When the Heart Falls (7 page)

“
Um.” He chuckled. “I feel bad for sort of showing up unannounced like this,” he said as he toyed with the hat in his hands.

She just sat there. Dear God this man was going to think she was an idiot or something. She couldn’t believe how paralyzed she felt. A perplexed look came across Vance’s face. She was sure he was thinking that he had made a huge mistake by coming back here. She had to say something and fast.

“
It’s ok”, she stammered. “I was just taking these dogs out to the scraps.”

Smooth. Ok, so if she hadn’t looked like an idiot before she definitely looked like one now. She could feel the warmth rising in her cheeks and she quickly corrected herself. “I mean, I was just taking these scraps out to the dogs.”

He grinned at her and she could feel her limbs go numb. “I see,” he said. “Like I was saying, I feel bad for showing up unannounced but I really wanted to talk to you.” 

“
Oh really?” she asked, trying to sound nonchalant. “What is it that you wanted to talk to me about, Mr. Kinney?”

“
Please, call me Vance,” he paused and then started again. “I actually wanted to see if maybe you would like to go out sometime.” If he was nervous at all he sure didn’t show it. He seemed so sure of himself, and Misty couldn’t help but admire that.

“
Sure, that would be lovely,” she said adoringly.

Vance smiled at her again with his dazzling white smile. “There’s a carnival in town this Saturday. Would you like to accompany me?”

She nodded her acceptance and added, “That would be very nice.”

He placed his hat back on his head and nodded toward Misty. “Then it’s a date.”

She smiled and turned to walk up the porch steps.

“
Good night, Misty,” Vance said in a hushed tone.

“
Good night, Vance,” she said dreamily.

He smiled at her again and it sent warm, tingly, shivers throughout her body. And Misty knew that there was no way she was going to be able to sleep tonight.

CHAPTER 7

“
Damn it!” Dylan cursed under his breath as he slammed the desk drawer shut. He had had no luck in his search for clues on this secret bank account his father had. The whole thing was straight out of a movie or something. Things like this didn’t happen to people in a small ranching town. His father was a decent, hardworking man who had lived pay check to pay check. It just didn’t make sense how he had been able to save two hundred thousand dollars. His mother was no help with the matter either. He had tried to get any information from her that might help him in his search, but it was useless. She still believed that her husband had been secretly stashing cash somewhere on the ranch for years.

Dylan let out an exasperated sigh and rubbed his hands over his face. He stood up from the desk, walked toward the door and headed out to the kitchen. As he got closer to the room, Dylan could hear voices coming from outside. Funny, he hadn’t seen anyone pull up to the house. He walked into the kitchen and saw Beth sitting at the table with a box of saltine crackers.

“
Feeling okay?” he asked, concerned.

“
Yeah, just a little morning sickness,” she replied as she took a small bite of the cracker. “Although, I don’t know why they call it morning sickness if you have it all day.”

He gave her a caring smile and leaned his head so he could peer out the window to find out who their visitor was. Katherine was talking to a tall, burly man who was probably in his late fifties to early sixties. His clothing and the way he presented himself showed that this was a man of means. Automatically, Dylan felt defensive but decided not to let his testosterone over power his actions. The conversation between Katherine and the stranger seemed harmless, so Dylan wouldn’t intervene.

“
Who’s that man talking to Mom?” Dylan curiously asked Beth.

“
Oh, that’s Trent Montgomery,” Beth replied and Dylan noticed that there was an edge to her tone.

“
Trent Montgomery? I’ve never heard of him. Who is he?”

“
He’s only been here for about seven years,” Beth explained. “He’s one of the richest ranchers in all of Stockford.”

Dylan nodded his head and replied, “I see. Wonder what he’s doing here?”

“
I’m not sure and quite honestly I was thinking the same thing myself. The only thing I can think is that he heard the news about Dad and came to express his condolences.”

The voices coming from the back porch were increasing in volume. Dylan could tell that the seemingly harmless conversation had just taken a drastic turn in the other direction.

“
It may have started out as expressing condolences but I don’t think that’s what going on now,” he said to Beth as he walked past her and grabbed his cowboy hat off the peg on the wall. He placed it on his head and adjusted it as he walked out the back door to see about all the commotion.

“
I understand what you are telling me Mr. Montgomery, but as I’ve been telling you I don’t intend to sell my ranch. I’ll gladly see to it that you get your money back,” Katherine said heatedly to Trent.

“
Your husband and I had a deal, Mrs. McCoy. The bank was about to take your ranch anyway. If it weren’t for my offer you would be broke and homeless,” Trent replied furiously. His face had taken on a deep shade of red and the veins in his neck bulged when he spoke. “That money I gave your husband was my down payment and when I make a deal with someone I see it through.” His tone was threatening and the way he looked at Katherine was violent.

Dylan wasn’t sure how his father had gotten mixed up with this man, but he was going to find out. First he needed to intervene and come to his mother’s aid.

“
Everything okay, Mom?” Dylan asked as he eyed the irate man standing across from him.

“
Yes dear, Mr. Montgomery was just leaving.” She glared at Trent and almost dared him to say anything else to her. She would not be bullied into selling the home that she and Wesley had built. The only way she would ever leave the ranch is when the good Lord decided it was time for her to come home, and she intended to make that clear.

“
We can do this the nice way or the hard way Mrs. McCoy, you choose. You can keep your husband’s word, sell me your ranch and leave peacefully or.”

“
Or what?” Katherine interrupted, crossing her arms and sending an evil glare toward Trent.

“
Or I’ll see to it that you lose everything. You won’t see a dime you stubborn little bi-“

“
I wouldn’t finish that sentence if I were you,” Dylan advised as he balled his right hand into a fist and took a step toward Trent.

Trent didn’t move. He turned his menacing look to Dylan, and an eerie smile spread across his face. “I 
will
 be back. And when I do come back, I 
won’t
 be the one leaving next time,” Trent threatened and spat at Dylan’s feet. He stomped his boots on the porch as he stormed away. The truck roared as he revved the engine and then fish tailed as he sped down the driveway leaving Dylan and Katherine standing in a cloud of dust. Dylan turned toward Katherine and gave her a confused look.

“
We need to go in the house and talk, Mom.”

Katherine took in a deep breath and let it out in a loud sigh. “Okay, let’s go.”

Beth was standing at the door waiting for them as they approached. “What the heck was all that about?”

“
Take a seat, Beth. Mom’s got some stuff she needs to tell us.”

Katherine walked past Dylan and took her place at the head of the table. Beth and Dylan filled in the chairs beside her. Dylan removed his hat and set it on the table. He leaned back in his chair, resting his arm on the table and drummed his fingertips on the wood.

“
Go ahead Mom, tell us what’s going on,” he urged. He could still feel the adrenaline running through him from his confrontation with Trent. So his tone came out a little harsher than he intended it to. But he was frustrated from all the secrets that kept popping up from out of nowhere. They had always been a close family, or so he thought. Dylan never thought that his parents would keep things from him and Beth, especially when he and Beth could do something to help them out.

Katherine looked down at her hands folded neatly in her lap. “I guess I should just start from the beginning,” she said, keeping her eyes lowered. “The ranch had been doing well until a year and a half ago. It had seemed like we had hit a streak of bad luck. A brush fire took out half of our field of hay. The tractor broke down. Basically it was a bunch of expenses that we weren’t prepared for. We didn’t have enough money from the cattle sale to cover all of that and the mortgage of the ranch. Your father had tried his hardest to come up with the money but it wasn’t enough. The bank was going to foreclose and that’s when we received a visit from Trent Montgomery.” She looked up then and glanced at each one of her children with a please-forgive-me look.

“
He spoke with your father about our situation and offered to loan us the money to expand the herd of cattle and to cover our outstanding mortgage payments. A friendly neighborly gesture is what he called it. His condition was that he would get twenty percent of the profits from the ranch. It seemed harmless enough so we accepted his offer. We took the money, expanded the herd and paid the mortgage payments we were behind on. Things were going really good for a while.” She sat in silence for a few moments and Beth reached over and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

“
It’s ok, Mom. Go on,” she urged.

Katherine sighed and continued. “Well, like I said, things were good for a while. But then, a bunch of the cows came down with a sickness and we lost a huge chunk of the herd. We were right back to where we started. And that’s when Trent offered to take the place off of our hands. I didn’t want to and neither did your father. But it was either that or the bank would take the ranch. So we reluctantly decided to sell it to Trent. He gave us the two hundred thousand dollars as a form of unwritten contract until we could get the paperwork drawn up. But then, a few weeks later your father got into that car accident and,” her voice trailed off and she turned her eyes back to her hands in her lap.

Dylan looked to Beth, who had a concerned look on her face, and then to his mother. “What I don’t understand Mom, is why you and Dad didn’t tell us any of this beforehand,” he scolded. “Beth and I could have helped you out somehow.”

She gave Dylan a weary look and replied, “It’s not your job to do that, sweetie. Your father and I did what we thought was best. We weren’t going to bother Beth and Alan seeing as they had just gotten married and were just starting out. And you had been living in Oklahoma for the past four years helping your friend Steven Bowen get his ranch started. You each had things going on in your own lives so there was no sense in bringing you and Beth into the mess.”

Dylan let out an exasperated sigh. “Mom, we’re a family. We’re supposed to help one another. I don’t think it’s right that you and Dad lied to us. Now what are you going to do? That man has over two hundred thousand dollars invested into this ranch. He’s going to get it back one way or another. I sure as hell don’t have that kind of money and I know Beth doesn’t either. How are you planning on giving it back to him?”

“
I don’t know,” she whispered and gently shook her head. “But I’ve got to think of something. I can’t lose this ranch, Dylan. There’s so much of your father in this place, and I can’t lose him again.”

Dylan rose from the table and placed his hat back on his head.

“
Where are you going?” Beth asked.

“
I’m going for a ride. I’ve got to clear my head,” he replied as he walked out of the house without looking at either one of them. Dylan stormed out to the barn and kicked over a metal bucket that was in his path. He knew he should be more understanding of his mother’s situation, but he couldn’t help but be frustrated by the whole thing. His parent’s had gotten themselves into a fine mess. This Trent Montgomery fellow seemed like a real mean son of a bitch. Dylan could tell that he was the type of man that would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. He wanted to keep the ranch just as bad as his mother did. And if they did have to sell it, he would rather it go to anyone but Trent Montgomery. Dylan walked out to the corral and whistled. His horse, Blaze, came trotting up to him and Dylan patted his neck. He slipped the halter over the horse’s head and led him to the barn to get him saddled. A nice, long, quiet ride was just what he needed right now. Hopefully, he would be able to come up with a plan to save his family’s ranch.

***

Trent slammed on the brakes and shoved his truck into park. He got out and slammed the door shut behind him.

“
You two, in my office now!” he yelled at the two men by the barn. Trent pushed open the double doors of his elaborate office so hard that they were still swinging on their hinges when the two men entered the room. He sat down in his plush, leather, executive style office chair and opened the top desk drawer. With a huff, he pulled out the carved box from the drawer, opened it and pulled out a cigar.