Buddy whined, almost as if he’d read her thoughts. She dropped her hand to his head and scratched his ears. “No offense, Buddy,” she murmured.
The dog growled softly in reply but dropped his chin to the toe of her boot and settled in for a nap. He’d worked hard, and she was going to buy him the biggest steak Cattlemen’s Cafe had on the menu once the herd was delivered to the stockyards. She had the cash in her pocket to buy that steak—and one for Boots and Nadine, too.
* * *
Chance ignored his brother as he gunned the big diesel engine of his Ford F250. “I know what I’m doing, Cord.”
“No, Chance. You don’t. The old man is already stroking out from this mess. How the hell did the national media get this story?”
“I told them.”
“You what? Damn, little brother. Do you have a death wish? The old man is going to cut you off at the knees.”
“He can try, Cord.” He moistened dry lips with a tongue resembling sandpaper and loosened his white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel. “Look, we all know he’s being a jerk about this. And he can’t get his hands on the ranch anyway.”
“Oh? You’re that sure she’s going to get those cows to the stockyards and sold?”
“Doesn’t matter if she does or not. I paid off the mortgage and put the deed solely in her name.”
“Oh, hell, son. Tell me that ain’t so. The old man will shoot you dead right where you stand.” Cord scrubbed fingers through his hair. “Does she know?”
“Not a chance. She’d fight me all the way, Cord. Besides, this is something she has to do on her own. She needs to find out what’s important. That what’s here is important.” That I’m important to her.
“Do you truly believe she’ll be so grateful she throws herself into your arms, kisses you all over and falls in love?”
Chance squirmed in his seat remembering Cassie’s kisses. “She’s already in love with me, Cord. She just hasn’t admitted it yet.”
“Dammit, Chance. Are you really going to throw away everything for that girl?”
He didn’t hesitate a moment. “Yeah. I am.”
Fifteen
Her wristwatch read five minutes after five. Cass sipped the cup of coffee Nadine handed her and watched the sky in the east lighten from cobalt to lapis. Wisps of cloud looked like watercolor brush strokes in shades of sangria and salmon.
“Red sky at morning, sailors take warning.” Cass recited the old weather adage.
A voice rumbled behind her. “Well, it’s a good thing we aren’t on the water, then.”
She chuckled as the man stepped up beside her. “G’morning, Uncle Boots.”
Nadine handed him a cup, and Cass noticed how their fingers lingered against each other. She’d seen this coming, and it lightened her heart. Nadine and Boots made a good match. Maybe she should just turn over the ranch to the Barrons. Boots and Buddy could move in with Nadine. Cass could choose any city in the country and pick up the pieces of her life.