Her Montana Cowboy
Page 6
“I burned most of it. Didn’t want the rest anywhere near me.”
Thad pulled a key out of his pocket, turned the lock and opened the lid. There wasn’t much inside—a couple of envelopes, a small box and a set of keys. Safe-deposit box keys. Thad pulled out an envelope, spread the yellowed paper it contained on the table. It was a handwritten agreement, signed by Thad and his partner.
“The official agreement is exactly the same.”
“You’re sure?”
“Called Ned.” His current lawyer, who happened to be his original lawyer’s son. Another lawyer kid. “He found a copy of the agreement and answered some questions for me. It’s something called Tenant in Common. I kind of remember Ned’s dad talking us into it, saying that this way, we were both protected. Neither of us could force the other to sell. We could just sell our interest to someone else.”
“Is it transferable?”
“This one is.” Thad gave a rueful cough. “You see, Nita and I were thinking about kids and we wanted to protect their interests, too.”
Nita eventually did have kids. But Thad hadn’t—even though he had been like a father to Gus, after Gus had lost his own dad in his early teens.
“You’re saying she can sell.”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
Gus tried to tamp down the rising swell of disappointment and anger. This was Thad’s ranch. Not his. He’d lived here for almost fifteen years, had worked the land, felt like he was part of the place, but it wasn’t his. The subject of Gus buying into the ranch had come up a couple times when they’d had slow times at the pub. Gus wanted to trade his part of the pub to Thad for a down payment, and then work from there. Thad had seemed interested, but even then, Gus had had the sense that there was something going on that he wasn’t aware of. Something holding Thad back. At the time he’d assumed that Thad wasn’t yet ready to part with the place—and it wasn’t as if he would have had to do that. Gus never intended for anything to change, except for the names on the deed.
Come to find out, there were more names on the deed than he’d been aware of.
“How long had you known this Hardaway guy before you partnered up?”
Thad raised his eyebrows as if surprised at the question. “We grew up next door to one another. Knew each other since we were in diapers. Lyle was the best friend I ever had.”
Gus dropped his gaze to the table. Rough topic. Not one he wanted to pursue. His uncle had lost his wife, his partner, his lifelong best friend in one fell swoop.
“He couldn’t have been that much of a friend.”
“You didn’t know Nita.”
“No,” Gus said softly. “I didn’t.”
“She was special. Real special. And—” Thad dropped his chin before going on “—I might have missed the mark as a husband.” His throat moved as he swallowed. “Too blasted busy trying to build the place up...and maybe I partied a little too hard when I wasn’t working on the ranch.” He gave his head a shake as if trying to dispel an unsettling image. He met Gus’s eyes and made a mighty effort to look as if all were good, then ran a gnarled hand over the yellowed paper. “I wanted to see the words myself—the words Lyle and I had written.”
Gus didn’t know what to say, so he erred on the side of caution and didn’t say anything.
“Sorry to burden you with this, but it affects you. I should have told you sooner. I knew Lyle was getting up there, just like I am, knew this would have to be dealt with.” He gave a small snort. “Tomorrow always seemed like a good day to do that.”
“Pretty natural under the circumstances.” Gus spoke in a way that he hoped sounded understanding.
There was a folder in the bottom of the strongbox. Thad’s hand hovered for a split second before he pulled it out, then opened it up and laid it in front of Gus. Lillie Jean—or rather her double—stared back at him. The woman’s hair was shorter, waving around her shoulders, and she had short bangs, but there was no getting around the similarity between Lillie Jean and her grandmother.
“I wanted you to see the picture before Lillie Jean left. In case you still had doubts. I don’t know who her dad was, but he didn’t pass along a lot of his genes. Or a last name.”
“Doesn’t look like it.” Gus picked up the photo, studied first Nita, then a much younger version of his uncle. Thad looked solemn, proud. His hand rested lightly on his wife’s hip. She wore a corsage on a fancy short white dress. Thad was dressed in a dark suit.
“Wedding day. We went to the courthouse. Nita didn’t want to waste money we could pour into the ranch. She was practical that way.” Thad met Gus’s gaze. “She was a good woman.”
“I believe you,” Gus said quietly. He’d never seen his uncle like this, on the edge of breaking. Thad had always been the picture of quiet control. He hated seeing his uncle confronting his past—something he might never have had to do if he’d died before Lyle. Then Gus would have been left sorting out the pieces of a secret puzzle.
Isn’t that what Lillie Jean is dealing with? Because Gus had a strong feeling that she had been in the dark about a lot of this herself. She’d said she wanted answers. People in the know didn’t need answers.
He was about to let out a heavy breath when Thad beat him to it. His uncle gave his head a weary shake before packing the photo back into the strongbox along with the handwritten contract. The keys he dropped in his vest pocket.
“Do you want to keep that out? Compare it to the one in the safe-deposit box?”
Thad shook his head. “It’s the same. I just wanted to see the words.” After the strongbox was stowed back in the attic, Thad started for the door only to stop short. He turned back to Gus, his expression both stubborn and sincere.
“I know this messes with your life, but once the legalities are settled, Lillie Jean has the right to sell. I hope she doesn’t, but I can’t see her letting this place lie fallow. She won’t make enough to live on after we pay taxes and production costs.”
“Does she have any profit waiting for her anywhere?”
“Betts sent Lyle a check every year, so only last quarter’s take, which isn’t much. I can show you the books.”
“No need.” Gus just hoped they were good books, because there was a decent chance they’d be gone over thoroughly as they cleared up this situation.
“I imagine she’ll be leaving soon.”
“Probably.” But the crazy thing was that she had more of a right to be there than he did. She was half owner. He was simply the manager, which was beyond frustrating. What had she put into the place? What had her grandfather put into the place in the past twenty-some years? Nothing. Yet she was an equal partner.
Thad opened the door and they stepped out into the blustery March weather. “Never meant to do this to you.”
Yeah. But he had. It took him a couple of seconds to say, “What did you think was going to happen, with Lyle out there somewhere?”
“I don’t know. Like I said, I was always going to take care of things tomorrow.”
Tomorrow was officially here.
* * *
LILLIE JEAN TOOK a couple aspirin for the headache beating at her temples. The laceration on her forehead didn’t hurt as much as the goose egg she’d got from smacking her head on the rock-solid dashboard. She lightly touched the area around the butterfly strip. It was tender and probably in the process of turning blue. Who would have thought such an injury could occur going less than ten miles per hour?
Things like this didn’t happen in Serenity, Texas. At least not in the suburban part. Nope. In Serenity, people got shut out of the business they’d built. That hurt worse than her forehead and was going to leave more of a scar.
She’d been in Montana for a little over twenty-four hours and she was already convinced that she wasn’t cut out for ranch life. Bouncing around in a truck on a road that wasn’t a road, or s
tepping out into weather that chilled her to the bone wasn’t her thing. Nor was spending time with a guy who was easy on the eyes, but openly suspicious of her and her motivations.
She had a right to be there, and she had a right to sell her half of the ranch. All she wanted was some answers before she did so. Then maybe she’d be able to settle, in an emotional, rather than a physical sense. Get her creativity back, and make her living doing what she did best—creating designs that people loved to wear.
The hard truth was that she may not be able to do that for a long, long while—at least not full-time. It could take years to sell her interest in the ranch, which meant she’d be back to working a day job and building a business on the side. Competing with Andrew and Taia. Or maybe moving to a different part of the country for a fresh start. There was nothing tying her to Serenity, except her friendship with Kate Tanner.
Kate and her mom had had as bad a run of luck as Lillie Jean recently. When Kate’s husband had abruptly left her for another woman, Lillie Jean had talked Andrew and Taia into hiring her to do the books so that she could work closer to home and not have to commute to her office job in Austin. She’d done an amazing job, but, rat that he was, Andrew had fired Kate the same day he’d forced Lillie Jean out of the business. Lillie Jean could understand him not wanting to have her around after they’d broken up, but there was no excuse for him cutting Kate loose when she had two little kids to care for.
Lillie Jean’s head came up at the sound of boots on the old porch boards. She closed her eyes again, trying to will the headache away as she listened to the men enter the house and clunk around in the kitchen.
Time for answers. Thad seemed like a nice enough guy, plainspoken and a little gruff, just like her grandfather. She could totally see Lyle being friends with Thad. But if they’d been friends, if they’d partnered in this ranch, why had she never heard of Thad? And why hadn’t Gus heard of her grandfather?
Something had happened to drive a wedge between the older men. A substantial wedge.
A woman or money?
Lillie Jean found herself hoping it was money, but as she considered that matter, and judging from the way Thad had looked at her last night, as if she was someone he knew well and had never expected to see again, she had a feeling it was a woman. Her grandmother, to be exact.
Had Lyle and Thad fallen for the same woman?
If so, then why hadn’t her grandfather sold his interest in the ranch? Cut himself free from it?
If she’d known about the ranch only a few months ago, she could have demanded answers and she wouldn’t now be feeling her way along in the dark. She wouldn’t need to ask personal questions of Thad.
Maybe she shouldn’t ask questions.
She could leave without her answers—without upsetting an old man, as Gus had said she was doing. Maybe if she was careful with her money, she could drive to the coast, look for a new place to land before returning to Serenity. A place that was warm and sunny and where people liked to shop for funky clothing. A place Kate and her mom might like. She didn’t want much—just a tiny storefront. A start. A new life.
And no partner.
There were low voices and sounds of movement in the kitchen. The back door opened and closed, and then a single set of footsteps started down the hall, stopping just outside her door. For no reason she could think of, Lillie Jean’s heart started to beat faster. When the knock sounded, she jumped, just as if she was guilty of something. And that was ridiculous.
She pulled open the door, found herself facing Gus. There was something about this guy that put her on edge. His gaze went almost instantly to the adhesive on her forehead and she had to fight to keep her hand from touching the spot.
“It’s sore, but I’m sure it’ll heal just fine,” she said without waiting for the question. Her lips curved into an ironic half smile as her gaze shifted to his forehead. “My mark might be gone before yours is.” The lip print was fading, but she couldn’t resist the dig.
“You said you came here for answers.”
The stark statement begged for a stark response. “Yes.”
“Are you sure?” His voice was low, as if he was afraid of being overheard.
Lillie Jean felt heat rise in her cheeks. “What do you mean?”
“Sometimes the truth can be unsettling.”
“Oh. Like discovering your closest male relative had a huge secret he never told you? Even though he knew it had to come out eventually?”
“Yeah.” There was a sardonic note to his voice. “Something like that.”
All right. He was going through the same thing. But the difference was that he’d probably already gotten an explanation. She had not.
“I want to know why I never knew about this place.”
“My guess is because your grandfather was trying to protect someone.”
“Or the memory of someone?” Lillie Jean asked softly. Gus’s eyes narrowed and she pushed on. “I know I look like my grandmother and Thad was shocked to see me this morning. I didn’t understand why at the time, but now I think I do.” She saw Gus’s throat move, but he gave no answer. “Did something happen between Thad and my grandmother?”
“If I tell you what I know, will you refrain from questioning Thad about it?”
It was obvious from the taut edge to his voice that his main interest was to protect his uncle, and she couldn’t fault him for that.
“That bad?”
“My uncle is old, and he’s just been slapped in the face by something he wants to forget.”
“Me?”
Gus gave his head a slow shake. “Your grandma. Is it a deal?”
“Deal.” Lillie Jean spoke in an equally low voice, and once again her heart was beating harder.
Gus glanced down the hall, then brought his gaze back to Lillie Jean. “You’re sure.”
“I want to know.”
Gus pulled in a breath. “Thad and your grandmother were once married.”
Lillie Jean felt as if a blow to her midsection had pushed all the air from her lungs. “No. She and my grandfather were married forever.”
“Except for the three years your grandmother was married to Thad. I’ve seen the photo of their wedding day. You look just like her.”
Lillie Jean realized her mouth was open and abruptly shut it. “How...?”
“They started the ranch together, your grandfather and Thad. An H for Hawkins, an H for Hardaway.”
“I guessed that much.”
“Long story short, your grandfather and Thad’s wife fell in love and ran away to Texas, leaving Thad on the ranch.”
“No.” The low exclamation escaped her lips before she was even aware of speaking.
“Yeah. Thad and Lyle remained partners with all matters handled through lawyers and accountants.” Gus cleared his throat. “I’m giving your grandfather the benefit of the doubt and assuming he didn’t sell his part of the ranch because he felt bad about what he’d done. Thad couldn’t afford to buy him out, so he hung on. Penance or something.”
Lillie Jean pushed a palm to her brow, then grimaced as pain shot through the injured part of her forehead. She dropped her hand. “This is hard to believe.”
“There’s documentation.” Gus leaned a hand on the door frame and brought his face a few inches closer to hers. “Did you stop to think for even a moment about the possible consequences of a surprise visit? To you? To my uncle?”
Lillie Jean gave a soft sigh. “It was kind of crazy coming up here like this. But I never meant to upset him.”
“What did you think was going to happen when you showed up out of the blue?”
“He knew he had a partner, so I didn’t think it would hurt to introduce myself as his new partner.” She hadn’t realized she was a secret partner and that he had a secret past.
“Without warning.”
“How?”
A valid question. “I don’t know,” she said honestly. “I’ve had a few recent experiences that have left me a little suspicious, I guess.” She met Gus’s eyes, held his gaze.
“What kind of experiences?”
“I trusted people. I shouldn’t have.”
He pushed back from the door frame, dropping his hand to his thigh. His fingers were long and strong, beat up from work and weather, but attractive all the same. “Are you running from something?”
She felt her cheeks start to grow warm, even though she hadn’t begun to mutter a denial. She’d never been good at untruths. “No.”
“Then what happened?”
“It’s none of your business, Gus.”
Flat-out truth. She wasn’t pouring out her guts. Not to a virtual stranger—even if he was her business partner’s nephew and she had this nagging feeling that she could trust him. That she should trust him. The back door rattled and Gus gave Lillie Jean a grim look.
“Do not upset my uncle.”
“I won’t ask questions.” Now that she knew the facts, the last thing she wanted to do was to discuss the matter with Thad. She’d research it later, after she was off this ranch. “But he and I need to talk business before I leave.”
“And when will that be?”
“Today.” She wanted to put some miles between her and this ranch. And mull over the depressing fact that her grandparents were not the people she thought they were.
“What are you going to do with the ranch, Lillie Jean?”
Another blunt question, but this time she didn’t have a blunt answer. “I don’t know.”
Somehow, she managed to lie without blushing. She knew exactly what she was going to do with the ranch, but she didn’t want to argue matters with Gus before discussing them with Thad. She was going to sell and use the money to invest in a new business, a new life.
Gus had asked earlier if she was running from something. The answer was, of course, yes. She was running from an uncomfortable situation, and in a way running from herself. Her grandfather had done the same. Now it was time to stop being impulsive, stop running and fix her broken situation. Selling the ranch would give her an opportunity to do that.