Learnin' The Ropes (36 page)

“What were you doing in the shed, anyway?” Ty asked, taking a deep drink of the tea.

“I found another clue.” She dug a scrap of paper from her pocket and laid it on the counter.

Ty read the note:

Mowing Away the Competition

“I assumed it meant something to do with the lawn mower or the garden shed.” She stared into his hot, bright eyes, and forgot about the lost money, about their lost month together. Instead, she focused on enjoying that very moment.

“It would make sense,” he said, studying the words. From experience, he knew what Lex wrote wasn’t necessarily what he meant. “Beyond the lawn mower, what things mow here on the ranch?”

“The swather, the weed beater we use on the ditches, the cattle themselves mow down the grass. Why couldn’t he have just left a note that said, ‘I hid the money in a box. Here’s the map. Good luck.’”

“I think your dad wanted to have a little fun with you.” Ty grinned.

Lexi huffed in frustration. “This is ridiculous and insane.” Each time she found a clue, she thought it would be the last one. It just led to another, and another.

“How about I help you go look again? I’m assuming you weren’t quite through when Baby ran her little play on us.” Ty finished his tea and focused on placing as many kisses as he could on Lexi’s neck before she began squirming on his lap.

“That would be great.” She jumped to her feet and grabbed his hand. “Let’s go.”

Ty kissed her again, so thoroughly, her knees trembled.

“Come on, Nancy Drew,” he teased, taking a series of deep breaths to cool his ardor as he led her out the door.

With a flashlight in hand, they returned to the shed. Ty climbed up to the loft area and looked around. One small toolbox was the only thing of interest to him and he handed it down to Lexi. A padlock held the lid shut, so they took it to the shop where Ty cut off the lock.

Inside the box was an assortment of antique hand tools and a small envelope.

Lexi took the envelope in her hand and sighed, studying the tools.

“Those belonged to my great-grandfather,” she said, running her hand over the motley assortment of once useful pieces. “Daddy said he learned how to use a tool properly by playing with these as a boy.”

“That’s a box full of your family history, Lexi. Just think of the hands that smoothed these handles.” Reverently, he picked up a hammer. A groove was worn into the handle from being held in sweaty hands for so many years.

“Let’s see what this says,” Lexi said, opening the envelope. A small slip of notebook paper was tucked inside.

Don’t Mess with the Boss

“Well, isn’t that helpful?” Lexi said dryly, angry at her father over the latest set of clues. Anyone who knew Lex already knew no one messed with the boss. She liked to think her hired hands followed that rule with her as well.

“Don’t discount it yet.” He held the paper in his big hand. “It could mean more than you think it does.”

Tired of searching for the money, she rubbed a hand across her eyes and sighed. “I can’t keep chasing something that isn’t there, Ty. I give up. Maybe someday we’ll find the money, maybe we won’t, but I give up.”

“No one said you had to find it right now, did they? If finances are tight, cut my pay. I can work in the evenings for some of the neighbors doing repair jobs if you need extra money.” He offered her a comforting hug.

“Tyler Lewis, you can’t be real.” Lexi stared at him as tears filled her eyes. His words proved that he truly loved her. Not her money, not her ranch, not her supposed social standing. He loved her. “Thank you for the sweet offer, but we aren’t hurting for money, buckaroo. It just bothers me to have it hanging out there. I’m afraid of what would happen if someone else found it.”

“Then I guess we’ll just need to work closely together to figure this out sooner rather than later.” He had a few ideas on what Lex was really trying to tell them.

Lesson Eighteen

Never Stop Learning

“If there’s somethin’ ya don’t know,

git out there and find out all ya can about it.”

“It can’t be as bad as all that,” Jan commented to Ty as he lingered over his cup of breakfast coffee. “She’ll be home soon enough.”

Ty lifted his head and looked at the housekeeper as she finished her coffee and carried dirty dishes to the kitchen sink.

“How’d you know?” Ty picked up a stack of dishes and carried them for her.

“I may be older, but I was young and in love once. Don’t forget I also raised five kids. I know the signs.” Jan gave Ty a pat on his back. She knew she shouldn’t play favorites, but the big, quiet man was always so thoughtful and helpful. As Swede would say, he was just a good egg. It didn’t hurt that his smile could charm the birds out of the trees or the blue of his eyes could entrance any female regardless of her age.

Ty grinned and helped finish clearing off the table before he went out for the day. Things were pretty quiet on the ranch right now.

According to Swede, they’d start haying again in about a week and things would really get busy. The guys were caught up on fence repairs and Ty was finished with equipment repairs, unless Cal tore up another piece of machinery.

 Those without anything better to do were mucking stalls, cleaning tack, and riding horses that hadn’t been ridden for a while.

 Gus volunteered to work around the ranch yard, pulling weeds and tending to the landscaping. Ty thought it was the notion of being closer to Jan, not the flowers, sparking Gus’ sudden interest in staying closer to the home place.

Swede gave Ty permission a couple of months ago to work on a surprise for Lexi in his spare time. Without her knowing about it, he had slowly worked at restoring her dad’s old mustang.

Three days ago, Lexi left for a cattleman’s meeting near Pendleton. She was going to spend a few days visiting Bertie and Linc before the meeting began then head straight home afterward.

Ty missed her more than he thought he could possibly miss anyone. It had been two weeks since he came to his senses and told her he loved her. Without ranch work to keep him busy and distracted from his thoughts of Lexi, he decided to work on the car.

Swede thought it was a great project and helped him tow the car into the shop before the dust from Lexi’s truck quit swirling down the driveway. At some point before he died, Lex ordered all the necessary repair parts, including a new engine for the car as well as new upholstery and interior linings. Although he’d made a lot of headway in his spare time restoring the car, it would be a lot easier to get the job done in the shop.

Able to finish up everything under the hood before dark the previous evening, Ty and Swede took the car for a quick test drive.

“Woohee, son, this ol’ car is smooth. I’m not sure she sounded this good brand spankin’ new!” Swede said as they pulled out on the highway. Ty slowly worked up to speed. Once he hit sixty, he pushed the accelerator to the floor and they zoomed across the desert highway.

Swede cackled and thumped the dashboard. “I plumb forgot what a fun car this was. I don’t remember the seats being so almighty lumpy, though.”

After driving back to the ranch, Ty could hardly go to sleep when he finally got to bed. He was too wound up about finishing the restoration project.

Now, with the early morning light sending dust motes into a lively dance in the shop, Ty tackled the interior work. The final touch would be a paint job. Swede found someone in Burns who could do it and the car would go in first thing in the morning. The shop promised to have it completed so they could bring the car home the following day before Lexi returned to the ranch.

As he pulled the ratty carpet up from the floorboards, Ty listened to his music and mused about how much his life had changed in such a short period of time.

Mid-morning, he took a break to gulp down water and stand in front of the air conditioner in the shop window. He called Beth to check in with her. She was on her morning break and rushed, but she made time to visit with him for a few minutes.

“Lexi will be so surprised about the car, Ty. I think it’s just great you are doing this for her,” Beth said, enjoying the unexpected call from her brother.

“I hope so. I wanted to do something nice for her. Something unexpected.” He wiped the sweat from his forehead onto his bare arm. He’d taken to wearing sleeveless coveralls with a tank top as the summer heat permeated every building on the ranch. “I wish Mom could see this car, Beth. She would have loved it. You know how she always had a thing for muscle cars.”

“Yeah, she did. I don’t know what it was with her and the cars and the rock music. Guess that’s why you turned out the way you did,” Beth teased.

“What’s wrong with that?” He inflected a wounded sound to his voice.

“Not a thing, sweet brother, not a single thing. Now tell me what is so special about this car, other than Lexi’s dad owned it.”

“It’s a Mustang Boss. Limited production. It could mow down the competition without even…” Ty stopped when all of the puzzle pieces Lex left behind suddenly fit into place. Excited, he could barely stand still. “Say, Beth, I just realized I’ve got something I need to take care of, but thanks so much for your help.”

“My help?” Beth asked, confused. “But, Ty…”

“Love you, Bethie, I’ll talk to you soon. Give Jax a hug from his favorite uncle.”

“Okay, bye.”

Ty mentally ran through all the clues Lex left behind. How did he not see this before, especially with the last clue about not messing with the boss? He stood next to the car wondering where Lex hid the money. He knew it wasn’t under the hood because he had been through every inch of space there. It had to either be in the trunk or inside the car.

Swiftly deciding to continue with the interior, Ty worked with a renewed purpose and vigor that soon had the carpets ripped out. He removed the dash and door panels, the fabric lining of the roof, and saved the seats for last. It would be easier to take the seats out to recover them so he loosened the bolts and soon had the driver’s seat out of the car.

He moved over to the front passenger seat, and lifted it, aware of a noticeable difference in the weight compared to the driver’s seat. Quickly tipping it forward, he pulled it out and laughed when he discovered a lumpy duffle bag stuffed up inside the seat. No wonder Swede complained about it being uncomfortable the night before. It looked like Lex cut a hole beneath the seat, pulled out some of the foam and stuffed in the bag of money.

Clever, as long as Lexi didn’t get rid of the car, which Lex must have known she would never do.

Ty gasped when he opened the bag, staring at stacks and stacks of hundred dollar bills. He’d never dreamed of seeing so much money in one place in his entire life. He wondered how Lex had acquired all that cash. It surely didn’t come from banks in Burns. Did the sick man drive to Bend to do his banking? He surely didn’t walk into one bank and tell them he wanted to cash half a million in checks. Even if he had it electronically deposited to his account, how did you go in and request half a million dollars in cash without raising suspicions?

His palms began to sweat as he zipped the bag. The big question now was where to stash the money until Lexi returned home and he could hand it over to her. It needed to be somewhere secure. Somewhere no one would look. With the bag in one hand, he looked around the shop. Startled, he jumped when a warm presence bumped his leg.

“Hey, Baby. What are you doing?” Absently, he rubbed her head. Baby sniffed the duffle bag and whined, staring up at Ty with big, sad eyes.

“I know you miss him, Baby.” Ty patted her sides and stroked her head. “Where shall we hide this for Lexi? Where’s a good hiding spot, Baby?”

The dog barked and looked in the direction of Ty’s tool chests. Of course! They locked, no one bothered them, and the money should be safe there until Lexi returned. He unlocked one and moved his tools around until he could get the bag inside, then locked it up.

He’d barely returned the keys to his pocket when Swede walked in, whistling.

“Look at thet. Yer really makin’ headway, dude.”

“I’m trying.” Ty did his best to hide his nervousness. He didn’t know why, but finding the money and having it in his possession pushed him into a sense of panic. What if he lost it? What if something happened to it?

He didn’t want to be responsible for all that money and wished Lexi would hurry up and come home.

“Need any help?” Swede asked, looking at the seat that hung partway out the door.

“Sure. I’m trying to get the seats out of the car so we can put new upholstery on them. It shouldn’t take long to do it if you have time to help me.”

“Let’s git ‘er done,” Swede said, rolling up his shirtsleeves and grabbing one end of the seat.

By lunch time, they finished the front seats and were nearly done with the back. Ty made sandwiches from the supplies he kept in the shop refrigerator then he and Swede took a break while Baby sat at their feet whining.

“What’s wrong with the dog?” Swede asked, rubbing her back with the toe of his boot.

“She’s been whining like that since she came in the shop. Maybe it’s the car. I’m sure she connects it with Mr. Ryan.” Ty didn’t know a lot about animals, but Baby seemed to have many of the same emotions as a human. He’d seen her happy, sad, pouting, teasing. It made sense that she would miss her master, too.

“Yer probably right.” Swede finished his sandwich and dusted off his hands. “Let’s git back at this. We should be able to git the inside done before dinner time, don’t ya think?”

“I do. And I appreciate your help. I know this doesn’t have anything to do with ranch work, but…”

Swede didn’t let him finish. “It’ll make the boss happy and thet’s more important than anythin’. I’m as anxious as a pig at a bacon factory to git this thing done and back in the garage before the boss gits home,” Swede said as he and Ty returned to work.

Early the next morning, Swede followed Ty into town to drop off the car to be painted. The shop owner couldn’t stop gaping at the car when they drove up.