Hill Country Redemption

Chapter Three

Rance frowned. A child?

Denny entered the arena with a bay mare as Larae hustled the little girl back to the house.

“Who’s that?”

“Larae’s girl. Spitting image of her mama, that one.”

He swallowed hard. Could the child be his? If so, she’d be a little over seven years old. This child looked smaller. “How old is she?”

“Five or six from the looks of her.”

His insides stilled. Larae would have told him if the child belonged to him. This meant that while he’d been mourning his first love all those years ago, she’d moved on to someone else. To be honest, he wasn’t sure he’d ever really moved on from her at all. “Who’s her daddy? Is Larae married?”

“I don’t rightly know.”

“You’ve worked for her dad forever, and she’s your daughter’s best friend. How could you not know?”

“They were both closemouthed about Larae after she left, and I’m not one to pry. I didn’t know about the youngun’ until they showed up here a few days ago.” Denny gave him the once-over. “Why are you so interested?”

“I’m not. Just curious.” Denny didn’t have a clue they’d been an item back in high school. No one had because she knew her dad wouldn’t approve. “I didn’t know she had a child, that’s all. I’ll see you later.” With his heart in his boots, he trudged toward home.

The thought of her with anyone else put a painful twist in his gut. He’d given her up for the sake of her relationship with her dad, but he’d never thought about her falling for someone else.

His phone rang. He fished it out of his pocket, saw the name on the screen and accepted the call. “Hey, Dad.”

“How’s the stock contracting business going, son?”

“Slow. I might have a job, but it’s complicated.”

“Complicated how?”

He filled his dad in on the Larae situation.

“I see.” His father let out a long whistle. “Hence the complicated maybe job.”

“It was like I was seventeen again.”

“You still love her?”

“Now, I didn’t say that.”

“Yet you did, by not saying it. Go get the job and the girl.”

“Even if I wanted her, there’s more to it than that.” But he couldn’t get into it, since he’d never told his parents why they broke up. If he had, his dad would have confronted Ray Collins, and the whole town would have heard about it. Even Larae.

“Is she involved with someone else?”

“I’m not sure.” A tight band settled in his chest. “She has a child.”

“Hmm. Well, find out if the father is still in the picture and go from there. But be careful, son. I was there the first time Larae Collins broke your heart.”

“It wasn’t her fault, Dad.” Rance opened the gate to his yard, now free of tangled vines thanks to the attack goat he’d borrowed yesterday.

“You keep saying that, but you won’t say anything else.”

“It’s—”

“Complicated. I know. Keep me in the loop, will ya? Your mom wants to talk to you. Here she is.”

“Hi, Mom. I’m eating fine. I fixed a pot of chili last night.”

“Well, you won’t starve, but that’s not very healthy—all that red meat.” Since learning that her husband had high cholesterol, she’d become a health food expert.

“I used venison.” Only because he liked it better, but maybe it would satisfy her just the same.

“Oh, good. You can’t imagine how much fat a lean meat can cut. You can try ground turkey if you run out of venison.”

“I’ve got a freezer full, so I’m good.”

“All right. You’ll come visit soon, right?”

“I will, Mom. And y’all are welcome here anytime. Love you.” He slipped the phone back in his pocket, stomped his boots on the slatted wood porch and stepped inside. He loved his parents, but he couldn’t concentrate on his mom’s chatter right now.

Larae had a child. His brain kept looping back to that.

What if there was a man in her life? His heart stilled at the thought. It might just fix everything. It would hurt to see her with someone else. But if she was married, he’d have to get over her.

“I sure hope Lexie moves back soon.” Stella wiped down the kitchen counters. She hadn’t changed a bit. Still tall and thin, with warm laugh lines around her eyes.

“Me, too.” Seated at the breakfast bar, Larae finished off her eggs.

“Our Lexie?” Jayda asked, pushing a stalk of broccoli around her plate.

“Remember, I told you Denny and Stella are her parents.”

“But I didn’t know she was gonna move here. I’m excited.”

“Me too, Little Miss.” Stella winked at Jayda. Denny’s wife had happily cooked for staff and watched their children for as long as Larae could remember.

The knocker sounded at the heavy front door.

“It’s awful early for visitors.” Stella pushed a strand of hair away from her face and tried to secure it back in the bun at the nape of her neck. “And the hands don’t usually knock.”

“I’ll get it.” Larae got up from her perch at the granite-lined breakfast bar and pointed a stern finger at Jayda. “You stay put and eat the rest of your omelet. It’s good for you.” The cheese sauce probably took away from its benefits, but broccoli wrapped in egg was the only way to get veggies down Jayda.

“I’ll make sure she does.” Stella shot her a wink.

“Thanks.” She hurried to the front door and swung it open. Carson stood on the threshold with a thick folder under his arm.

“Is this a good time? I have numbers for you.”

“You’re fast.” She gestured him toward the great room so she could keep an eye on Jayda in the adjoining kitchen. “Come on in.”

“I’ve got specs on three different sizes.” He settled on the cowhide sofa and set his folder on the coffee table. “We’ll call them Building A, B and C. A is small, just meets the regulations. B is the most common. C is more your Fort Worth or Mesquite size.”

“So I’d need to go with C if I wanted to get pro certified?” Nerves danced through her.

“Definitely C.”

“I figure go big or go home.”

“Alrighty then.” He flipped past several papers.

She scanned the spreadsheet to the bottom total. Not as much as she’d expected. “If we do this, how soon are we talking?”

“We could break ground in a few weeks and have your building ready in two months.”

“And what about the arena part?”

“That’s out of my line of expertise, so I’m afraid I can’t help you there.”

“Well, this is encouraging.” She was well aware of how much revenue a good rodeo could bring in, especially if she could get certified for pro events. It would be enough to permanently keep the ranch well in the black.

“Thank you for putting this together, Carson. I’ll look over it some more and get back with you.”

“Not a problem.” He stood, and she followed him to the foyer.

If she did this, she’d have to hire Rance. Otherwise, she’d only look stupid. Or still hung up on him. Maybe she could get the arrangements in place, then go back to Dallas and oversee the rodeo from afar. Whatever it took to avoid Rance.

The knocker sounded again.

“Next.” Carson grinned as he opened the door.

Rance stood on the stoop. His gaze pinged back and forth between them, landed on Carson and narrowed. “You?”

“Me what?”

Surely Rance didn’t think she was involved with Carson. Why would he care? “Carson was here going over numbers for a possible arena building.”

“I was just leaving.”

“Thanks again, Carson.” He exited, but she didn’t step aside to let Rance in, willing Jayda to take her sweet time finishing her broccoli. “Can I help you?”

“I brought my numbers, too.”

“It’ll have to wait. I don’t do business at my home. We’ll have to set up a time to meet.”

“Hmm, let’s see what’s wrong with this picture. Your office is at your house, and you met with Carson about business.”

“Fine.” She backed away and then ushered him through the formal living room. “But not here. Let’s go to Dad’s office.”

In the doorway facing her father’s massive desk, she stopped. The room still smelled of his Old Spice cologne. She’d spent half her childhood in the wood-paneled room but had never sat in his cushy executive chair. Just the sight of it put a knot in her throat.

“How about the table?” Rance set his file on the long conference table.

“Yes.” Did he understand her hesitation, feel for her grief?

“I was sorry to hear about your dad.”

Sympathy from him would surely undo her. She cleared her throat. “Thanks. What have you got?”

He opened the folder. The spreadsheet listed all his stock, along with his fee. “Do you know which size you’re going with yet?”

“The biggest.” She rattled off the specs Carson had given her.

“Good choice.” He pulled a loose sheet and handed it to her. “This is what you’ll need. The fees listed beside each of my bulls, broncs and steers is what I get every time they leave the chute. They’re priced according to bloodlines, and I’ll handle all the transport. I took the liberty of contacting an acquaintance who builds arenas. He said he’d work with Carson and have your rodeo up and running a month after the building is finished.”

Surprisingly thorough. “Did you think to ask him about updating the outdoor arena until the building is functional?”

“If he breaks ground next week, the weather holds, and inspectors don’t give him trouble, he said three weeks. A month at the most.”

“Wow.” Fast enough to turn the ranch around.

“His estimates are in the file, too. It’s a great idea, Larae. There aren’t any indoor rodeos in this area except in San Antonio. And none them are year-round. I hope you’ll get past the thinking stage.”

“It’s a lot to take on.”

“How long are you here for?”

“It was supposed to only be a week.” But that was before her new manager decided to handle marketing, too, leaving Larae jobless and bent on selling the ranch, even at a loss.

“You could hire someone to oversee things when you go back.”

If she went back. “I’ve thought about that, too.” She closed the file. But right now she needed to get rid of him. Not even Jayda had ever made broccoli last this long. “Thank you for putting this together. I’ll get back with you if I decide to move forward.”

He stayed seated. His jaw ticked as if he had more to say. She stood to give him the hint. He reluctantly followed her lead.

“All right then—” he turned and opened the door “—just let me know.”

“Mommy, I ate all of my broccoli. Can I have my chocolate milk now?” Jayda stopped when she saw Rance. “Oh. Hi.” Never shy.

At the moment, Larae wished she was.

“Broccoli for breakfast?” Rance grimaced. “I’m Rance. An old friend of your mom’s.”

Larae’s heart did somersaults against her ribs. He’d gotten a glimpse of Jayda yesterday and obviously learned she was Larae’s daughter. But then, anybody would know that by looking at her. Just as long as he didn’t figure out anything else, everything would be fine.

“It was in an omelet. I’m Jayda.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Jayda.”

“You can have your milk, and a cookie, too.” Just go. Rance had said only a few days ago that it was a good thing he didn’t have kids, and who knew how long he’d stick with this stock contracting thing? Hopefully long enough to get her rodeo going. Then he could run off for the rodeo circuit again, none the wiser. Footloose and fancy-free just the way he liked it.

“Everybody thinks I’m five or six—”

“Jayda, go have your cookies now. You can have three.”

“Three.” Jayda grinned. “You never let me have three.”

Rance chuckled.

“Just this once. Since you ate all your broccoli.”

“But I’m not finished. I wanted to tell Rance I’m really seven.”

“Jayda.” Her daughter’s name ripped from her throat.

It was too late.

Rance’s grin slipped away. His eyes widened, then narrowed as he inspected Jayda.

“What, Mommy?”

“I’ve warned you about talking to strangers, haven’t I?” It was the only thing she could come up with.

“I thought that only counted when you weren’t around.”

“You’re right. I forgot.” At the moment she was forgetting how to breathe.

“You’re seven?” The wonder in Rance’s tone put a hitch in her throat.

“Uh-huh. I’m just small for my age. Mommy said she was the same way until she hit a growth spurt when she was twelve.”

“Larae—” Rance’s gaze snagged on hers as he ground her name out between his teeth. “We need to talk.”

Chapter Four

In and out. Rance concentrated on breathing. Jayda’s rounded eyes flitted back and forth between him and Larae. How could she have kept this from him?

“Go have your cookies now, Jayda. I’ll be done here in just a minute.”

“Okay, Mommy.” Jayda glanced back at him one more time.

He’d obviously scared her, practically growling at Larae. He forced a smile.

Jayda slipped from the room.

“I—” Larae said.

“She’s mine.”

Larae closed her eyes. “Yes.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because by the time, I found out—” her hand went to her middle “—you were dating Veronica Belmont.”

Only to convince her they were finished. For her sake. While he’d been doing what he thought was right, to keep her relationship with her father intact, she’d been pregnant with his child.

His blood boiled. “Did your dad know?”

“Yes.”

But she’d fled to Dallas. “Did he kick you out?”

“Of course not. He was very supportive.”

If only she knew. The old coot. “He sent you to Dallas to keep me in the dark.”

“You’d proven you weren’t ready for fatherhood.”

“You had no right to make that call.”

“We’d broken up. You’d moved on. I wasn’t about to obligate you. To risk you coming back to me.” She jabbed her thumb toward her chest. “Because of duty. It was my decision to go to college in Dallas and stay to pursue my career.”

“To hide. From me.”

“And from wagging tongues.” She hugged herself. “I did what I thought was best. For my daughter.”

“Our daughter.” He sank into a chair as all his anger drained away. What good did it do to be mad at a dead man? “I loved you, Larae. I’d have dropped everything for you. Quit the rodeo and married you.” In spite of her dad.

“If you loved me so much—” her words dripped sarcasm “—then why did you break up with me?”

He wouldn’t explain. He couldn’t skew her memories of her dad, not with her still grieving his loss. “I didn’t think I was good enough for you.”

She scoffed. “Well, you were good enough for Veronica Belmont. And Prudence Hancock. And who knows who else. Face it, Rance. You were a playboy working your way through all the rich girls in school.”

Only to convince Larae he didn’t love her. To save her relationship with her father—the man who’d stood by and watched, effectively ripping away Rance’s chance to be a father.

“That’s not who I am.”

“If you say so. But the fact remains, while you’ve been doing whatever you’ve been doing for the last eight years, I’ve been making adult decisions and taking care of my daughter. And she’s waiting for me in the kitchen, so you can go now. We didn’t need you then, and we don’t need you now. Please just go.” She moved to the door, obviously expecting him to do her bidding.

“No.”

“Please, Rance.” Her voice was softer now. Pleading. Her posture changed and she melted into herself. “You don’t owe us anything. We’ll move back to Dallas. I’ll get the rodeo going from there, and we’ll be out of your hair.”

“I can’t ignore this. She’s my responsibility.”

“She doesn’t have to be. I’m fine financially. And I don’t have to keep the ranch. I can unload it and not spend the funds I have on the rodeo.”

“That’s not what I mean, Larae. I intend to support her financially. But it’s more than that. I have a daughter. And whether you think she needs me or not, I can’t just pretend she doesn’t exist. She’s part of me.”

Her eyes watered up. “The best part.”

“I’m glad—” his throat closed up “—to know you still think there’s good in me.”

“I loved you. Once.” She blinked the moisture away.

“We can work this out. I need to be in her life.”