Chapter 4
Anger simmered and boiled in his gut. Clayton rubbed his tired eyes as he looked through the paperwork from their last CPA while in his father’s office. If felt strange to be sitting there. When his eyes began to cross, he rose and poured himself a shot of bourbon.
He stood, looking out the window into the night. His mind should be on figuring out the mess the accountant left them, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Abby Harper. He really wished he could’ve seen her face when Brice told her the news.
“You’re smiling. That must be a good sign.”
He turned at the sound of his mother’s voice. Looking into her soft brown eyes, he shrugged. “I wasn’t smiling.”
“I know a smile when I see one,” she admonished.
She walked to him and wrapped her arms around her thin frame.
The thick navy robe she wore was one of her favorites that she’d had for years.
In many ways, his parents had been born in the wrong century.
His mother kept her hair long, the blond strands now showing some white, and it was always either in a bun or braided as it was now.
“I’m guessing you haven’t solved the shit storm of the books?”
He gave a shake of his head before finishing off the bourbon. “What happened?”
“Bill retired,” she replied with a sigh. “He was our CPA for almost forty years, and his father worked for your grandfather, and his before that.”
“Family business.” Clayton knew all about that.
His mother walked to the couch and sat, tucking her legs beside her so that her robe covered her bare feet.
“Nathan took over for his father as Bill had done with his. Nathan had been working with Bill for the past five years. We had no misgivings about allowing Nathan to continue on as every Gilroy has done for nearly a two hundred years.”
“Mom, I only took a few accounting classes in college, and as soon as I finished, I promptly forgot everything. We need to take this to Bill.”
The remorse on his mother’s face said he wasn’t going to like what he heard next.
“When the bank called because there were no funds to pay the bills, we went up there to figure out what was going on.” His mother rubbed her hands up and down her arms. “I thought it was some computer glitch that would be straightened out soon.”
Clayton went back to the desk and sat in the chair. When he returned home, he’d immediately set about trying to find the cattle. It wasn’t until this evening that he attempted to look at the books—or talk about the disaster before them.
“And?” he prompted when she paused.
“They showed us how the money had been moved out of our accounts.”
Clayton laced his hands over his stomach. “What about the investments? What about the savings account and the other business accounts?”
“Gone.”
There had been a part of him that thought—hoped, really—maybe his mother had exaggerated the family’s financial difficulties. Now, he knew she hadn’t.
“How?” he demanded.
Her shoulders slumped as the worry settled around her face. “Nathan had full access to our accounts to work our investments and move money as he saw fit. Just as his father and grandfather before him.”
“Yeah,” Clayton said tightly. “I get that, but things have changed, Mom. Why would you give someone that kind of control of your money?”
“It’s how we’ve always done things. We had no reason to think Nathan wouldn’t be honorable.”
Clayton was having difficulty reining in his fury. He’d always thought his parents were smart and safe with their money. It never dawned on him to see for himself.
As if reading his mind, his mother said, “I know you don’t want to be here. You haven’t since Landon died.”
God. Why did everything always have to circle back around to his brother’s death? “No, I don’t want to be here, but it has nothing to do with Landon, and everything to do with me not being ready to return. Regardless, I’m here now, and we’re going to get this figured out.”
“It was the thought that your father might be the one to lose the ranch that caused his stroke. He won’t admit it, but I know that’s the reason.”
Clayton did, too, but Ben East was as obstinate as a mule.
“I saved a lot over the years, and did some questionable investing that lost me a lot of money but netted me more. I’ve transferred money into the main business account and made sure all the bills that bounced have been paid.
I also made sure Nathan was taken off all the accounts, so he no longer has any access.
” He glanced at the stack of invoices on the corner of the desk.
“I suppose those were things Nathan was supposed to take care of, as well?”
His mother nodded slowly. “I pay our credit cards and things like that, but the Gilroys have always taken care of the ranch’s bills.”
Based on the amount his family had been paying the Gilroys, it was no wonder the East Ranch was their one and only client.
While most CPAs only handled taxes for LLCs and corporations and the occasional individual, the Gilroys had also handled Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable for the East Ranch.
That meant they knew everything there was to know about the Easts and the ranch.
“Your father liked the invoices to come to him, and then he’d bring them to Bill and Nathan,” his mother went on to explain.
Clayton ran a hand down his face. Much of his aggravation stemmed from the fact that these were things he would’ve known had he returned after college.
They were things his brother would’ve made sure to learn before he graduated high school. Because Landon had wanted nothing more than to take over the ranch one day.
Clayton shoved aside those thoughts and leaned forward to rest his forearms on his knees.
“Here’s what’s going to happen. All the bills will get paid.
We’re going to find the stolen cattle and Cochise.
We’re also going to find Nathan. I’ve already put a call in to the FBI.
One way or another, everything is going to work out.
There’s no way we’re going to lose the ranch. ”
“Don’t use all your money on us, son,” she said, her brow furrowed deeply.
“I’ve got more than enough.”
The silence stretched between them. He knew what she was thinking even before the words left her mouth. Still, he held his breath, hoping that she’d let it go.
He should’ve known better.
His father was stubborn, but he had nothing on his mother. She was like a dog with a bone. Determined. Persistent. Tenacious. All of those words described his mother to a T.
“Clayton,” she began.
He sat up. “Don’t,” he warned.
“My heart hurts that the first conversation you and your father have had in years ended in an argument.”
It hadn’t exactly been a fight. More like a disagreement because there had been explicit instructions by the doctor once his father had been released from the hospital that nothing should upset him.
“Dad needs to rest.”
His mother pursed her lips. “Sweetheart, he’s been in charge of the ranch for so long that he doesn’t know any other way to be. He needs to feel as if he’s still part of it.”
“He is.”
She paused, her face falling. “So Ben’s right. You will leave.”
“Let’s focus on what’s happening right now and all the problems facing us.” He wasn’t in the mood to talk about the future or why he couldn’t remain at the ranch.
To his parents, it would always be about Landon. And his brother’s death did play a part in it, but it had gone beyond that. War had changed Clayton in too many ways to even try and explain.
There wasn’t a night that he slept through. Each time he closed his eyes, he was assaulted by nightmares of the brothers in arms that he’d lost—and the men he’d killed in order to stay alive.
“I won’t apologize for enjoying you being here,” his mother said. “Whether you want to believe it or not, the ranch is in your blood. It’s always passed down through family.”
And it probably would have already had Landon not been killed.
Two years older, his brother had been the one capable of doing anything he set his mind to whether it was academics, football, or ranching. Landon had been fearless in everything he did. And he’d excelled at all of it.
He’d shone as brightly as the sun in Clearview. But there had never been any jealousy between the brothers. Clayton had been content to let Landon shoulder the responsibilities of the eldest who would one day take over the ranch because it allowed Clayton to goof off.
But it had all come screeching to a halt one cloudless summer night.
Unable to sit still any longer, Clayton rose and returned to stare out the window. “The Harper boy will be here tomorrow.”
“You think he’ll show?” she asked.
Grateful that she’d allowed him to change the subject, Clayton nodded without looking in her direction. “I’m hoping I can earn his trust so he’ll tell me where the rest of the cattle and Cochise are.”
“If they haven’t already been sold off.”
“Not around here, they haven’t. That means they’d have to haul them somewhere. All the roads are being watched for just such activity.”
He observed his mother in the reflection of the glass as she played with the end of her braid that fell over her shoulder. “So you believe the cattle are still here?”
“I do,” he replied.
“Then let’s hope it works. Those calves could go a long way to helping us pay you back.”
His gaze shifted toward one of the barns and beyond. “I’ve set up men to watch the other herds. No more cattle are going to be stolen from the East Ranch.”
“You can’t stop the thieves if it’s something they want badly enough.”
He turned to his mother. “This ranch has pretty much stayed with the times, but there are other things that should be implemented right away.”
“Like?”
“Surveillance equipment.”
Her soft brown eyes went wide. “We can’t afford that.”
“The first thing I did when I arrived was ride around the ranch and mark the spots where someone could get onto the property undetected. Before I saw Dad, I ordered everything that is needed. Installation begins tomorrow.”
His mother brightened. “So there will be people to cook for?”
He’d never understood why his mother felt the need to cook for the masses, but it made her happy. And she was phenomenal at it. Then there was her baking, which was even better.
“Yes, ma’am.”
She jumped up, mumbling about items she would need from the grocery store. It didn’t take much to bring a smile to his mother’s face.
His gaze drifted upward as his thoughts turned to his father. Things weren’t so simple there. In the four years since he’d last seen his parents, his father had aged greatly. The worry and stress of the ranch had taken its toll.
This was the time when Landon would’ve begun to take more responsibility, allowing their father to ease into retirement—not that men like Ben East ever retired. He’d always have his hand mixed in with the ranch because it’s all he knew.
Clayton looked at the computer once more. The ranch wasn’t exactly bankrupt. There was still revenue coming in with the sales of cattle, but it wasn’t enough to cover expenses.
When he got his hands on Nathan—because he would—he was going to take great pleasure in wringing his neck.
And for some reason, that made him think of Abby. He was fairly certain she’d wanted to do that and more to him when he stopped to help her earlier.
There was something about the spitfire that intrigued him. Perhaps it was her valiant attempt to rein in her brothers. She had a steady head on her shoulders, but the weight of responsibility was taking its toll on her.
And why the hell did he even care? He had to save the ranch, which was why he needed to concentrate instead of thinking about blue eyes and a wealth of curves that begged to be touched.