Chapter Twenty-Four
Riverton
Neil burst through the door of the local land manager, and he almost wanted to slam it shut on his way out. He was beyond frustrated with that last conversation.
Neil had been talking to the solicitor for weeks about buying a plot of land adjacent to his.
He had all the paperwork in order. He’d paid fees and surveyors to get it all done correctly, so there was no mistake in the transfer of the land title and where the borders would be.
He had even contacted the solicitor so all the paperwork could be notarized when the land sale finally happened.
Since Neil hadn’t been able to sell any horses at the auction, which would have paid for the plot of land outright, the sale had been delayed for a few days because he had been forced to take some money from his savings and supplement it with a small bank loan—which had been his first meeting early this morning.
Although word of the scandal at the auction had reached Riverton days ago, Neil was in good standing with his bank, so the director had dismissed the nasty rumors about him and given him the loan.
Neil had been elated when he marched straight to the land manager’s office to finalize the sale.
“I regret to inform you that this plot has been bought,” the pale bald man had said as he pushed his round glasses up his nose. Neil had been certain that it was a mistake.
“This particular plot right here?” Neil had asked, spreading out a map of his current property, pointing at the small parcel to the left. “The eastern plot we’ve been talking about for weeks? The one you absolutely knew I was going to buy?”
The land manager had nodded without showing any kind of emotion.
“How could you sell it? I’ve paid money to be able to buy it!” Neil had struggled not to get too loud, but the single raised eyebrow of the man sitting behind the massive desk had told him that he had already overstepped. “We’ve already signed a contract!”
“Unfortunately, these things happen, Mr. Albright,” the man had said stiffly. “You lost the bid. The new buyer almost doubled your offer and—”
“Who was it?” Neil had interrupted him a little too forcefully, which had caused the land manager to pull back. “Was it Finn Vale?”
“We’re done here, Mr. Albright,” he had said, not even looking up anymore. “There is nothing else I can do for you.”
“Is there a way that you can cancel the sale and I pay—” Neil hated how desperate his voice had sounded in that moment.
“I’m afraid not,” the land manager had said. “Good day, Mr. Albright.”
That had been it. The man would no longer acknowledge Neil, so he had been forced to shove his map, paperwork, and money back into his saddlebag and leave the office.
Standing outside on Main Street, Neil wanted to scream.
This plot of land would have been the expansion he needed to move forward with his breeding program.
He had had so many plans for that parcel, and after all the effort he had put into buying it—working hard for months to sell his horses to save up enough money—he felt utterly deflated.
If only there was a way to get back at Finn. That man tried everything and anything to undermine Neil’s efforts. It was infuriating. Alas, there was nothing Neil could do to change it. He would have to find another way to realize his plans for expansion.
His eyes wandered over to the saloon, and he played with the thought of going in there to have a couple of stiff drinks just to calm down his nerves, but he didn’t.
He had to get back to the ranch. Neil was well aware of the fact that he hadn’t had the time to speak with Poppy about anything that had happened with Lucy, and he really needed to make sure that she knew everything.
He also hadn’t told her how he felt about her yet.
The urge to see her grew the more he thought about her.
He jumped off the wooden walkway lining the street on both sides and marched straight toward his horse that was still patiently waiting in front of the bank.
“Neil!” he heard a familiar voice. “What a surprise to see you here!”
He secured his saddlebags on the back of his horse before he turned around.
Lucy sat atop a white horse that was so stunning, Neil almost forgot to look at her.
“Lucy,” he said, shooting her a quick glance as he stepped closer to the horse.
He couldn’t help himself. He had to touch the stallion’s soft muzzle, check the teeth for its age, run his hand over the muscles running down the shoulder toward the strong legs, as well as the thick, strong neck.
“Where did you get this one?” he asked in awe.
Lucy giggled as she watched him from above.
“It was a present for my birthday,” she said with a bright smile. “I wanted it as soon as I saw it. You know me. If I see something I want, I simply need to have it.”
Neil knew her too well. And she clearly remembered how to push him.
Her little stab didn’t go unnoticed when she passively reminded Neil of all the things he hadn’t been able to afford back then, which had been the reason she had run straight to Finn.
Neil’s pride flared up a little, but he managed to suppress it.
After all, none of that should matter anymore because it had all worked out the way it should have. He hadn’t married the wrong woman, and he loved the one he did marry. All good.
“It’s stunning,” he focused his attention back to the horse. “Does it have a name?”
When she didn’t immediately answer, he finally looked up at her, and he didn’t like the way she looked at him. She had that smug grin on her face he used to despise whenever she thought she got one over on him. When he inadvertently scowled, she laughed at him. He didn’t like that either.
He disliked the fact that she clearly felt overly comfortable with him all of a sudden. But then he remembered that he had agreed that they could be friends, so he had to rein in his natural reaction to seeing her, which was mostly anger and aversion. Old habits were hard to change.
“I haven’t named it yet,” she finally said. “It’s been a year. One would think I’d honor such a magnificent horse with a name, right?” She laughed at her own joke.
Neil didn’t. Regardless of what they had talked about and agreed to a couple of days ago, Neil struggled to maintain a casual friendship with her.
In fact, he felt that he was being disrespectful toward his wife, to stand her chitchatting with his former fiancée.
Since the auction, people were already talking badly about him, so he didn’t want to add fuel to the fire by talking to Lucy in the middle of the town.
“I have to go. Have a nice day, Lucy,” he said to her as he turned away to leave.
“Neil! Wait!” Lucy exclaimed all too loudly. “I wanted to ask you a favor,” she added sweetly. Neil only turned halfway toward her, mainly keeping his gaze on the stallion’s face.
“What is it?” he asked, getting slightly impatient.
“I am so grateful that we’re friends now,” she said in that sugary tone of voice she used when she wanted something. “I was wondering if I could come back with you to the ranch.”
That got Neil’s attention. His eyes shot up to her smiling face.
“Since you forgave me and all that, I would very much like to get to know your wife better. What was her name again?” she asked curiously.
“Poppy,” he replied a little hesitantly.
“Ah, yes! Sweet Poppy!” she exclaimed. “Well, I’d like to have tea with her and maybe chat for a bit. I should thank her for being so nice to me the other day when she told me to wait inside the house for you.”
Her eyes watched him intently, and Neil got the impression that she was waiting for him to react.
Neil didn’t like people that invited themselves to his house.
It was rude. But then he thought about what Poppy would say if he turned Lucy away without giving her a chance to talk.
Neil remembered that Poppy had told him how lonely she was and that she missed female company, so maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea. At least for Poppy’s sake.
His intentions were pure, but there was a small voice in the back of his head nagging him that this was a terrible idea and to not let Lucy come back to his house.
“Come on, Neil,” Lucy pouted. “I’ve learned to be a better person. I promise you I can behave very well if I have to.” She smiled a winning smile, and despite Neil’s strong hesitation against it, he nodded.
“All right,” he said. “I’ll go get my horse.”