A Cowboy to Marry (15 page)

“You're still feeling a little nervous?” he guessed.

Libby nodded in relief. “Even though I know everyone is pretty much on board with the sale now, there's still a chance the party may not go all that well.”

“And that being the case, you'd like a little backup on hand.”

Actually, she thought, it was more than that. But not sure how she should say it, she drew in a long breath and continued, “Anyway, I was wondering if you'd be my date for the evening.”

He looked deep into her eyes. “Officially?”

“Very officially,” Libby affirmed.

A slow, sexy smile crossed his face as he took her hand and lifted it to his lips. “Then it will be my pleasure.”

 

“Y
OU'RE SURE THAT'S
what you want to do with the proceeds from the sale of the dealership?” Claire McCabe said, after Libby had discussed it with her at length on Tuesday.

“Yes.” Libby sighed, relieved to finally know what she was going to do with the million dollars she would garner from the sale of the dealership. “As long as it's legally viable, works out taxwise…and we can accomplish it by the end of the year.”

“It is. And we can.”

Libby gave her attorney a thumbs-up sign. “Then let's go for it,” she said, encouraged to find she was no longer confused about what she wanted to do with the rest of her life—professionally, anyway. Personally was another matter….

The paralegal stuck her head in the door, interrupting Libby's musing. “Jeff Johnston and his team are here for the meeting.”

Claire held the copies of the contract they were proposing. “Ready?”

Libby nodded.

This was a good thing, she assured herself firmly. The right thing.

For Percy and his family, and for her…

Short minutes later, the two teams were seated opposite one another.

It was a little lopsided. Libby had opted to appear with only her attorney, and the compiled financial data and appraisals. However, Jeff Johnston had brought along the chief financial officer for his entire company, a commercial real-estate broker, a private real-estate broker and two attorneys.

So there were six people on his side of the conference table, two on hers.

Libby immediately saw it for what it was, as did her attorney.

Intimidation.

“Let's get down to business,” Claire said, with a brisk, matter-of-fact smile.

Jeff had insisted upon delivering his offer in person. He handed them his written bid.

It didn't take Libby long to spot the glaring omission in Jeff's proposed contract. “There's nothing in here stating the current Lowell Ranch Equipment employees will keep their present salary and position. And nothing at all about the five-percent share in annual company profits you've promised them.”

Jeff gestured broadly. “I gave them my word. I'll keep it.”

“Then why isn't it in writing?” she demanded.

“If it's part of the proposed acquisition, it has to be spelled out in the contract,” Claire insisted.

Libby noted that no one on Jeff's team was surprised by the omission—or her reaction. Which probably meant it wasn't the first time it had happened.

Keeping her composure, she rose. If they wanted to play these games, so be it.

She looked at her attorney. “Clearly, this is not a serious offer. So it's not worth my time or yours.”

Her posture militant, Libby headed for the door.

“Now, hold on there a minute,” Jeff said. Leisurely, he kicked back in his chair. “We can proceed on a handshake.”

“No,” Libby said, with as much steel in her voice as there was amiability in his. “We cannot.” She glanced at her attorney, leaving no doubt about the strength of her resolve. “And we will not.”

 

“O
BVIOUSLY
, J
OHNSTON LOOKED
into my background, too, and decided he could push me around,” Libby fumed less than an hour later.

From the meeting, she had gone straight to Holden's ranch, spotting his pickup in one of the fields. Cursing her lack of boots, she had driven out to find him.

He'd stopped repairing fence to get a blanket and spread it on the bed of his truck. Then, hands on her waist, he'd lifted her up so she could sit with her legs dangling over the side.

“You don't look like much of a pushover now,” he observed.

Libby tried to tug the skirt of her trim black business suit to her knees, but gave up. Savoring the feel of the winter sun on her shoulders, and the warmer than usual afternoon breeze, she retorted, “That's because I'm not! But two years ago, and long before that, all I cared about was trying to live my life as nonconfrontationally as possible.”

Holden went back to the fence he was repairing. “Because you were orphaned,” he guessed.

Gazing out across the pasture, Libby reflected, “To be perfectly honest, it probably started way before then.”

He pulled the split post out of the ground, then regarded her curiously.

Aware they had never talked about their childhoods, Libby confessed, “My parents were both very single-minded. As an only child, all the emphasis was on me.”

Holden, who'd had three siblings, made a face.

Libby sighed and continued, “I learned pretty quickly as a kid that whatever outfit my mother wanted me to wear was the one I was going to put on that day. And the same went for my dad. He expected me to keep my toys and books picked up and put away, just so, and I did,” she recollected wearily. “Because if I put my books on a different shelf than the one he had in mind, I was just going to have to do it all over again.”

His shirt stretching tight across his shoulders, Holden pounded a new post into the ground. “Doesn't sound like there was a lot of room to negotiate,” he observed.

No kidding.

Libby grimaced. “There was even less after they passed, and I went to live with Aunt Ida. She was in her late fifties by then, and had never married or had children. And she liked her life just so.” Libby studied the herd of quarter horses grazing in the distance. “It was easier to go along with what she wanted than to fight anything.”

Holden pounded in another post. “And Percy, God love him, wanted everything his way, too.”

Libby gestured helplessly, recollecting that her husband, too, was an only child. She frowned. “His parents indulged him terribly, trying to keep him happy. Having me cater to his every need only perpetuated that.”

Holden stripped off his leather work gloves and strode back to the truck. “But now you're different.” He picked up a bottle of water and drank thirstily.

Libby tore her eyes from the strong column of his throat and neck. “You know I am. The last two years have made me think long and hard about who I am and what I want out of life.”

Holden wiped the moisture from his lips with the back of his hand. “Do you think Johnston was trying to cheat you?” He offered her the bottle.

Finding she was thirsty, too, Libby took it and drank deeply, before handing it back. “Initially, yes. But since he doesn't have that reputation, I'm more inclined to believe that what went on today was all just a negotiating ploy.”

Holden could not disagree with her assessment. “So you're still interested in doing business with him.” He hefted himself up to sit beside her on the bed of the truck.

Although she could have shifted over, Libby stayed where she was, letting their hips and thighs touch.

Absorbing the warm masculinity of his body wedged up against hers, she shrugged. “More than ever, oddly enough. Jeff has some great ideas for expanding the business and taking it into the twenty-first-century internet sales and service in a way that, to be perfectly honest, I could never do.” She shifted slightly, to better look into Holden's eyes. Her stocking-clad knee nudged his denim-clad thigh in the process.

Swallowing, Libby continued, “Under his guidance, I know the dealership will be a success and continue on in the tradition of excellence that the Lowell family was famous for.” She paused briefly to reflect. “It will be a way of keeping Percy and his family alive, even though I'm still planning to move on.”
Here, hopefully, with you…

Holden rested his hand on her knee. “So where do I come into all this?” he said softly, intuiting there was more.

Glad they were on the same page, Libby smiled and looked deep into his eyes. “That's what I wanted to talk to you about.”

 

“L
IBBY IS REALLY OUTDOING
herself this year, isn't she?” Emily remarked to Holden, one week later, as she parked the Daybreak Café catering van at the rear of the dealership.

He smiled at his sister. “By giving a Christmas party for all her employees and their families…not to mention a few reporters and any and all customers and library patrons who want to attend? I would have to say so.”

“I think it's nice that she wants to go out in such a big way. Not that I've seen the two of you together all that much this week.”

That, Holden thought, was his one regret. “Libby has been really busy,” he said as he helped his sister load desserts onto a cart. “She was in meetings with Jeff Johnston and Claire on Wednesday and Friday.”

“She was in Claire's office all day Thursday, too, wasn't she?” Emily brought out plastic-covered trays of appetizers.

Holden nodded. “She had to sign more documents this morning. At the bank and in Claire's office.”

“Well, at least financially she should be set when all this is done.”

That was true, Holden thought. Libby would have the means to settle wherever she wanted, in style.

“Do you know what her plans are for after the holidays?”

He refused to let his lack of information frustrate him. He knew Libby wanted to make her own decisions and prove she could handle this, all on her own.

He shook his head. “I know she's weighing her options.”

Beyond that he had no clue whether she planned on staying in Laramie County, or even if she wanted to continue seeing him.

Although he knew what he wanted. Libby in his life, from here on out.

“What has she said?” his sister probed.

“Not a lot,” he admitted reluctantly. “She's afraid she might disrupt the negotiations if she says much of anything before the contracts are all signed.”

Emily sighed. “That's understandable, I guess. Especially given how upset the people in Laramie County were about her selling the dealership to begin with.”

Holden pushed the cart, warning, “There's still a lot of uncertainty.” Everything could explode if the deal Libby had brokered ended up not being all that it was reputed to be.

Emily held the door. “I know. I hear ranchers worrying every day at the café.” She paused, her voice lowered in concern. “How is she doing emotionally?”

Aware that his sister was watching him carefully, Holden stated, “Libby's okay.” On the surface, anyway. “I can see her getting stronger, more determined to go through with the sale of the Lowell family business and the reorganization of her life, every day.”

But at same time he felt that she was definitely keeping something from him. Something personal. He just didn't know what.

 

I
CAN GET THROUGH THIS
,
Libby told herself firmly as five o'clock—and the start of the Lowell Ranch Equipment Christmas party—approached on Saturday evening.

I am not going to do what I did before, and imagine all
sorts of things to be true just so I won't be alone. I'm fine. Honestly. And that slight indigestion in my gut, and the wobbling in my knees, is nothing more than yet another ridiculous physical reaction to stress….

To prove it, Libby stood and picked up the notes for the speech she was soon to give.

A second later, Holden walked in. Smiling, he shut the door behind him and he closed the distance between them, draping an arm across her shoulders. The warmth of his nearness spurred her heart to beat a little faster, even before he pressed a brief, tender kiss to her temple.

His eyes darkening with possessive intent, he told her in a low voice, “I am going to be so glad when this party is over and I can take you home.”

There it was, the trademark McCabe orneriness that Holden employed whenever he felt her spirits needed a boost.

Glad for the diversion from the huge step she was about to take, Libby let her gaze drift over him. “That sounds so great… You just don't know…”

His expression grew tender. “I think I do. I've missed you this week.”

“It'll get better soon,” she promised, curling into the warmth of his embrace. “We'll have more time for each other.”

“I like the sound of that,” he murmured, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

Just then a rap sounded on door, interrupting the moment. With a sigh, Libby eased out of his arms and stepped away. “Come in.”

The door to her office opened and Claire stuck her head in. “Hey, Libby. Holden. Everyone is here. The microphone is set up.”

“Thank you. I'll be right there.”

The attorney waved in agreement and took off. Libby turned to Holden, all the emotions she had been holding at bay surging to the fore. “When this is all over I will give you a proper thank-you for all you've done for me this week.” In addition to moral support and errand running, he had taken over the library hours at her home.

He returned her hug and lifted her hand to his lips. “Just goes to show what a good team we make,” he murmured huskily. “Now, go get 'em, tiger.”

Feeling newly confident, Libby walked out into the dealership showroom, to take the stage that had been set up.

Gathered around were all the LRE employees, the library staff and many patrons, and many ranchers from the area. She also saw Jeff Johnston and his team, and Claire. But most of all, there was Holden, patiently waiting, believing in her….