Chapter Seventeen
“I didn’t get out of my truck,” Burke said seriously. “Just like you asked.”
Lil and Jordan had driven to the sheriff’s office after dropping Trev at Hayes’s truck in the aspens.
There they waited while Burke made his statement.
Once he was released, they walked him to his truck, which was in amazingly good shape.
Why Connery had done what he’d done was still a mystery, but at least he wouldn’t be doing it again.
“How did you manage to pin his truck against a tree?”
“It was kind of tricky. You see, he made a run at my truck. Like he was going to T-bone me.”
“And you were …”
“Stopped at a forty-five across the road with trees on both sides. No way could he get past me.” He demonstrated the angle with his hand. “Figured that if I could keep him from leaving, I should, then call you. I didn’t know there wasn’t much signal.”
The three of them stared at him, waiting for more.
“So he opens his window and yells ‘get outta my way’ and I yell ‘no’, because now I recognize him as that real estate guy. He yells again and, well, pretty soon he comes at me, but I’m not completely sideways.
Like I said, I’m at a forty-five. So I gun it at the last minute, so he doesn’t T-bone me, but he clips the rear of the Power Wagon, spins me around and knocks his Ford into that tree.
” He smiled. “After he hangs up, he hits the gas hard, but he can’t get traction, so I real quick back my truck against his door.
” Burke gave a little laugh. “I didn’t stop until I felt the side of his truck give.
Crimped the frame, but he mashed my rear quarter panel, so, fair’s fair.
” Burke gave a satisfied nod at the memory.
“You should have seen him beating on the windows trying to get out. Those don’t break as easy as you’d think.
” He nodded sagely. “That’s why you should always have a tool in your cab. Sneakers just don’t do it.”
When he finished his story, Jordan cleared his throat. “I told you not to take chances,” he pointed out.
“I didn’t,” Burke said. “I stayed in my truck, and I kept him from leaving. I mean it was the real estate guy.”
Trev shrugged, because it was true, and Jordan had to agree.
“We appreciate it,” Jordan said.
“This guy will talk,” Burke assured him. “I’ve seen his kind. He’s a save-his-ass weasel guy.”
Jordan hoped so and he was looking forward to hearing the story. Would this make Libby Weston more likely to tell him? He doubted it.
“Burke saved the day,” Lil said as they walked to the truck, a good two feet of air separating them.
“He did. I just wish he hadn’t taken so many damned chances in the process.”
“Steer wrestler,” Lil replied.
“There’s no fixing that,” Jordan agreed.
Lil smiled wearily as he opened the truck door for her.
“I want to stay at your place until we have answers.”
She nodded instead of replying, so Jordan took a chance and reached for her hand, feeling a wash of relief when she linked her fingers with his.
“I’m tired,” she said. “I want to go home.”
The local fire chief was getting into his truck when Lil and Jordan arrived at the Willow Creek after a silent drive to the ranch.
He got back out again as Jordan pulled to a stop.
The cause of the fire wasn’t exactly a mystery.
Connery had stunk of accelerant when the deputy and tow truck driver finally got him out of the squeezed truck cab, and the fire chief found a can that smelled of kerosene not far from the barn.
The McAllens kept no kerosene on the property.
The question to be answered was why Connery had set the fire. Once Jordan knew that, then he would be in a position to make decisions, as tough as some of them may be.
“Do you want us to bring the trailer back?” Trev asked before he and Hayes headed to their truck.
“Not tonight.” He wasn’t leaving Lil.
“What are you going to do?” Trev asked. “Sleep in the barn?”
“The couch,” Lil said.
“Good,” Meg said. “In that case, Betty and I are going to bed.”
Lil and Jordan followed Meg to the house as his brothers drove away. Lil stopped short of the door. Then she walked into his arms and squeezed him tight. When she let go, she didn’t look at him. Instead, she said, “I’ll get you some blankets.”
*
Lil woke the next morning to a tap on her door. It had been a hellishly long night, made only slightly better by Jordan’s presence. If he hadn’t offered to stay, she would have asked.
When she cracked the door, she was surprised to see Jordan and not Meg in the hall. She opened the door wider, but he stayed put in the hall.
“I heard from Libby. Do you care if she stops by?”
“Here?”
“If you agree. If not, then I’ll come up with another place.”
“Here is fine.” Lil gripped the door frame. “Does she know what happened?”
“You’re not going to believe this—she was Connery’s phone call from jail. She knows and she’s upset.”
“This should be good,” Lil said.
Shortly after noon that day, a sedan drove into the ranch and parked near the front gate leading to the house. He and Meg and Lil had already consumed a pot of coffee during the wait, and another was brewing.
Libby Weston was not alone. A man in his fifties, dressed in jeans and a tailored wool jacket, took her arm as they walked together toward the door.
“Lawyer?” Meg asked.
“That’d be my guess,” Jordan said as Lil went to the door. Libby stepped into the kitchen looking very much like a woman who was about to run a board meeting, until she met Jordan’s gaze and he realized that she was nervous. Well, she was in enemy territory.
“Good morning, Jordan. This is my associate Greg Connery.”
“Related to—”
“Yes,” she said, unbuttoning her coat.
“Lillian McAllen,” he pointed to Lil. “Megan McAllen.” He used their full names since this appeared to be a formal meeting.
After introductions, Meg poured coffee and the five of them took seats at the big oak table.
“Have you been here before?” Lil asked.
Libby shook her head, then pulled her cup closer to her.
“We lived in Washington State when my father bought the place in the 1970s.” She glanced at her associate, who merely nodded.
“He was thinking getaway hotel at the time, something along the lines of what Sun Valley, Idaho had been in the thirties and forties, then decided it was too much for him. He made a decent profit when Carl bought it, so that worked out.” She focused on her coffee cup.
“I met Carl when he bought the property. Dad wanted me to oversee the sale because he was out of the country, so I did. We fell in love.” She brought her gaze up to meet Jordan’s.
“No. I did not know about you or his affair with your mother until the reading of the will.”
Jordan didn’t press for more. “Why did Con—Jess call you last night?”
She sniffed. “He thought I would bail him out.” She looked at Greg and it was obvious to Jordan that it was more than a casual glance from an associate.
These two knew one another well. Maybe too well, which might have led to Carl wanting to have some posthumous revenge.
“My half-brother Jess and I went into partnership with Libby to develop this property under the assumption that Libby would inherit her father’s former ranch and that she could choose not to renew the conservancy, thus linking the properties,” Greg said.
“We had investors provide predevelopment funding with the understanding that they would receive their money back if the project didn’t progress as planned.
” A sour look crossed his face. “Jess was careless with the funds.”
“Embezzlement?” Meg asked.
“We are not putting a name to anything,” Libby said. “But given the circumstances, I thought it was best if there are no secrets about what led to this unfortunate series of events.”
“Libby and I had no clue as to what was going on,” Greg added. “That’s why we’re here. Transparency. Long story short, I’m suing my brother.”
“I’m glad you’re going the legal route,” Lil muttered.
Libby’s chin went up. “We don’t shoot cows, Ms. McAllen.”
Lil raised her eyebrows at the woman. “Okay then.” Jordan reached for her hand under the table lacing their fingers together.
“Do you know why your husband didn’t leave you the ranch?” he asked Libby.
A personal question, but he figured, in the light of transparency, she might actually solve the mystery.
“We were not close,” she said shortly. “Not for the last decade anyway. Carl was not an easy man to be around. That said, I honestly thought I would inherit my due. I stood by his side, supported him when he needed it. Played the game,” she said in a low voice before clearing her throat.
“It was … stunning … to discover that I wasn’t going to inherit the company.
After he told me, Greg and I decided to move forward with our plans for this property.
I never dreamed … I mean, why would he tell me about the company and not the rest? ”
No one had an answer for that.
“We figured buying the ranch back would be relatively easy with the terms Libby offered,” Greg said, “and then we could proceed with the project.”
“But you couldn’t have tenants,” Lil concluded.
“Obviously.” Greg turned to Jordan. “You wouldn’t reconsider?”
Jordan squeezed Lil’s fingers. “No.”
Greg pushed his chair back. “If you change your … never mind.” He’d apparently flashed on his brother’s tactics to get Jordan to change his mind. “You are probably going to be called to give a deposition when I start legal action.”
“Not a problem.” He kind of looked forward to nailing Connery. “Your brother owes us a cow. And barn repairs. We might be filing our own lawsuit.”
*
Libby Weston and Greg Connery left shortly after Jordan had agreed to cooperate with their lawsuit if they needed him.
Almost as soon as the door closed behind them, Meg said, “How am I supposed to concentrate on lesson plans after all this?”
“By knowing that it’s over?” Lil glanced at Jordan and he nodded.
“I think it is. Now we pick up the pieces.”
It was time to head home, tell his family about the new development, but the truth was that he wasn’t in any hurry to leave the Willow Creek. More importantly, Lil wasn’t showing him the door.
“I want to go take another look at the damage,” Lil said.
She started for the door and Jordan automatically followed, wondering if she was talking about more than the barn.
She’d been quiet all morning, which wasn’t surprising, given the circumstances, and they hadn’t found a time to be alone.
He sensed that they both wanted to hear what Libby Weston had to say before embarking on more important matters.
Now that it was time to do that, he was a little afraid. But Lil was surprisingly all business.
And for some unknown reason, maybe that gut instinct of his, he found that encouraging.
It felt like his old Lil was back. Dare he hope?
“Do you think Joe Whitney was ever involved?” she asked as they headed down the walk.
“We might never know. I don’t think Jess will bring up hiring him and I don’t think Joe is going to admit to shooting an animal. That said, Greg was insistent that Jess was not comfortable with guns.” But he was certainly able to cut fences and plug culverts.
Jordan followed Lil to the back of the barn where the scorched boards and pile of black ash and debris spoke of near disaster. They’d come so close to losing the barn, perhaps some of her animals. Lil reached for his hand. He captured her fingers in his and she hung on tightly.
But for how long?
She answered the question more quickly than he’d anticipated. “I’ve decided to quit dodging the truth.” It was a bald statement of fact, one that made his heart jump.
“Okay.”
“Not taking chances sucks because it just doesn’t work. You can’t control the uncontrollable. Can you?”
“You can’t,” he agreed.
She let go of his hand, let out a soft breath as if gearing up to give a lecture. “You called this our barn when you were talking to the deputy.”
“I did.” It’d been a slip. He hadn’t thought she’d noticed. “I think of it that way.”
“Me too.”
He went still even as a small part of him started a happy dance. “You’re thinking our barn.”
She turned to him, took his face in her hands, her palms cool against his skin. “Yes. Our barn, Jordan. I can’t keep living with one foot out the door. It’s not bringing me any kind of peace. I got exactly what I asked for with you, an amazing short-term relationship. It wasn’t enough.”
“It was not,” he agreed solemnly.
“If I’m going to take a chance on anyone or anything, it will be you.”
“About time,” he muttered, closing his arms around her, breathing in the scent of her hair, her skin, his future.
“Romantic,” she replied.
But the barriers were disintegrating. Lil was once again his Lil.
“Truthful.”
She made a noise in her throat. “You know I attract disaster.” She eased back, sliding her hands up his chest and then linking them behind his neck.
He settled his hands at her waist. “You calling me names?”
“A little bit.”
He laughed and leaned down to kiss her, lost himself for a moment, then came back to reality. “I want you to know I understand about the foot out the door thing. Did a little of that myself.”
“I know,” she said quietly. “And when you stopped doing that it caused me some concern, but”—she gave a matter-of-fact shrug, as if everything was settled—“I love you, Jordan. Running away just isn’t an option. I’d rather take a chance and feel the pain later.”
“Don’t be thinking pain, babe.” He pulled her hips against his as he brought his forehead down to meet hers. “I know this might be rough in the beginning, us being new to staying in one place and all. If you need space—”
“I’ll take it. I expect you to do the same, although, honestly, right now I don’t want space, if you know what I mean.”
He knew.
“In that case …” He let his voice trail and kissed her again.
They started toward the house, then Jordan stopped and turned to look out over the sunlit pasture, watching the grazing cattle. “So damned peaceful. It’s hard to believe what last night was like.”
Lil leaned into him, resting her head against his shoulder. “It was a bad night,” she murmured. “But it led to good things.”
“Yes,” he said.
The ranch felt like home, like a place worth fighting for, which made him wonder if his dead father had gotten one over on him, or if he’d gotten one over on his father.
“You’re still my landlord,” Lil murmured.
“I guess I am.”
She raised her eyebrows. “I’m going to need this barn fixed.”
The End