Courage To Fall (Cowboys of Courage 3)

by Charlene Bright

  She wouldn’t allow that, and she marched toward the big city boy, who was grabbing Bertram’s arm to keep his attention while the crowd began to move. As she approached, she heard him ask, “What am I supposed to do with this damn café? I live 2000 miles from here and don’t care to be any closer, and I can’t imagine it turns much profit.”

  Leah was livid. “You know, it’s one thing to be conceited and think you’re above everyone in this town just because you’re some city slicker, but you should have more respect for your grandmother than to insult this café. It was her passion all her life, and she made a huge success of it.”

  He puffed up his chest and stared at her with an expression she couldn’t quite understand. “You haven’t exactly been welcoming from the start. Who are you?”

  Feeling prickly, she said, “I’m the family your grandmother adopted when the rest of her blood family walked out of her life and never bothered to check on her.”

  Bertram cleared his throat. “Mr. McLendon, this is Leah Evans. She manages the café. Leah, this is Easton McLendon.”

  Leah didn’t offer to shake hands. She instead put them on her hips. “I’m the one who’s been here all along. You have no right to barge in here and take over the café, just because Ms. Daisy hasn’t updated her will. You didn’t even know her. The diner should be mine.”

  “Leah, I’m sure you can work something out,” Bertram said in a calm voice, obviously trying to soothe her. “Mr. McLendon lives in New York, and I’m sure he’d love for you to continue to manage the diner as you always have. Mr. McLendon, Leah does an amazing job, and she pretty much handled everything for your grandmother. She’s been working here for years and knows how to run it with her eyes closed and her hands tied behind her back.”

  Easton scoffed. “You’re the one my grandmother left the rest of the money to, aren’t you? Look, I appreciate what you’ve done, but I don’t think this place is worth the time or investment. Besides, she probably left you enough to open your own place.”

  “You can’t shut it down!” she cried. “This is the only diner in town. It’s a social meeting place, and it’s a memory no one wants to lose. If it’s money you’re worried about, don’t be. This place turns a more than decent profit, and you can line your pockets with it all you want. And like Bertram said, I can run it by myself. I don’t need you looking over my shoulder to do it.”

  “Mr. McLendon, it’s going to take some time to get the paperwork in order. I’ll do it as fast as I can, but it’s going to be a couple of days,” Bertram said. “Why don’t you think on it and make your decision then?”

  Chapter 5

  The woman was tougher than Easton had given her credit for. She was determined to talk him into keeping this hole in the wall open, come hell or high water. He was already irritated, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to get back to civilized society tomorrow. The lawyer was going to take his sweet time preparing documents that his own lawyer could have drawn up in a couple of hours, and that meant he had to stick around far longer than he wanted.

  Now, he had to deal with this spitfire who accused him of being heartless. Did having a sense of business and an aversion to small towns equate to being a sociopath? He didn’t think so. He thought it was just reasonable. But Leah Evans seemed to think differently.

  Crossing his arms and looking down at her, he nodded. “Okay, you have two days, Miss Evans. I want to meet and talk over financials, and I want to see the kind of business this place does.” He could also watch her in action. He could imagine Leah Evans flirting with her customers and under different circumstances or if he’d met her in a diner in New York, he’d be all over her. As it was, she hated him, and that made her sour and confrontational. She wouldn’t give him the time of day if he came onto her.

  He should have known someone around here would feel entitled to something that belonged to his family. No, he hadn’t known his grandmother. His mother had brought him here to see Daisy Brooks once, when he was four years old, and he couldn’t remember anything about the woman, her home, or this blip on the map. He’d grown up in Upstate New York where his parents were known for their commercial real estate business and moved to the city when he’d attended NYU.

  He’d never turned back.

  Leah squared her shoulders, held her head high, and nodded. “That’s fine by me. I have no problem proving the value of this diner or my management.” She held out her hand to shake on it, as if it was a bet, which amused Easton, since she hadn’t wanted to shake when they’d been introduced.

  He took her hand gently, noting that her hands were worn but soft, a sign that she worked hard but took care of herself. More interesting, though, was the firmness of her handshake. She squeezed just tight enough to prove her strength, and he had to hand it to her. If nothing else, she was confident.

  He reached into his pocket, took out his cardholder, and handed her a business card. “Assuming my cell has signal everywhere around here, you can contact me at that number. Apparently, I’ll be around, and I don’t have any particular plans, other than to make some calls to keep my own business going. Let me know when you’d like to meet to go over the ledgers.”

  “I don’t need to call. Like I said, the diner’s closed today. How does three o’clock sound?” She was prepared, too. Maybe he’d underestimated her. She wouldn’t be in such a hurry if the ledgers and financial statements were in the sort of disarray he’d imagined. He wondered if she was so efficient and organized in the way she ran this diner. He could imagine her as a kitchen Nazi, and he was willing to bet that her employees didn’t particularly like her. He had every intention of finding that out, too.

  Three o’clock gave him time to locate his grandmother’s house and make some calls. It didn’t make a lot of sense to stay in a hotel in Billings or anywhere outside of Courage. All the other nearby towns were even smaller. And he couldn’t bring himself to stay in the motel here. He had a four thousand square foot house filled with modern appliances, and he would feel cramped and thrown into the dark ages. He couldn’t assure this house would be much better, but if it wasn’t too cluttered, he would have room to pace as he typically did when he was on the phone.

  “Do you want to meet here, or would you rather a more private setting?” he asked, gazing meaningfully at the crowd still milling around.

  “Where are you staying?” She eyed him suspiciously, and Easton wanted to laugh. Was she afraid he was going to try to take advantage of her? That would be stupid on his part, no matter where they were. Leah was definitely on her guard, and she would be in the kitchen, grabbing a butcher knife before he could get his pants unzipped.

  His jaw muscle twitched as he tried not to smile. After all, he wouldn’t mind getting a look under those clothes. “I’m staying at my grandmother’s house. I guess I’ll have to settle affairs there, too. I don’t even know what sort of things she owned.”

  He could see the woman’s brain working quickly, as if calculating, and he wasn’t sure he liked it. “I can help you catalog everything, if you want. I mean, she had some antiques that you might want to store and pass on or sell to a dealer. It might take two people to get through it and still get you back to your beloved city without spending too long in our little cesspool.” As she finished, her voice dripped with sarcasm.

  He sighed and shook his head. “Look, I don’t mean to be rude. I’m not a big fan of small towns. I like my creature comforts, and there’s not even a commercial gas station for maybe twenty miles.”

  She smirked. “It’s twenty-two miles away, to be exact. Do you want my help or not? Because if you do, you’re going to have to get an attitude adjustment.”

  Easton laughed out loud. “I think we both are.” Resigned to his fate, he let his shoulders fall. He was going to be here far longer than he’d expected, and definitely longer than he wanted. He might as well take advantage of every offer for help he could get. “Sure, I would love some help. I don’t know the first thing about my grandmother
. I suppose working with someone who was familiar with her and what actually meant something to her would make a difference.”

  Leah looked relieved, as if she had been afraid he would just sell off everything without even considering what was there. “Okay, great. So, if you can get your business out of the way, I’ll bring all the records over at three, and after we finish going over those, I’ll help you start cataloging.”

  She didn’t waste time, did she? “I guess I’ll make sure my assistant can handle things for the rest of the afternoon.”

  She crossed her arms and quirked a brow, giving him a look like he was too optimistic. “You really don’t know what you’re getting into, do you, city boy? One afternoon isn’t going to be enough. We’re going to need a couple of days, and we’ll need to get Garrett or Lucas or someone to bring one of their trucks down the mountain to move everything you want to sell or take with you to some sort of storage.”

  He scowled a bad taste in his mouth. “Let me guess. There’s no storage facility in Courage.”

  She snorted. “No, but I’m sure someone around here has some room in an outbuilding on their ranch. Or you probably have enough money to pay these guys to drive the stuff over to a place in a real city.” Again, the sarcasm bit at him.

  Scrubbing a hand over his face, Easton said, “I’ll figure that out later. Let’s take it one step at a time. I’ll see you at three.” He walked away, leaving no room for her to throw another kink in his plans. He couldn’t handle another roadblock right now. He needed to shower, call his assistant, and get his head on straight. This town —and Leah Evans—had him all kinds of twisted up.

  * * *

  Leah watched Easton McLendon walk away, his stride weary but cocky, and his suit moving with him in a way that she knew it was custom tailored. Running her hands through her hair, she wished she’d remembered her clip this morning so she could just pin it up. Outside, it was freezing, but in here, with so many people and the heat running, she had a thin sheen of sweat over her entire body.

  Of course, that might have something to do with Easton.

  He riled her up with his attitude and superiority complex. And he was just too sexy for words. The clash of his attitude and sex appeal had her fanning herself and gritting her teeth.

  “Is everything alright?” Shakota asked, stepping up behind her.

  Leah turned wide eyes on her friend, having been too caught up in the conversation to remember that half of Courage was probably watching intently, like she was starring in the latest thriller. She smiled at the woman, who supported her huge belly with a hand on her lower back. “I’m fine. That guy is a real piece of work, though.” She shook her head. “I think he offered his version of an apology for being disrespectful.”

  Shakota looked amused. “From what I could see, he’s got his panties in a bunch.”

  “He’ll be interesting to work with, that’s for certain.” She grimaced. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I told him I’d help him figure out what to do with all of Ms. Daisy’s things. That’s a lot of time spent with a city slicker who has no respect for small towns and our community,” Leah complained.

  “Are you sure you can handle him alone? I could go with you.”

  Shakota was such a sweetheart, and under normal circumstances, Leah might have taken her up on the offer. “No, I’m a big girl. I’ll be fine. I can’t have a pregnant woman lifting or bending, and that guy barely accepts my presence. I doubt he’d be welcoming of someone else standing in his way.”

  Her friend was quiet for a minute, and she narrowed her eyes. That usually meant Shakota was deep in thought, and Leah remained silent, waiting for her to speak again. Finally, she said, “Give him time. I don’t think he’s the tough guy he pretends to be.”

  Time. That was something she didn’t have, something Easton hadn’t given her. She basically had two days to show him it was worth keeping the café around, and most of that time, she would probably be working with him on Ms. Daisy’s house and going over financial documents. She didn’t know how she was going to do it all, especially with the diner closed today and Christmas tomorrow.

  “I hope he has a heart somewhere in that chest of his,” she muttered. Gasping, she turned back to Shakota. “Here I am, moaning and groaning about poor little me when you’ve postponed your party for all of this. You should be celebrating and opening gifts today.”

  But the beautiful woman waved a hand, blowing it off. “I’ve never liked being the center of attention. And the town needs time to mourn Ms. Daisy. We’ll just reschedule for next weekend. It was too close to Christmas.” She put a comforting hand on Leah’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about me, and don’t worry about the café. You’ve got all the help you need, and if there aren’t enough hands to accommodate, I’m more than happy to take orders to the kitchen. Even Garrett said he could fill in and help cook if needed. We’ve got your back.”

  “I appreciate that more than you know.” Leah meant it, and as Shakota walked away, Leah took a deep breath. She had the books in order, but she wanted to run through them herself once before she showed them to Easton, just to make sure. And she needed to get a few supplies before she could help index all of Ms. Daisy’s belongings. She had a lot of work to do and not enough time to do it. As it turned out, she just might have to call on a few friends to deal with her day to day responsibilities while she acquainted Easton with his grandmother.

  Chapter 6

  Calling his assistant to say he’d be off the grid for at least two or three days was one of the hardest things Easton had ever done. He hadn’t taken a vacation since he’d started his consulting firm, and most people called him a workaholic. Whether that was true or not, the idea of staying in Courage at Christmastime rankled his nerves and made him want to punch something.

  He dropped into the overstuffed armchair he couldn’t imagine a tiny old woman using. If she ever sat in it, she had probably needed help getting out. He covered his eyes with his hand for a moment, trying to put things in perspective. He would be back home in less than a week. This was only temporary, and it could definitely be worse.

  As it turned out, Daisy Brooks’ house was fairly roomy, a rambler built on a single floor and stretching out to what had to be at least two thousand square feet. Which was less than half the size of his own spacious apartment. Considering the town itself barely exceeded the size, it felt pretty large.

  The water was hot enough; he’d showered and changed into something more casual, refusing to wrinkle or dirty his favorite suit. There was still a good stock of food in the fridge. When he was hungry enough to eat, he could make something. It wasn’t like he could eat at the diner today if he wanted to. It was closed, and he didn’t dare swallow his pride, anyway.

  The house also wasn’t the cluster he’d expected. It seemed his grandmother was a collector but not a hoarder. She had a lot of very fine things, and Leah had been right. He could tell even without an expert opinion that a majority of the antiques were worth a pretty penny. He wondered how much an old woman who lived out in the middle of nowhere her whole life really knew about the items she collected. A lot of people bought antiques because they liked the way they looked, or because they assumed just because it was old it was worth a lot.

  Was that his grandmother’s game? He’d find out soon enough. He had friends who spent a lot of time at auction houses. He’d get in touch with them and have one of the auction house managers come out and assess the value of anything he wanted to sell. And anything he kept, for that matter.

  A knock at the door jolted him back to the harsh reality of his current situation. Hoisting himself out of the chair that had practically swallowed him whole, he ambled to the entry and swung the front door open. Leah stood on the stoop holding out paper bag with the top folded neatly down and a mug. He cocked his head to the side, curious, and she rolled her eyes. “I thought you might like a snack and some energy, so I brought a couple of my cupcakes and a mug of coffee.” It was a kind ges
ture, and he took them from her.

  But before he could thank her, she was skipping down the steps again. “Where are you going?” he asked. “You just got here.”

  “I have some things to bring in. I wanted to deliver the peace offering first,” she called over her shoulder.

  He cursed under his breath and put the food and drink on the table by the door, rushing out to the car to help. She was determined to make him look like a bad guy, not even giving him a chance to be a gentleman. “Here, let me get that.” She had two bags, and they weren’t exactly light. He knew she’d loaded them into the car herself and could muscle them, but she shouldn’t have to with a man around.

  She followed him in none too pleased. “I could have carried those.”

  “I know.” Easton set both bags on the couch. “I thought I’d take the opportunity to show that I do have a chivalrous bone in my body.”

  “Great, an urban cowboy. You like to look the part of Wall Street tycoon and still push the chauvinist attitude that still reigns in the country. You can’t have it both ways.” She gave him a onceover. “At least you dressed down for the hard labor.” She made air quotes and he sighed heavily.

  “Does everything you say have to be laden with sarcasm? It would be a lot easier to get along if we could try being civil to each other.” Something about Leah made him want to like her, despite the fact that she thought very little of him and came from a place he never wanted to see again. Maybe it was the bright green of her eyes and their almond shape. Or maybe it was the glow of her skin, like she was really happy here.

  Whatever it was, it pushed him to want to reconcile differences with the woman and make the best of this bad situation.