4

      MOLLY WASN’T HAVING the best day. Jason had left a message with Jeb that he was going to camp out on the land that evening and that he’d meet her at the lawyer’s office the next day. A horse had reared when she’d been trying to saddle it and its hoof had come down hard on her booted foot. She was pretty sure she had a deep bruise and hoped there were no broken bones.

      So when she rounded the house and saw the big late-model Ford Bronco sitting in the circular drive she almost turned around and walked back to the barn.

      The last person she wanted to talk to this afternoon was Wil Abernathy.

      But the driver’s-side door opened before she could leave and she wouldn’t give him the impression she was running away.

      “Afternoon, Molly,” Wil said as she came closer.

      Wil was five years older than her and about as tall as Jason’s six-foot frame. He’d spent his life on his family’s ranch and the years had been good to him. Their derricks were still pulling oil from the ground and the Abernathys ran one of the largest and most successful stud farms and insemination programs in the country.

      Wil was okay. A little too slick for her taste. The girls she’d gone to school with in Cole’s Hill had always said Wil, with his thick blond hair and blue eyes, looked like Brad Pitt. He had on his dress jeans—she could tell because they were dark blue denim and not faded at all—hand-tooled boots and a Stetson. All the Abernathy men wore Stetsons.

      “Afternoon, Wil. What can I do for you?”

      “I’m here to sweeten the offer I made your father,” he said. “Maybe we could go inside and discuss it?”

      “I’m fine right here.”

      “Damn. You are just as stubborn as your dad was,” he said. “I was sorry to hear about his death.”

      “Thank you. Thank you, also, for the flowers you sent. I noticed you and your sister at the funeral service, as well.”

      “Mick was a good guy and, despite the fact that he didn’t get along with my dad, I never had any problems with him.”

      “He was a good guy,” Molly agreed. “I’m not selling.”

      “You haven’t heard my proposal yet,” Wil said.

      “Okay. Tell me,” she said. Sweat was dripping down the back of her neck and she felt every inch the working cowgirl talking to Wil. If she hadn’t been so determined to keep him out of her house, she could be inside drinking iced tea in the air-conditioning. But her father had always said no Abernathy would set foot in the house...and she was honoring that.

      “I want to lease some of your land for grazing,” he said. “Damn, it’s hot. Want to sit in my Bronco if we can’t go inside?”

      She shook her head. “Do you know why Dad was so insistent on keeping you and your kin out of the house?”

      “I’m not entirely sure, but I think it has something to do with your mom,” Wil said. “My pops just said that the Tanners were sore winners.”

      It was another story she’d never know since she hadn’t thought to ask her dad about it, really push him to tell her what had happened. But she was hot and tired and Wil was here offering her an olive branch.

      “Why don’t you have a seat on the east-facing porch? There are ceiling fans and we get a nice breeze from the creek. I’ll get us something cold to drink.”

      “Sounds good,” Wil said.

      Molly heard him walking behind her as they went up the steps and she gestured to the right so he knew where to go. “Do you mind if I change out of these clothes?”

      “Take your time. I scheduled the entire afternoon to be out here.”

      “Thank you.”

      She opened the front door and as she closed it behind her she tipped her head back and let the air-conditioning sweep over her. “Rina!”

      “Yeah?”

      “Wil is on the east porch. Will you bring him some iced tea?”

      Rina poked her head out of the kitchen and looked down the hall at her. “Abernathy?”

      “Yes. Be nice. He’s got an offer to lease some land. It might be the cash influx we need to bail ourselves out of this mess.”

      “What about Ace?” Rina said, wiping her hands on her apron as she walked toward Molly.

      “What about him?” Molly asked. “He’s not here and Wil is. I’m going to take the fastest shower in history and be right back down.”

      Rina patted her shoulder as Molly sort of limped by her. “Okay, sunshine. I’ll keep him entertained until you come back down.”

      “Thanks,” Molly said, walking past Rina up the stairs. She felt that urge to cry again. Not because of the pain or the situation but because her dad wasn’t here. She wanted to know what had happened between him and Wil’s father. Was she betraying him by even agreeing to listen to Wil’s proposal?

      But he wasn’t there. She showered off the day and felt better for it. She pulled on a denim skirt and a sleeveless top then put on her flip-flops, inspecting the bruise on the top of her left foot. Pulling her hair into a ponytail, she went out to the porch where Wil waited for her.

      He had a slice of lemon icebox pie and a half-empty glass of iced tea next to him on the table.

      “Okay, Abernathy, tell me about this idea of yours,” she said as she sat down.

      He leaned back in the rocking chair. “My sister wants to raise Scottish Highland cattle. It’s a small herd and I’d like to keep them separate from our stock and the bulls. Leasing the grazing rights to your land—the section that borders our ranch—would allow me to do that.”

      He told her more about his plan and what he would pay. She took his proposal, which he’d thoughtfully typed up for her, and told him she’d get back to him with an answer in a few days. The deposit he offered wouldn’t be enough to clear their debt, but it would put a nice dent in it.

      It was an option she should definitely consider. Actually, it was probably the best option she had right now.

      She couldn’t help but think that she might have liked Wil if there wasn’t a family feud between them. He was a nice guy. Solid. The kind of man who knew what ranch life demanded and was happy to live it.

      Not like Jason. Ace, she reminded herself.

      Molly put the file in her office. She kept looking out the window, hoping to see Jason come walking up, but he wasn’t going to. He’d made a point of putting distance between them after the intimacy of last night. She knew she had to give up the idea that he was going to ride to the rescue. She was on her own.

      *