Dodge the Bullet (11 page)

Of course. She had the perfect size ranch,
currently unleased and scheduled to be fenced by the end of the
week. He could set up a feed lot for the calves using the old barns
at the front of the property near the caretaker’s house and pay her
newly hired ranch hand to help him. It was perfect, and his only
option. But even as his head cleared, he could feel the hairs on
the back of his neck sticking up and he anxiously rubbed them away.
He was attracted to Sarah. Really attracted. And he never, ever
mixed business with pleasure. He’d never had to before and he
wouldn’t do it now. He just needed to remember his vow.

Sarah wouldn’t want to lease her land, she’d
already said she wanted to get her own cows and learn the business.
But she didn’t have a clue where to start. Luis was a competent a
ranch hand and he’d help her muddle through. As much as he hated to
ask a favor, he needed her to let him lease the land or he’d be
sunk. Shit.

He thought about the way he’d dropped Jenny
at the front gate and the furious expression on her face as he’d
pulled away. He may need to grovel. Damn, he hated to beg.
Fortunately he’d deal with Sarah and not her spoiled brat sister.
He knew she would agree, but he didn’t want to have to ask with
Jenny around. But now that he’d made up his mind, he needed to talk
to her and Jenny wasn’t leaving until the next day. As he stacked
the papers neatly on the table and made his way to the bathroom to
shower, he decided a nice bottle of wine and maybe some more steaks
would do the groveling for him.

###

Sarah heaved firewood into the wheelbarrow
and carted it under the deck. She’d begun to stack the wood from
some of the nearby cottonwood trees that had fallen during the
valley’s many wind gusts. She wondered if she’d ever get used to
the feel of grit between her teeth when the wind picked up and
carried the dusty earth careening toward anything that stood in its
way. Her head reeled, but not from the physical exertion. She’d
craved a physical outlet after the day she’d had and the resentment
she’d encountered.

The hostility from the Kevin that morning,
which only got worse after the bus had dropped them off at the
front of the ranch. You’d think walking a few miles from the road
to the cabin would be a welcome break after the miserable day he’d
had at school. All she could get from him was that the kids were
dumb, the girls were ugly and that he was smarter than everyone in
his classes. If she thought starting school would help with his
attitude she’d been wrong. Very wrong.

He disappeared a few minutes after he got
home and only scowled at her after she’d gotten on the four-wheeler
to find him. He’d been sitting on a log that had fallen into the
river. When he heard the engine come up behind him his face changed
from quiet reflection to completely rancorous. And she felt sick.
Sick, sick, sick for she wondered if he’d ever get beyond his
bitterness. First his dad died and now she’d dragged him here where
he refused to even try to fit in. Sarah felt like an idiot for
thinking a change of venue would help. Even Lyle seemed quiet after
school, saying it would take some time to get used to the
changes.

She threw the last of the wood on the pile
and moved around the house to put the wheelbarrow back into the
garage. Before going inside, she stepped out onto the small
concrete drive to pound the dirt from her shoes. That’s when she
noticed a truck coming down the long gravel drive. Dodge. Her
stomach did a funny little flip-flop as recognition. She wondered
why he’d come and why she felt so relieved by the sight of him.

“Now, I can explain,” he said as he came
around the truck.

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about making your sister walk
home this afternoon from the front gate. She insisted I bring her
home today and I didn’t have time to drive her all the way back
here so I dropped her at the front.”

“She mentioned it. Why do you look so
guilty?”

“I…she seemed pretty pissed, that’s all.” He
turned back to the truck. “I thought an apology was in order so I
brought some steaks and a bottle of wine.” He held the label in her
face.

She shrugged as she accepted the wine.
“Thanks.” Jenny’s last night and he brought steaks and wine. Her
stomach churned with jealousy and she didn’t like it one bit.
“Jenny will be pleased to know you’re seeing her off in style.”

“I actually have a business proposition for
you. I thought we could discuss it over dinner.”

Of course. The lease on the circle. He’d
been excited to discover the full circle and said he’d get with her
later about a lease. So later was now. “A juicy steak and some wine
sounds pretty good after the day I’ve had. Come on up.”

“You ok?” He reached for her arm.

Such a loaded question. “I’ll survive.” She
tried to smile, but he didn’t seem appeased.

“Want to talk about it?”

“I’m tired of whining.” She could barely
stand the sound of her own voice and desperately wished she could
shut down her brain for awhile. Maybe the wine would help.

“Look who’s joining us for dinner,” Sarah
announced to the boys as they sat on the couch watching ESPN. Sarah
could see Jenny reading on the deck. She probably heard Dodge
approach and waited to make a grand entrance.

Lyle waved and Kevin merely pursed his lips
and looked back at the television. And then the deck doors opened
and Jenny sauntered through, kicking Lyle’s feet off the coffee
table as she passed.

“Well, look what the cat dragged in. Or are
you here to check on my blisters?”

“I brought a peace offering, Jenny, so you
can tuck your claws back in.”

Sarah rolled her eyes from the kitchen. The
prospect of them flirting all evening didn’t help her mood. “Can
you two call a truce for one night?”

Jenny stepped around the barstool and picked
up the wine Dodge had placed on the counter. “Hummm, this ought to
do for an apology. You didn’t buy this around here.”

“It was a gift from a client in Chicago.
He’s a wine collector and sends me a bottle every now and again.
Trying to fancy me up.”

Sarah looked up from the steaks. Every time
he opened his mouth it was like peeling away layers of an
onion.

“Why would a cowboy have a client in
Chicago?” Jenny asked.

Dodge took a seat in the barstool. Sarah
added the marinade he’d enjoyed to the steaks and assembled the
ingredients for a salad. She listened intently but tried to pretend
otherwise.

“Former client. I used to be a futures
trader. Made him quite a bit of money awhile back. He parlayed it
into several million more. He shares the wealth with those who
helped him along the way.”

Jenny smiled and sauntered past him into the
kitchen, searched the drawer for a cork screw and made a production
out of opening the bottle. “Futures trader, huh? Got any more
tricks up your sleeve?”

Sarah remembered Todd struggling with
futures in college. Todd was the smartest person she’d ever known
when it came to business and the fact that he couldn’t wrap his
highly evolved mind around the futures trade made her think that
Dodge was, as she’d suspected, smarter than he let on. “Futures?
You mean like cattle and corn and stuff? That’s pretty risky,
right?”

Dodge acknowledged her insight with a nod.
“The risk is worth the payoff when things pan out.” He took the
glass Jenny handed him and set it on the counter. “You familiar
with futures?”

Sarah laughed uncomfortably. “No, no. I
remember Todd having to deal with it in college. He didn’t like it.
He was conservative with money, very risk averse.”

“You can make a killing or lose your ass in
futures. A lot of people don’t have the stomach for it.”

“Or the finances, I’d imagine.” Sarah felt
herself relaxing. She hadn’t had meaningful conversation with a man
or her boys in, oh…she didn’t know how long. And she’d missed it.
She enjoyed the insights and bluntness only a man could bring to a
discussion. And this particular man intrigued her more than most.
He had a look on his face, like he was studying her and she was a
little too interested in what he thought.

“What did you do in college?” Dodge
asked.

“Advertising.” Sarah watched the play of
light in those tawny eyes of his. He had a way of looking at her
that made it impossible to forget he was male. All male. “I stayed
as far away from business as possible.”

“And here you want to run a cattle
business.” He pushed her glass of wine across the counter and
stretched his legs in front of him. “How are the fences
coming?”

“Great. They’re scheduled to start tomorrow.
As long as the weather holds, they should be done by next
week.”

Jenny leaned on the counter, offered a
tantalizing view of her ample chest. “So I take it you haven’t
lived in the valley your whole life then, cowboy?”

“Been gone a long time. Just came back a few
months ago.”

“Do you plan to stay?”

He stood up. “There’s no place like home,
isn’t that what they say? What’s the score?” he asked the boys as
he moved into the den.

He hadn’t answered the question, Sarah
noticed. Jenny passed her a look suggesting they thought the same
thing. Even as girls, as different as they’d always been, their
minds worked the same. She watched Dodge try to make conversation
with Kevin and Lyle. She wanted them to get along. They needed a
man in their life, although it seemed unlikely Dodge would be a
regular visitor, especially with Jenny leaving town.

###

“It’s six to four, Cardinals in the bottom
of the seventh,” Lyle said.

Dodge settled in the chair closest to Kevin.
The kid had been clued into the adults’ talk and not the game,
which is why he didn’t answer. The kid had an agenda. “Think this
is the year the Rockies break out?”

“We’re Braves fans,” Kevin answered quickly,
defensively. “Even mom’s a die-hard. Location can’t change
that.”

Dodge turned to see her smile at her oldest
son. He heard affection from the boy and his mother sopped it up
like a woman starved for love. He ached for both of them.
“America’s team, huh? I’m not surprised.”

He recognized the undercurrent of sadness
that ran through the family. It was all too familiar. Someone was
missing; husband, father, peace keeper. That’s how Sarah had
described her dead husband. Those were some of the words used to
describe his mother in the years after her death; wife, mother,
soother. They were spoken lovingly and with a hint of wistfulness.
He remembered feeling like there was a ghost in the room at all
times. She existed for him through photographs and stories,
memories weaved like a tapestry that hung on every wall of every
house he ever lived in. Missing her, feeling like he’d missed out
seemed comforting because it was all he’d ever known. But for these
people, this family, they couldn’t find comfort in his absence. He
wondered if there ever would.

“Kevin, will you go light the grill please?”
Sarah asked.

He huffed a big breath and then strode to
the deck at a commercial. Dodge followed him out and leaned against
the rail to enjoy the view. It wasn’t hard with the sunlight
slipping behind the clouds and the sky a pink swath that bathed the
mountains and foothills before them in color so brilliant it almost
didn’t seem real. “You play any baseball, Kevin?”

“Used to.”

Dodge turned from the rail and faced the
boy. He’d come out on the deck to feel the kid out, pry loose a few
details so they could be more comfortable with each other. If Sarah
agreed to let him lease the land it would help if they got
along.

He had to hand it to the kid, he was smart.
Lyle was easy. Jenny was predictable and thankfully, leaving
tomorrow. Sarah was…a distraction. But Kevin, he was an enigma. He
didn’t put himself out, probably in fear of being hurt or judged,
and it worked at giving him leverage with others. Dodge knew he’d
have to draw the kid out piece by piece, and with boys, sports
usually provided the easiest path. “I’ve got a few nephews who play
rec ball. They’re about your age. You’ll probably meet them at
school. I could feel them out, see what their plans are for the
summer.

“I told you I quit. I bet the rec teams out
here aren’t very good anyway,” Kevin said. “Nothing’s as good out
here.”

A hawk flew over the deck and swooped into
the nearby cottonwood trees. The river babbled nearby providing a
harmony that should have been peaceful. Dodge looked up, pushed his
hands into the pockets of his jeans. “Smaller isn’t always worse.
Besides, it’d be a good way to meet some other kids, get out of the
house this summer.”

“You trying to get me out of the house this
summer?”

Dodge let out a breath and looked Kevin in
the eye. “Kid, you’re obviously not real thrilled about living
here. Just thought I’d suggest a way to make some friends.” He
walked back into the cabin wondering if he’d done more harm than
good.

###

Kevin and Lyle disappeared to their rooms
after dinner. Jenny and Sarah stacked the dishes to clean later and
joined Dodge on the deck where he’d started a fire in the outdoor
fireplace. He’d refilled the wood bin from Sarah’s pile under the
deck and the popping blaze took a bit of the chill off the
approaching night.

Sarah brought another bottle of wine from
the kitchen. “Sorry it’s not up to collector status, but it’s all
I’ve got.” She refilled their glasses. “So, you mentioned something
about a business proposition earlier.” She took a seat and curled
into an Indian throw she’d brought out from the cabin. “I assume
this is about the circle.”

By the way Dodge sat on the edge of his
chair with his fingers clasped between his knees Sarah could tell
he was anxious to discuss business. “It’s about more than the
circle. I had an unfortunate setback today.” He glanced at Jenny
and Sarah watched at his mouth twitched in annoyance. “As witnessed
by your sister. I’ve got cattle all over the valley, small tracts
here and there that I lease on a year-to-year basis. The bulk of my
operation is not far from here on a tract owned by a guy from
Colorado Springs. He’d just bought the property when I came back to
town. He called me today and broke the terms of our lease and gave
me one week to get my cows off his property. I’ve spent the whole
day on the phone and can’t find a property big enough to work. I
don’t have the luxury of time on my side, so…as much as I hate to
ask…”