Amy closed the door behind him and went to sit back at the table, her face in her hands. She scraped back her hair from her face and stared at the peeling wallpaper on the wall. “Daddy, what have you done to me?” She got to her feet and started pacing. “Okay, Amy Grayson, you're smart and innovative. Surely you can come up with a solution?” She opened the door and went to sit outside on the porch. She sat on the porch swing and used her legs to push the chair back and forth. “I have to think,” she muttered. She couldn't call her mother yet and tell her the dilemma because she would be her usual dramatic self and wouldn't be of any help. “I'm going to have to ask Lance,” she decided as she got to her feet to go and get her phone.
*****
He left what he was doing and came over later that afternoon. By that time, she'd calmed down enough to try to think rationally but still hadn't managed to come up with anything. She was sitting on the porch swing with her laptop on her knees when he came bounding up the steps. “I have beer.” She gestured to the case on the table in front of her.
His eyebrows lifted. “Sounds serious.”
“It is.” She indicated the space next to her. “I'm sorry to pull you away. I know you have a lot on your plate.”
“The good thing about being the boss is I get to delegate. What’s going on?”
“I was read my father’s will this morning.”
“And?”
“And I can't sell the damn place. There's a stipulation that says I don't have the authority to sell it.” She closed her laptop. “I've been doing research since the lawyer left, trying to find a way around it. It's airtight and I can't break it. How could I not know that it was something like this?”
“I think this is a sign.”
“A sign of what? I have to be somewhere in two weeks. What am I going to do?”
“I have a favor to ask.”
She turned to look at him. “Ask away.”
He got up from the swing and went to stand at the rail, looking out over the land and noticing that the weeds were strangling the patch of lovely pink roses. Somewhere in the trees, birds were chirping away, and a squirrel scurried its way up the strong oak tree near the barn. He'd been struggling with the idea since he'd seen her and even more so when she'd left the ranch yesterday. “I did my physical three weeks ago and was told some disturbing news.”
“What?”
“I have a heart murmur and as you may or may not know, my dad died of a heart attack.”
“I read something like that.”
He nodded and turned back to her, bracing against the rail, his hands gripping the iron. “My cousin Mason is just waiting for me to drop dead to inherit the ranch and everything else. He pretends that he's okay with the way things are, but I know that he resents me and the fact that I inherited everything. The way the will is set up makes it iron clad. The eldest son inherited the entire thing and, in my case, I was the only child, so I need an heir.”
Amy stared at him with a frown. “So, we both have our sets of problem.”
“And there's a way we can solve them.”
“I'm all ears, honey.”
“There's a way we could both get what we want. You said yourself that you're married to your career and it's the same with me. I want an heir, Amy, and I'm asking you to give me that heir. In return, I'll put men in place here to take care of the ranch for you. You could go on your way and do your job and come back here when it's time for you to have the baby. No strings attached—”
“Are you high?”
He let go of the rail and dragged his fingers through his thick dark hair. “It sounds crazy, but you're the only woman I would trust to ask to do that for me.”
“Lance, this is crazy! We're not that way with each other.”
“We're friends, aren’t we?”
“And I want it to stay that way.” She got up and came to stand in front of him. “I'm not ready for a child, Lance.”
“Neither am I.” He put his hands on her arms and stared at her intently. “It's the only way I know how to hang onto the only thing that means anything to me. Mason is just hovering in the wings waiting to see what happens to me so that he can take over. I cannot afford to let him do that. I really need your help, and before you say a decided no and walk away, please just think about it. Take a couple of days and think about everything. I will respect your wishes if after you've thought about it you decide that you don't want to do it. If you do decide not to do what I ask, I'll still put someone in place to take care of the place for you.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why would you do it for me if I told you that I won't carry your kid?”
He stared at her in surprise. “I guess I owe you for sticking up for me when we were kids and it would be my way to repay you.”
“You don’t owe me anything.” She spread her hands over his chest and felt the warmth of his skin. “You're really in a spot, huh?’
“Yeah, you could say that.” He ran his hands over her arms and let go.
“You haven't found a female who fit the bill of being your wife and someday carrying your child?’
“I was engaged a couple of years ago.”
“Really?” She stepped aside to allow him to get past her and he went to pluck one of the beers from the case. “Want one?”
“Definitely.”
He handed her the bottle and screwed the top off of his, taking a long swallow before he continued. “I thought she was the one that I would be building a life with. The signs were all there. She kept talking about traveling and getting away.”
“She wasn't from here?”
“No.” He shook his head and headed to the rail, leaning against it. “She was here visiting a friend and recovering from an injury. She was an avid sportswoman, interested in all the sports and raved about the ranch, telling me that she loved horses and wanted to stay here. She was tired of the big city and all it had to offer and wanted somewhere like Shadow Point to make her home. We clicked, or at least I thought we did. She would come over early in the morning and ride the range with us and we got close. My parents had died, and she was someone I could talk to and relate to as she'd lost her parents as well. When I asked her to marry me, she was all excited and couldn't wait to get it out there. Sal tried to warn me that she was too high maintenance and too addicted to the bright lights and the hype to ever want to stay here but I didn't want to believe it.” He took another swallow and stared at her for a moment, his green eyes shadowed. “She kept making hints about us leaving and then I just asked her one night we were together, and she told me that she was hoping that I loved her enough to sell the ranch and come with her.”
“So, she was a selfish bitch and you dodged the bullet.”
He grinned ruefully. “Yeah, I guess I did just that.”
“You still in love with her?”
“No.” He shook his head.
“Okay.” She nodded and sipped the beer. “So, if I decide to do this—and it is a big if—what's going to happen?”