Chapter Six #2
His question reminded her of why she’d sought him and Frankie out in the first place.
Then the calf had distracted her and she’d let Frankie slip away.
But she was coming back. While Trish waited, she sat on the hay bale petting the calf, and she noticed another movement in the stall.
Some loose straw moved, and then a little furry black head popped out of it.
Two topaz eyes blinked up at her. Then, from the back of the hay bale where she sat, another little black furball launched itself at the other one.
And the two kittens tumbled across the floor.
“Ah, kittens, too.” Tears stung her eyes at how perfect it was.
She could already imagine her children playing here with the calf and kittens.
But she wanted more animals. And more children.
She wanted her kids to have friends like she’d had in Maci and Frankie.
When she’d gone back to the city after her idyllic summers on the ranch, she’d been so lonely without them, but she’d lived on the memories of everything they’d done together at the Four Corners.
Riding horses. Feeding the cattle. Camping out under the stars. She’d been so safe and happy here.
“Somebody dumped a litter off here a few weeks ago,” Brett said. “We’ve managed to get rid of all but those two.”
She gasped. “Get rid of?”
He grimaced and looked appalled again. “We didn’t hurt them. Blake delivered one to my dad and two to Maci. And there’s a little orange one living in the house.”
“Why are these two still out in the barn?” she asked. “Are you leaving them out here to take care of rodents?”
They hissed and spit at each as they rolled around the stall floor in their tight embrace. Then one broke free and bounced around on all fours, her back arched high and her hair raised.
“They’re a little young to hunt mice. But they certainly have a lot of energy and that’s why they’re out here,” he said. “The orange one is calm. We couldn’t have these wild ones in the house waking up Lucy. She’s just finally starting to sleep through the night.”
“Oh…”
“I answered your question,” he said. “So when are you going to answer mine? What have you decided about the will?”
“You asked me if I can respect my father’s wishes,” she reminded him. “And I want to know if you and Frankie can respect mine. I came out here to talk to the two of you.”
Frankie had escaped as fast as she could. Even though she’d claimed to need a bottle for the calf, she wasn’t back yet. Trish couldn’t imagine it would have taken her that long to fix it.
Brett pushed his hat back farther yet, and his forehead had deep furrows in it as he stared at her with narrowed eyes.
“What do you mean by respecting your wishes? It seemed like, with this lawsuit, that you wished to get rid of me and my brothers and even your cousin. That you wanted the whole place to yourself. I can’t respect that when I know it’s not what your father wanted. ”
Heat rushed to her face. “I don’t mean that. And I never really intended to sue—”
“Then your lawyer wasn’t respecting your wishes,” Brett said.
She did need to speak with Nolan again to make sure that he knew her decision was hers alone and nobody influenced it. But she wasn’t sure she could make that decision just yet.
“I didn’t really mean my wishes,” she said, and her head was beginning to pound with the weariness that suddenly overwhelmed her. “I meant me. Can you and Frankie respect and work with me?”
“Why are you just worried about me and Frankie?” he asked, his dark eyes narrowing even more.
More heat rushed to her face that she’d slipped up and revealed more than she’d intended to. “I…uh…” She didn’t know what to say without risking him getting upset with Blake and Maci.
“Because the ranch is all I have?” he asked. “Because it’s my life?”
“So I’m not the only one who’s overheard things today,” she surmised.
He nodded. “Yeah, your mother might have been right to warn you about eavesdropping.”
“That was the only thing she was right about,” Trish said.
“Difficult relationship?”
“Difficult woman,” she said. “I’m sure my father must have told you about her.” If they were as close as everyone seemed to think they’d been.
His face flushed a bit now. “Yeah, he told me to never get married. That women can’t be trusted not to break your heart and take everything away that matters most to you.”
Tears stung her eyes as sadness rushed over her. “He never got over the divorce.”
“He never got over losing you,” Brett said.
She pressed a hand against her heart that ached with loss and regret. Tears slid down her face.
“I’m sorry,” Brett said, and then he was there, on his knees next to the calf. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
She peered at him through her tears. “Really?”
He groaned. “I don’t know. I just…” He shook his head. “It’s hard…”
She nodded in agreement. “Much harder than I thought it would be.” To deal with all the guilt that overwhelmed her.
She could have done more, should have tried harder.
Like Frankie had said, she should have asked her or her dad when she’d overheard her mom saying that her father had given her up for the ranch.
Brett reached out then and lightly touched her cheek. Her skin tingled, and her breath caught at the sensation of his fingertips against her face. He jerked his hand back. “I…you look exhausted. Why don’t you go back to the house and rest for a while?”
Despite the little zip in her pulse from his touch, she was wiped. Beyond exhausted. And it wasn’t just from the long drive and the little sleep she’d had; it was the emotional toll of being here at the ranch again.
And dealing with the fallout from her recent actions. She wanted to talk to Frankie, too, but she wasn’t sure she was up for more recrimination. She already felt so horribly guilty.
She nodded. “I think you might be right.”
His lips curved into a faint smile. “You’ll find that I often am.”
She smiled back at him. “We’ll see about that.”
He nodded. “Yes, we will.” Then he helped her up from the hay bale like his brother had from the couch, by taking her hand.
Once more, she felt that zip of awareness and attraction rush through her that she only felt with Brett.
She quickly dropped his hand and hurried toward the open door of the horse stall.
It was only after she was halfway back to the house that she realized he hadn’t answered her question about whether or not he could respect her.
They wouldn’t be able to work together, let alone live together, if he couldn’t. She’d been in relationships before where she hadn’t been respected, and she wouldn’t be in another one like that.
Not that this relationship with Brett Lemmon would ever be anything but professional. That was the only kind of relationship she would allow herself beyond the ones with her family. And no matter how her dad had felt about them, the Lemmons were not family to her.
* * *
Nerves jumped around in Blake’s stomach. “I think I blew it,” he admitted to Maci in a whisper once they were alone on the front porch of the house.
She wound her arm through his and leaned against his shoulder. “Why would you think that? You offered to show her the books. It wasn’t your fault she didn’t want to look at them right now.”
He groaned. “It might have been.”
“Why? What did you do?” She sounded more curious than alarmed. Thankfully, she trusted him.
“We were talking about everyone being able to get along,” Blake said.
“She and I talked about that, too,” Maci admitted.
“And I might have mentioned that she’d only have to worry about Frankie and Brett…”
Maci groaned now.
“So you think I screwed up?”
“I told her the same thing,” Maci said. “That they’re not as likely to forgive her.”
Blake nodded. “That’s why she didn’t look at the books. She went outside to find them.”
“And I saw Frankie head back here right after Trish left,” Maci said.
“I know. So Frankie didn’t give her a chance to talk about it.” Not that Blake was particularly surprised by that. Frankie had lit into that lawyer. He couldn’t blame her for that, though. He’d been tempted to do the same after all the stress Nolan Stokes had caused Maci.
“And Brett?” Maci asked.
Blake pointed to where Trish was walking slowly back from the barn. Alone. Her shoulders were slumped, and her steps were small as if she barely had the energy to put one foot in front of the other. “She doesn’t look like that conversation went well, either.”
“Then we weren’t wrong to warn her,” Maci said. “But, hopefully we’re wrong now, and everything went well.”
When Trish looked up and noticed them standing on the porch, her posture stiffened.
Then she grasped the railing beside the steps, using it to pull herself up to join them.
“I’m really tired right now,” she said. That much was apparent from the dark circles beneath her eyes and the paleness of her skin.
“I don’t want to talk anymore today about the will or the ranch or…
” Her throat moved as if she was struggling to swallow. “Or my father…”
“Go, get some rest,” Blake urged her.
“You must not have eaten much either,” Maci said. “I can make you something and bring it in.”
Trish shook her head. “No. I just need to sleep right now.”
Blake pulled open the door for her and held it. Then he murmured, “I’m sorry…”
Trish stopped and stared up at him. “Why?” she asked. “You’ve been very kind.”
“I’m not apologizing for myself,” he admitted. He was apologizing for whatever his big brother and Frankie had done that had exhausted her so much.
She smiled and shook her head. “That’s not necessary.” She walked through the open door and through the one to the main bedroom without telling him why his apology was unnecessary.
“What do you think she meant by that?” Blake asked Maci as he closed the door behind her old friend.
Maci shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe she didn’t talk to either of them, and we’ve just been jumping to conclusions. Or maybe she did talk to them, and it didn’t go as badly as we think. Or…”
“Or?” Blake prodded when she trailed off.
“Or she knows you’re not responsible for whatever Brett or Frankie might have said to her, so she doesn’t think it’s necessary for you to apologize,” Maci said.
Blake sighed. “That’s what worries me. Whatever Brett or Frankie said…” He groaned again. “She was so close to agreeing to accept the terms of the will.”
Maci tilted her head. “I’m not so sure. She promised her lawyer she wouldn’t agree to anything until she talked to him—”
“And he’s going to do everything he can to make sure she doesn’t settle,” Blake finished.
Maci groaned now. “I know from experience how good he is at stating his case.” Despite how hard Blake knew that Maci had worked, Stokes had kept getting extensions from the probate judge to put off settling the estate.
“I thought this was all going to be over once she got here,” Blake said. That was why those nerves kept jumping around in his gut, because he had a feeling that nothing was going to be settled.
He glanced back toward the barn just as Brett rode off on the back of his black horse. The hooves kicked up dust from how hard and fast Brett was riding away from the house. Away from Trish Dempsey…
Was that because he was angry with her? Or for another reason?
Like maybe he couldn’t stay as angry with her as he wanted to be.
Brett had adopted Frank Dempsey’s attitude about relationships—that they weren’t worth the risk.
While Blake had always admired and idolized his older brother, he knew how wrong Brett was about that.
Love was worth every risk.