
“I’m sorry I took you away from the ranch for nothing, but I’ll get to the bottom of this, that you can count on,” I assured him.
James’s smile was crooked, sexy, and for a moment made me forget how angry I was.
“Head on home, and I’ll call you as soon as I find something out,” I rushed him off before he became a distraction that would make me forget where we were, and possibly get us into serious hot water.
James leaned in, hugging me tightly before leaving. He smelled so good that I sucked in hard through my nostrils in hopes to keep his scent with me the rest of the day, and possibly throughout the night.
With James gone, I called Axel, hoping that someone in his fire department would have responded to the wreck and have some details about the Judge’s condition.
I knew whatever was going on, the Jasper kids were behind it.
For the first time, I was truly worried that they may be able to outsmart me, and somehow get to take James’s ranch away from him forever.
Chapter Twenty-Three
James
I browsed through the latest stockyard news flyer, surprised not to see any mention of my ranch. I couldn’t remember a time before that my ranch wasn’t mentioned, or at least given a small as space. What the fuck is going on here?
It was like I was already gone, that I’d lost the case and condominiums were breaking ground where my cattle grazed. Fuck!
My fist slammed down on the table hard, rattling my coffee cup and spilling the contents onto the court document Evelyn had given me.
As soon as her name crossed my mind, it appeared on the screen of my phone. I took a deep breath to calm myself before answering so she wouldn’t hear the stress in my tone.
“Hey, sexy,” I flirted.
“You won’t fucking believe this,” she broke in.
Hearing her use that hard language turned me on. I loved how powerful she could become when pushed.
“Try me,” I chuckled.
“The car that hit the judge was driven by no other than John Jasper,” she ranted.
“Wow, how the hell does that make any sense?” I questioned.
“I thought maybe, just maybe, they were all headed to the courthouse, but I don’t think so. According to Axel, John was alone when he ran a red light and t-boned the judge,” she spat.
“Why would he be here if it wasn’t for court?” I asked, still extremely confused.
“Exactly,” Evelyn spewed.
“So, you don’t think the sisters were driving separately and headed to the hospital when they either heard or saw the accident?” I asked.
“Axel said there were no signs of the sisters, on the scene, or at the hospital. He has a nurse he used to, well, that he knows, and she said he had no visitors,” Evelyn explained.
“So he hit him on purpose, but why?” I tried to sort out the confusion in my head.
“I think they know you will win, so they are doing whatever they can to sabotage things until they get an upper hand again,” she sighed.
I couldn’t believe they were going to such lengths to cheat me out of what was rightfully mine.
“So, John was charged, but let off easy,” Evelyn growled.
“These kids are really starting to scare me,” I admitted.
“Well, I have a date set for Tuesday, so be ready,” she roared.
“You’re so damn sexy when you’re charged up,” I flirted.
“I’m certainly charged,” she laughed.
“You could come over here and work out your frustrations on me,” I offered with a chuckle.
My cock twitched against the denim of my jeans at the thought of Evelyn’s touch.
“I’ll call you later,” she quickly brushed me off.
Ugh!
I shifted in my seat, adjusting myself as I stood. That little redhead is gonna be the death of me.
The sun soothed my soul as it beat down on my face. Queen was eager to be out, ready to run as she took me to the front entrance of the lane. I sat on her back proudly as I looked up at the newly painted sign.
My throat started to itch as I looked down the length of the land, a red painted fence bringing a new life to the place. I knew Jasper would’ve loved it if he was here to see what the red did to give the ranch a personality.
I cleared my throat and pushed the thought of possibly losing the place out of my mind as I noticed Pedro and Kyle on the south side of the field.
“C’mon girl,” I squeezed my ankles against Queen’s powerful midsection and guided her towards the ranch hands that were hard at work.
“Holy hell, you two have almost got er’ licked,” I hooted as I took in the nearly completed fence.
“We knew it meant a lot to you,” Kyle smiled as he set his paint sprayer down to greet me.
Pedro lit a cigar and leaned against a tree. He looked over my shoulder and then to me with a grin.
“Where you girlfriend?” he asked.
I laughed at his comment, my embarrassment taking control quickly.
“She’s not my girlfriend,” I stammered.
“Uh-huh, well, you want her,” he added with a wild gleam in his eyes.
Kyle laughed at the old man’s boldness.
“I can’t deny that,” I chuckled.
“So, where is she?” Pedro pushed.
“She’s working on saving this ranch,” I smiled.
Pedro nodded, a wild smile still spread across his face as he puffed on his cigar.
“You need to lock that one down,” Kyle teased.
My cheeks started to burn, and my throat began to close. I was instantly taken to that weird place where my stomach rumbled, my heart raced, and my skin
began to sweat.
“I’ll let you two get back at it,” I choked out, guiding Queen back towards the house.
My head was in the clouds as I rode blindly daydreaming of Evelyn. Girlfriend. I liked the sound of that. I wondered if she considered herself to be my girlfriend, or if she would consider it, if I asked.
A thump sounded loudly, almost as if it were from inside my own head. A sharp pain followed, my forehead burning and my hat on the ground. Queen reared back as I pulled on the reins. What the fuck?
I looked back at my hat in the dirt, and then to Pedro and Kyle. They were laughing, still not far enough away that I couldn’t hear them.
As I climbed off Queen to retrieve my hat, Pedro called out “You in love,” and made me wonder if maybe that were true.
“Why did you let me do that?” I reprimanded Queen, pointing to the low tree branch that just made contact with my head.
Queen snorted, her front leg kicking out as if to mimic a hand slapping laughter.
I growled as I climbed back onto her and kicked her a little harder than usual to get her going once again.
After brushing Queen and cleaning her coat, I went inside to think about how I might actually feel about Evelyn. I’d never become so distracted by a woman before.
The more I thought about her, the more concerned I became over the Jasper kids, and what they were capable of doing. I didn’t want Evelyn hurt, not because of me, not because of this ranch. This was my battle, not hers.
I dialed Axel and immediately started rattling about my concerns as he answered.
“Slow down,” he demanded.
I took a breath, stopped for a moment and let him talk.
“Do you really think they would do anything to hurt Evelyn?” Axel asked.
“They just t-boned a judge’s car,” I gasped.
“But,” Axel started to say.
“Look, I don’t know what they are capable of, that’s the problem. They seem to be just doing whatever they can to sabotage the case, and their greed is making them dangerous,” I interrupted.
“I get it. Okay. I’ll watch Evelyn, keep a close eye on her,” Axel promised.