He stared at her. “A mistake?”

  “That’s what he said. I wasn’t supposed to get one. He apologized for his error.” She grunted. “I guess everyone makes mistakes.” Her head fell back down into her hand.

  “That’s a pretty big mistake.” Rem swore under his breath. A billion-dollar mistake. Which meant that the whole premise that had brought him here was a mistake. A mirage.

  His chest squeezed tight, and his neck felt like a lasso had settled around it. No billion dollars. No money at all.

  Elaine stood. “Your eggs are burning.”

  Rem swore again. Louder and more violently this time. He threw the spatula down. It clanked onto the stove. “Guess I’m not hungry anymore.” He yanked his coat off the peg and walked out.

  ELAINE WATCHED HIM go, her heart shooting pain around her chest with every hard thump. He’d be leaving now. He’d married her for the ranch, too, but that wasn’t any good without the money.

  They’d never finished the money conversation from the other night when he’d stormed out. Rem had just given her money without her asking when she said she needed to go grocery shopping. They didn’t really need to talk about it, though. They both knew the sorry state of their finances and were depending on that billion-dollar inheritance to save the ranch.

  They could last until spring, through summer if he sold his high-dollar rodeo stock, but come fall, they would have no choice but to sell.

  She would have no choice.

  He had no reason to stay.

  She turned the stove off and moved the skillet from the burner. She’d have to clean the burned eggs out of it and start something for dinner. Later.

  She put her head on the table, unsure if she were more upset about not actually getting the billion dollars or about the fact that Rem was going to leave.

  Having him around had been fun. She’d enjoyed it. But of course, she couldn’t deny the attraction that pulled at her every time he was around. He was a handsome, confident man, and a woman would have to be blind to not notice him.

  She was sure he liked her too. They were friends. They’d developed an easy comradery. But she wasn’t foolish enough to think that he liked her enough to dump all the money he had into a ranch that was going bankrupt anyway and stay with her without the money he’d been promised.

  Maybe because she’d lived through James’s leaving, brought a newborn home to the ranch with no idea of how she was going to care for him, plus her other children and still pay the bills. Maybe because not having money had become her normal. Or maybe she’d just never really believed that she’d actually be getting a billion dollars. It had seemed too good to be true. Turned out, it was.

  Whatever the reason, knowing that she wasn’t getting a billion dollars didn’t disappoint her like it probably should have.

  Glad that her eyes were dry, she stood up from the table, checking her kids before walking to the stove and getting the pan of eggs to clean it.

  REM STOOD IN THE BARN, his stomach churning, his mind a jumble, but his heart berating himself for walking out, yet again, on Elaine. It told him he should walk his butt back in that kitchen and face this together, but he’d feel like a big idiot walking out then walking right back in.

  He was an idiot. Why not feel like one?

  He stomped back through the snow, up the porch, and into the house.

  If he’d thought about it, he would have expected Elaine to be sitting where she left him, maybe crying or something. But she stood with her back to him, scrubbing the skillet that he’d burned the eggs in.

  She looked over her shoulder, her face pinched. “I can get your clothes out of the dryer if you want to leave right away.”

  He wouldn’t have called himself slow, but it did take almost a half-minute until he realized she thought he was back in to collect his stuff and go.

  “I don’t quit.”

  She looked down at the floor where her youngest blond-haired boy played with a truck at her feet, before looking back up at him with a raised brow. “I can’t quit.”

  Oh, the words were right there in his mouth to tell her that he couldn’t quit on her, either. Not when he wanted to stand beside her for the rest of his life with every fiber of his being.

  He shook that thought.

  They weren’t getting the money. Okay. He wasn’t going to sit around and brood about it. He’d told Elaine he didn’t look back, and that was the truth. He was ready to forge ahead.

  “You have a minute? I have a couple of ideas I want to run by you.”

  “I’ll let this soak,” she said, drying her hands off and coming to the table.

  He sat at his normal seat at the head of the table. She pulled out her chair to his right. Carson came over with his truck in one hand, his thumb in his mouth, and Rem lifted him up, sitting him on his lap. A few weeks ago that would have felt odd. Now he barely even thought about the fact that the boy wanted to sit in his lap rather than his mother’s. The little body on his leg somehow felt right.

  He wanted to get the first word in, so he didn’t wait for Elaine to settle before he started. “I’m sorry. That was a huge disappointment, but I shouldn’t have walked out. That’s the second time I’ve done it to you, and you deserve better. I’ll try hard not to let it happen again.”

  Her head was shaking before he’d finished. “You have every right to be upset. It’s the money and the ranch that brought you here. I feel like you’ve been lied to, and I wish I could change that.”

  “I’m here. We’re married, and I told you I’m not quitting. If you are, you’d better say so.”

  “I told you I can’t.” Her eyes slipped to Carson who was running his truck on the table with one hand.

  “I get that you’re not leaving your kids.” He paused, and his voice lowered, losing its hard edge and coming out with a warmth he didn’t realize he was capable of. “I’m talking about us. You and me and what we’re going to do to keep the ranch and turn it into something profitable. It’s going to be work, and it’s gonna involve sacrifice, and I want to know if you’re in.”

  She didn’t hesitate, and he loved that about her. “I am.”

  Carson pushed his truck to the edge of the table, where Rem stopped it and pushed it back without thinking about it.

  “Do you have any ideas?” He wanted to hear her thoughts before he launched into his own plans.

  “I just know I can’t keep doing what I’ve been doing, which is selling a cow every time the checkbook is empty.”

  “Okay. Here’s my idea.” He put a hand up. “We don’t have to do this. I’m laying it out so we can talk about it.”

  “I get it.”

  “I’ve got a buyer for my cattle in Texas. They’re getting some bloodwork done, and if everything comes back clean, that sale should go through by spring. I want to buy as many beef as I can with that money, even if we have to ship them in from back east.”

  Elaine nodded. That wasn’t the radical part of his plan.

  “Okay, I know I’m a risk-taker, and this might make you uncomfortable.”

  Her mouth curved up. “I have to like the part about you that’s willing to take a risk.”

  He returned her grin with a cocky one of his own. Even if they lost the ranch, if he could figure out a way to get Elaine to like him as much as he liked her, he’d consider that risk one of the best he’d ever taken.

  “I want to take the money that’s in my account, get the bills current, keep back enough to live on for two months, and sink the rest into repairing the cabins.”

  “The cabins?”

  “The ones at the lake.”

  She looked at him blankly.

  “I’ve got a buddy. He rode bulls for a little bit. I gave him some free lessons and advice, so he kind of owes me. Anyway, he quit a while back, and he and his wife own a vacation booking company. I want to fix the cabins up, get some pics, and see if we can’t get some income going from that. Enough to pay the mortgage every month and buy groceries.”

  Elaine didn’t seem excited about the idea, not like he was, but she hadn’t said no outright.

  “Who would want to come the whole way out here? And there’s no place to buy groceries or eat or anything.”

  “Well, I’m thinking that will be part of the draw. You’ll cook for them.”

  Her mouth formed an “o,” and she stared at him.

  “Think about it. You don’t have to. I know I said I didn’t want you to do anything more than what you were already doing. I still don’t. But...” He let out a breath. “Come spring, I’m going to have to get a job. Probably in the oil field. They’re always begging for guys, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Hopefully just for this summer.” He hated the thought of leaving Elaine, especially if they were going to have people staying in the cabins.

  Elaine bit her lip. Her fingers twisted together. “I won’t be able to make enough hay to feed all the stock. It was all I could do to get the little bit done last summer.”

  “The oil guys usually work two or three solid weeks then have a week off. We’ll make the hay when I’m home.” He held onto Carson’s truck, his fingers squeezing. “Isn’t there a girl around that you were going to get to watch the kids? Her mother recently died?”

  “Nell?”

  “Yeah. Do you think she’d stay here while I’m gone?” His throat was dry, and his heart punched his ribs. He wanted to flat-out tell her that someone was staying with her because he didn’t want her here alone—it was too much for her—but he didn’t want to boss her. He knew he’d respond better to a suggestion than he would to an outright order. Elaine didn’t seem to have a lot of rebellious tendencies, but he was trying to be courteous.

  “That’s to ease your mind?” she asked gently.

  He’d managed to not let the commanding words come out of his mouth, but the expression on his face was probably harsher than normal.

  She’d seen through everything he was trying to hide.

  “My biggest struggle with this whole idea isn’t the risk. If you want the possibility of a big payoff, you have to be willing to take a big risk.” He ran a hand through his hair and hooked it on the back of his neck. “When I was riding, I always liked drawing the unpredictable bull. It went against typical advice and what most guys wanted. They’d want to draw the bull that would give them a solid ride. A good 80s, maybe low 90s bull. That’s fine, but I always wanted the bull that had the off chance of giving me that high 90s ride. It was risky, ’cause I might end up with a low score, but the chance of coming out on top was worth it.”

  Carson leaned back against his chest, and he adjusted the little body into a more comfortable position.

  “It’s not just luck. There is that. There’s always a bit of luck. But it was more because I had the confidence in my skill set, because I’d put the hard work in, because I showed up prepared.” He pursed his lips. “That’s the same thing here. It’s not a crapshoot. I’ve got the contacts. We’ll figure out what’s going to make people beg to pay us to stay in those cabins. We’ll fix them up to suit. In the meantime, we’ll have our herd of cattle growing and I’ll pay for everything else with a job on the oil wells.”

  He put the hand that wasn’t holding Carson flat down on the table. “What do you say?”

  She bit her lip. The stove clicked, and the wind gusted outside. He couldn’t tell from the expression on her face which way she was leaning, although she continued to bite her lip, which was probably not a good sign.

  Finally, she said, “I don’t like the idea of you working on the oil wells.”

  That really wasn’t what he expected to hear. He’d expected her to object to him spending all their money on a gig that might not pan out. Maybe not want to cook for a bunch of strangers. He hadn’t mentioned the extra work of cleaning the cabins. Maybe she wouldn’t want all those strangers around her kids. He wasn’t too keen on it himself. But he assumed the rifle that was hanging on the hooks behind the door wasn’t part of her décor. He also assumed she could use it. Especially if someone were coming after her children.

  Not that he wanted her to have to.

  He hadn’t expected her objection to the oil wells. “Why?” He couldn’t argue if he didn’t know her position.

  She used her finger to trace the edge of the table, watching it like it was imperative that she keep her finger just so. “Please don’t get offended at me.”

  He snorted. “Doesn’t sound good.”

  “You limp when you don’t think I’m watching. You end every day with a headache. Your back hurts when you sit too long, and when we have a storm coming, it seems like your whole body is a well of pain.” Her finger stopped, and with her head still bent, she looked at him through her lashes. “It’s not that I don’t think you can do it, I’m just worried that you might get hurt or...killed.” Her chin came up. “You can smirk at me all you want to, but it happens, you know.”

  He tried to get his lips to stop smiling, but he was having a rough time wrangling them into submission. He wasn’t even sure why her speech made him want to grin. It made his heart glow. But she was getting annoyed. Her eyes snapped, and she moved to push away from the table.

  He grabbed her wrist. He exerted no pressure. She stopped anyway.

  But he couldn’t keep his look serious, and she shoved back. “It’s my turn to flounce out. Watch the kids.”

  “I did not ‘flounce’ out.”

  She yanked her coat off the hook and looked at him over her shoulder. “You flounced.”

  “Men don’t flounce.”

  “Old men, who are decrepit and banged up from bull riding, flounce.” She lifted a brow and yanked the door open.

  “You ought to flounce more often. You look pretty dang good.” He quit trying to contain his grin.

  “Aargh!” The door slammed.

  Rem couldn’t help it. He laughed. He liked Elaine. Respected her. There was a definite attraction there, too. But this was the first time he’d thought she was downright, breathtakingly beautiful.

  He laughed again, thinking of the reaction she’d have if he told her she was gorgeous when she was angry.

  Chapter 14

  Elaine put the last of the frosting on the cake, smoothing it out then swirling it. Her mother and sister would be here anytime. Oh, yeah. And her ex-husband. Not that she cared.

  She’d already given her children the behave-or-I-will-make-you-regret-it-when-they-leave lecture, and Rem was in the shower after spending the morning moving the horse manure to a pile out behind the barn. He couldn’t waste an entire Saturday on this party.

  She brushed her hands down her sweater and jeans. Maybe she should have dressed up more, but she hadn’t wanted anyone to think she was trying to impress James in any way. She didn’t care what he thought, she really didn’t, but she did hope to make her mother happy.

  Yeah, she’d spent the last two days cleaning her house and the entire morning making sweet rolls, a few appetizers, and now this cake. Rem had not said a word about the grocery budget. Her mother was supposed to be bringing pizza.

  She already had one pitcher of tea, the glasses, and the plates along with the silverware and a jello salad on the table.

  Finishing the cake, she grabbed it, and after a second of thought, she picked up the vegetable tray in the other. A car door slamming and the crunching of snow indicated her guests had arrived as she turned to set the cake and vegetables on the table.

  Her kids all came running out of the living room just as the door opened and James stepped in, not knocking, of course. This used to be his house, after all.

  Banjo, who’d been sleeping at her feet on the kitchen floor, jumped up just as Elaine moved to step over him. She tried to move back, but she lost her balance and fell forward, crashing into the table. Her kitchen table, never sturdy even when it had been new thirty years ago, buckled under the awkward way she fell onto it. She lost her grip on the vegetable tray as she fell with the table to the floor.

  The tea container hit her on the head, tipped over her face, lost its lid, and dumped down the front of her shirt and pants.

  The crashing and banging seemed to take forever to stop as she lay in cold, wet shock.

  Finally silence descended. Everything that had been on the table was now in a mess on the floor beside her. At least she still held the cake in her hand.

  But Banjo, apparently wanting to apologize for their mix-up, pranced back to her, wagging his tail and licking her face. She was on her back with the slanted table behind her, and she couldn’t get up with only one hand. The other hand held the cake. Banjo moved his body just in time for her to see his tail smash into the cake. She was able to keep it in her hand, but half the icing that she’d just put on it was now on Banjo’s tail.

  James appeared in front of her. His jaw was just as strong as it had always been, but rather than admiring it, it sent a slither of revulsion through her.

  He grabbed Banjo’s collar. “Gabe, get this dog and put it in our room.”

  “It’s not ‘our’ room,” Elaine said, knowing she sounded angry and bitter, the two things she really didn’t want to be.

  “Of course it’s not, darling.” He held his hand out. “Let me help you up.”

  She didn’t want to take it. The idea of touching him turned her stomach. It had taken her a long, long time to come to grips with the fact that he’d left, wasn’t coming back, and there wasn’t anything she could do about it. Maybe somewhere, not so deep inside of her, she still felt like she was lacking something since she couldn’t keep her husband. Seeing him here in front of her, knowing he was with another woman, stirred those feelings the way walking through a pond stirred the scum up.

  She didn’t want his help. But the tea had made everything slippery, and she was going to have a hard time getting her feet under her and standing.

  She took his hand, noting the shorter fingers, the softer skin, the clamminess that Rem’s didn’t have. Funny how she’d never thought about it before. She shoved the inadequacy aside. He was the one who was lacking – character. He hadn’t had the character to keep his vows. That was not her fault.

 

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