To Court a Cowgirl (3 page)

“What?”

She was starting to get warmed up. She pointed a finger at him. “Even in high school, whatever you wanted, you pretty much got.”

He looked at her incredulously. “This isn't about that freaking scholarship, is it?”

“No,” she muttered. “Although I could have used that money. You had money.”

“Sounds like it's about the scholarship.”

She rolled her eyes as if he were dense. “No. It's about privilege and general principles. About paying dues.” She unfolded her arms and took a few steps closer so that they were now only inches apart, so close that he could smell her light floral perfume. “What hasn't come easily to you, Jason?”

“My career. I worked my ass off for that.”

“How about off field, where most people live their lives?” She nodded at his tricked-out truck, clearly visible through the front windows of the store. “Did you have to save for a down payment?”

“You resent that I make money?”

“Playing a game. A lot of us have to scramble to get by and you got paid a huge amount of money to play a game.”

“You're pretty damned judgmental.”

“I know, but it doesn't change facts. Some of us have to work for what we get—at a
real
job—and others get things because of who they are. Or
were
. Well, guess what? You aren't getting my ranch.”

“Guess what? I don't want your ranch.”

“Good.” She smiled tightly at him and when he gave no response, she pushed by him and headed for the door.

Jason let out a breath and ran a hand over the side of his head. The lady behind the counter sent him an odd look and he turned to face the bulletin board. There in front of him was the notice Allie had tacked up.

Wanted: handyman to tear down building, remove debris.

Without a second thought Jason pulled the advertisement off the board, crumpled it up and jammed it into his pocket.

CHAPTER THREE

A
LLIE
COULDN
'
T
PUSH
the feed-store face-off with Jason Hudson out of her brain, even though she gave it a mighty try. She was not normally confrontational. She left that for Dani and Jolie. She was more of the peacemaker, a retreat-into-the-background kind of person. But today she'd been part of a spectacle in the ranch store. Like it or not, Jason triggered her temper. And she had to face that sad fact that she did harbor resentment against the guy. Why? Because his family was wealthy? Because he'd gotten what she wanted? Because he'd tried to buy the ranch by nonchalantly walking up to her door with more cash at his disposal than she'd ever seen?

The phone rang as she finished washing her few dishes and she practically pounced on it when she saw Mel's number on the display. Her second sister and her husband lived on a remote New Mexico ranch and rarely called unless they were in town, where they got decent phone reception.

“Hey,” she said without waiting for a hello. “Back in civilization?”

“Hi, Allie.”

She sat up straighter at the sound of her brother-in-law KC's voice. “What's wrong?”

“Mel. She's okay, but she had a bad run-in with a mama cow. Put her over the fence and she broke an ankle, bruised her ribs when she fell on the other side.”

“Oh, my gosh.” Allie pressed a hand to her chest.

“Damned Charolais,” KC muttered. “I told my boss we needed to let a few of these meaner cows go. Maybe he'll listen to me now.”

“When can I talk to Mel?”

“I'll have her call you later. She's a little loopy on the pain meds right now and worried about not doing her part during calving.”

“But she's okay?” Allie asked, needing to hear it one more time.

“She's fine.” But she could hear the stress in KC's voice. “But that's the last time she's checking the cows alone.”

“I'll add my voice to yours,” Allie said. Even though she was going to do exactly the same thing tonight and every other night for the next several weeks until all of the Lightning Creek calves hit the ground. Their cows were Angus, and all pretty mellow, but a cow with a calf was unpredictable.

“What about you?” he asked, keying into her thoughts. “Do you have any help?”

“I'll call the vet if there's any problems.” Even though it was expensive. Living alone, she couldn't risk being hurt. “Promise,” she said when nothing but silence met her statement.

“All right then,” KC said gruffly.

She hung up the phone after a few more minutes of conversation and then rubbed her forehead. Mel was good with cattle, but things like this happened on ranches and considering her luck on the Lightning Creek...no, she wasn't going to consider that.

Mel called a few hours later, explained to Allie how the accident had been a fluke. She'd expected the cow to charge her, had actually planned to go over the fence, but had caught her boot on the way over and fell end-over-teakettle, landing on a pile of irrigation pipe.

“I need to get less cumbersome boots,” Mel explained.

“Right.” But Allie smiled, glad that her sister sounded as if she were in good spirits.

“And KC said you promised to call the vet if any calves need to be pulled.”

“I will.”

“There's a reason there's a ranch fund, you know.”

And she and Kyle were the reason that the ranch fund was so low. “Speaking of which, we had a windstorm...” Allie went on about the storm, wondering why it was that when her sisters were there, the fund grew slowly but surely, and when she was there, it shrank. It was starting to give her a complex.

“Keep me posted,” Mel said, sounding as if she were glad to have something to think about other than her ankle, which was going to keep her in the house for a lot longer than she wanted. “How's the job?”

Not what she expected. “Let's just say teaching high school art and managing an elementary library are worlds apart,” she said dryly. She was a little surprised by the fact that she didn't feel more satisfaction at the end of the day. She enjoyed the kids and the staff, but when she walked out the door, she felt as if she needed...more.

“Hang in there,” Mel said.

“Will do. Get some rest,” Allie said. “And let me know when you leave for the ranch.”

* * *

J
ASON
SPENT
THREE
days driving around with Ray Largent, looking at properties with acreage, before finding eighty acres butted up against Forest Service land on one side and a giant ranch on the other. It was close to what he'd been looking for, only a fifteen-minute drive from his dad's house, yet it gave him privacy. Granted, it was smaller than he wanted, and overpriced, but at least it was one option to consider. Ray encouraged him to make an offer soon, but Jason had done his homework and knew that the property had been on the market for close to a year. Odds were that he didn't need to make a snap decision.

He headed home to what was supposed to be an empty house, since Kate had agreed to take their father to his weekly checkup, only to find an unfamiliar Lexus parked in the front yard. A moment later Jimmy got out and Jason swallowed a groan. Jimmy's name had not come up for a couple of days and Jason was beginning to hope the matter was closed.

“Hey, JD!” His uncle clapped him on the shoulder.

“Jim.” Jason clapped him back, then put up his hands in a defensive stance when his uncle threw a couple of fake jabs at him. “It's been a while,” he said when his uncle finally quit punching.

“Sure has. Wish we could have seen you here at home more often, but I know how it is.”

“Want to come in for a beer?” Jason asked. He'd always liked his uncle, but he also saw him exactly for what he was. An opportunist. Jimmy had made a lot of money being an opportunist, on top of what he'd inherited, but according to Kate he had invested poorly and lately had seen diminishing returns. But he hadn't yet stopped living the high life.

“A beer sounds great.”

Jason led the way into the house through the garage door, waved Jimmy to a seat in the great room and got a couple of beers out of the fridge and opened them.

“So how did Jaromek take your retirement?” Jimmy asked as he took his beer. “You guys were a team for a long time.”

“He understood and Littleton was ready to step in and take my place, so I think it'll all work out. Plus they have O'Donnell.”

“He's over that foot injury?”

“Should be a hundred percent by minicamp.”

They continued to talk football, segueing from the pros to the local team and Jason started to relax, wondering if this whole work-for-Jimmy plan was something his father had cooked up for reasons of his own...reasons Jason couldn't begin to guess at. They debated the merits of veteran coaches entrenched in their ways versus new coaches with little experience but lots of ideas, then Jason offered his uncle another beer. Jimmy waved it off.

“Actually, I came by to talk to you about going to work at the dealership.”

Jason's stomach lurched. “I—”

Jimmy held up a hand, stopping him. “I heard you had reservations because you have no experience in sales.”

“I have reservations because sales aren't my thing.”

“Your thing.” His uncle blinked at him. “Is money your thing? Because looking at statistics, a lot of retired pro players are broke after a couple of years.”

Jason's expression went stony. “I don't plan on being one of those guys.”

“So what are you going to do?” There was a touch of belligerence in his uncle's voice. “I can give you a damned good job and you wouldn't have to work that hard.”

“Why is it so important that I work for you?” Jason asked, thinking he may as well hear the reason spoken out loud.

“Because we can help one another,” Jimmy said earnestly. “A symbiotic relationship. Your name, my expertise in sales.”

“I can't.”

“Can't?”

“Won't,” Jason said coldly.

“I need your help. How can you turn down family?”

“I can loan you money.”

Jimmy's lip curled. “I don't want a frigging loan.”

“That's all I can offer.”

“You won't help me?”

Jason gave his head a slow shake. “Not in the way you want.”

“Look. Kid. Your career was already on the skids when you quit. If you think you're going to get any major endorsements or anything, you're wrong.”

“I don't.”

“So, what? You're going to live here with your father?” He sneered a little as he spoke.

“Until he feels better.” Jason got up out of his chair, towering over his uncle. “And I don't want him to get upset.” He gestured toward the door with his head. “Finding the two of us here, going at it, won't be good for his heart.”

“Neither will your being a selfish prick.”

The sound of the garage door going up caught both their attentions. Jimmy sent Jason a look he couldn't read, then a moment later, Max came into the house.

“So did you talk?” his father asked.

And that was when Jason knew he'd been set up. “We talked. The answer is no.”

“It's no, no, a thousand times no,” Jimmy said sarcastically. “He can crawl to me and I wouldn't hire him now.”

Max looked from his son to his brother and back at his son again. “Maybe if the three of us sit down—”

“That's it,” Jason said. “Is Kate here?”

“Feeding the dogs.”

“Cool. Dad, I'll see you later. Jim...” His mouth tightened and then he walked through the garage door to where his sister was feeding the Dobermans. She took one look at him and shook her head grimly.

“Get out of here for a while,” she said. “I'll call if anything happens.”

He started to say no, then thought better of it. “Thanks.”

* * *

T
HREE
DAYS
HAD
passed since posting her advertisements in all the usual places, and Allie hadn't received one phone call. If she had to hire a salvage company instead of a local guy, it was going to cost more than she was ready to pay, but short of tearing down the barn herself, she didn't know what her other options might be. She'd give it another week, then call Dani and Jolie and explain that they were going to have to dip into the ranch fund to get rid of the thing.

Allie finished her coffee and headed outside to check the pregnant cows. They'd had only five cows when she and Kyle had left the ranch, down from almost a hundred. It seemed as if every few months they'd had to sell off animals to make ends meet or to fund one of Kyle's harebrained projects that she'd been so supportive of...until she finally figured out that her husband was all show and no go. Her sisters had started building the herd again and they were now up to twenty registered Angus cows—eighteen of which were pregnant. If she had a one-hundred-percent calving rate, then they would have even more of a hedge against disaster. She felt bad that she was the reason the ranch had been in such poor shape to begin with...which was why she really hated making that call.

After checking the cows, she turned the goats loose to eat weeds, then started back to the house, only to stop when she spotted the cloud of dust coming down the driveway.

And a second later she recognized the fancy pickup making the cloud.

Jason Hudson.

Allie glanced down at her clothing, glad that she hadn't succumbed to the urge to feed in her pajamas. Her oldest jeans, a ratty T-shirt and her hair pulled back in a rough ponytail weren't much better, but at least she could maintain a semblance of dignity that flannel pants with polar bears on them didn't allow.

The truck rolled to a stop a few feet away from where Allie stood near the barn. She shifted her weight, her arms hanging loosely by her sides as Jason got out of the truck.

“You're back,” she said before he could speak.

“I am.” In the late-afternoon sunlight, his eyes were the most amazing clear aqua blue. Caribbean Sea–blue. He gave a slight shrug and said, “I'm here about the job.”

“Why?” The word burst out of her mouth.

“Maybe I need to pay my dues,” he said without one hint of irony.

“You aren't paying your dues here.” She gave a soft snort. “Why would you
want
to pay your dues here?”

“It seems as good a place as any.” A few seconds of charged silence ticked by as Allie waited for Jason to either expand on his answer or leave. He did neither. Finally she gave up and shook her head. “I don't see this happening.”

“Because you have so many applicants to choose from?”

“Yes. Exactly.” Allie felt color start to rise in her face. She was an awful liar.

“I stole your advertisement off the feed-store bulletin board.” Her jaw literally dropped. “Heat of the moment,” he continued. “And now I'm here to either tear down your barn or put up another advertisement.”

She studied him, wondering if he'd been hit in the head too many times, although there was nothing foggy in the way he was studying her back. He looked like a guy on a mission. Why would he want to tear down a barn when he probably had a whole lot of money sitting in the bank, drawing interest?

“You can't tear down my barn, so I guess I'd better print out another advertisement.”

“I think you should at least give me a shot.”

Allie blinked at him. “At the risk of repeating myself, why?”

“I need gainful employment.”

“Jason, no offense, but can't you catch pizzas or something more in line with your talents?”

“I could catch pizzas if I were still playing ball,” he said. “But not many companies want an ex-player as a spokesperson unless they were truly great. I wasn't.”