Texas Bad Boys

by Rosemary Laurey, Karen Kelley

  Half an hour later and caffeine loaded, she stacked the papers from the lawyer on the dining room table. Lance added the ledgers that he’d brought from her grandfather’s office and they both sat down.

  “Here, slide in a little closer,” he told her, without looking up from the papers.

  “Why are you doing this?” she asked before moving.

  “So we can look through them at the same time. Besides, I like you this close to me.”

  A warm flush of pleasure washed over her. “You know that’s not what I meant. Why are you helping me go over the papers at all?”

  He looked up. “Because you looked like you needed a little help.”

  When he grinned that damn condor flapped his wings again. She tried to concentrate on his words and not his mouth, but it wasn’t easy.

  “The only one who knows more about this ranch is Pete. Since I don’t believe in ghosts, you’re stuck with me.” He stared at her for a few seconds before continuing. “Pete meant a lot to me. If he changed his mind, then he had a reason. Maybe it was because you’re his granddaughter.”

  She cocked an eyebrow. “That’s why he was so generous to my mother over the years,” she said, with more than a touch of sarcasm.

  “I don’t know the whole story, Nina, but I can’t see Pete not helping out.”

  She didn’t want to get into what her grandfather had or had not felt or what he didn’t do to help her and her mother financially. They had struggled over the years to make ends meet. From the looks of this ranch, her grandfather could’ve helped out. The simple fact was, he hadn’t. She didn’t think she could ever forgive him for that.

  “Can you explain exactly what my inheritance entails?” she asked, changing the subject.

  “Gabe would’ve been happy to, you know. He was your grandfather’s lawyer for many years.”

  She frowned. “He was very condescending. I didn’t particularly like him.” She scooted her chair nearer.

  “Gabe? Doesn’t sound like him.” He picked up the sheaf of papers once more.

  Maybe Lance didn’t know people as well as he thought.

  She glanced over his shoulder at the papers he held. Damn, he smelled great. He definitely knew what cologne to wear that would make a woman want to lean closer. Fresh, clean…male. Yum, very male.

  He flipped the page. “Mostly legal jargon,” he mumbled.

  “But I do own the ranch? I mean, the lawyer told me that much.”

  “The papers list the ranch, the acreage, barn, outbuildings.”

  He flipped to the next page and was quiet for a long time. She watched his expression. One eyebrow rose, then lowered. His forehead wrinkled. He’d found something. Maybe this was all an elaborate scheme to make a mockery of her so-called inheritance. Then he smiled.

  Her stomach rumbled uncomfortably. “What?”

  “You can’t sell.”

  She straightened, the roaring in her ears getting louder. “What do you mean, I can’t sell?”

  He jabbed his finger against the paper. “You have to keep the same employees, and you can’t sell for at least three years.”

  The breath left her body in a whoosh. “That’s not fair.” She’d been scammed by a Maddock. Just like her mother. She closed her eyes and counted to ten. “Okay,” she said, opening her eyes. “I’ll just go back to the city, you’ll continue to run the place, and I’ll sell it in three years. Problem solved.”

  His smile grew wider as he turned in his chair until he faced her. “You have to live here for the three years. Except for occasional short trips, you have to stay at the ranch.”

  That wasn’t fair. Why the hell had he attached strings? She stiffened her spine and raised her chin. “If I don’t?”

  “The place is mine.”

  “Not fair!” She jumped to her feet, her chair rocking precariously back and forth before it came to a stop. “How will I live without money? My savings can’t possibly last that long.”

  He opened his mouth, then snapped it shut.

  “What?” Her eyes narrowed. There was something he hadn’t told her.

  He opened one of the ledgers and turned to a page midway into the book, then pointed to the last number in the column. “That’s what the ranch brought in last month.”

  She glanced down. That couldn’t be right. It was more money than she earned in six months. She grabbed the table for support.

  “Pete always had enough money in the ranch account in case something major happened. More than enough, in fact. He usually kept the place running pretty smooth. Some of the money goes for general upkeep, of course. We bought a new hay baler a few months ago and that took out a chunk, but you can live pretty comfortable for the rest of your life on what the ranch brings in and still have enough in savings for a lean year.”

  “And this would’ve all been yours,” she said after the world stopped spinning.

  “I have money saved back. In a few years I’ll buy my own spread. Don’t worry about it. Life doesn’t always have to mean how much money you make.”

  Yeah, right, try being poor sometime. Okay, so maybe she wasn’t money hungry, but she did like to know where her next meal was coming from.

  “I need a little while to think about all this. Could we finish going over all the papers later?”

  He hesitated for a few seconds. “I think you’re wrong about Pete. I don’t know what went on in the past, but he did mention his granddaughters occasionally and the love he had for you three girls shone in his eyes.” He stood and walked out of the room.

  A cold shiver washed over her, almost as if Lance had sucked all the warmth out of the room when he left. It was crazy; she knew that.

  But Lance was wrong. Her grandfather hadn’t cared enough to be a part of her life. Her gaze strayed up the stairs toward his room. “Why are you doing this? Why dangle the carrot only to snatch it back again?”

  “You say something?” Maxine asked from the doorway.

  Nina glanced up. “What was Pete Maddock like?” she countered with her own question.

  Maxine stuffed her cleaning rag into the front pocket of her red apron. “Pete?” She looked thoughtful for a minute. “A damn shrewd businessman even though he never looked the part. I’d known him since he had coppery red hair. It turned gray over the years, though. He still had the clearest, darkest green eyes I’ve ever seen on a man.” She smiled. “And always a damn peppermint stuck in his mouth. That man sure had a sweet tooth. Never could stand peppermints myself.”

  Her expression turned serious.

  “Your grandpa was a good man. Once, when my daughter was in a car accident, he drove me all the way to Dallas. She wasn’t hurt bad, but he told me a mother should stay with her kid.

  “Ruthy was twenty-five, but I guess she was still my baby. Anyway, he put me up in a really nice hotel. Fancier than any place I’ve ever stayed before. Gave me money for food and taxi fare when I needed one. Told me to call when I was ready to come home and he’d come back and get me. The hardest thing I ever had to do was clean his room knowing he wouldn’t be coming back. Your grandpa was real special.” She dabbed her eyes with the corner of her apron and hurried from the room.

  “Then why hadn’t he taken care of Momma and me?” Nina whispered.

  Her gaze moved toward the staircase again. Maybe it was time she found out the reason. She’d start in his room. See if she could find anything at all that would give her an insight into the man. Anything that would give her some kind of clue why he would do so much for some and nothing, until now, for his own granddaughters.

  She climbed the stairs and opened the door, looking around before she stepped inside. She still wasn’t sure the noise she’d heard last night had been her imagination.

  All clear.

  At least the candy jar was in the same place….

  Her eyes narrowed. Hadn’t it been nearly full? Now it was down three-quarters. She shook her head. “You’re definitely losing it, girl.”

  She ste
pped closer, bending to pick up a wrapper Lance must’ve missed. But Maxine said she’d cleaned his room since he’d died. How had she missed the wrappers? Unless Grandpa had a restless spirit. Goose bumps ran up and down her arms.

  She shook her head, clearing it of crazy notions.

  Maxine had been tired, under a lot of stress. That was all it was. Of course she’d miss a few clear cellophane wrappers. There was certainly no such thing as ghosts. She tossed the wrapper in the wastepaper basket.

  “If your ghost is still hanging around, then why the hell didn’t you help Momma when she needed it?” She paused, then realized she was practically holding her breath as she waited for some sign he’d heard. “Definitely losing it, girl.” She walked over and opened the top drawer of his dresser.

  Socks, boxer shorts—she ran her hand beneath them. Nothing. She didn’t find anything in the others, either. Nor the closet, only clothes—jeans, boots and tops…a few belts.

  There was a bag of peppermints in one of the bedside drawers and a bag of chocolate bars. Maxine was right; he’d had a bad sweet tooth. She went to the other side. There were loose pictures in this one. One was Lance with an older, gray-haired man. She turned on the lamp to take a closer look, turning the picture over and glancing at the back. The names Pete and Lance were scrawled across the back.

  She flipped it over again. So, this was her grandfather. He was grinning, his arm across Lance’s shoulder. It could’ve been a picture of a proud grandfather with his grandson. Pete Maddock didn’t look like a man who wouldn’t care. In fact, he looked just the opposite.

  She lightly ran the tip of her finger over her grandfather. “Why?” But again, silence was her only answer. Rather than put the picture back, she tucked it into her pocket.

  Now what? There was only one place she hadn’t looked—the desk.

  She walked over and sat in the chair, then opened the top drawer: pen, pencils—nothing of importance. The next one yielded the same. She swiveled the chair toward the other drawers and opened the top one on the opposite side. The same as the others. When she opened the bottom one, she pretty much expected more of the same. She was surprised to find a black book.

  “Probably nothing that matters,” she said, wondering why her hand trembled when she lifted it out.

  She crossed her legs and gingerly opened the spiral-bound book. There were only a few words scratched on the first page, but it was enough to make her heart speed up as she read them aloud.

  “Diary of Pete Maddock.”

  Seven

  Lance glanced up at the second floor. He’d seen Nina moving around in her grandfather’s room, crossing in front of the window. What was she searching for? She already had the ranch—at least as long as she stayed here. That thought brought up a lot of interesting possibilities.

  It was a win-win situation for him. He enjoyed her company. He liked the hell out of the way she looked when she took pictures. All excited and everything. He especially liked the way she looked when she made love—all excited and everything.

  “So, are we going to be out of a job tomorrow?” Stan asked.

  Lance tore his attention away from the house and looked at the bowlegged, middle-aged cowboy. Of course he was worried, even though he tried not to show it. Every man on the ranch except maybe Rowdy was worried. Rowdy was young enough, he could pick up and leave. He was a drifter, didn’t have ties to the community, but the rest of the men did.

  “No,” Lance told him. “You won’t have to worry for at least three years. There was a stipulation Pete added. You’re safe, for now.”

  “Good thing.” He hitched up his jeans. “Three years. That’s a long time.” He eyed Lance.

  “What?” He didn’t like the way Stan measured him up. As if he suddenly thought he might bring a fair piece of money down at the sale barn.

  “She’s not bad looking. Filled out those jeans she wore yesterday damned nice, in fact. I saw her taking your picture. If you marry her, you’d both own the ranch. Then we wouldn’t have anything to worry about.”

  Lance straightened. “Marry?” He looked toward the house. Stan was right. She wouldn’t sell the ranch if he married her. Damn it, what the hell was he thinking about? That bordered on him being a gigolo.

  “You’re crazy, Stan.”

  He shrugged. “Worth thinking about.”

  “No, it isn’t.” He tossed the bridle he was working on across the fence and went inside to get a pair of needle-nose pliers. He’d never heard of anything so damn foolish.

  So he liked the way she looked, the way she laughed and smiled, the way she could look so intense when taking a picture of a deer, the way she’d been unconcerned with “you show me yours and I’ll show you mine.” Damn, she was brazen, sexy…but marry? He didn’t think so. But when he exited the barn, his gaze went straight to the house.

  Three years. Anything could happen.

  Nina skimmed past pages of writing about the ranch, the early days. Pages she wanted to revisit because Pete shared all his dreams about how he would make the ranch profitable.

  She read about Pete’s marriage to Penelope Witherton, his excitement over the birth of his son, Drew.

  “If only you’d known he’d turn out to be such an ass you might not have been quite so thrilled,” she murmured.

  She flipped through the pages, past his divorce. Was that what changed him from a caring man to someone so insensitive he didn’t even want to get to know her?

  There was less written in the ensuing years—until she came to Juliet. He’d wanted to meet his granddaughter.

  Nina sat forward, skimming the passages. Drew said Juliet’s mother didn’t want to have anything to do with the Maddocks. Pete had sent money instead, even though it was apparent his heart was breaking.

  She set the book on her lap, keeping her place. The pieces of the puzzle were falling in place. Why hadn’t she guessed? But then, she knew the answer. Her father had poisoned all their minds.

  Anxious to read more, she flipped through the pages. Then she found what she was looking for—what he’d written about her. Her grandfather said he’d wanted to see her, but again, Drew hadn’t encouraged visitation, in fact, had discouraged it, so he’d stayed away, only giving Drew money to help with her support.

  Braces when she was ten. What a joke. It was a good thing she’d been blessed with good teeth because her mother hadn’t had money for food sometimes, let alone braces. She read on. Health insurance, private school, clothes…even her first car!

  That was hilarious. She’d worked after school to buy her first clunker, then worked her way through college. She knew exactly where the money had gone—into Drew’s bank account.

  But now she had to rethink how she felt about her grandfather. He had cared. But damn it, now she’d never know him.

  She pulled the picture from her pocket and stared at it. “How can a man as smart as you have been so blasted stupid? I would’ve loved knowing you and not for your money.” All she had was this ranch. A place without memories…at least for her.

  Her bottom lip trembled. She didn’t care that tears were sliding down her cheeks.

  Okay, this wouldn’t do. She wiped her hands across her cheeks and jumped to her feet, replacing the diary in the drawer. This was no time to get maudlin. She couldn’t erase the past, and if she was going to stay here, she might as well make the most of it.

  And stay she would. Through his diary, Nina felt as if she’d met her grandfather. The ranch was his baby, and maybe through it, she’d get to know him a little better. Maybe that’s what he’d hoped for.

  First things first. She needed a darkroom. She couldn’t function without one and her joy in life was still her pictures. And with the money she now had, she could afford one. A really nice one.

  With a little help from Maxine, she found the perfect room on the first floor. It wasn’t too large or too small, and it had a sink for her chemicals. She went to Pete’s study and was delighted to find he’d owned a com
puter. She only felt a moment’s trepidation using her credit card, but the time to be frugal was in the past. She was going to buy the best!

  After making her on-line order, she went to the front porch, her gaze slowly roaming over the barns and outbuildings. Tingles of excitement washed over her. Pride filled her at all that her grandfather had built. Now this was hers—all hers. She was a rancher. And she’d probably never have to worry about money again.

  “You surveying your land?” Lance said as he came around the side of the house.

  She jumped, then frowned. She’d been having an I-can’t-believe-this-is-happening moment. “And if I was?”

  He didn’t answer as he took the steps two at a time and joined her, half sitting on the cedar rail that ran the length of the porch. Then he stared long enough that she started to get a little uncomfortable.

  “What? Do I have a wart on my nose?” she asked.

  “No, but you look different.”

  “It’s the country air.”

  He shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. Could it be that I noticed just a little pride?”

  She raised her chin. “What if you did?”

  “I’m not complaining. Just wondering why the change.”

  She sat down in one of the rockers and pushed it into motion with her foot. “I found his diary.”

  “Whose?”

  “My grandfather’s.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Pete kept a diary? Doesn’t sound like him. He hated writing letters. Usually talked me or Maxine into doing all his business correspondence.” He paused. “So, you must’ve read something you liked.”

  She nodded. There was nothing that said she had to tell him a thing. So why did she feel the need to confide? Because he was easy to talk to, that’s why.

  “He gave money to Drew. Drew was supposed to give it to my mother, only he didn’t. I’ve hated my grandfather for a long time. This sort of puts a different spin on what I’ve always believed.” It was her turn to stare. “You don’t seem surprised.”