“Mom, when are you guys coming back? Now that you don’t have to go all the way to New York, can you come back to Montana?”
“Oh no, honey. We’re on the road. We won’t be back in Montana for a very long time.”
Great. Just fucking great.
“Mom, I wish you’d told me.”
“We were going to, as soon as we got to New York.”
Instead, they surprised me from wherever they were in the sprawling United States, and I was stuck in Flood Creek, with nowhere to go.
Living the RV lifestyle, my ass.
3
ROMAN MAXWELL
“I always knew that Whit Whitaker was an asshole. Now he’s proved it again.”
Mary gave me her best stink eye. Couldn’t blame her. She’d worked for the Whitakers twenty-plus years. I’d hope she’d have some loyalty toward them.
But still.
“Mary, they freaking sold the ranch, took off, and neglected to tell their daughter? In what universe is something like that okay?”
She clicked her tongue like she did when she didn’t approve. The woman had been working for me for only a couple months, but it hadn’t taken long to learn her ticks and understand that while she might be household staff, she didn’t hold back her opinions.
I’d had mad respect for her since day one. I couldn’t deny it. I’d be lost without her.
“Roman, I’m sure there’s a good explanation. The Whitakers don’t operate irresponsibly.”
Hmmm. I had some thoughts about how they operated, but kept them to myself.
“I hope not.”
Because the look on that kid’s face nearly tore my guts out.
Although, she wasn’t much of a kid any longer.
When was the last time I’d seen her? Must have been when she was babysitting my kids, just before her father and I had fallen into the feud of the century. Never saw her again after that. She wasn’t allowed over, which was too bad because the kids loved her. I didn’t blame her, though. It was how her petty father operated.
Shit, that all had happened fifteen years ago. Seemed like a lifetime. Ruby Lee must have been thirteen or fourteen at the time, which would put her at twenty-eight, twenty-nine, now. From our quick meeting a minute ago, she was a far cry from the chubby, frizzy-haired kid she used to be. I’d heard she’d gone off to New York or someplace like that, and I had to say it looked good on her. She’d slimmed down with curves in all the right places, and she had a short, sleek haircut, the kind you didn’t really see much around places like Flood Creek.
I didn’t know about Ruby Lee, but the years had passed quickly for me. My kids had mostly grown, the wife had left me, and while the feud was never resolved, Whitaker sold me everything he had like he couldn’t get out of town fast enough. His kids weren’t interested in taking over the ranch, he’d told me via mail—he couldn’t bring himself to speak to me face-to-face—and he and the wife wanted to retire. Apparently, I offered him the right price. His attorney sent me papers the next day and the deal was set in motion. He cashed out and said so long to Flood Creek. Wouldn’t be surprised if he never stepped foot in the town again.
With Mary sitting right there in front of me, I casually walked over to the window facing the front of the house, peering out like I was assessing the day’s weather. But what I was really doing was checking out Ruby Lee. I’d only gotten a quick eyeful of her and the single guy in me wanted more.
What could I say? Desirable women in Flood Creek were few and far between. And I hadn’t been with a female in far too long.
I watched her sitting on my front steps, her head in her hands.
I had no doubt she was hurting, and I felt for her.
She looked small and vulnerable as she lifted her head off her knees and scanned the horizon of the ranch where she’d grown up. She was a lucky kid to have had free run of her father’s ten thousand-plus acres, where she could do as she pleased without getting into any serious trouble.
It was the life my ex and I had wanted for our kids. And which, in the end, I suppose drove us apart.
Ruby Lee stood from the front step and dusted herself off. She wiped under her eyes and put her hands on her hips, looking around like it was the last time she’d see the place.
Then she turned and rang the doorbell.
I looked to Mary. “Shit. This is terrible. But there’s nothing I can do about it. Is there?”
Mary’s chin lifted as she stood to answer the door. “There most certainly is something you can do to help her. She grew up here, Roman. You can’t just cast her out. She’s a Whitaker.”
Shit. I hadn’t planned for a long-absent daughter to be part of the Flood Creek Ranch deal.
When I thought back, my beef with Whit Whitaker could have been resolved without too much trouble. He owed me money for letting his cattle graze on my land. It had been my naïve mistake to settle for a verbal agreement, rather than something written. When it came time for him to pay… crickets. He’d never intended to give me a damn cent. I had my attorney contact him and learned that because I had nothing in writing, I was shit out of luck.
I knew I could round up his cattle on my land and hold them for payment, but I didn’t want to get involved in a shit show like that. I built a fence on the border of our property, and that was the end of that.
But I’d never trusted the fucker again, and he knew it. I’d made sure all the other ranchers at the local livestock council knew how he operated, and his reputation went down the shitter. That hurt him far more than the few thousand bucks he’d owed me.
I was glad to do it.
4
ROMAN
Mary brought Ruby Lee back into my office where she stood wringing her hands.
“I just want to say I’m sorry I barged in like this. I had no idea. My parents hadn’t told me because they were heading to New York to surprise me, while I was heading here to surprise them.” She looked down and shook her head sadly. “I feel so stupid.”
From the corner of my office, Mary was side-eyeing me. I knew what I had to do.
Ruby Lee sniffled and held her head back up, like she was trying to be brave. “I’ll get out of your hair now.”
Mary walked over and put a hand on her arm, glowering at me. “Wait a minute, honey. Where are you going?”
She took a deep breath. “I’ll go to the hotel in town.”
Mary shot me a look.
Well, damn. “Um, Ruby Lee, the hotel burned down a couple years ago. It hasn’t been rebuilt. Permitting issues.”
I don’t know what shocked her more, knowing her childhood home was sold off or that the Flood Creek hotel was gone. Because that’s when she sank into the chair opposite my desk and covered her face with her hands.
“Shit, shit, shit,” she murmured. “What about the saloon? Did the Flood Creek Saloon burn too?”
It was funny to see my former babysitter so concerned about the saloon. But she was plenty old enough to enter one, that was for sure.
I gave a small laugh. I couldn’t help it. “Yes. The saloon is still there.”
She actually looked a little relieved, probably more for the comfort of something familiar than an actual place to drink and hang out with ranch hands and cowboys.