His father hadn't filed a return in six years, and Leland knew that the debt must be monumental. It was hard to conceive the amount of debt that the family would have to pay. Or if it would even be possible. With Sylvia sitting so close to him, it was hard to be afraid of anything, even losing the family ranch that had been in the Kincaid clan for five generations.
It should have made him dark and brooding and angry, but it didn't. Maybe it was because he'd been gone for so long and was coming back to find his father's mess had gotten out of hand. But he was more interested in watching Sylvia's prettily painted fingertips click on her keys as she looked back and forth between his father's terrible record-keeping and her computer.
"This isn't looking good, is it?" he asked.
"I'm only halfway through last year, and…" she said, going silent. "It's not looking great."
"These mountains of debt don't make sense. I don't see where any of the money went."
"To be honest," she said, "neither do I."
"When my mother was alive, my father had been an excellent businessman. He's capable of running this ranch. He ran it for thirty years."
"Things happen," Sylvia said.
"But when?" Leland asked.
He sat back in the kitchen chair and scratched his chin. He and his brothers had been away at war for four years and after they'd come back, his father had been in frenzied state. Everything had changed on the ranch during the time the Kincaid brothers had been away. Whenever Leland had tried to discuss it with Hank, his father had blown him off and pushed him away, which had been the biggest reason that Leland had left to go work in Texas. He couldn't work with a man who wouldn't work with him. But Jessie, Buck, and even Cyrus had all stayed.
He hadn't talked to Jessie about the debts yet, but it was clear that Buck didn't know anything about it. What about Cyrus? Cyrus had taken to the mountains right after they'd come home from war, not wanting to participate in society any longer. He'd been living deep in the forest on Fate Mountain. Jessie said he'd seen him a few months ago, but Cyrus hardly ever came down from the mountain.
"It probably started while we were gone. While we were away during the war," Leland said.
"Your father would have had to run the ranch himself at that time, wouldn’t he?" Sylvia asked.
"Yes. Back then there was less timber business."
"Why don't you go do some more digging while I continue organizing the income and expenses for last year?" Sylvia said.
Leland nodded and stood from his chair. Every second he spent with Sylvia, he liked her more. She was sweet and understanding, but also organized, efficient, and practical. It was everything that he needed in a mate and he thanked the fates that brought them together. Even if it had to be under the worst possible circumstances.
Leland left the dining room and went back into the parlor where his father kept his files. He knelt beside the filing cabinets and started to pull out the stacks of disorganized papers. Nothing was in its appropriate file or sorted by year. There were thirty years of documents all stacked together without any sense of organization.
Leland didn't even know where to start. He took the papers back into the dining room and set them down in front of him. As he went through the stacks, he organized the documents by year and then went back and organized them by type. Half of it turned out to be garbage, a quarter of it turned out to be irrelevant, and the rest of it just didn't make any sense.
Leland had run a ranch before and had dealt with the business side, but he had never unraveled a mess like this. He was happier than ever that Sylvia was here to help him.
"That's about all I can take before noon," he said. "Would you like to take a break for lunch?"
Sylvia looked up at him from her accounting spreadsheets as if she had been lost in a daydream.
"I could use a bite to eat," she said.
"I'll fix you something," Leland said.
He went to the kitchen and started rifling through the cabinets. He knew there was barely anything in the house from when he had made his coffee that morning. He looked in the fridge and was hit by a terrible smell and quickly closed the door.
He walked back into the dining room and let her know he was going to town for groceries. On the way out to his truck, he saw his youngest brother Jessie in the machine shop across the gravel yard, working on a dirt bike in a white T-shirt, cut-off jeans and work boots. When he saw Leland, he stood up and approached his brother.
"Buck told me we’re being audited," Jessie said, running his hand over his forehead, leaving a faint smear of grease.
"Yes, we are," Leland said.
"And the auditor is your mate?" Jessie said, raising an eyebrow.
"That is correct.”
Jesse chuckled as if he were responding to an inside joke.
"What's so funny?" Leland asked.
"It figures that big brother Leland's fated mate would be an auditor," Jessie said, still chuckling.
"Ha ha ha. I'll have you know that Sylvia is probably the sweetest woman I've ever met," Leland said.
"Sweeter than mom?" Jessie countered.
"Maybe just about as sweet as mom," Leland said, acquiescing to the look of pain in his brother's eyes.
"I checked on the cattle this morning," Jessie said.
"You actually checked on the herd?"
"Well, now that dad's gone. I won't have anybody bitching me out for saying anything about it," Jessie admitted. “But it doesn't look like the shots you gave the cattle are working."
"What makes you say that?" Leland asked, becoming worried.
"I saw a couple head out there that looked pretty lame," Jessie admitted.
"Well, God dammit," Leland said, taking his cowboy hat off his head and slamming it against his leg. "I was just going into town to get my lady some lunch. That medicine should've taken care of it by now."
"We should get the vet out here," Jessie said.
"I'll look into it in town while I'm getting lunch. Do you need anything while I'm gone?" Leland asked, feeling for the first time like he was being a good brother.
"No. Buck and I keep our fridge pretty well stocked. But I did want to invite you to my next motocross race. Bring your lady friend. You know how I like someone to cheer me on," Jessie said with one of his brilliant smiles.
Jessie was one of the most talented dirt bike racers that the Northwest had ever seen. His shifter agility was above par, his athleticism and sheer bravery set him apart from even other shifter racers. He had been like that since he was a kid. His dad used to encourage it, even more than he'd encouraged Leland to be a leader.
Jessie was used to having people there to clap for him when he showed off. And why not? Jessie was an entertaining guy. Sylvia might enjoy watching his brother race.
"I'd love to. I'll ask Sylvia if she'd like to go. It'll give us something to do besides wade through the mess that dad left us."
"Awesome," Jessie said, giving Leland another one of his big bright smiles.
Jessie walked off back to the machine shop and Leland climbed into the cab of his pickup, closing the door behind him.
On his way into town, everything he had experienced and discovered in the last two days whirled inside his mind. His father's debts, his fated mate, the audit. His brothers. Being an Alpha was much more difficult than he'd ever imagined. The weight of the family on his shoulders made him think of his mother.
When Jessie had mentioned their mother in the driveway, Leland could sense the sorrow beneath his humor. It was a deep wound that they all shared, and Jessie still blamed himself, even if no one else did. He’d held onto it for a long time.
Leland still missed his mom. Anytime he smelled the scent of her perfume or saw a lady in a sundress, memories of his mother at barbecues or at Christmas flitted through his mind and made his heart ache. Leana Kincaid had been a great woman. She was a human, like Sylvia, and his dad had never turned her. She'd given birth to four grizzly sons and still retained her soft human
form. If he wanted to blame his dad for yet another thing, he could have blamed him for not shifting his mother and making her stronger, but he couldn't do that. His mom had wanted to stay human, and that was one of the most precious things about her. Her soft human frailty hadn't seemed like a weakness, but strength.
Now that he had found Sylvia, he knew that his life would now be complete. After this audit was done, he didn't know what would happen, where they would go, or what they would do. He didn’t know if the Kincaid family would even be able to keep the Timber Bear Ranch. But one thing he did know was that Sylvia belonged to him. He would do anything to keep her safe beside him. He didn't need the ranch to be happy, he just needed her.
They could move back to Texas or he could find another position somewhere near where she worked in Portland. They could start a new life together. Whatever it took, he was willing to do it.
That didn't mean he didn't want to save the ranch. It had been in his family for generations, he didn't want to be the Alpha that finally lost it for everyone. Of all the places in the world where he would want to raise his family, Timber Bear Ranch was it; with his brothers, his community, and the peak of Fate Mountain looking down over all of them. It made his heart ache just to think that they might have to give it up.
He made it into town and parked in front of Fate Mountain Grocery. Getting out, he strode across the parking lot, feeling the spring air begin to warm his skin as the sun beamed down from overhead.
He walked into the grocery store and grabbed a cart. He started down the aisle, throwing things in the cart. He knew there was most likely a freezer full of stakes at the ranch, but that didn't tend to be great for breakfast or lunch. He picked up all the essentials and went to the deli for some prepared sandwiches so we'd have something to feed Sylvia as soon as he got back. When he stood in the checkout line, he smiled at the checker as she scanned his items.
"Leland Kincaid," the woman said. "I haven't seen you in...how long has it been? Ten years?"
"He squinted at her and realized that she was a human girl he had gone to high school with. She was pregnant and had rosy cheeks and two braids going down the sides of her shoulders.
"McKenzie, it is so good to see you."
"Where have you been keeping yourself?” she asked.
"I've been working at a cattle ranch in Texas.”
"You always were quite the cowboy," McKenzie giggled.
"How have things been with you?" he asked.
"They're going well," she said, rubbing her belly. "With all the shifters in town, it’s hard for a girl not to get pregnant.”
"I'll take your word for it," he said, tipping his hat at her. "You take care now.” He lifted his bags into his cart himself, saving her from having to lift anything in her condition, and then wheeled them out to the pickup where he put them in the bed of his truck.
On the way back to the ranch, he stopped at the veterinary clinic. He had lunch and frozen things in the truck so he couldn't take too long. Inside he found the vet tech sitting behind his desk.
"I need to get the large animal vet out to my ranch as soon as possible," Leland told the young man.
"Our large animal vet is out of town," the technician said.
"When is he going to be back?” Leland asked.
"About a week."
"I can't wait a week."
"You can always call someone in. It’ll cost you, though."
"Thanks for your help."
Leland turned and walked out the door, cursing under his breath. His herd was in worse shape than ever, and he couldn't get the help he needed. Calling someone from out of town was going to cost a pretty penny. With his dad’s and the company’s assets frozen, he’d have to start digging into his own account just to make sure he didn't lose any of the family’s cattle.
Chapter 9
Leland walked into the dining room and placed a plate with a sandwich, potato chips, and a pickle spear beside her. She looked up at him with a smile.
"Thank you," she said, her stomach starting to grumble at the sight of food. She glanced down at her watch, realizing she had forgotten the time.
"This is going to hit the spot," she said, lifting her sandwich to her lips to take her first bite.
"I had it made fresh at the deli so you could eat as soon as I got back."
"You are the sweetest man," she said with a laugh.
He leaned down and softly kissed the top of her head, and she had a feeling of pleasure wash through her entire body as he stood back up and asked her if she'd like some lemonade to drink.
"I would love some," she said.
He went back to the kitchen and returned a moment later, setting a tall glass full of ice cold lemonade beside her. She couldn't believe a man whose very livelihood was being threatened by her job could be so kind and giving to her.
It made her melt under the warmth of his attention. Sylvia had waited her entire life for feelings like this. Working as an auditor, she didn't tend to have a lot of positive experiences with her clients. She had grown a thick skin over the last several years at her job.
With Leland treating her so sweetly, it made the burden of her job so much greater. She took another bite of her sandwich as Leland sat across from her and ate one of his own. She had no idea what would happen in the future.
After her father died, she’d admitted to herself that what she really wanted was marriage and family. Now that Leland was here, and offering her everything, it should have been the happiest moment of her life. Since the moment they’d met, he’d shown nothing but devotion to her, but she still felt an annoying sense of anxiety that this love affair was too good to be true.
No matter what she wanted, she had to do her job accurately or they could both find themselves behind bars. That certainly wouldn't solve anything. If it was proved in court that Leland’s father was evading his debt, then the government would confiscate everything. Leland and his brothers would be left with nothing. How would Leland ever be able to forgive her for that?
"This is good," she said.
"Sure is," he said. "Didn't realize how hungry I was until right now. Gotta make sure to keep our stomachs full. Looks like the cattle are still suffering from the wet hoof even after all the medicine I gave them. The large animal vet is out of town. I’ve got no company resources to pay for a vet come in from out of town. I’ll have to dig into my own bank account to bring one up here. But what else can I do? I can’t let the cattle suffer. The bloodlines of that herd have been in my family for five generations. I'll be damned if I let my cows go down like that."
"Do you need a loan?" she asked.
"No," he said. "I’ve got money in the bank. It's going to cost me, but it's worth it for the family herd. Always wanted to ranch this land. I got the chance for about two days and now it might be taken away from me."
His words made Sylvia's heart sink, but she knew they weren't intended to hurt her. She wanted to help him, but there was nothing she could do except keep working on his books.
"What are you going to do?" she asked sympathetically.
"I'm going to call somebody up here to take care of it. Hopefully, it'll put an end to the wet hoof they've got. We’ll at least have one less problem to deal with."
"That would be nice, wouldn't it?" she asked with a giggle.
"I sure am sorry that things happened this way. Finding you, my fated mate, right after my dad died and left me all this mess. You deserve better than this, Sylvia. And I promise you, I'm going to make it up to you. Will you let me take you out to the lodge tonight?" he asked.
"I would love that," she said with a smile.
"It’s a date then. Oh, and my brother Jessie wanted to invite us out to his motocross race at the end of the week. That's probably not the kind of thing a lady like you enjoys, but I thought I would ask just in case."
"I'd love to see that. I haven't met your brother Jessie yet. And you have another brother, correct? I see that here in the paperwork. His name is
Cyrus? Where is he?"
"Cyrus? That fool’s been off in the mountains for the last seven years. No one’s seen hide nor hair of him, except a couple times a year. Of course, I haven't seen him in seven years myself. But Jessie says he saw him just four months ago, so, I guess he comes down every once in a while. Buck was talking about how he and dad had an argument before he left for the mountains. I wonder if Cyrus knows anything about all these debts Dad got himself into."
"It would be worth asking him, don't you think?"
"Yes, but asking Cyrus means taking a trek up into the mountains to a location that can only be accessed by foot. I’ve got a herd full of wet hoof and an audit to deal with."
"Well, maybe he'll come down from the mountain soon," Sylvia suggested.
"I doubt it at this the time of year. Maybe he’ll come down in the fall before the winter snows come in. I imagine he's gorging on meat and berries right now. Doing hell knows what up there, living like a feral beast in the mountains."
"Do you know why he left?"
"He said he was done. Done with society, the family, the ranch, the humans, the shifters, all of it. He's living totally off the grid. I don’t think he even uses money anymore. Even when he comes into town for supplies."
"He must be very brave.”
"Or very crazy," Leland said.
Sylvia could tell that Leland was agitated. He had just arrived back on Fate Mountain a few days ago, and his world was being turned upside down by something new every day. The thought of his brother being able to escape the worries of the world, on the mountain, obviously irritated him. Sylvia could tell that Leland was the kind of man who took his responsibilities seriously.
A brother who had given up all responsibility for anything probably sounded like a crazy man to him. But Sylvia could almost understand why a shifter would take to the woods after the Great War. She hadn't kept up on all the shifter gossip since they'd been drafted twelve years ago, but she knew enough to understand that much of what had happened to their community was deeply unfair.
Fate Mountain - Complete Page 114