“Yes?”
“Yes.”
“Yes, what?”
“I agree to sell you the ranch and then, when I turn thirty-five, to buy it back from you. Under one condition. You put the ranch in a trust with my kids as heirs and make me a living tenant.”
He was grinning. Looking at the horizon in a whole new light.
Longfellow Ranch was finally, legitimately, within the reach of his children.
Natasha talked some more. About paperwork, official hoops to jump through. He listened. Was completely amenable.
He surveyed the land with new eyes. Legitimately belonging to Tabitha and Justin. Paid for. By blood. Sweat. And hard work.
And when Natasha ended their conversation, he threw his phone into the air, dropped to his knees, kissed the ground.
And wept.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
SHE’D MADE A sound business decision. Found a way to give Spencer what he needed, a way to keep him bound to the show. She still hadn’t dealt with his vulnerability to Claire due to being a single father.
Nor would he have the Family Secrets money he’d been counting on to fight Claire, if need be.
She’d saved his ranch, yet by ending their engagement, she’d be cutting him off at the knees.
But she couldn’t marry him. Her inner self continued to make that quite clear. The idea of the marriage made her sick every time she thought about it. It wasn’t right for her.
As soon as she finished with Sharon, she drove straight to her public-relations firm. Jenny Teague, who had been with her since the beginning of Family Secrets, had told Natasha she’d be waiting for her no matter what time she arrived.
She told Jenny everything. It was the only way Jenny could do her job. From the planned engagement, the on-air wedding. Jenny already knew about the initial business arrangement Natasha had made with Spencer, had been part of the team that had designed the ads they’d used to promote the Longfellow Ranch Family Secrets segment. She filled her in on the second phase. And then the most recent developments. Her plan to call off the engagement, Spencer’s trouble, and the plan to continue to have him on her show, and Longfellow Beef as a sponsor, for the next four years. She told him she would be purchasing the ranch and putting it in trust for Tabitha and Justin. And that she’d agreed to sell it to Spencer on his thirty-fifth birthday.
She left out nothing. Because if there was anything out there anyone else could discover, Jenny needed to know it first.
“I’m sorry” was the first thing Jenny said. She wore her navy pants and jacket like she was made in them.
Normally one to inhabit that same poise, Natasha felt uncomfortable in her power purple blouse and black suit. She was wrinkled. Her shoes still had farm dust on them...
“Sorry for what? None of this was your doing.”
Gesturing with one hand, Jenny leaned toward her. “For the broken engagement.”
They were sitting in a conference room, sharing a corner at the end of the table. “Oh, no,” Natasha quickly assured her. “It was purely a business decision on both our parts. I just have to figure out how not to leave him in the lurch where his ex-mother-in-law and his kids are concerned,” she said. “But that’s not pertinent here. I need to know what pitfalls might be ahead as all of this legal stuff gets taken care of. I want to make certain that Family Secrets isn’t impacted in any way. At least, not in a negative way.”
She should have tried to eat more of her take-out lunch on her drive from the ranch. She was lacking in energy.
As always, Jenny had taken notes as Natasha had talked. She’d made columns, drawn arrows.
On the bottom corner of the page, she’d made a list. She took a few minutes to look over the legal pad and then pinned Natasha with a glance that told her she wouldn’t like what she was going to hear.
But that she’d be hearing the truth.
“The only way to ensure that Family Secrets is not negatively impacted is for you to drop all association with Longfellow Ranch,” she said. “And most particularly with Spencer Longfellow.”
“But...”
“I know, you just agreed to buy his ranch, but since you just left Sharon’s office, nothing has been made official,” she said.
“I...”
“The initial segment is done,” Jenny said. “The original plan was to have him be no more than a memory in your past, as far as the show was concerned. You can still do that. If, at some point, you want to stage an engagement and wedding, I think that would be great. It would really work, given the family emphasis of your show. But you should pick another actor to play the part.”
“I...”
“This whole buying his ranch and then sponsoring his ranch’s Wagyu beef...it could look like nepotism. Or at the very least, like the cover-up it is. You know his reputation stands to be hurt, and most likely impact his ability to show a profit this next year. Most particularly since he doesn’t have a solid hay crop to fall back on. You know the guidelines of the trust. By buying his ranch, you make yourself implicit in the fraudulent face he’s been showing the world. There’s nothing illegal here, but it will definitely impact your reputation and the clean family branding you’ve worked so hard to develop for your show.”
Jenny was making her sound like she didn’t have a business brain in her head. “The original plan was that we’d be married, so a marriage of the two businesses would be a natural next step...”
“I understand. But now you aren’t going to be married. Now it looks like favoritism for your cohost, or worse, it could look like you’re swooping in and cashing in on someone else’s misfortune.”
Her head hurt. She really should have eaten.
“That’s the smallest part of it, anyway,” Jenny continued. “You’ve got a guy who not only faces possible difficulties with his highly respected, rich mother-in-law but also has admitted to pretending to be someone he is not. Pretended to be the son of a respected rancher, when he is the son of a thief. Who pretended to own a ranch when he is, at this point, only a living tenant.”
“He hasn’t committed a crime.”
“You and I both know that what matters here is public perception and reputation. The whole reason you pay me is to protect that for you. There is enough here to make Spencer look like a creep.”
Spencer was most definitely not a creep. Natasha knew that Jenny was only playing devil’s advocate.
Which was, as the woman had just said, what she paid her for.
Still... “He’s not a creep, Jenny. In fact, he’s the greatest guy I’ve ever met. Can’t we do something to show the world the man he is, so that if the rest of it gets out, people sympathize with him?”
“We could. But you risk the negative impact on Family Secrets. This is a tough one. A rich guy who knowingly defrauded you when you signed him on to your show as Spencer Longfellow, son and heir to Gerald Longfellow, generational ranch owner—and all to get where he is now, with a lucrative beef deal... There’s really no way to spin that one.”
Natasha wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
The knowledge came to her with such clarity, she didn’t question it. She didn’t really have time to. Jenny was awaiting her direction.
The woman worked for her. She’d do as Natasha asked her to do.
“So what if we lead with it?” Susan had always said to confront, not hide. And her mother had been right about pretty much everything else she’d ever taught Natasha. “What if we tell the story of the boy he was. Of the way two men worked together to beat an addiction. About the man Spencer grew to be because of it.”
“You sound really fond of him.”
“We’re friends.”
Jenny studied her. And then shook her head.
“What?”
“We’ve been working together
, what, five years?”
“A little more than that, but yes. Why?”
“In all that time, you have never, not once, ever, continued to pursue a single idea after I’ve told you that it could have a negative impact on the show. And this one...it’s got more potential to blow up in your face than anything ever has, yet here you are, pushing it at me.”
She was.
And just like that, when faced with the facts, looking for a solution, she knew what she’d been blocking. Knew why she’d been so out of sync since the cowboy had come into her life. Knew why she couldn’t marry Spencer.
She was in love with him.
A man whose lifestyle, whose needs, were diametrically opposed to hers.
A man who was incapable of loving her back.
She couldn’t marry him knowing that. To her, marriage was a pact of the heart. Made by two people who were in love.
Once again, her mother had been right.
* * *
NATASHA DIDN’T CALL after her meeting with Jenny Teague. Spencer didn’t fool himself—he knew that wasn’t good.
No PR firm was going to advise that Natasha attach her show to a man who’d knowingly misrepresented himself.
Bring in a wealthy, powerful family fighting him for his kids, and he was a crapshoot at best. A nightmare in reality.
Life was a crapshoot.
Truth was, you never knew what was going to happen. Or what you’d do about it when it did.
But you could guess.
And he guessed it was possible that Natasha would renege on every deal she’d made with him.
Family Secrets was everything to her.
He understood that.
Longfellow Ranch was everything to him.
Now she knew why.
He supposed that if she did leave him high and dry, he could sue her for breach of contract for the four-year deal.
But he wasn’t sure what he stood to gain by doing so.
He supposed he could take his kids and move to... Alaska.
He hated being bandied about. Being at the mercy of others.
He’d been that way his entire childhood.
He’d promised himself it would never happen again.
And there he was. Waiting to hear where his life would blow next.
When he didn’t hear from her Thursday morning, he put the kids on the bus, notified Betsy that he was going to be off the ranch, asked her to meet their bus if he wasn’t back and set his truck on course for Palm Desert.
He knew individual cacti along the way. Mountain shapes, peaks and valleys. There really were a few things in life that didn’t change. At least not rapidly enough for a man to notice in one lifetime.
When he was almost in the city, he called Natasha’s studio line. In the beginning, it had been the only number he had for her.
She picked up after the second ring.
Agreed to meet with him.
After that brief conversation, he could tell nothing about her state of mind—or her intentions.
Parking the truck where she’d instructed him to, he went to the far west door on the south side of the building, punched in the code she’d given him, took two turns down long hallways filled with closed doors and busy offices and came to an impressive-looking glass wall with her name on it.
Pushing through the door, he walked past what had to be Angela’s office out front, through to Natasha’s kingdom.
In black dress pants and a white button-down fitted silk top, she stood as he came in.
The lavish office, with its thick carpet, expensive couches and counter bar, looked good on her.
Her unsmiling expression did not.
In fact, if he hadn’t known better, he’d have thought she looked...nervous.
“Have a seat,” she said, indicating the chair in front of a mahogany desk that matched the size of Gerald’s back home. His now.
He sat. Noting that he’d been ushered to an all-business seat, not a more personal one, like the couch.
Again, he didn’t blame her.
Just noticed.
“What’s up?” Hands crossed on the desktop, she faced him.
“You didn’t call. After the meeting with Jenny.”
She nodded. “I know.”
“I figured we had some things to discuss.”
“So you just left the kids, the ranch, drove all this way to...have a talk?”
“You drove out to the ranch yesterday morning for the same reason.” He thought for a moment. “And the kids are in school. Betsy’s on call and will meet the school bus if I’m not back in time.”
She nodded. “Good.”
Her approval pleased him.
Or maybe it was that she’d thought about the kids...
Maybe it was that he was at her mercy and...
“I want to end our engagement,” he said. “Or rather, to change our minds about having one.”
The relief that flashed immediately across her face was unmistakable. As professional as Natasha was, and a consummate actress to boot, she didn’t give much away, unless you caught her in the first seconds of her reaction when she heard something that got to her.
When he’d figured that out, he didn’t know.
But he’d used it to his advantage. He’d been right in his assessment of their situation. She was going to renege on him.
Again, he didn’t blame her.
But he just couldn’t let himself be rejected again. From now on he was going to drive his life rather than hide from it.
No more lying.
“Why?” she asked.
He hadn’t anticipated the question. Not following her obvious relief. He’d predicted her acquiescence, a professional parting of ways, something along those lines.
To be followed by his own trip to his lawyer to find out where he stood with the rest of his life.
“What?” he asked her. When you didn’t have an answer, you answered with a question.
“I asked why you don’t want to marry me.”
“Because...” Another brilliant response.
“I’m afraid that ending our engagement is not possible.” Not even a supposition, that response.
“Why not?”
“Because I’ve got too much invested...too much at stake...and I’d have to...sue you for breach of contract.”
What?
The look on her face was odd. As though she wasn’t any more sure of herself than he was of himself. But then, they were both kind of in uncharted territory.
And he still had Claire to deal with. He had no ideas there. And only until Christmas vacation to figure out something solid. He already had Thanksgiving covered, thanks to Natasha. If he and the kids weren’t staying at his place, he could always use some of the money she’d paid him as cohost to rent a hotel room.
Not knowing where his future lay, if he lost the ranch due to non-profit, he had to use his money sparingly.
“I met with Jenny, and I believe we’ve come up with a plan that will minimize damages the most for all concerned.”
Minimize damages?
He sat there, stunned, as she told him about the negative impact risk he’d become, confirmed by her public-relations team after a full meeting the night before. And when Natasha had refused to back down, to concede that bringing him on or having any more to do with him was the wrong choice, they’d come up with a plan that they thought would give them the best chance to counteract any negative effect.
“The best part is, it takes care of your situation with Claire, too. At least for the next couple of years.”
He was still waiting to hear the plan.
“They propose that we get engaged as planned. That we move forward with o
ur merging of Family Secrets and Longfellow Beef in terms of sponsorship, that we continue with the four-year location filming plan on Longfellow Ranch. With my purchase of the ranch. With all of it, actually, except the actual wedding.”
He wasn’t going to get ahead of himself here. Wasn’t going to let even a hint of hope in. Sure as hell wasn’t going to relax.
But he’d listen...
Except that she wasn’t saying anything now. She was looking at him as though she needed something from him.
He had absolutely no idea what that would be.
“Long engagements are common in today’s world,” she finally said, her expression changing to the professional one he was most used to. “They also allow an unwritten escape clause. If, at any time, my association with you were to become too dangerous, in terms of the integrity of Family Secrets, I could always break it off and gain public sympathy for what I’ve been through. And you and the ranch would still be protected through the trust I will have set up naming Justin and Tabitha as heirs.
“I would still continue with our proposed living arrangements. I would be as much a part of the kids’ lives as we discussed, for as long as they want me in their lives, regardless of what eventually happened between us. It is believed by my attorney and PR firm that an engagement, especially one as public as ours would be, would be enough to deter Claire from gaining any support in any attempt she might have wanted to make to take the children to Washington, DC. Without Claire looking into your past, there is no reason to expect your past to reappear.”
Her lip seemed to have developed a little bit of a twitch. Would occasional kisses still be part of the agreement? The inane thought popped into his mind. And didn’t leave as he willed it to.
“The engagement would also be enough to put a stop to an appearance of nepotism in terms of merging our business interests. That is to be expected among fiancés.”
It was clear her people had worked with her long into the night.
When had she been planning to let him in on the proposal?
“I’m to assume that at some point, in, say, a couple of years, or maybe four, when our contract expires, when I’ve repurchased the ranch, one or the other of us will break the engagement?”
The Cowboy's Twins Page 21