Bet You'll Marry Me (15 page)

“
What!
” Wayne demanded. He looked from Nick to Billie.

Harry shut his mouth up tight. What did he think of his choice for a ranch manager now?

Jenny's thoughts turned toward her devious bank manager. Stewart Davenport must have thought he couldn't lose. It was a well-known fact he used his bank position for personal gain. He wanted her property for himself and if he couldn't foreclose on it, he'd have Nick romance the ranch out from under her.

She'd almost fallen for it.

“Jenny, wait,” Nick pleaded, grabbing hold of her arm. “Let me explain. Since I met you, all of my original plans have changed.” Nick's voice was raw, heartfelt, convincing, until he added, “
Trust me.
”

Trust him? When he'd kept the fact he was the CEO of N.L.C. Industries—the one sending her all the proposals to buy her land—a secret from her? She stared at him and in the back of her mind all she saw was Travis.

“I . . .” She swallowed hard and the horrible suspicion she'd once again been duped by a man who claimed to care about her pushed its way to the center of her thoughts.

“Trust me,” Nick repeated in a whisper.

She saw the tension in his face, the desperation in his eyes, but shook her head. “I
can't
.”

Nick's face paled and a muscle jumped along the side of his jaw. He opened his mouth as if to say something more, but the entire frame of the stable collapsed and the firefighters called for his help. Giving her one last beseeching look, he turned around and left.

A heavy weight filled her lungs, making it hard for her to breathe. Jenny's heart begged to run after him, yet her feet remained glued with firm refusal. She had too many questions, too many suspicions.

Had Nick been faking his emotions the whole time he'd been with her? Her vision blurred as tears forced their way to the surface, spilled over, and ran streaming down her cheeks.

“He cares for you,” Billie shouted. “How could you do this to him?”

“How could Jenny do this to him?” Wayne retorted. “And what did he try to do to her? With
your
help?”

“I told him it wouldn't work, that there must be another way, but he wouldn't listen to me.”

Wayne scowled. “You knew what he was doing. You could have told Jenny. You could have told
me.
But you didn't. No, instead, you helped your brother every step of the way. At least you and your brother are loyal to each other.”

Billie winced as if she'd taken a physical blow, then she ran toward Charlie Pickett's truck, tripping over a hose line in the process.

Jenny doubled over. “Dear God, what have I done?”

“You did what was right,” Wayne assured her.

 

Chapter Sixteen

T
HE FIREFIGHTERS, ALONG
with two dozen able-bodied men, fought the Fourth of July fire in around-the-clock shifts until the blaze was finally contained five days later.

“The rest of it will burn out on its own,” Kevin told the small crowd of evacuees gathered in the lobby of the Pine Hotel. “Now we clean up the mess and start over.”

Jenny swallowed hard. “I'm not sure if I'll be able to rebuild.”

“Instead of rebuilding, some of us might leave,” Ed Hanson said, his face drawn.

Ed and Shaina Hanson sat on one of the beige couches, holding hands, with Josh and their other four children sitting on the hardwood floor at their feet. It appeared the fire had brought Josh's parents back together, even if they did have to leave the area.

Jenny glanced at the empty seat beside her. Family and loved ones had come and gone all too swiftly during her life. She'd learned to depend on herself, become self-sufficient. Become strong. She'd always thought strength was a virtue. But the more she looked at Ed and Shaina Hanson, the more she wished she had a hand to hold. As she'd learned when Harry had his heart attack, some tragedies were too hard to go through alone.

She feared losing the ranch would be one of them.

“I've been livin' up in these mountains for darn well near a century,” Levi MacGowan said, thumping his cane, “and I don't plan on leavin' now.”

“I don't want to leave either,” Charlie Pickett said, “but it's not up to us anymore, it's up to Jenny.”

“
Me?
” She looked around, trying to read their expressions. “Why me?”

“There's not much sense in rebuilding if we can't access the river,” David Wilson said, directing his gaze at her.

Jenny frowned. “I gave permission for each of you to use the easement to the river any time you like.”

“Yes, but Stewart Davenport won't,” David replied. “If your ranch goes into foreclosure, we'll be forced to sell. Our land is useless without the water access.”

“And here I thought you wanted to marry her for the gold,” Harry said, joining in. “The real gold isn't
in
the river, it
is
the river, isn't it?”

“My insurance company promised me a check to cover immediate expenses by the end of the week,” Charlie Pickett said, “but I'll believe it when I see it. Anyone else heard from their insurance?”

Jenny nodded. “My insurance won't issue a check for at least six weeks. By that time, it will be too late.”

A light rain moved in, giving the firefighters the upper hand and extinguishing the last of the danger. Still, Levi MacGowan's place had damage, as well as Charlie Pickett's, the Hanson's, and at least a half dozen others who lived nearby.

“Have you seen it?” Jenny asked, when Wayne returned from the fire line.

“Not yet,” he said, shaking his head. “The ranch is still off-limits for another couple of hours.”

A couple hours turned into a couple more, but at two o'clock in the afternoon the state patrol allowed Wayne's truck through.

As they drove down the road toward Windy Meadows, Jenny watched the ancient growth of green rolling hills change into an unfamiliar wasteland of nightmarish ash and debris. Charlie Pickett's ranch didn't have a single structure still standing. Her ranch would likely be in the same condition.

Jenny held her breath to stop the tears from spilling, but it only tightened the knot in her stomach.

In time, new trees would grow. The house, barn, stables, fences, and sheds could all be rebuilt. But without the history and cherished memories behind them . . . her ranch would never be the same.

She remembered her mother baking bread and canning jam in the kitchen and how the spicy aroma of apple pie could fill the entire house. She could still see her father sitting in the big easy chair in the living room next to the woodstove, reading the newspaper and smoking his pipe.

How many generations had slid down the old wooden banister next to the stairs? Or scrawled measurements of their children's growth in the hall closet? She hadn't really thought about it before, but she now realized she'd assumed her own children's measurements would be there someday.

Perhaps she never had a chance to save the ranch despite her best efforts. In any case, the scene over the next hill would tell all.

“Well, splint me together before I fall apart!” Harry exclaimed. “Jenny, are you seeing what I'm seeing?”

“The house is still standing.”

“Saved by the finger of God, that's what it is,” said Harry. “She's charred on all four sides but somehow still managed to make it through.”

Jenny opened the door of the truck as soon as it pulled in the driveway and gasped. It was almost as if an enormous kettle of her uncle's black-bean soup had been poured out over the whole land.

Parts of the charred ground, littered with a variety of melted debris, continued to steam. The hay barn was gone, along with the cow barns and the stable. The remains of the tractor shed lay in a pile of twisted metal.

What really sickened her, though, were the scorched carcasses of her entire herd of Black Angus beef cattle The animals had been out in the pasture, too close to the fire, and unable to escape the fast-spreading flames. She cupped her hand over her mouth and nose. She'd never seen such a wretched sight. Or had to inhale such a ghastly smell. Bile rose in the back of her throat and she turned away.

If only she had sold them sooner. Now she'd have to tell the interested buyer she had no herd to offer him. And in return she wouldn't have the money that could have paid off her entire debt.

Inside the house a different kind of horror awaited her. Although the structure was intact, the interior walls were blackened with soot. Cobwebs that before had hung in the corners unnoticed now eerily stood out in strands of black as if decorated for Halloween. The furniture was covered in a fine film of gray ash and the scent of smoke was embedded in all of the rugs and curtains.

Every item in the house needed to be washed before any of them could move back in.
If
they were going to move back in. She, Harry, and Wayne had spent the last week at the Pine Hotel and her financial deadline was only three days away.

“I don't know what to do,” Jenny confessed.

“You can still ride.” Harry handed her a copy of the
Cascade Herald.

She read aloud, “The annual Pine Tree Dash, which had been canceled last Saturday due to wildfire, has been rescheduled for this coming Saturday, July thirteenth.”

Harry nodded. “Thirteen may be your lucky number after all.”

Jenny laid the newspaper on the kitchen table. “How could the outcome of so many things hinge on a single day? The bet ends on the thirteenth, so for spite the bank manager moved up my foreclosure deadline to the thirteenth, and now the race is on the thirteenth, too?”

“No one could have predicted the fire or that it would cause the race to be rescheduled for the following week,” Harry told her. “You know the saying, Events tend to happen in threes?”

She smiled. “I've also heard that when it rains, it pours.”

“How about, there's no such thing as coincidence?” her uncle challenged. “Or, everything happens for a reason?”

“You win,” Jenny said. “I'll sign Kastle up for the race—just as soon as I find her.”

Jenny went back outside and called for her horses. At first there was no response, then in the distance there were a couple of answering neighs. Twenty minutes later, Starfire trotted up the driveway.

His face and parts of his bay coat were smudged black with charcoal and ash, but he didn't have any burns on his body. Jenny threw her arms around him and the Thoroughbred nuzzled her hair.

“Hey, big boy. I'll need you to help me round up the others.”

Slipping a handmade rope halter over Starfire's head, she hopped on the horse and rode him bareback up the forested trail. Just as she hoped, Starfire began to nicker to his lost stable mates.

The first one they found was Kastle. Jenny slid out of the saddle and noticed the mare was favoring her right hind leg.

“Easy, girl.”

Jenny ran her hands down along the fetlock and felt some swelling. The skin was hot. When she lifted the hoof, Kastle flinched and her worst fears were confirmed.

Kastle, the horse she'd wanted to ride in the Pine Tree Dash, was lame.

N
ICK FINISHED HELPING
Kevin wrap the fire hoses for the night and headed toward the Bets and Burgers Café. Pete Johnson and his daughter Irene had been nice enough to give him and Billie a place to stay. But for how long? Sooner or later, he'd have to face the fact he needed to book a flight back to New York.

He didn't want to leave Jenny behind. Somehow over the last few weeks the bet he'd made with her had become real. Only he didn't just want to marry her. He wanted her love.

Before she'd learned he was the CEO of N.L.C. Industries Jenny
acted
like she was in love with him. But he'd been misled by women's body language before. He wasn't going to be fool enough to believe it until she said the words. So far, she hadn't, and at this point he doubted she ever would.

Billie brought him a hamburger and sat beside him on the café steps. Dark rings circled her eyes, and she appeared smaller, more frail than he'd ever seen her.

“I'm so sorry, Nick. So sorry.”

“I know.”

They sat in silence, each in their own misery. Billie hadn't mentioned Wayne's name, but she didn't have to. Nick knew his sister had taken a secret liking to the sandy-haired ranch hand as much as he had come to care about Jenny. And now they'd lost them, along with any chance of paying off Billie's debt.

Never had he felt so powerless.

Later, when he was alone, Nick sat on the edge of his borrowed bed mattress and dropped his head into his hands. He'd flown to Pine to deceive Jenny, and he'd succeeded. He just hadn't realized how much his actions would cost him. He'd been so focused on money to save his sister he'd become disoriented. Lost his values. Lost Jenny.

You don't deserve her.
The accusing words tumbled about in his mind, and condemned him. He didn't deserve her. He would never deserve her. She was better off without him.

But it would be hell on earth to have to let her go.

“God help me,” he pleaded aloud, and found himself on his knees without any conscious recollection of having slid down to them.

S
ARAH HELPED
J
ENNY
scrub the house to remove the gray film the fire had left behind. Perfume and floral candles helped to re-scent the air. And the washing machine became their most prized appliance. Everything in the house needed to be assessed for damage.

Jenny opened the cedar chest in her parents' old bedroom and found her mother's wedding dress. The dress she'd hoped to be married in someday.

“Does it smell like smoke?” Sarah asked.

Sarah Gardner had been her mother's best friend—until cancer separated them.

“No,” she said, running a finger along the low-necked antique white gown with cap sleeves. She hugged it to her body, held out the long train with multiple inset lace designs, and looked at herself in the mirror. Would she ever marry?

She kneeled next to the chest to search for her mother's jewelry and pulled out an old envelope.

“It's a letter from my great-great-grandfather to my great-great grandmother.”

She removed the fragile page and read:

My dearest Katherine, the new boys pan the river for gold with a zeal that disheartens my soul. Greed has taken hold of their hearts so they do not recognize true wealth. I told them I found more gold than they'd ever seen, indeed, a gold mine. I long for you to re-join me here in Pine so they can see firsthand the value of relationships. You are my most precious treasure, my own pure gold, and your love has made me a rich man.

Forever yours,

Shamus

Sarah sighed. “Wow.”

“She
was the gold,” Jenny said, and sat back on her heels. “The gold mine he found was my
great-great grandmother.
”

“The men at the café will be disappointed,” Sarah predicted. “They hoped the old journal entry would lead to another gold rush.”

“Me too.” Jenny's shoulders slumped. “It would have been nice to find a big gold nugget in my yard. I could have saved the ranch. Now I have nothing.”

T
HE HOT RAYS
of midday sun streamed through the bedroom window. Jenny pulled the sheet higher to block the intrusive light. If only she could block the memories.

Memories of how Nick's intense gaze could make her feel self-conscious, exhilarated, and beautiful all at the same time.

Memories of his deep, smooth voice calling her name. His amused laugh. His playful grin.

Memories of his warm embrace. His lips against hers. His passionate, heart-swaying kiss.

She wore his navy blue T-shirt, a foolish gesture, but she didn't care. The clean smell of the sandalwood soap he used clung to the weave.

He hadn't called. Hadn't tried to contact her. Hadn't come back to collect his and Billie's personal possessions. Not even his precious laptop.

Was he thinking of her? Would she ever see him again?

She missed him. She'd been manipulated and deceived by a man who sought nothing more from her except her land, and yet . . . she still missed him.

How pathetic was that? She dissolved into a renewed bash of tears as she rolled into a ball and hugged her knees against her chest.

There wouldn't be any more teasing banter across the dinner table, or anyone to make her heart dance as she mucked the horses' stalls, or any children with dark hair and mischievous silver-gray eyes running around the ranch.