Bliss came out of the kitchen. “What’s all the ruckus? You find a spider in your bed?”
Della pointedly ignored her.
“Someone else wants Hard Tack?” Mitch felt his heart beating in his throat. “Who?”
“What?!” Bliss looked to Mitch. “What’s she yammering about?”
“I don’t know who yet,” Della said with a glower, “but don’t worry, I will.”
Relief washed over him but he steeled himself not to show it. Word would get out soon enough that it was him, but he wouldn’t mind being out of range when Della caught wind of it.
“I’ve got my agent on it,” Della continued. “This isn’t over yet.”
“Let it go, Della.” He rubbed his chest. He was so tired of arguing. “It wasn’t worth what you were offering, let alone market value. Someone must really want it. Why don’t we take another look at that ski resort you were considering?”
Della’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t like this, Mitch. Nobody gets the better of me.” She turned to Bliss. “Something smells good. Is that lunch?”
“More of a snack,” Bliss said, leading Della away from Mitch. “I made them especially for you. I call them prairie oysters.”
“I need to talk to you.”
Mitch looked up from his cell phone. Paris stood in the doorway, toeing the ground with her dusty boot. “Yeah? What’s up?”
Her long blond hair was braided, as Sabrina often did hers, and as far as he could tell, there wasn’t a speck of makeup on her face. She wore jeans torn at the knees and a plain white T-shirt, but for all the simplicity, Paris stood straighter than he’d ever seen.
“I know what you did.”
Mitch went back to finishing his text message. “Oh yeah? What’s that, then?”
She walked up to him, took the phone out of his hand, and hit the off button.
“Hey!” he protested. “I was in the middle of something!”
“You’re the one who stole Hard Tack out from under Della.”
He shrugged. It would all come out sooner or later, though he was hoping for later.
“She’s furious.”
Mitch rolled his eyes. “What else is new?”
“She’s gone.”
“What?”
“Yeah, apparently Bliss fed her horse testicles and that was it. She tried to make me come but I said no.”
Her lips were wobbling and suddenly Mitch remembered the other glitch in his plan.
She punched him in the arm. It felt like being hit with one of Lulu’s toys. “You moron! She wasn’t buying Hard Tack so you could build your stupid resort. She was buying it for me! So I could run it! My own ranch, in a place where I feel like I could actually make some friends, have a life. She was trying to do something for me that was almost…motherly.”
Paris choked on the word and looked away.
“Paris,” he began, “you don’t want to live at Hard Tack.”
“Don’t tell me what I want,” she yelled. “It’s my life. From now on, I make my own choices.”
“How does Della buying you a run-down ranch fit in with that?”
“I was going to pay her back.” Paris slumped, her anger gone as quickly as it had arrived. “This is the first time since Texas that I haven’t been wishing I was somewhere else! I thought I was finally going to be able to get a life of my own, instead of being dragged around from one event to another, while Della tries to find a round hole for her square-peg of a stepdaughter. It was the first heavy-handed, over-the-top, way-too-much gesture she’s done that might have worked. And you ruined it!”
She whirled around and clutched her elbows in her palms, breathing hard. But she didn’t leave.
“Paris, I—” And just like that the perfect solution came to mind. “I have an idea.”
“What?” she glowered.
“I haven’t thought everything through yet,” he began, “but I might just have a way to make both of us happy.”
She listened while he explained the broad strokes of his plan. He already had thoughts about the renovations Hard Tack needed. Gus and Hailey would stay put for now, but with any luck, next year Hailey would be off to college. Apparently Gus was considering a condo in Helena. Mitch needed someone to live on-site at Hard Tack, to oversee the renovations, and eventually, if it was something that interested her, to run the center.
Gradually, Paris caught his enthusiasm. By the time she left the room, she was skipping.
Next up: the last woman he needed to fix things with. And the only one who really mattered.
…
“Mitch did what?”
“He bought Hard Tack.” Rory pushed Sabrina’s shoulders, guiding her down into the chair. Rory often checked in with her when she was in town, but she’d never brought news of this magnitude before.
Sabrina’s ears were buzzing and the edges of her vision were going dark. Mitch didn’t want Hard Tack. It wasn’t right for Della’s project. He certainly wouldn’t buy it himself. It made no sense.
“You’re not supposed to know, Sabrina.” Rory pulled a chair up beside her and perched on the edge of it. Concern wreathed her face. “I only know because Jonah Clarke’s handling Gus’s legal stuff. That’s where Zach heard about it. You know this town. He told Des, and well, Des figured you should know.”
Sabrina nodded. “So I guess that means…he’s staying?”
She’d prepared herself to say good-bye. Long-term, short-term, she had no idea. They’d admitted their love to each other, which was a huge step. But the future remained unsettled, undiscussed.
But if Mitch was buying property, here, well, that changed everything.
Sabrina stood up. “Where is he? I have to talk to him.” She paced to the counter, then turned around and ran to her bedroom. She returned with her purse. She felt her pockets. Where were her keys? Then she stopped and turned around again. “I don’t even know where to find him right now. I’ve been a coward, Rory. I’ve been sort of…avoiding him.”
Her cell phone rang and she opened her bag to fish it out.
“Something’s been off from the beginning, but I let it go.” Rory’s voice was firm and authoritative now, broaching no argument. “Put down the phone and listen. I figured you’d tell me when you were ready. But you’re my friend, and you’re coming apart at the seams. So I thought about it. Here’s what I came up with.”
Sabrina tried to read the small screen on her cell but she could only focus on Rory’s words.
“First Mitch comes back unexpectedly,” Rory continued, counting off on her fingers. “Then the two of you are suddenly engaged. Except he’s staying at the ranch instead of here with you, where he belongs. And there’s no ring. It’s very suspicious. Then there’s the fact that anyone who’s seen you together can tell you’re wildly in love with each other.”
Sabrina pulled away, a rough cry rasping through her choked throat. “We were never engaged, Rory. We only pretended to be engaged because Della was pushing Paris on him.”
“Please. That was obvious.” She looked smug. “What’s the point of intuition if you don’t use it? Anyway. I knew you’d dated Carson’s brother, but I never heard why you broke up. I’m guessing you got pregnant and either lost the baby or gave it up for adoption. It was the catalyst that broke you two up and neither of you has dealt with it properly.”
Sabrina pulled away and kept her face turned from Rory’s perceptive gaze. She knew her friend was intuitive to the point of psychic, but she’d never had that power trained on her before. It made her feel naked.
“Damn,” she muttered. “You are good.”
“Oh, honey.” Rory gathered Sabrina into her arms. “What happened when you finally talked it out?”
“Apparently,” she paused before continuing, “he bought a ranch.”
Rory held her at arm’s length, her eyes brimming with sympathy and support. “This story isn’t over, okay? And believe me, I’m a poster child for unusual love stories and unlikely family s
tart-ups. You need to find him.”
Her phone rang again and this time when Sabrina looked, she understood. “I can’t. I’ve got another baby coming. First baby. And this one’s going to take a while.”
Chapter Sixteen
“They say it’s a group of investors,” Bliss said, eyeing him as she wiped her hands on a dish towel. “Koreans, maybe. I don’t know, but whoever bought it, they’re letting Gus and Hailey stay. At least until they’ve sorted things out. Hailey’s over the moon.”
Mitch nodded. “That’s good, then.” She’d be able to stay in her home and hopefully get her life back on track.
He should be panicking. He should be gathering all his contacts together, to fight for whatever reputation he could scrounge up. Della had enemies, after all.
But he found he didn’t care that much. He felt good, doing something good, even if it was more or less anonymous. “Hailey’s a smart kid,” he said. “Once all the dust has settled, she’ll be able to go to college, make something of herself.”
Bliss shot him a piercing look. “Doesn’t take college to do that, though, does it?”
“Of course not,” Mitch said.
“Look at you, after all.”
“Look at me,” he said.
He wasn’t freaking out. He should be, but he wasn’t. He owned a ranch he didn’t want and couldn’t admit to owning. He couldn’t sell it, at least not for a couple of years, and even then, it would be at an enormous loss. Della would blacklist him with every investor and development company from California to British Columbia.
“I hear Paris-the-heiress is staying around too. Wants to do some kind of work. Volunteer with Rory or Des, I don’t know. Guess it doesn’t really matter when you’re that rich.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Good that she feels at home here.”
An uncomfortable silence fell between them.
“Rumor is something’s wrong with you and Sabrina,” she said suddenly. “And that maybe you’re thinking of sticking around here to put it right. That so?”
“Could be.” There was a wonderful freedom that came with honesty. “How’s that sit with you, if it is?”
“Sits just fine with me.” Tears lit up Bliss’s eyes. “I understand why you left when you did. You had to go. But now it’s time to come home. You’ve changed, Mitchell Granger. I wasn’t sure it was a good change, but I see now that it is.”
He bowed his head, overwhelmed with the love he felt from her.
“You okay?” Bliss asked, looking strangely at him. “You need to sit down?”
“No.” But he lowered himself into a chair anyway. She wore a curious expression of concern and uncertainty. Finally she flapped her arms and sat beside him.
“I’m just going to say this: I know you’re behind this deal with Hard Tack. Deny it all you like but it’s the only thing that makes sense. And you have no idea how much it means. To everyone.”
He’d spent a decade of his life working day and night, scraping and clawing his way up the ladder, building a fortune, all to make himself feel worthy of…what? His father’s love? Whatever he had or hadn’t gotten from his father, that was on Derek, not him, Mitch realized suddenly. His brother’s admiration? He’d always had that, he just hadn’t known it.
“Maybe Gus doesn’t know who he’s indebted to,” Bliss continued, her voice hoarse, “but I do. There’s a few others, too.”
Not the one who mattered, though.
He only cared what Sabrina thought about him.
He needed her.
He loved her. And she loved him.
He was staying whether she expected it or not. Whether she wanted him to or not.
The decision felt like a light switch being turned on. Wherever she was, that’s where he needed to be. For him, Sabrina was home.
He leaped to his feet, the chair clattering backward onto the floor from the force of his legs.
“I’ve got to go!” he gasped.
“Yes, you do,” Bliss said, unperturbed. “She deserves a proper apology. And a proper proposal. None of this pretend rigmarole.”
He stopped in his tracks. “What?”
“I assume you’re talking about going to our Sabrina?”
Mitch nodded, feeling faint. “I never did get her a ring.”
“Granger men.” Bliss leaned against the counter and crossed her arms. “Just like your brother, you’re the last one to figure it out. The rest of us have known it from the beginning. Go on then, you lout. She’s at her clinic. You’ve got time to get to the jeweler in Chinook, but you’re gonna have to hurry.”
She shooed him out the door, poking him in the back with her pudgy fingers. But just before he left, he turned and planted a quick, hard kiss on her cheek.
“Thanks, Bliss,” he said, his voice hoarse.
She swatted him away, waving her hand and pulling the door shut. But as she turned, he saw tears sparkling in her eyes again.
Sabrina’s assistant, Daphne, was in front of a group of expectant parents, teaching a prenatal class. Even in his rush, he saw how cramped the room was. He’d have to dip into his investments now, and it might not go as quickly as he’d like, but he’d make this the best damn maternity clinic Sabrina had ever seen.
“Sorry to interrupt,” he gasped, leaning against the door. Damn. That’s why the doctor told him not to run until his ribs had healed. “Where’s Sabrina?”
“She’s with a couple. Helping them have a baby.”
He pointed. “That the room?”
“You can’t go in there!”
But he was gone before she finished talking.
At the door, he paused. The crooked blinds didn’t quite cover the window. For a second, he allowed himself to watch her. Her movements were so animated, her voice so happy. She was good at what she did.
“Do I have to call the sheriff?” Daphne hissed, tugging on his arm. “You can not be here!”
“I’m not leaving.” Mitch looked past Daphne. She didn’t matter. He would wait as long as need be. And his first priority after marrying Sabrina? Give her a budget for decent support staff.
Daphne, recognizing something ominous in his tone, pushed open the door just a crack. “Sabrina? We’ve got a…situation.”
Sabrina’s face lit up when she saw him, then grew confused. “Mitch. What are you doing here?”
“We need to talk.”
“Now?” She gaped at him. “I’m kind of in the middle of something.”
A scream came from inside, as if to punctuate her comment.
“Go to the waiting room,” she said. “Go to my place if you have to. But go somewhere!”
And the door whooshed shut behind her. Daphne glared, then went back to her class.
Mitch wasn’t about to cause any trouble. He just wasn’t leaving until she understood that he loved her. That was all.
A grunt sounded inside the room, then a rising moan, and then, suddenly, he heard an ominous splattering noise.
“Daphne!” Sabrina was yelling. “Daphne! Get in here!”
But Daphne was outside, chatting with the class before they left.
Mitch pushed open the door. “Need a hand?”
Sabrina was perched on a stool between the woman’s thighs, her scrub top dripping. On the floor sat a man, his eyes vacant, his complexion green. The proud father, he assumed.
“Mitchell Granger,” Sabrina hissed through her teeth, “get out. Send Daphne in, then go away. I’ll be with you when I’m done.”
“I’m not leaving, Bree.”
“Then make yourself useful. Help him to the corner so he doesn’t hurt himself,” Sabrina said. The woman in front of her groaned. “It’s okay, honey, you’re doing fine. Almost done now.”
The mother grimaced and her face turned red. After a few seconds, she gasped for breath. “Dan Gardener, you get your ass over her. I am not doing this alone!” Then her face tightened again.
“What’s happening?” the father said, blinki
ng.
“Looks like you’re having a baby, Dan Gardener.” Mitch punched him in the shoulder. “Congratulations! Now, on your feet, soldier. Your woman needs you.”
“Dammit, Daniel, you son of a bitch, when I get my hands on you…oh, oh, oh!”
Mitch looked at Sabrina in alarm.
“Transition,” she whispered with a smile. “The worst part. Dan? Sit here. She needs you now, so no passing out, okay? You got this?”
“Uh-huh,” he said. He put his hands exactly where Sabrina indicated, massaging and supporting and comforting. Drapes prevented Mitch from seeing the money shot, thank God. But he was able to watch everything else. Sabrina’s calm, careful, confident guidance. The superhuman effort on the part of the laboring woman.
This is what women do, he thought. And this is what men do.
A wavering cry split the air.
“Here we go, Mom and Dad,” Sabrina said, holding up a squirming, pasty-looking baby. “You got yourself a daughter!”
She helped Dan cut the cord, took some measurements, and handed the swaddled infant to the father. Then she stood back for a moment and watched them.
Now, thought Mitch.
From behind, he reached over her shoulders and fastened something around her neck.
“What’s this?” Sabrina said. She quickly snapped off her bloodied gloves and tossed them in the trash. “Mitch, what did you do?”
“Whoa.” The new mother did a double take. “That’s some rock.”
Sabrina looked down, but the piece had slipped behind her scrub top. “I can’t see it! What is it?”
“Something to make husbands everywhere feel inadequate,” Dan said.
She ran to a mirror, fumbling at her neck. She pulled out the pendant, a teardrop-cut diamond in a platinum setting, on an elegant but sturdy chain. Her eyes flew to his in the mirror.
“Mitch?”
“Let’s face it, you’d only lose a ring.”
She laughed and cried and looked at the diamond again, as if it might have vanished.
“I’m staying. We’re getting married. We’re going to do that.” Mitch gestured to the couple watching with avid interest. “As soon as possible. Wherever you are, Sabrina Becker, that’s where I want to be. Take that to the bank.”
Fake Fiance, Real Revenge: A Three River Ranch Novel (Entangled Bliss) Page 18