“She's this fancy book editor who travels the world, a career path that means the world to her. James wasn't able to persuade her to come and be with him for even a couple of weeks and that near broke his heart. She sent tickets for him to come and be with her when she was in some country or the other, but he always held out hope that she would come and take her place here.”
“Did you know about the will?”
Sal nodded and reached for a beer. “I did. The ranch, as is the case with yours, has been in his family for generations. I guess he figured it was something that was going to keep her here.”
“She likes bright lights and the city.”
“You've been there before boy,” Sal reminded him.
“And this time I know what I'm getting into. She's honest Sal, that’s who she is, and she's not going to tell me what I want to hear. She's going to be straight with me,” he said with a shrug.
“You're right.” Sal nodded. “And I'm rooting for you all the way. It'll be good to have a little one running around this massive house. I remember when you used to get under everyone’s foot. When you were crawling and dragging down everything in sight. It was something to behold,” he added with a grin.
“I'm looking forward to seeing it myself.”
Chapter 5
All day Tuesday he forced himself not to think about it or her. He plunged himself into the work, which wasn't hard as there was a lot going on. The heat had abated a little bit as the end of August drew to a close. In Shadow Point, the heat was intense from the beginning of June until the end of August and then the cooling air started to roll in as September set in, preparing them for the brutal winter that they always experienced. Billings Ranch had a stellar reputation for producing prizewinning cattle and that had been the case over the years. The demand had come in rapidly and they were busy trying to fill the orders as fast as they could. Not to mention the fact that they tagged their cattle instead of branding them and had been fortunate so far not to have a lot of petty thievery going on. The rolling hills were great for grazing and the rounding up of the thousands of cattle took up a lot of time. There were also horses to put through their paces and that job was left to only three people: Lance, Sal and Jim, all three men had the utmost expertise in attending to horses, so the job was left to them. The end of August also heralded the beginning of several rounds of parties that the ranch hosted. Lance usually hired a number of locals to help with the catering and to help his chef with some of the cooking as well.
“Hey!” Sal shouted out as he turned his horse to take off in the opposite direction. It was almost six p.m.. and he'd skipped lunch to get the work done. “How about taking a break? The rest of the men are heading to the common area to grab a bite to eat. What about you?”
Lance hesitated a moment and then nodded. He turned his horse and cantered over to Sal, falling into line as they set an easy pace towards the area known as the common area, where there was always food and water supplied for the men whenever they wanted to take a break. It had been built during his dad’s time and had been his idea; to have a place where they could relax during and after work. It was an oblong building with several partitions for the food area and an area set up where they could play pool or just sit around and play cards while they shot the breeze. It was also an area where they could get in out of the cold and hole up in case a bad storm kept them overnight. A few of the men stayed there when they didn't feel like going home.
“You've been mighty quiet since the day started,” Sal commented as he patted his horse down.
“Aren’t I usually?” Lance asked in amusement, his green eyes scanning the area, looking for strays.
“More so than usual. Still haven't heard anything from her?”
“No. But the day isn't yet over.”
“Have you checked your phone?”
“An hour ago.”
“Why not check it again?” Sal urged.
“I checked it an hour ago and there was nothing.”
“That was an hour ago, and even one minute makes a difference. Check before we reach the common area.”
Lance shrugged and reached into his saddle bag to take his phone out. He turned it on and felt his heart somersault as he realized that there was indeed a message from her. “Come over when you can. We need to talk.”
What the hell does that mean?
“Well?”
“She wants me to come over.”
“There you go.”
“It might mean bad news.”
“Or it might mean good news.” Sal gathered his reins with the intention of moving ahead. “Let’s go so that you can get out of here.”
*****
His heart slammed clear inside his chest when she opened the door to admit him. He hadn't been able to get away until after eight and had called and told her and she'd told him that it was fine. Her hair was loose around her full face and she wasn't wearing makeup, not that she needed it! The robe was black and see-through, so much so that he could see every inch of her caramel skin. “Come on in. I just thought that I would make a statement instead of saying the words.” She stepped back to admit him. “There's wine chilling in a bucket in my bedroom and the sheets are turned down. I figured we might as well get started on getting me pregnant. I'm ovulating now, so it's the perfect time.”
He stood rooted to the spot as he stared at her.
“You're certainly making a statement.” He cleared his throat noisily.
“I tend to do that,” she told him with a grin as she led the way to her bedroom. She walked over to basket and pulled the bottle of wine out, holding it up. “Mom taught me fascinating things about wines. Chianti, one of my favorites. Dad has a wine cellar in the basement. I gave him a couple of wines for Christmas last year when I was in Italy. I guess he didn't feel like drinking alone, because they're still down there unopened. You do the honors.” She handed him the bottle and bent to pick up the glasses. He popped the cork and used his hand to stop the wine from frothing over. He had to avoid looking at her or he was afraid he was going to disgrace himself! She was calm and matter-of-fact about the entire thing and he had to be as well. He'd told her that this was going to be an arrangement and he was careful to keep it that way.
“What about you?” she asked as he poured the wine.
“What about me?”
“Do you have a great love for wine?”
“I'm a beer person myself,” he told her with a faint smile.
“I like beer myself.” She gestured towards the sofa and went to sit down. He hesitated a moment and came to sit down next to her. “But some occasions call for vintage don’t you think?”
He turned sideways, his green eyes wandering over her face and the gaping material that exposed her flesh. “I quite agree. So, I take it you've made up your mind?”
“I was shooting for the obvious here so I wouldn't have to say it. Let’s drink to our mutual solution to our problems.” She lifted her glass and he clinked his against it. Taking a deep breath, he drank the wine. No matter the amount of deep breathing, he couldn't stop from being nervous. “Why are you so calm?”