A Moment To Love (5 page)

“If I may be so bold as to ask, what’s the problem with the Haggerty property?” Mr. Santos crossed his arms.

“Nothing as far as the land itself and the location, but the owner is hesitant to sell.”

Mr. Santos nodded. “Then let me show you what I’ve uncovered since our phone conversation. Ghost towns in New Mexico are quite limited, so I took the liberty of expanding my search to include Arizona.”

They spent the better part of the next hour enjoying two more coffees while pouring over maps of both states. By the end of their meeting, Alexis felt reassured that she’d chosen the right man for the job. This project would go through somehow.

♥♥♥

Cord strode into the house, slamming the door behind him. There was no way he was going to conduct business with a land developer—no matter how good she looked—coming…and going.

He halted his line of thought. He couldn’t believe he’d let himself become attracted to another woman whose only interest in him was how much his land was worth. A sour taste filled his mouth. Hadn’t Susan already taught him that lesson the hard way?

No way was he going to let Lexi’s sweet smile and mesmerizing eyes sway him. She was trouble—in capital letters. His best course of action would be to avoid her. After all, even if he could trust her, he didn’t want his land falling into the hands of a developer.

From what he’d been able to learn, developers were scouring the Western states buying up large tracts of land. They’d then subdivide the property into five-or-ten-acre home sites. And with all those homes would come businesses, like grocery stores and gas stations and strip malls. He hated the thought of having all of that noise and traffic butted up against his property. But if he didn’t sell, how in the world could he make the balloon payment on his mortgage to save the ranch—his home?

Cord glanced around the spacious rooms of the prominent ranch house that his grandfather had built with his own two hands. Queasiness churned in the pit of Cord’s stomach at the thought of losing everything he knew—the one place where he felt comfortable in his skin—where his difficulty with reading wasn’t noticed by others, making him less in their eyes.

But there was something missing. In the wake of Susan’s departure, he’d been thrilled to have the place to himself. He enjoyed coming home after a long, hard day and not having someone constantly nag him about all he wasn’t doing or providing. For a while, a peacefulness had reined throughout the house, but lately the quietness had lost its luster. But that didn’t mean he wanted to part with his home. Not a chance.

Spurred on by his need to find an alternative to the foreclosure—one that had nothing to do with Alexis Greer—Cord called the bank again. This time he reached a woman who agreed to pull his file and discuss his loan. After ten minutes of hearing the same old spiel, he gripped the phone tighter. “Listen to me. I just need a little more time.”

“With no proof that an extension will provide the necessary funds to pay off the balance on your loan, you are prolonging the inevitable,” the woman said without an ounce of emotion, as though she’d become indifferent to smashing people’s dreams.

The loan officer continued to tick off the various reasons why pushing his balloon payment back was not feasible for the bank. Cord scrambled for any excuse to keep the bank from foreclosing. He’d already tried obtaining another loan from just about every bank he could think of, but they’d all turned him down.

With each passing moment, the band of stress ratcheted tighter around his ribs. He was about to lose not only Haggerty but also the Brazen H. His chest tightened. His home, the cattle, the horses and even his ranch hands—his only friends—would be gone.

They’d all be lost to him.

That just couldn’t happen.

“We’ll start foreclosure proceedings in the morning,” the woman said matter-of-factly. “Unless you can come up with the full payment or you can produce a buyer willing to sign an intent-to-purchase agreement for the two hundred acres.”

Cord rubbed his damp palms over his jeans. There had to be something, anything, to stave off the foreclosure. His gut knotted up. He had nowhere else to go. No other skills with which to earn a living. He was a rancher. He wouldn’t change. He couldn’t change.

“I have an interested buyer,” he blurted out.

An awkward pause ensued.

“Why didn’t you mention this earlier?” The skepticism rang out loud and clear.

Drumming his fingers on the large oak desk in his study, he thought of Lexi’s offer—the one that left a sour taste in his mouth. Not wanting to give the banker too many details, he said, “I don’t know anything about the buyer. My real estate agent just informed me last night. I’m waiting to hear back from him.”

“Your agent is…” The sound of shuffling paper filled the silent void. “Ah, here it is, Mr. Forbes. If I were to call him, would he be able to verify what you’ve told me?”

Cord’s jaw clenched until his muscles throbbed. He hated how this woman talked down to him. With great difficulty, he swallowed his indignation.

“Yes, he’ll verify it. Does this buy me some time?”

“I’ll need to speak to Mr. Forbes.”

The woman summarized what they’d already discussed. Cord’s thoughts strayed back to another businesswoman—the one with a sweet tooth. He couldn’t help but wonder if Lexi would be as difficult to deal with as the woman on the phone. Although after haggling with Lexi over some silly candy bar and then finding out she liked to play hide and seek with the truth, he decided she’d definitely be worse.

Cord gave his word to the banker to be in touch as soon as he got more information about the interested party and hung up. The weight of his hasty agreement weighed on his shoulders like a gigantic boulder, threatening to crush him. How could he have promised the bank a buyer—a buyer whose blue eyes weaved a charming spell over him—a buyer who wanted to destroy his little piece of heaven on earth?

CHAPTER
FIVE

T
he following morning, after assuring her father that she would e-mail him pictures of the ghost town in a day or two, Alexis dressed in a new topaz sundress that stopped a couple of inches above her knees. On her feet, she slipped on a new pair of tooled cowgirl boots. She worried the inside of her lip while trying to decide if she should wear such a casual outfit to conduct business. However, with her luggage still lost, her only options consisted of her dirty suit or the new things she’d picked up at Miss Mabel’s Dress Shop and Sam’s Hitchin’ Post.

She wondered what Cord would think of her makeover. She wasn’t so sure what she made of it herself. As she applied a light layer of foundation, she imagined herself as a cowgirl, riding horseback and rounding up a herd of cows. She laughed at the image—executive, up-town-girl goes country chic.

A month ago, the idea simply would not have crossed her mind, but after being here in the Southwest, where the sun warmed her face and the wind combed through her hair, she found herself drawn to this place like a hummingbird to sweet, red nectar.

Oh, who was she kidding? She’d never be a cowgirl. Her life was in a high-rise in downtown Manhattan. She had to think of her father. He’d spent years putting her interests ahead of his own, trying to be the best single parent. He’d planned out her future probably before she’d even been born. Now it was time for her to live up to his expectations by walking the walk and talking the talk.

Her father deserved no less than for her to look after him—starting with finalizing this deal for the land to build their latest resort—the key to saving her father’s life’s work. She just needed to get through to Cord. Why did he have to be so stubborn? Why couldn’t he see reason?

Alexis ran the brush over her hair. Pushing Cord may have worked to gain his chocolate bar, but something told her it wouldn’t work in buying his land—especially when he learned she had no intention of buying anything unless the ghost town was part of the package. She should make some sort of friendly gesture to regain her footing with him, but nothing over the top. It had to be something subtle but thoughtful.

She pulled her shoulders back and gave her reflection a nod of approval before heading for the door. The brilliant sunshine blinded her at the exact moment a light bulb went on in her mind. She shielded her eyes with her hand, gaining clarity on her surroundings. In that moment, a plan formed in her mind—a way to sweeten Cord’s sour disposition. Chocolate. After all, she owed him some. He surely wouldn’t turn away her peace offering.

The Hitchin’ Post was only a few blocks down from her motel. In fact, with a limited number of stores, shopping in Whistle Stop could easily be accomplished on foot. However, when the resort was built, the town would flourish with supermarkets, department stores and a business district. The thought of being responsible for recharging the town’s economy put the pep back in her step.

But as she stood in the motel’s parking lot and looked around, she noted the simplistic charm of Whistle Stop, which would be lost as it modernized. She could only hope some things about the town didn’t change. She liked the friendly smiles and greetings of the citizens and their quaint shops. It gave the place an old-time flavor—an irreplaceable quality.

There had to be a way to balance the revitalization the resort would bring with the down-home ambience. And best of all, the resort would give families the ability to find work without having to move away from home. Not to mention money to fix up the town square. Now to convince Cord that this deal would be a win for everyone—him included.

“Alexis!”

She immediately recognized Mrs. Sanchez’s voice calling from behind her. Would it be so wrong to pretend she hadn’t heard her? The woman ran the motel’s front desk and was nice enough, but she could certainly be long-winded.

“Alexis, wait!”

The manners her father instilled in Alexis as a young child insisted that she turn around. “Good morning, Mrs. Sanchez. Beautiful morning, huh?”

The woman hustled over to her. “Oh. Yes, it is. Just beautiful.” She pressed a hand to her chest as though she were out of breath. “I’m so glad I caught up with you.”

“Is something wrong?”

“Uh, no. Nothing’s wrong. I just thought you might need some directions. We don’t want you getting lost.”

“Thanks, but I’m good.”

Mrs. Sanchez stood before her in a bright green cotton dress with bright yellow flowers dotting it. “Rushing off to the Brazen H?”

Alexis froze. How in the world did she know that? Alexis was certain she hadn’t told this woman any of her business, having gotten the feeling from the start that Mrs. Sanchez was “too” interested in her. So where did the woman gather her information?

“Don’t look surprised,” Mrs. Sanchez said. “Whistle Stop is just a bitty town. Not much happens around here that people don’t know about.”

Alexis swallowed hard, gripped her car keys and took a step toward her vehicle. “I really do need to go.”

“That’s why I’m here. You should know…” The woman paused, looking perplexed. “Oh, never mind. It’s really none of my business.”

Alexis was tempted to let the conversation end there and get on her way, but curiosity gnawed at her. The woman seemed to be a fount of information. What was Mrs. Sanchez dying to tell her?

“If I should know something, I’d appreciate if you’d tell me.”

Mrs. Sanchez’s gaze met hers. “Well, if you insist.”

The woman was simply amazing with how she could twist a situation, but something told Alexis that she didn’t mean any harm. In fact, if Alexis were to hazard a guess, she’d say the woman was lonely. One lonely person could easily spot another. Wait, was
she
lonely?

No, she was much too busy to be lonely. But ever since Steven had played on her emotions to get ahead at HSG before taking a job on the West Coast without even consulting her—his fiancée, the woman who was supposed to be part of his future—she’d kept to herself more than normal. She didn’t exactly trust herself any longer when it came to judging the character of a person. If Mrs. Sanchez had something to say about Cord, Alexis wanted to hear it.

“Please tell me.” Alexis implored the woman with her eyes.

“Well…with you being new to town, you should know that it’d be in your best interests to stay clear of the Brazen H. Cord likes to keep to himself…and it’s for the best.”

Well, talk about your cryptic messages. Curiosity ate at her to know more. After all, if she had to do business with this man, she needed to know more about him.

“Why is that?”

Mrs. Sanchez shook her head and waved her hand in an innocent way. “I’m not a gossiper. I probably already said more than I should have, but someone needed to warn you to keep your distance from that one. He has a temper. No matter how good-looking he is, he’s nothing but trouble.”

The woman’s warning echoed in Alexis’s mind as she stopped briefly at the Hitchin’ Post on her way out of town. Was Mrs. Sanchez right? Somehow, the woman’s description of Cord didn’t fit with what she’d witnessed of him. She continued mulling it over as she maneuvered her rental vehicle along the two-lane highway. Soon, the telephone poles and the occasional gravel driveways were the only evidence of development. The farther she drove, the greater the distance between any signs of civilization and the closer she came to facing down the cowboy—the man who could make her life easy or hard. She got the distinct impression he never did things the easy way.

But could Cord spell trouble for her? She hadn’t witnessed any hint of a mean streak in him. Sure, he could be stubborn, but he could also be kind. She recalled the way his hand had wrapped around hers. His gentle touch had soothed her raw nerves as she got to know Midnight Star. A man with the ability to put both human and animal at ease was not a troublesome person—more like misunderstood. Obviously, Mrs. Sanchez had latched on to some bad information.

Cord was a good guy, but there was obviously a lot more to him than anyone knew. What was he holding back? And why did the town have the wrong idea about him?

♥♥♥

Cord led Blaze, a chestnut mare, to the barn. He’d spent the early part of the morning out on the range, inspecting the new stretch of fencing being installed on the eastern border. Now that he had an interested buyer, blocking off the designated sale property had become a priority.

After he’d tended to Blaze and set the horse free in the corral, he started for the house. His thoughts circled back around to the blonde who’d been dogging his thoughts all morning. He didn’t like that she’d befriended him without bothering to disclose the fact that she was a developer. He took the porch steps two at a time. Still, he should have handled the news better, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that she was trying to pull something over on him, just like his ex had.

He’d been young and naïve when he’d met Susan. Looking back now, he hardly recognized the person he used to be. He’d done a lot of growing up since then. He wouldn’t be deceived again. But he also couldn’t afford to run off the one person who was offering him an out with the bank. He promised himself that if Lexi kept her word and returned, he’d hear her out.

At the doorway, he paused. He stared up the lane that led to the main road, willing her to turn into his drive. Yet there were no swirls of dust. No crunch of gravel. Absolutely no sign of her.

Maybe he should make his way into town. The thought made his body tense. He envisioned the puzzled stares and the hand-over-mouth whispers. No. He wasn’t going. He moseyed into Whistle Stop only when he absolutely had to for business. Ever since Hurricane Susan, it was easier to keep to himself. Besides, if Lexi was serious about purchasing the land, she’d be back.

His lips pressed together in a firm line as his jaw tightened, and he subdued his lingering urge to see her. Maybe in this one instance he should make an exception and drive into town. After all, his entire future was on the line. What were a few more people gawking at him, trying to figure out if Susan’s lies were true or not? He expelled a frustrated sigh and stomped inside, yanking off his T-shirt in the entryway. Nothing about this situation was going to be easy.

Some twenty-odd minutes later, he exited the house in a fresh pair of jeans and a clean shirt. He ran a hand over his damp hair before settling his hat snugly on his head. With his decision made, his boots thumped against each wooden porch step. His chest tightened. What in the world was he going to say to Lexi?

The hum of an engine and the crunch of stones being ground into the dirt drew his attention. Through the cloud of dust, he recognized Lexi’s tan SUV. He caught himself sighing in relief. This wasn’t going to be as hard as he’d imagined.

The vehicle pulled to a stop in front of the steps. Lexi jumped out and peered up at him through her dark sunglasses. “Hi. Are you on your way out?”

His gaze skimmed over the beautiful slip of a dress that revealed her bare shoulders. She looked different—way different. This casual outfit made her appear more approachable, more attainable. He swallowed the newly formed lump in his throat, but when he went to speak, the words utterly failed him. His gaze skimmed over the dipping neckline that showed off her creamy white cleavage.

Not wanting to be accused of staring, he forced his gaze back to her sunglasses. On second thought, her boring business suit wasn’t so bad after all. At least with it he was able to keep his thoughts straight. With her dressed in this flirty little outfit, business was the last thing on his mind.

“Cord, are you listening?”

“Uh…no, I mean, I’m not going anywhere. We can talk.”

“Are you sure?”

He nodded. “I was actually on my way into town…to find you.”

Her eyes widened. “Me.” Her pink lips lifted at the corners, making him wish their circumstances were different. “Does this mean you’ve changed your mind and are ready to sell me the land?”

“Possibly.”

“Great. Now before I forget, I have something for you.” Lexi reached into her pocket. When she withdrew her hand, her fingers obscured the object. “Here.”

She reached out to him. Her fingers brushed over his. The heat of her touch caused his breath to catch in his throat. His fingers instinctively closed over hers. Her gaze met his and locked. His heart pounded in his chest. He assured himself that this strong reaction was due to his long dry spell when it came to female companionship. Yet, he couldn’t break the connection. His thumb stroked the silkiness of her wrist.

All too soon, she pulled away, jarring him back to reality.
Keep it together, Cord. She’s just passing through town. She’ll be gone soon.

“Aren’t you even going to see what it is?”

He gazed down at the familiar brown wrapper. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had made the effort to give him a present—even something as small as a bit of candy. The gesture warmed a spot in his chest.

“What’s this for?” His voice came out thicker than normal.

“Consider it a peace offering.” Her lips lifted into a cautious smile.

“A peace offering?”

“I was hoping we could start over.”

Guilt gnawed at him. He had been a bit abrupt with her. But even now his gut was telling him that she was holding back something big. He needed to move cautiously with her. Still, he needed to make an effort to smooth things out between them if they were going to talk business.