Reunion of Revenge. Kathie DeNosky
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you can help me, Luther. I have a few questions about Cheyenne Holbrook’s employment with the Sugar Creek Cattle Company.”
There was a long pause before the man spoke. “What would that be, sir?”
“I’d like some more information on Ms. Holbrook’s salary, the balance on what she owes Emerald, Inc. and if she’s my employee or Emerald’s.”
Another long pause signaled that the man was most likely looking to Emerald for direction. “I’m not at liberty to say, sir. I’m afraid you’ll have to discuss that with Mrs. Larson.”
Irritated with the entire situation, Nick muttered a pithy curse. “Tell Emerald to give me a call as soon as possible.”
“I’ll be sure to do that. Is there anything else I can help you with, sir?”
Nick couldn’t resist teasing Emerald’s stiff and formal personal assistant. “As a matter of fact, there is, Luther.”
“Yes, sir?”
“You sound like a robot. Loosen up and stop being such a tightass.”
“I’ll take that under advisement, sir,” the man said with a hint of laughter in his voice.
Nick grinned when he heard the definitive sound of a woman laughing in the background a moment before the connection ended.
“Daddy, I have to go up to the summer pastures to check the herds this afternoon,” Cheyenne said as she put their lunch plates in the dishwasher. “Will you be all right until I get back?”
Her father nodded as he backed his wheelchair away from the table. “I’ll be fine, princess. Gordon called this morning to tell me he’s going to stop by for a while.” He chuckled. “I’m sure he’s got some hot piece of gossip he’d like to share.”
Cheyenne smiled wanly. She’d never cared for Sheriff Turner, but he and her father had been friends for over twenty years and her father always looked forward to his visits.
She kissed her father’s cheek. “There’s some lemonade in the refrigerator and peanut butter cookies in the cookie jar if you two get hungry.”
Smiling, he patted her arm. “What would I do without you, princess?”
“I’m sure you’d do just fine, but that’s something you won’t ever have to worry about.” Checking her watch, she gave him a quick hug, then grabbed her truck keys from the counter. “You and Sheriff Turner stay out of trouble.”
Her father laughed. “Now what could a county sheriff and a crippled old judge possibly do to get themselves in hot water?”
“Let me think.” Tapping her index finger on her chin, she acted as if she had to give it a lot of consideration. “I’m sure you’ll turn down the extra cigar that Sheriff Turner just happens to bring with him?”
“Of course I’ll turn it down. Just like I always do.” Her father’s eyes twinkled mischievously. “I wouldn’t think to do anything else, princess.”
They both knew he was telling a fib. The sheriff always tried to time his visits to coincide with her working on another part of the ranch in order for her father to smoke a cigar—something his doctors had advised him to cut out. But he had very few pleasures left in life and she decided the occasional cigar he enjoyed once or twice a month while he visited with his best friend wasn’t going to do that much harm.
Smiling, she opened the door to leave. “Just remember, if the sheriff wants to have a cigar there’s no smoking in the house. You’ll both have to go out onto the back porch.”
Her father waved for her to leave. “You just be careful out there in the pastures. You might run across a wolf, or worse.”
Cheyenne’s stomach twisted into a tight knot. She wouldn’t encounter a wolf somewhere along the way, she’d be riding right along beside one.
Nodding, she ducked out the door before he had a chance to see the guilt she knew had to be written all over her face. It had been three days since she’d run across Nick repairing that section of fence and she still hadn’t found the courage to tell her father about him being back in the area or that he owned the very house they lived in.
For one thing, she wasn’t sure how her father would react. He’d already had one stroke. She certainly didn’t want to run the risk of him having another when he learned that she was working for Nick. And for another, she didn’t want or need to listen to him tell her how disreputable Nick was or that she’d do well to steer clear of him. She knew firsthand how unreliable Nick was.
Cheyenne sighed heavily as she climbed into her truck and drove the five miles to the Sugar Creek ranch house. She really didn’t have a lot of choice in the matter. Even if they figured out who held the promissory note—Emerald, Inc. or Nick—heaven only knew she didn’t have the money to repay it in order to get out of the work agreement.
Ten minutes later, when she pulled into the ranch yard and got out of the truck, the first thing she noticed was the bay and sorrel geldings standing saddled and tied to the corral fence. They were waiting for her to take Nick to see the cattle company herds—his herds. But he was nowhere in sight. And that suited her just fine. The less time she had to spend with him the better off she’d be.
Walking over to the horses, she patted the sorrel gelding’s neck. She’d been more humiliated than she’d ever been in her life during their meeting yesterday when she’d had to tell him that she and her father were practically destitute. But that hadn’t stopped her from noticing that the boy she’d once loved with all her heart had grown into a devastatingly handsome man or that whenever he turned his deep blue eyes her way, her chest tightened with an ache she’d thought she’d long ago gotten over.
“You’re late.”
Her stomach did a little flip at the sound of Nick’s deep baritone and, turning around, she found him standing with one shoulder propped against the edge of the barn door, his arms crossed over his wide chest. She swallowed hard and tried not to notice how his chambray shirt emphasized the width of his shoulders or how his worn jeans hugged his muscular thighs and rode low on his narrow hips. As he pushed away from the barn and walked toward her, her pulse sped up and she felt as if she couldn’t breathe.
“I had things to do,” she said, hating the breathless tone of her own voice. “Besides, this shouldn’t take long. Both herds are pastured within a few miles’ ride of each other.”
He nodded as he untied the two horses, then handed her the sorrel’s reins. “I need to be back before supper.”
“We’ll be back well before then,” she said, mounting the gelding.
“Good. I have plans.”
Cheyenne couldn’t believe the twinge of disappointment coursing through her. She couldn’t care less if he had a date. She really couldn’t. As long as he left her alone, he could date and bed the county’s entire female population and it wouldn’t bother her one bit.
“If you’d like to postpone checking the herds, it won’t bother me. I have other things I need to be doing anyway.”
He effortlessly swung up onto the bay and rode up beside her. “No, I want to see what we’ve got so that when I go to the auction tomorrow night, I can compare what we have to what’s being sold. Then I’ll have a fair idea of how much I can get when I sell our cattle.”
“You’re selling out?”
Panic sent a cold chill snaking up her spine and caused her stomach to twist into a painful knot. If he sold everything, how was she supposed to pay off the remainder of her debt?
“Don’t worry, you’ll still have a job,” he said as if he’d read her mind. “I’m starting a new breeding program that will make the Sugar Creek a major force to contend with in the beef industry. And I can’t do that with the cattle we have now.”
“You’re