The Black Sheep's Inheritance(20)

Jack Reed. Sage wasn't really surprised...how could he be? Jack Reed  had the reputation of a great white shark. He bought up companies in  trouble, then broke them down to the bare bones and sold off the pieces.

If Reed was interested, then it wouldn't be long before more sharks  started circling the Lassiter family. They couldn't afford to be divided  right now. They had to stand together against all comers. Which was  just what he told Angie.

"We are together," she argued.

"What we are is pissed," he said flatly. "We all are. And we're  spending too damn much time trying to figure out what was running  through J.D.'s mind when he made that will."

"I know, I know." She stepped away from him, pulled the edges of her  sweater tighter and wrapped her arms around her middle. "My first  instinct, you know, was to contest the will."

"Yeah, I felt the same way," he said, "so did Dylan." He didn't add  that he and their brother hadn't been able to come to a decision.

She took a deep breath and tossed her hair back from her face. "I don't  know what the right thing to do is anymore, Sage. I want that company,  but now I don't know how to get it. Do I fight my father's dying wishes?  Do I try to accept this? How?"

"The whole situation's screwed up, that's for damn sure. But we'll  figure something out," Sage said. He knew what J.D. had done had eaten  away at her confidence, her self-assurance-hell, even her own image of  herself. Their dad had spent a lifetime building her up and then with  one stroke of the pen, he'd torn her down.

Why?

She laughed shortly and threw both hands into the air. "I'm a mess,  sorry. I shouldn't have just driven up here and thrown myself on you.  But I really needed someone to talk to. Someone who would understand."

"You can drop in on me any damn time you want and you know that,  Angie," he told her. "But just out of curiosity, where's Marlene?"

"Oh, she's at the ranch," she said, and started walking toward the  wraparound porch on the main house. Sage matched his strides to her  shorter ones. "And yes, she's always willing to listen, but she can't be  objective about Dad...and I really wish Colleen were still at Big Blue.  She was super easy to talk to."

Yeah, he thought. Colleen was easy to talk to. Easy to look at. She  also made it easy for him to forget why he'd started all of this.

As if just thinking about her could make her appear, an old red Jeep  pulled up the drive and everything in Sage quickened. Like a damn kid  waiting for a date with the girl of his dreams, he felt his heartbeat  thundering in his chest, and an all-too-familiar ache settled low in his  gut and grabbed hold.

"Well," Angie said thoughtfully, with a pointed glance at him. "This is interesting."

Instantly, Sage tamped down the internal fires raging through him. He  didn't need his sister making more of this than there was. "It's not  what you're thinking, so dial it down."                       
       
           



       

"Really?" she asked as the car engine cut off and the driver's side  door opened. "Because that looks like a suitcase she's pulling out of  her car...."

His insides tightened even further. "Don't even start, Angie...."

* * *

Colleen wrangled her overnight bag out of the car and set it at her  feet. She looked at the ranch house and quickly swept it in one thorough  gaze. It was smaller than Big Blue, but not by much. Its windows  gleamed in the afternoon sun and the long wraparound porch boasted  plenty of chairs for sitting out and enjoying the view. The  honey-colored logs looked warm and inviting, the scent of pine was  pervasive, and the two people on the porch were both watching her.

She hadn't expected to find Sage's sister here, too, but maybe that was  a good thing. All morning, Colleen's stomach had been twisting and  turning in anticipation of her arrival here at Sage's ranch. For longer  than she cared to think about she had been fascinated by him. And now  that they'd actually been spending time together, that fascination had  escalated into something that was as scary as it was thrilling. Having  Angie as a buffer might make these first few minutes easier.

"Angie, hi." Though she spoke to his sister, Colleen's gaze went first  to Sage, and even that one brief connection with his intense blue eyes  sent goose bumps racing along her spine.

"Hi, yourself." Angelica walked out to meet her and gave Colleen a hug. "I've missed you since you moved out of Big Blue."

"I missed you, too." Focusing on his sister gave Colleen the chance to  tear her gaze from Sage's. "How is everyone doing? Marlene?"

"She really misses Dad. A lot. We all do, of course, but..." Angie  shrugged. "It's hard. And since the reading of the will, it's even  harder." Taking a deep breath, she looked up at Sage. "Why don't you get  Colleen's suitcase and I'll walk her in."

"Oh, that's okay, I can-"

Sage nudged her hand off the handle, and a now-familiar buzz of  sensation hummed from her fingers, up her arm, to rocket around in the  center of her chest. He looked at her, and in his eyes, she saw the  realization that he'd felt it, too. That electric spark that happened  whenever they touched. As if a match had been held to a slow burning  fuse that was about to reach the explosives it was attached to.

Then he picked up her suitcase as if it weighed nothing-and Colleen  knew she hadn't packed light. For another long second, he looked at her  and Colleen's heart beat began to race. Her mouth went dry, her knees  went weak and if Angie hadn't been there, watching the two of them, she  might have just thrown herself at Sage.

"Come on," Angie said then, splintering that happy little fantasy.  Colleen followed her into the house and once she was there, she buried  those feelings in the curiosity she had for Sage's ranch. She'd heard  J.D. describe it, of course, but the reality was so much more.

Outside, it was set up much like the Big Blue. Outbuildings, barns,  stables, though from what she'd seen at a quick glance, there was a much  bigger corral for working horses than J.D.'s ranch provided. Obviously,  that made sense, because she knew that Sage bred and raised racehorses.  But it was the inside of the main house that had her captivated.

It, too, was constructed of hand-hewn logs, but there the similarity  with Big Blue ended. Instead of the ironwork that made up much of the  Lassiter home ranch, Sage's place was all wood and glass. Wood banisters  on the wide staircase, intricately carved to look like vines climbing  up posts. Bookcases that looked as though they'd been sculpted into the  walls, boasted hundreds of leather-bound and paperback books.

The wide front windows afforded a view that was so spectacular it took  her breath away. Despite the number of trees on the property, the view  was wide-open and provided a glimpse of the valley and the city of  Cheyenne that at night must be staggering. A stone fireplace dominated  one wall and the hand-carved mantel displayed pictures of his brother  and sister and a young couple who must have been his biological parents.

While Sage and Angie talked, their conversation veering from muted  tones to half shouts, Colleen wandered around the great room. Oak  floorboards shone in the sunlight slanting through the windows. Brightly  colored rugs dotted the floor, adding more warmth to a room that rang  with comfort. Overstuffed brown leather chairs and sofas were gathered  in conversational knots and heavy oak tables were laden with yet more  stacks of books. She loved it.                       
       
           



       

The house was perfect and she couldn't wait to explore the rest of it.  It was just as she would like her own home to be-on a smaller scale, of  course. A comfortable refuge.

"You don't understand," Angie was saying and had Colleen turning around  to face the siblings. "Evan is acting as if this is nothing. He keeps  offering to let me run the company. But he doesn't get that him giving  me control isn't the same as having control. He's trying to take a step  back for me at the office, but I don't want him doing that, so it's a  vicious circle. He thinks I should have control, and I want it, but if  Dad didn't want me to have it, how can I try to claim it? We're arguing  all the time now, and I can't help wondering why Dad did this. Did he  want Evan and I to break up? Or was he really that disappointed in me?"

Colleen saw the torment on Sage's face and when he reached for his  sister, pulling her in tight and wrapping his arms around her, Colleen  felt a pang in her tender heart. He was so kind. So loving. Yet when  she'd told him just that, he'd denied it. Why couldn't he see it?