CHAPTER THREE
Jasper Rawlings barged into the kitchen minutes after Brianne and Tyler’s standoff, his gaze searching the kitchen. His hazel eyes brightened when he spotted Tyler, and a wide smile split his tanned, weathered face beneath the brim of an ancient leather hat.
“Well, I’ll be damned!” Jasper exclaimed, his bowlegged gait carrying him across the kitchen to Tyler. “I thought Daniel was just making up stories about an Uncle Tyler being here. Wait until the Missus hears about this! Betty’ll split her seams!”
Tyler greeted him with a firm shake of his hand that turned into a masculine bear hug. They broke apart, and Tyler grinned at the man who’d been an integral part of Whitmore Acres for over thirty years. “Jasper, you haven’t changed a bit.”
Jasper scoffed at that, blinking away the sudden moisture gathering in his eyes. Examining Tyler at arm’s length, he shook his head in disbelief. “I heard we had us a guest. I just didn’t believe it was really you. Welcome home, Tyler.”
“Thanks. It’s good to be home.”
Brianne stepped forward, springing at the chance to be rid of Tyler for a while. “Jasper, would you mind helping Tyler get his horse settled in? I’d do it myself, but I’ve got my hands full here today.”
“Don’t you worry ’bout a thing, Miss Brianne. It’d be my pleasure.” He stared at Tyler. “I can’t believe you’re really back. You must’ve heard about your inheritance.”
He glanced at Brianne. “That had something to do with it.”
“Well, no matter the reason,” Jasper said, tugging on his leather hat. “I should be skinnin’ your hide for bein’ gone so long, but I’m just so damned happy you’re back that I can’t bring myself to. Now let’s go make that horse of yours comfortable.” He headed toward the screen door.
Tyler followed. Just when Brianne thought she was finally going to be granted a few hours’ respite, he stopped at the door and met her gaze.
“We’ll talk more later.”
She didn’t doubt it.
Needing fresh air and someone to talk to other than all the males surrounding her on a daily basis, Brianne grabbed a care package of goodies and headed toward Jasper and Betty’s place, located a short, half-mile distance from her house.
Betty was the closest thing she had to a mother, and Brianne loved the older woman as if she were her own kin. Her own mother had died when she’d been a little girl, and when her father, Curtis, had come to work for Landon, bringing her along during the summertime and weekends, Betty had taken her under her wing and given her the feminine nurturing and guidance she’d been lacking. Betty and Jasper couldn’t have children, but Betty had confided that between Brianne, Tyler, and Reed, she’d been surrounded by enough youngins to ease the emptiness of not having her own offspring. And she loved and treated Daniel like the grandchild she’d never have.
Seeing Betty standing at the kitchen window, Brianne opened the back screen door and entered the small, compact space, a homey place where she always seemed to find the comfort she craved.
She hoped today was no exception.
Betty turned from the chopping block next to the sink where she was slicing carrots for the stew simmering on the stove. Nearing her mid-sixties, Betty was plump and healthy with pale blue eyes full of wisdom. She always wore her blond-turned-gray hair up in a bun on her head, along with a warm and welcoming smile that lit up her entire face.
“Hi, Betty,” Brianne said, the greeting escaping on a sigh as weary as the smile on her lips.
The other woman dropped the carrots into the pot and lowered the flame to let the stew simmer. “Hi, yourself, dear,” she said, wiping her hands on the apron tied around her ample waist.
“I just wanted to drop these off,” Brianne said, indicating the plastic-covered plate in her hand, knowing she’d stopped by for so much more. “I know how much Jasper likes my raspberry shortbread squares. He was eyeballing them this morning, and I’ve got plenty to spare.”
“Been baking, have you?” Betty said, amusement twinkling in her eyes. Taking the baked goods from Brianne, she set it on the kitchen counter. “Would Tyler’s sudden appearance be the reason?”
The older woman knew her too well. Grinning wryly, Brianne sank into one of the wooden chairs at the kitchen table. “Word travels fast around here.”
“He’s already come by.” Always seeming to know what Brianne needed, whether it be her special blend of raspberry tea or a listening ear, Betty filled a teakettle with water and set it on a back burner to boil, then sat across from her. “He sure has grown into a handsome man.”
Brianne couldn’t refute that. Tyler had filled out over the years, his body honed to muscular perfection by hard, physical labor. Having seen him half-naked, having been trapped between him and a counter and having touched that powerful chest with her own hands, she could confirm the latent strength beneath his warm, firm flesh. And she’d bet that slow, easy grin of his had broken a few hearts over the years, just as he’d broken hers.
“Has he seen Daniel?” Betty asked conversationally, though there was a deeper level of curiosity in her gaze that made Brianne extremely uncomfortable.
“Yes,” she replied evenly. “Though I can’t say Daniel is too pleased to discover he’s got an uncle.”
Betty nodded her head in understanding. “Considering what the boy went through with Reed, give him some time to come around.”
“I’d rather he didn’t form a close bond with his uncle,” she said, her tone sharper than she’d intended. That damn fear always crept up when she least expected it.
Betty arched a brow. The kettle whistled and she stood, her gaze locking with Brianne’s. “Seems to me Daniel could use a male influence in his life.”
“Daniel has Jasper, and Steven—”
“Someone blood related, who’d have his best interests at heart,” Betty said meaningfully, then moved toward the stove.
Brianne stared at Betty’s broad back as she prepared two mugs of her raspberry tea. She’d always wondered if Betty had suspected the truth about Daniel’s parentage. No one had ever questioned her claim of Daniel being born two months premature, but a woman’s mind was a bit sharper than a man’s when it came to pregnancies.
“Tyler is hardly a stable role model for my son,” she said in her defense. And Tyler’s only interest at the moment was his half of the ranch, and making her life miserable.
Betty set two steaming cups of tea on the table, and took her place across from Brianne. “Now what would make you say that?”
Brianne wrapped her hand around the ceramic mug, absorbing the warmth. “Because I’m certain he’s leaving soon.” She didn’t know yet how she was going to get him off a ranch that was half his, but she was determined to find a way before he had a chance to be any kind of influence to her son, or exert his newfound authority in running a ranch that had been operating just fine without him.
“I find it hard to believe that Tyler would give up his half of the ranch so easily,” Betty said.
Oh, she was certain there would be a battle, but she was used to fighting for her livelihood. Reed had taught her well in the ways of self-preservation.
Brianne blew on her tea, then took a sip. “Considering how difficult it was for Landon’s attorneys to locate Tyler, it doesn’t seem he stays in one place long enough to call home. It’s just a matter of time before he leaves.” Even if it took an extra incentive for him to move on, she thought.
“Tyler belongs here,” Betty said, her voice quiet, but firm. “Having Tyler at Whitmore Acres is what Landon ultimately wanted.”
Brianne frowned. Betty was supposed to be supporting her side of the ranch, not the enemy’s. “It might be what Landon wanted, but I’m sure once the novelty of working such a small operation wears off and Tyler gets restless, he’ll move on to something more exciting.”
Betty reached across the table and patted Brianne’s arm, the gesture more sympathetic than comforting. “I guess only time will tell.”
Time, Brianne hoped, would prove Betty wrong—that Tyler was just as unreliable as he’d been nine years ago.
Whitmore Acres had been well cared for. From what Tyler discovered from Jasper while they worked together getting Sweet Justice settled in a private paddock, Brianne was the sole reason the ranch was thriving. She ran a tight operation, and Jasper assured him that she was as ruthless as any man when negotiating business. The strong, confident woman Tyler was coming to know was a direct contradiction to the vulnerable, insecure girl he’d left behind.
Jasper lightly touched on Reed and his wild ways that had nearly taken the ranch under. The topic disgusted the old man so that he only pursed his lips and shook his head, muttering, “That boy could’ve had it all, but he was so bitter that he nearly destroyed everything your pappy worked so hard to build.”
Jasper’s comment settled heavily on Tyler and made him question his own buried bitterness. He didn’t want his resentment of the past to interfere with his plans for the future.
Jasper gave him a tour of the facilities. He met Steven, a nice young man who helped Jasper train the horses. The ranch wasn’t as grand or stocked as it once had been when Landon was alive, but the place was immaculately maintained. The two large buildings housing the stables, the barn, the breeding shed, and the huge lighted indoor arena used in the winter months for training had been recently painted and renovated. The security system had been upgraded, the box stalls newly insulated. A horse, or trainer, couldn’t ask for more pleasurable accommodations.
Outside, the large paddocks were secure, the pastures green, and all the horses healthy and well tended by the grooms Brianne employed. A separate fenced-in area housed over fifty head of Herefords used to train the horses to cut.
The condition of the facilities pleased him, along with the knowledge that there was still plenty of space to expand to once again, include a reining program. To restore his dream that had been shattered so long ago.
Leaning his elbows on the top railing of the white fencing circling the paddocks, Tyler stared at the magnificent animals and nature’s beauty surrounding him. He absorbed it all, reveling in the fact that half belonged to him. A sense of contentment filled him, triggering regret for all the years he’d wasted drifting from place to place.
He glanced at his wristwatch, stunned to realize it was nearly five o’clock. The whole afternoon had passed quickly, and he hadn’t even familiarized himself with the actual business end of the ranch: the financial accounts, the breeding schedule, their customers. He had the rest of his life, he told himself, and smiled at how good that sounded.
Following the gravel path back to the main house, he decided most importantly he needed to secure Brianne’s confidence if he wanted to gain her support to expand the breeding program. Things would go much smoother for them as business partners if she didn’t fight him every inch of the way. Which, after speaking with Jasper, he sensed she’d do.
That meant putting past differences aside and being civil with one another. He could manage the feat if she could.
The two-story structure he’d grown up in was simple in appearance, but solidly built to last decades of harsh winters and scorching summers. Tyler jogged up the steps leading to the wide veranda, wondering where Daniel had disappeared to. He’d seen him earlier riding his chestnut, Fiero. The boy hadn’t said two words to him since he’d left the kitchen that morning. Tyler chalked up the boy’s animosity to having his “Uncle Tyler” poaching on his territory.
He stepped through the front door. The interior of the house was cool and quiet, except for an occasional hum filtering from the back room downstairs. Tyler followed the noise and found Brianne sitting in front of a sewing machine. Her forehead was creased in concentration as she guided a panel of floral material through the hammering needle.
Leaning his shoulder against the jamb, Tyler smiled, watching her maneuver the cloth with practiced ease. She’d pulled back the sheers covering the window. Sunlight spilled into the femininely decorated room, touching on her braided hair. For an instant, he imagined her hair loose, the blond, silken strands tumbling over her shoulders in soft waves, just as it had been that summer afternoon when he’d kissed her for the first time. He’d foolishly thought one passionate kiss would be enough to quell the desire she kindled within him. Instead, he’d been drugged by the taste of her, intoxicated by her softness, and aroused by her open response.
Tyler’s chest tightened at the memories. He’d never meant to touch her back then. At twenty-three he’d known it was wrong to get involved with an eighteen-year-old, or to take advantage of her vulnerability. But she’d been so soft and warm, so sweetly responsive that he’d fallen hard. And he’d wanted so desperately to protect her from a father who turned abusive when he drank.
As a kid of eight Brianne had followed Tyler around like a puppy while her father, Curtis, worked on the ranch as a trainer. At the time Brianne’s devotion had irritated him. She was, after all, nothing but a pesky tagalong. But as the years melted away and she blossomed into a beautiful young woman, he found himself attracted to her when he knew he shouldn’t be. After Landon fired Curtis for drinking on the job, a habit Landon had been repeatedly lenient with but could no longer risk harm to his animals, Brianne had sought refuge in the horses and ranch. She’d used the stables as a hideaway from her father, not going home until late, when she knew he’d be passed out for the night.
Then one day Tyler found her by the creek crying. He’d seen the discoloration on her cheek, knew Curtis had hit her, and wanted to kill the man. She’d begged him to leave her father alone. She’d claimed Curtis didn’t know what he was doing, that he still missed her mother, Sarah, and didn’t know how to cope with the loss. Then she’d curled into his lap and asked him to hold her. He had, stroking her back and murmuring soothing words. When she’d lifted her lips to his, her eyes huge and shimmering with need, he’d given in to temptation and kissed her.
They’d made love a couple of weeks after that first kiss. He’d wanted to marry her. She’d happily agreed. They’d talked about living on the ranch, and having babies. Lots of babies. Things had been sweet that summer, idyllic, until Reed had destroyed every dream Tyler ever had. And Brianne had married the brother with all the riches.
Yes, she was a smart businesswoman.
Shaking off the memories before they dragged him under, Tyler cleared his throat. She started at the sound and jerked her head toward him.
She pulled the pins from her pursed lips and dropped them in a plastic container beside the sewing machine. “Tyler,” she exclaimed. “I didn’t hear you come in.”
He wasn’t about to tell her he’d been standing there for the past five minutes reminiscing about their past. “What are you doing?” he asked in an attempt to keep the conversation light.
Lifting the material from her lap, she examined the stitches she’d made, then tacked a piece of fabric with a pin before looking at him. “I’m making a dress.”
“Seems like a pretty fancy outfit for mucking out stalls,” he said in a teasing drawl.
To his surprise she blushed. “It’s for a dance next month,” she explained, ducking her head to her project once again. “Did you get your mare settled?”
“Yes.” He walked into the room, her soft feminine scent wreaking havoc on his senses. Running his callused fingers over a bolt of silky material, he smiled. “I think Sweet Justice will fit in with the rest of the horses just fine.”
Brianne eyed him warily. “Why are you being so nice?”
He laughed, amused at her cautious expression. He supposed his new attitude was abrupt, considering their earlier hostility. “You’re making me feel like a villain in a bad Western movie.”
Standing, she crossed to the other end of the room to drape the half-sewn dress over the dressmaker’s form. “This morning you acted like one.”
“I agree things got heated and I probably said some things I shouldn’t have. If you’re looking for an apology I don’t have one.”
“Of course not.” She looked over her shoulder at him, hurt in her eyes. “What would you ever have to be sorry for?”
He should have known she wouldn’t make this easy. “Look, Brianne, despite how things have gone so far, I didn’t come back so we could fight. I only want what’s rightfully mine, which I think we’ve already established.”
“Very clearly,” she said in a sharp tone.
He sighed and shoved his fingers through his hair. “Since I’m going to be a part of Whitmore Acres, I think it would be best if you and I try to get along, for everyone’s sake.”
She fussed with the collar and sleeves on the dress. “Fine.”
“Truce?” He held out his hand. His gaze dared her to take it as a way of sealing their agreement.
Brianne shook his hand while crossing the fingers of her other hand behind her back. “Truce,” she muttered. She refused to let down all her shields with this man.
His smile was slow and lazy. “That wasn’t so difficult, now was it?”
She returned his smile with a stiff one of her own. “Not at all.”
“Good.” He sat on the cushion nestled in the cove of the window seat. The direct contrast of her feminine frills made him look more virile and masculine than he had a right to. “Now that that’s settled, I wanted to talk to you about my half of the inheritance.”
She tensed. She didn’t want to discuss business until she figured out what to do about Tyler, and the ranch. She didn’t want him dabbling in the business she’d labored to rebuild with nothing more than the couple hundred dollars she’d gotten by selling her beat-up Toyota after Reed died. Dammit, the ranch was all she had, and all she had to offer Daniel!
“What?” she said, striving for a flippancy she didn’t feel as she reached for a pin and began tucking the hem of the dress. “You want to split the property directly down the middle? You take the east side and I’ll take the west?”
“That would be the ideal solution,” he agreed, picking up a lace pillow and absently fingering the ruffled edge. “But not very realistic. I want to be involved in all aspects of the business. I want to review the profit and loss statements.”
The bombshell dropped, splintering Brianne’s nerves. The hand dipping into the pin box jerked, and the container leaped off the shelf. Pins scattered everywhere on the hardwood floor. She cursed her clumsiness even as her mind conjured a plausible excuse to put Tyler off.
“You…can’t,” she blurted, then cringed at the desperation threading her voice.
He lifted a brow. “Why? Do you have something to hide?”
“Of course not!” A heated blush crept over her face. She swept up as many pins as she could with her hands, wincing as they poked her fingers. She just wasn’t ready for this!
She met his gaze, wishing she could read his mind and know what he intended. “I, uh, just sent them to the accountant to give me a quarterly review. I do have a fairly recent financial if you’d like to see that.”
“That would be a good start, and then we can go from there.”
She straightened, a tremulous smile lifting her lips. “Fine. I should have everything else back from the accountant in a week or so,” she said, buying herself time.
He nodded shortly. “That works for me.”
“Great.” Her thoughts were so scattered she couldn’t think straight, let alone attempt even stitches. “I, uh, should get dinner on the table.”
“I’ll go wash up.”
They met back in the kitchen a few minutes later. Tyler helped himself to a glass of iced tea and sat at the table while Brianne popped biscuits in the oven to warm. She dished up the carrots and potatoes from the Crock-Pot and placed the roast on the platter, trying not to think about the financials she’d promised Tyler.
Daniel came into the kitchen, cast a brief look at Tyler, and slid into an empty chair across from him. A few minutes later everyone was seated and supper was being served. The only sound in the room was the clatter of utensils against dishes and the occasional request to pass an entrée.
“I saw you riding your horse today, Daniel,” Tyler commented as he heaped potatoes on his plate, then passed the bowl to Brianne. “You handle him well.”
Stabbing a slice of carrot with his fork, Daniel glared at Tyler with turbulent blue eyes. “So?”
The kid didn’t give an inch, Tyler thought, ladling gravy over his roast and potatoes. “So, I was thinking maybe you might be interested in learning the process of breaking and training the horses.”
“Don’t you think Daniel’s kind of young for that?” Brianne asked tightly.
“No.” Tyler leveled a steady look at her. Fear flashed in her eyes, but he didn’t understand its source. “Landon started teaching me as soon as I learned to ride a horse.”
Daniel pushed his food around on his plate. “Why would you want to waste your time teaching me?” A hint of insecurity seeped through his hostility, but he still held his chin high, not quite ready to yield to the idea.
“I don’t think it would be a waste. You’re young and smart. Starting early would give you an advantage.” He smiled to put the boy at ease.
Daniel’s gaze flickered to Brianne uncertainly, then back to Tyler. “Yeah, well, I don’t have time for that.”
“I understand. Let me know if you change your mind.” Tyler guessed what the boy didn’t have time for was him. And he was determined to find out why.