Honey

When Jake walked in well after dinner, the sun had disappeared behind the horizon. His smile barely reached his eyes when he saw Ford and Jamie playing Candy Land. He went over and rested a hand on his father’s arm before placing a kiss on Jamie’s head. Then he came over to me and kissed my cheek, greeting me warmly. But I knew something was troubling him.

I didn’t pry, not yet. I let him eat his dinner and cleaned up the kitchen. He disappeared in his office and I rounded up Jamie to get her ready for bed. Once that was done, I had Ford read Jamie a story while I went in search of Jake.

There was something we needed to talk about. I knocked softly before entering at his “Come in.”

He sat behind the huge desk, but it didn’t diminish him. Rather he looked even more imposing with his hand holding up a paper he was reading. I gave him a minute and finally he glanced up. He set the paper down.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, now wholly focused on me.

“Nothing.” Nervously, I clasped my hands. “I just had an idea.” I wasn’t sure how he would take it, so I just blurted it out. “I thought maybe you should get a security system.”

He sat back and his brows furrowed. “You don’t feel safe?”

“No,” I backtracked. “It’s not to keep anyone out. It’s more to—”

“Keep someone in,” he finished for me, piecing it together.

“More to keep tabs on… Ford. He disappeared the other day and they have these self-contained systems that don’t need outside monitoring you can buy online. We could use it to alert us if someone opens a door. Then with security cameras, we’d be able to see where…”

“He went?”

I nodded. “It would be an app on our phone. We would get instant footage if he was leaving because you and I alone can’t watch him twenty-four hours a day. You need to sleep, shower, pee, and work.”

“And you too.”

I lifted my shoulders and let them fall. “It’s my job.”

“Again, not twenty-four hours a day. It’s a good idea. Can you show me the system you’re interested in?”

I’d bookmarked a few on my phone and pulled it out to show him. He waved me over. When I just came forward to reach across the desk, he snagged my hand and drew me to his side of things. Then I was in his lap.

His lips met mine hungrily and voraciously like he’d eaten his dinner. I felt like I’d walked over hot coals, I was so turned on. He pulled back.

“I’ve wanted that all day.”

“So you say.” The smile I gave him was as flirtatious as my words.

“Maybe you should show me your pictures before we christen Dad’s desk.”

I giggled but brought my screen in view and pointed out the highlights of each system.

“Reasonable,” he said.

We were interrupted when Ford ducked his head in. “Is it safe?”

We’d both forgotten that I hadn’t closed the door. I tried to scoot off Jake’s lap, but he tightened his hold around me.

“I remembered where I put it,” Ford declared.

“Put what?” Jake asked, as his father came into the room and made a beeline to a file cabinet on the far side of the desk. I widened my eyes at Jake, silently pleading he let me go. He only grinned.

“Dad taught me all about the birds and the bees. He knows what’s going on. And if you sit here, maybe he’ll hurry up and leave me alone.”

Jake laughed when I playfully slapped at his arm.

“That’s right. I also taught my son to always keep a good woman close lest any man get other ideas.” Ford turned to face us with a twinkle in his eyes. “I found it.”

He held up some papers and then plunged into a story that astounded us both.

“I played cards with old Woodrow along with others before he married Jacque. There was this one night I was on a roll. Woodrow was nearly out of money but determined to win back all he lost. On the last hand, everyone had else had folded except us. Woodrow was sure he would win. He wagered more than he had on the table. I let him make the bet sure he’d win and he could get back some of the money. He laid out a full house with kings and queens. But I had four aces.”

“What’d you do?” Jake asked.

“He was a proud man. He told everyone right there that he would pay me the money he owed me and would use the farm as a lien. Old man Landry was there.” Landry was my current family lawyer’s father. This must have happened before he passed the reins down to his son. “He had him draw up the loan. Woodrow stipulated the terms. He would pay me back with interest until he was paid off or the farm would come to me upon his death, whichever came sooner.”

Ford held up the paper. Jake set me on my feet and walked over to his father to study the document.

“How much did he bet?” I asked absently.

Ford looked at me. “A lot. Martha wouldn’t have been pleased. Then you add the interest.”

He shrugged.

“Did he pay?” Jake asked, handing it back.

Although we both assumed since he was telling us this story, it was likely the man hadn’t.

“No, he didn’t. I never had the intention of taking his farm away.”

Jake pointed at the paper he held. “So why are you showing me this?”

Then the conversation became a match between father and son.

“I thought maybe you could use this as leverage.”

Jake started shaking his head. “I will not coerce her.”

“Son, I’m not asking you to strong-arm her, but you can use it as a tool.”

I’d never seen them at odds. So I moved over to where they stood near the front of the desk and faced Jake.

“What’s going on?”

Jake, whose brows were knitted together, turned fierce eyes on me.

“I guess you should know what you could be marrying into. It’s sink or swim time in this household. We’re doing fine now, great even. But that means we are in demand. I need to raise more cattle in order to fill future orders. If I can’t, my buyers will take their current and future orders elsewhere.”

“That means more land,” I said.

“Yes, I need it for cattle to graze on—accessible land. I have two options.” He pointed out the front window. “The Ned’s land bumps up to ours, but there is a narrow pass to get there.” He pointed in the opposite direction to the wall. “Or Jacque’s land and she wants to sell.”

“And be your wife,” I added.

He grudgingly nodded.

I glanced at Ford. “And you think if you shared this document, you could persuade her to sell especially since technically it’s your land.”

Ford nodded and Jake balked.

“If you wanted that land, you could have taken it.”

“I could have. Honestly, I’d forgotten about that. Shortly after, his first wife died. Bets were the last thing on our minds,” Ford said.

I turned to Jake and took his hands in mine. “Let me talk to her.”

There was hurt in his eyes. “You agree with him?”

“It’s not about sides. This is about your ranch, your family, your daughter. I’m not saying seize the land out from under her and leave her penniless. But maybe she can see reason. It’s not like she doesn’t want out. You aren’t forcing her off of land she wants to stay on it.”

His fingers slipped through mine before he tossed them up in the air.

“Fine. But I’ll talk to her. I’ll make my offer again, but if she doesn’t accept, I will not take the land by force.”

Ford grumbled something, handed the document to Jake, and left.

I slipped my hand up to cup Jake’s cheek. “Are you mad?” I asked him once we were alone.

He covered mine with his own. “No. I just hate the idea of this.”

The contract he held shook in his hand.

“Don’t do it then.”

He blew out a breath that fanned my hair.

“But what you said is right. I would do whatever I have to in order to protect my daughter’s future. But I won’t compromise my principles.”

Then he kissed me soundly, leaving me to melt against him.

“You know, Ford helped me flip your mattress over and I put fresh sheets on the bed.”

“Did you, now?” he asked. I nodded. “And what if I want to sleep in your bed?”

“That’s fine with me as long as you’re with me.”

“Now that’s the best thing I’ve heard all day,” he said.

He moved in to kiss me, but a tiny voice stopped any further debauchery.