Chapter Two #2
“No promises,” Jordan muttered under his breath as they headed back across the bridge toward the rowdiest bar in Marietta.
*
Lil forked soiled straw out of the goat pen into the wheelbarrow.
The pen didn’t really need a full clean and straw replacement, but she’d finished chores shortly after Meg had headed to town for her new employee training at the Marietta School District, and Lil needed to move.
If she couldn’t ride—and she couldn’t until this meeting was over—then she’d burn off nervous energy by cleaning pens.
Which Jordan Matthews was going to show up? The hot local cowboy that Aubrey had pointed out in the Graff Hotel bar? Or an out-of-stater who would turn the property over to a management company for the remainder of the lease and leave her and Meg alone?
It shouldn’t be a big deal, although she was making it feel like one.
She and whichever Jordan Matthews showed up on the Willow Creek Ranch would introduce themselves.
He’d tell her where to send the lease money.
She’d give him the list of long overdue repairs that the former management company had ignored during the previous owner’s illness.
She couldn’t see where trouble might edge in, but if she’d learned one thing over the past two years, it was that trouble found a way. It was wearing her down.
She stabbed the fork into the straw. That’s not the kind of thinking that got you where you are today.
She lifted the loaded fork and dropped the contents into the heaping barrow.
Actually, stubbornness, not positive thinking, got her where she was today. That and a little help from her older sister Maya who’d worked for the late Chicago businessman who owned the ranch they now leased. She’d take it.
Lil started wheeling the barrow toward the big bay door at the rear of the barn when she heard the sound of a truck engine. Unless UPS was wildly early, zero hour was here.
She abandoned the wheelbarrow, brushed the loose straw off her jeans, then stepped out of the barn to see a dark blue Ford F-350 pickup crossing the cattleguard.
She pulled the brim of her cap down to shade her eyes against the sun, which had topped the trees as he pulled to stop next to her beat-up ranch Chevy.
Point to Aubrey. The man behind the wheel was indeed her Jordan Matthews.
She tugged the brim of the cap a touch lower.
“Morning,” he said with an easy smile as he stepped out of the truck. Before she could answer, his eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “I saw you last night.”
Warmth bloomed inside of her, an unexpected and uncomfortable reaction.
Last night she’d been dressed in her cowgirl best and her hair had been down and almost tamed.
Today she was dressed in jeans and an oversized hoodie, her dark hair caught into a ponytail.
Not a huge change, but with the cap shading her eyes, she was surprised he recognized her so quickly.
She pushed up the brim that was no longer serving her purpose.
“My friend told me that you had the same name as my landlord, but she didn’t think my new landlord could be you.”
And damn, aren’t you even better up close than you were at a distance?
He gave off a masculine vibe that made her aware of things that she usually wasn’t, like, oh say, the way his jeans fit.
And despite her nerves, she liked noticing.
Liked the sense of something dormant coming awake.
Circumstances, however, demanded that she stop noticing. She needed her wits about her.
“You could have said hello,” he said easily. “Found out if it was true.”
“Wasn’t the time,” she said simply, shaking off the awareness of the man and focusing on business.
“No,” he agreed after a moment’s thought. “Probably not. Where do you want to talk?”
“The kitchen table. Isn’t that where all ranch business is conducted?”
He gestured toward the house. “Lead the way.”
Despite his easy manners, Jordan Matthews had a professional air about him, as if negotiations and meetings were a way of life, and that didn’t exactly jibe with the cowboy exterior.
Lil glanced at him as they walked. “What do you do for a living?”
“I’m between things right now, so I’m cowboying for my dad. Moving cattle, stuff like that.”
“You didn’t happen to see some cattle at the Graff last night?”
The instant shift in his expression sparked a ridiculous idea.
“Were those your cows?”
“My friend’s cows.”
She stopped dead. “Why were your friend’s cattle running through the parking lot of the Graff Hotel?”
“Are you acquainted with Burke Thurley?”
She shook her head, although she recalled Aubrey mentioning the name. Local wild man, she recalled.
“If you were acquainted with him, you’d understand.” His dark eyebrows came together. “Did you happen to turn those cattle? Because rumor has that some women did the job.”
“Maybe.”
He laughed, giving Lil the impression that he was a guy who naturally saw the upside of life. “Then we owe you a debt of gratitude. If you hadn’t done that, I’m sure we would have been chasing cows all over downtown Marietta.”
“You were lucky to have three women with ranch experience on the far end of the alley.”
“Trust me, it was the luckiest thing that happened all evening.”
“Did you get the cows out of town?” Lil asked.
“That’s on Burke. Washed my hands of the matter.”
They continued across the wide gravel swatch that separated house and barn, and Lil couldn’t help but notice that he didn’t seem that interested in his surroundings.
Maybe he was already familiar with the place.
Even so, if she were in his shoes and viewing her inheritance, she would have been drinking everything in.
After he said no to coffee and they’d taken their seats on opposite sides of the pine table her father had made decades ago, Lil opened the folder that held the printed copy of the lease and the list of needed repairs.
As she pulled out the lease, she considered mentioning the coincidence of Jordan’s first name and his benefactor’s last name being the same, then decided to skip the small talk. It was time to get down to business.
“Carl Jordan’s property management company wasn’t responsive after he passed away. I hope that you’ll be better at honoring the conditions of the lease.”
Jordan’s expression shifted. The comfortable-in-his-own-skin cowboy suddenly didn’t seem so comfortable. “About the lease.”
Lil worked to keep her expression carefully neutral despite the twisting sensation in her midsection. The bad thing was coming.
“I’m going to sell this property.”
The bad thing had arrived, but she was ready, having discussed this possibility with her lawyer sister. “I understand,” she said calmly. “In the meantime—” She started to push the document across the table, but he put his fingers on the top page, stopping her.
“My potential buyer doesn’t want a lessee.”
And there it was. The really bad thing.
An odd calm settled over her as she leaned back in her chair. The calm of battle perhaps?
“That’s a shame, because they have one.”
“The sale is contingent on—”
“We’re staying. The language of the lease is solid. You can’t make us leave.” Thanks to Maya’s diligence, they were safe in that regard, but that didn’t keep Lil’s heart from thudding against her ribs as she faced off with the man across the table.
Jordan’s expression had gone dark, yet his voice was even, when he spoke. “I’m offering a buyout to break the lease and a reasonable time to vacate. I’ll help you find another place. Hell, I’ll help you move.”
“No.”
His gaze narrowed at her stony reply. “You want to hear me out?”
“You have rights. I have rights.” Lil spoke carefully.
She had to work with this man, and she didn’t want to burn bridges.
That said, she wasn’t going to be ramrodded into anything, and he needed to understand that.
“You can sell anytime you’d like, and I can stay put for the next five and a half years.
The owner of the property, whoever that might be, is responsible for repairs to the infrastructure.
” Lil’s heart was beating harder as she passed him the list, but as far as she could tell she was maintaining her poker face.
To Jordan Matthews’s credit he actually glanced at the paper.
“When can I expect some action on this matter?” she asked.
Jordan pushed back his chair. “We can discuss this again after you’ve had some time to reflect.”
“I don’t need to reflect. I need to know when the repairs will be finished.” And didn’t she sound like the badass?
He got to his feet and Lil also stood.
He was maybe four inches taller than her, tall enough that she had to tilt up her chin to meet his dark gaze. “I’ll make it worth your while to move.”
“Why?”
“Simple,” he said, his expression blanking out. “I want to get rid of this place as soon as humanly possible.”