The Cowboy Imports a Bride(The Cowboys Of Chance Creek #3) (15 page)

Ethan sat down next to her. "So, every step you take is one step closer to your goal."

"I barely know Rob." She hadn't meant to say that out loud, but now that she had, she pushed forward, voicing the doubts that had crept back into her mind. She pushed a lock of hair out of her eyes and sighed. "What if he turns out to be a lousy business partner?"
What if he's a lousy husband?

Ethan leaned back and stretched his arms out along the top of the couch. "I think Rob's underrated. His family's never given him any real responsibility and everyone else thinks he's a playboy."

Her stomach contracted with unease at this reminder of the number of women Rob had dated over the years. Back before she'd gotten interested in him, Autumn had told her all about his checkered past. "You don't?"

"No. He's just been bored. Rob's smart, and no one gives him credit for that, either. Back in school he got all B's and a few A's."

"So?" That wasn't too impressive. She'd gotten good grades, herself.

"So, Rob never studied. Never did the homework, even though he loved school. His brothers would pick on him if he did. You have to understand Holt Matheson's all about work. He always said school was for sissies. He worked those boys to the bone and praised them to the hills when they carried their own weight, but if they brought home a report card they'd be lucky if he looked at it, let alone complimented them on their grades."

"That's too bad."

"Yeah. Rob could've been an engineer, or something like that. He should have gone to college."

This was a side of Rob she'd never thought about. "He seems like every other cowboy."

Ethan laughed. "Ignorant and oafish?"

She elbowed him. "More interested in horses than books."

He shrugged. "Leave some books around. See what he does." He got up. "The way I see it, you promised to marry him and he promised you a winery. Everyone has second thoughts when they make big decisions. Don't let your cold feet stop you from getting what you want."

He retreated to the kitchen, leaving her to think over his words. Before she could think over it too much, the front door banged open, making her jump.

"Sorry, it's just me," Rob said, coming into the room.

Morgan's heart gave the little hitch it always did when she saw him. "Hey, come sit with me."

"Can't. I'm getting changed and heading out again."

"Where?" Morgan asked, glancing at her watch. It was past eight. Wasn't he ready to pack it in for the evening?

"I'm going to head downtown, check out the Dancing Boot and Rafters – see if anyone knows of a job that needs doing."

"I'll come, too," Morgan said, delighted at the prospect of putting aside her calculations for now.

"Sorry, honey. I'll take you out for a night on the town real soon," Rob promised her and gave her a peck on the cheek. "Tonight's going to be all business." He continued into the bedroom without waiting for her answer.

Morgan slumped down on the couch again. "All business at a bar?"

"A lot of business gets done at the bars around here," Ethan said, coming back into the living room. Rob reappeared, too, in a clean shirt.

"Don't wait up."

"Good luck," Morgan said as he headed for the door. A kitten struggled onto her lap and she petted it distractedly as Ethan sat on the other end of the couch and clicked on the television.

"Thanks. I'll need it."

* * * * *

The Dancing Boot was nearly dead on this weekday night, so Rob made his way over to Rafters, where the older cowboys and ranchers tended to congregate – men who wanted to sit and ruminate over past days or the price of cattle feed, rather than listen to music, or chase pretty girls. A quick scan of the bar from the doorway told him his father wasn't here. He didn't expect he would be – Holt saved his tame version of carousing for Friday and Saturday nights – but if he was, he'd turn around and go home.

Instead there were a handful of familiar faces, a couple he didn't know, and Carl Whitfield alone at a table in the corner.

Rob frowned. At least the man wasn't trying to buddy up with anyone, regaling them with how much money he made, like he had when he first arrived in town. Carl seemed different these days. A little more subdued. Rob stifled a chuckle. He guessed Lacey Taylor could do that to a man.

Lacey had dated Ethan for years, all through high school and beyond, and everyone assumed they were as good as married. When Lacey found out Ethan was having money problems after his parents died, however, she took off like a shot and left Ethan eating dirt. Pretty soon she hooked her carriage to Carl – self-made millionaire and wanna-be cowboy. People around here didn't like him much, since he bought his ranch for a song from a couple whose dreams had disappeared with their savings during the last recession. He hadn't thought the fellow would last long.

But here he was.

And of all the folks in the room, Carl was the one with money to spend. Rob tipped his hat to the men he knew as he walked by and made his way over to him.

"Can I join you?"

The man brightened. "Sure thing. What're you drinking?" He lifted a hand and signaled the waitress.

"Hi Rob," Trisha Bentley said, making her way over from the bar. "What'll you have?"

"Budweiser is fine," Rob said.

"Join me in a whiskey?" Carl offered.

"Not tonight – another time."

"Suit yourself. I'll have another one, honey."

"Coming right up," Trisha said and walked away.

"I haven't seen you here before," Carl said after a moment of awkward silence.

"Nah, I'm usually over at the Boot."

"I've decided to keep my distance from that establishment," Carl said. "I don't want Lacey to think I was out looking for women while she was away."

"Sounds wise," Rob said and draped an arm over the back of his chair. "I'm looking for work," he said, coming straight to the point. "Need some cash, so I'm trying to scare up some extra jobs I can do around my work for Ethan."

"You're working for Ethan? Figured you'd be helping your Dad on the Double-Bar-K," Carl said, playing with his glass.

"Not anymore. We've had a parting of ways. You know of anyone looking for extra helping hands?"

"Well, now that you mention it, I've got a job I could use a hand with myself. I figure Lacey's going to need something to do when she gets back. Something to keep her busy. I don't imagine she'll want to get a job…"

Not likely
, Rob agreed.

"So I figure I'll set up a garden for her. A nice big one. Flowers. Vegetables. You know what I mean."

Rob couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. A garden? Carl thought Lacey was going to garden?

"Where you plan to put it?"

"Close to the house is best, I think. I figure an acre ought to do it."

Rob nearly spit out the mouthful of beer he'd just sipped. "An acre?" Did Carl have any idea how much work an acre garden would be to maintain? He'd be lucky if Lacey even deigned to walk in it. He opened his mouth to tell this to Carl, then shut it again. The man probably wanted the land cleared and tilled, flower and vegetable garden beds built, and then seeing how it was already fall, he'd probably want bulbs planted for next year and some annuals to pretty it up for now.

That was a lot of work.

"I'll do it," Rob said.

"Well, now, let's negotiate a price first," Carl said. "There's a deadline, too. October first."

Rob calculated fast. Carl was a wealthy man, but he probably didn't get that way by being a fool. How much could he get away with charging? Hell, only one way to find out.

"That's a rush job. I'll need twenty thousand dollars – that's only the labor, not the cost of supplies," he said and held his breath. Any other rancher would laugh his ass right out of the bar. Then probably hunt him down later and use him for target practice, for good measure.

"Well, that seems fair," Carl said.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

It was dark out when Morgan gave up on waiting for Rob to return and went to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water before heading to bed. The kittens were curled up in a furry lump in one corner of the couch. Autumn and Ethan had turned in for the night long ago. The back door was open, letting a breeze waft into the kitchen. As she went to close it for the night, she heard footsteps crunch on the gravel outside, and a man-sized shadow appeared on the other side of the screen door. Morgan stifled a scream.

"Didn't mean to startle you," the man said. He looked familiar, but she couldn't place him at first. "You're Morgan, right?" The porch light behind him shadowed his face, and she fought the urge to turn and run.

"Yes, and you're…"

"Ned. Rob's brother."

She relaxed a little. "Is he okay?"

"Far as I know. I haven't seen him today."

She wondered what Ned could want at this time of night. "He's out right now."

"That's okay. I didn't come to see him. I came to see you. Why don't you come on out and have a seat." He indicated the swing.

She had a bad feeling about this, although she couldn't say why, exactly. Ned hadn't been along for the ride when Rob, Jake, Jamie and Ethan came to her rescue the night she and Claire went after Claire's stolen things, but she had no reason to think he wasn't as nice as the other Matheson boys. This situation, though, didn't feel nice and she'd learned to trust her instincts.

"I don't think I want to," she said, not moving.

"Fine. Have it your way – we'll do this standing up," Ned said, folding his arms across his chest. Claire glanced at the old-fashioned metal hook and eyelet that were the only way to lock the screen door, and wished they weren't hanging uselessly undone, but she had a feeling such a flimsy mechanism wouldn't stop this man if he was really determined to get inside, anyway. Ned leaned forward. "You're destroying my family, you know that?"

"In what way?"

"Rob's supposed to work our ranch with the rest of us. When Dad passes on, the four of us are supposed to work together to keep it all going. It's been the plan all along, until you came around and ruined it."

"You'll need to talk to Rob about that," she said, stepping back.

"You've got him too wrapped up around your little finger to listen. This whole plan of yours? Making him build a winery for your spoiled little ass? It's crazy – don't you realize that? Any money and time Rob invests in it will be pissing in the wind. Meanwhile, we've got work that isn't done. Not to mention that there's no way in hell we're letting you tear up good rangeland for a bunch of stupid grapes."

"Okay, for one thing – I'm not spoiled," Morgan said, anger overcoming her fear. "Not by a long shot. For another, we're not going to tear up any of your rangeland, so you can butt out of it. We don't need your stupid 200 acres. We've got our own."

That shut him up. He looked at her through the screen door for a long moment. "You'd better explain that."

"Rob's buying 150 acres from Ethan, so don't worry; you're precious ranch will stay in one piece and you don't have to worry about my spoiled little ass anymore, because I'm never setting foot on the Double-Bar-K again."

Ned didn't look pleased. "If you keep my brother away from his family, you'll be sorry. My father's been beside himself since Rob left last night. He's not young anymore. Rob knows that."

"Rob knows that your father is hell-bent on controlling every last thing he does. Your father's a bully."

Ned scowled. "At least my mother's not a whore. Dad told Rob to stay away from the likes of you – now he's probably getting the idea why. You'll drain all his money and energy, and then move on to the next man, right? Just like your mother." He spit on the porch.

Morgan lost her cool. She barged through the screen door, which slammed into Ned, knocking him off balance.

"Hell!"

Whipping the door closed behind her, she lowered her shoulder and charged him before he could recover. Catching him in the sternum, she rammed him over the edge of the porch. He grabbed for the post as he went down, caught it for an instant, lost his grip, and crashed in a heap in the garden bed below. It wasn't much of a fall and she knew he'd be on his feet in an instant; she needed to make the most of this momentary advantage.

She grabbed a nearby watering can and chucked it at him.

He batted it out of the air. "Dammit. What're you doing?"

"Giving you the beating your Momma should have a long time ago. You arrogant son-of-a-bitch, get out of here!" She picked up the next thing to hand – a garden clog – and threw it with all her might.

"Stop that!" Ned tried to jerk out of its path, but failed and it clipped him on the arm. "God dammit!" This time he made it to his feet. For an instant, he hesitated and she knew he was weighing his options – come after her again, or beat a retreat.

"What the hell is going on out here?" Ethan appeared in the kitchen door in a pair of pajama pants and nothing else. Morgan froze, a flower pot in hand. She'd forgotten about him.

"She's crazy! That's what's going on here," Ned said.

"Morgan?"

She tightened her grip on the pot. "I took exception to something he said. I thought he needed to learn some manners."

"You're the one who needs to learn some manners," Ned began but Ethan strode down the steps, collared him and marched him around the side of the house. In the sudden quiet, Morgan realized she was shaking, and she sat down on the steps before her legs gave way. A few moments later, Ethan returned.

"You okay?" he said, sitting down beside her.

"Not really. Rob's family hates me."

"Nah."

"Yeah." She turned to him. "They're furious Rob's not going to ranch with them. Ned called Mom a whore. He said I was breaking up their family."

"Huh." She watched him process this bit of information. "I'll sort him out about Mom later."

"I told him Rob's buying the land from you and we'll be living here. I thought it would settle him down since he didn't want us to till up his ranchland for the vineyard. But he went berserk. What's with him?"