Dodge was exhausted. He’d spent all day on the phone, driving all over the valley looking for land to lease. The best he could piece together were several plots of hundred acre tracts from one end of the valley to the next. Not one of them was big enough for all his cattle and he’d end up spending all his time trying to be eight places at once. Nothing, absolutely nothing had worked out in his favor. He paced the small kitchen of the hundred year-old ranch house he could call home for precisely one more week.
In a desperate bout of frustration, he flung his papers from the kitchen table where he’d frantically worked. As he watched them flutter to the floor like leaves falling from an autumn sky, the survey of the Woodward property floated down and landed face up on the center of the table. A light bulb went off in his head.
Of course. She had the perfect size ranch, currently unleased and scheduled to be fenced by the end of the week. He could set up a feed lot for the calves using the old barns at the front of the property near the caretaker’s house and pay her newly hired ranch hand to help him. It was perfect, and his only option. But even as his head cleared, he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck sticking up and he anxiously rubbed them away. He was attracted to Sarah. Really attracted. And he never, ever mixed business with pleasure. He’d never had to before and he wouldn’t do it now. He just needed to remember his vow.
Sarah wouldn’t want to lease her land, she’d already said she wanted to get her own cows and learn the business. But she didn’t have a clue where to start. Luis was a competent a ranch hand and he’d help her muddle through. As much as he hated to ask a favor, he needed her to let him lease the land or he’d be sunk. Shit.
He thought about the way he’d dropped Jenny at the front gate and the furious expression on her face as he’d pulled away. He may need to grovel. Damn, he hated to beg. Fortunately he’d deal with Sarah and not her spoiled brat sister. He knew she would agree, but he didn’t want to have to ask with Jenny around. But now that he’d made up his mind, he needed to talk to her and Jenny wasn’t leaving until the next day. As he stacked the papers neatly on the table and made his way to the bathroom to shower, he decided a nice bottle of wine and maybe some more steaks would do the groveling for him.
###
Sarah heaved firewood into the wheelbarrow and carted it under the deck. She’d begun to stack the wood from some of the nearby cottonwood trees that had fallen during the valley’s many wind gusts. She wondered if she’d ever get used to the feel of grit between her teeth when the wind picked up and carried the dusty earth careening toward anything that stood in its way. Her head reeled, but not from the physical exertion. She’d craved a physical outlet after the day she’d had and the resentment she’d encountered.
The hostility from the Kevin that morning, which only got worse after the bus had dropped them off at the front of the ranch. You’d think walking a few miles from the road to the cabin would be a welcome break after the miserable day he’d had at school. All she could get from him was that the kids were dumb, the girls were ugly and that he was smarter than everyone in his classes. If she thought starting school would help with his attitude she’d been wrong. Very wrong.
He disappeared a few minutes after he got home and only scowled at her after she’d gotten on the four-wheeler to find him. He’d been sitting on a log that had fallen into the river. When he heard the engine come up behind him his face changed from quiet reflection to completely rancorous. And she felt sick. Sick, sick, sick for she wondered if he’d ever get beyond his bitterness. First his dad died and now she’d dragged him here where he refused to even try to fit in. Sarah felt like an idiot for thinking a change of venue would help. Even Lyle seemed quiet after school, saying it would take some time to get used to the changes.
She threw the last of the wood on the pile and moved around the house to put the wheelbarrow back into the garage. Before going inside, she stepped out onto the small concrete drive to pound the dirt from her shoes. That’s when she noticed a truck coming down the long gravel drive. Dodge. Her stomach did a funny little flip-flop as recognition. She wondered why he’d come and why she felt so relieved by the sight of him.
“Now, I can explain,” he said as he came around the truck.
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about making your sister walk home this afternoon from the front gate. She insisted I bring her home today and I didn’t have time to drive her all the way back here so I dropped her at the front.”
“She mentioned it. Why do you look so guilty?”
“I…she seemed pretty pissed, that’s all.” He turned back to the truck. “I thought an apology was in order so I brought some steaks and a bottle of wine.” He held the label in her face.
She shrugged as she accepted the wine. “Thanks.” Jenny’s last night and he brought steaks and wine. Her stomach churned with jealousy and she didn’t like it one bit. “Jenny will be pleased to know you’re seeing her off in style.”
“I actually have a business proposition for you. I thought we could discuss it over dinner.”
Of course. The lease on the circle. He’d been excited to discover the full circle and said he’d get with her later about a lease. So later was now. “A juicy steak and some wine sounds pretty good after the day I’ve had. Come on up.”
“You ok?” He reached for her arm.
Such a loaded question. “I’ll survive.” She tried to smile, but he didn’t seem appeased.
“Want to talk about it?”
“I’m tired of whining.” She could barely stand the sound of her own voice and desperately wished she could shut down her brain for awhile. Maybe the wine would help.
“Look who’s joining us for dinner,” Sarah announced to the boys as they sat on the couch watching ESPN. Sarah could see Jenny reading on the deck. She probably heard Dodge approach and waited to make a grand entrance.
Lyle waved and Kevin merely pursed his lips and looked back at the television. And then the deck doors opened and Jenny sauntered through, kicking Lyle’s feet off the coffee table as she passed.
“Well, look what the cat dragged in. Or are you here to check on my blisters?”
“I brought a peace offering, Jenny, so you can tuck your claws back in.”
Sarah rolled her eyes from the kitchen. The prospect of them flirting all evening didn’t help her mood. “Can you two call a truce for one night?”
Jenny stepped around the barstool and picked up the wine Dodge had placed on the counter. “Hummm, this ought to do for an apology. You didn’t buy this around here.”
“It was a gift from a client in Chicago. He’s a wine collector and sends me a bottle every now and again. Trying to fancy me up.”
Sarah looked up from the steaks. Every time he opened his mouth it was like peeling away layers of an onion.
“Why would a cowboy have a client in Chicago?” Jenny asked.
Dodge took a seat in the barstool. Sarah added the marinade he’d enjoyed to the steaks and assembled the ingredients for a salad. She listened intently but tried to pretend otherwise.
“Former client. I used to be a futures trader. Made him quite a bit of money awhile back. He parlayed it into several million more. He shares the wealth with those who helped him along the way.”
Jenny smiled and sauntered past him into the kitchen, searched the drawer for a cork screw and made a production out of opening the bottle. “Futures trader, huh? Got any more tricks up your sleeve?”
Sarah remembered Todd struggling with futures in college. Todd was the smartest person she’d ever known when it came to business and the fact that he couldn’t wrap his highly evolved mind around the futures trade made her think that Dodge was, as she’d suspected, smarter than he let on. “Futures? You mean like cattle and corn and stuff? That’s pretty risky, right?”
Dodge acknowledged her insight with a nod. “The risk is worth the payoff when things pan out.” He took the glass Jenny handed him and set it on the counter. “You familiar with futures?”
Sarah laughed uncomfortably. “No, no. I remember Todd having to deal with it in college. He didn’t like it. He was conservative with money, very risk averse.”
“You can make a killing or lose your ass in futures. A lot of people don’t have the stomach for it.”
“Or the finances, I’d imagine.” Sarah felt herself relaxing. She hadn’t had meaningful conversation with a man or her boys in, oh…she didn’t know how long. And she’d missed it. She enjoyed the insights and bluntness only a man could bring to a discussion. And this particular man intrigued her more than most. He had a look on his face, like he was studying her and she was a little too interested in what he thought.
“What did you do in college?” Dodge asked.
“Advertising.” Sarah watched the play of light in those tawny eyes of his. He had a way of looking at her that made it impossible to forget he was male. All male. “I stayed as far away from business as possible.”
“And here you want to run a cattle business.” He pushed her glass of wine across the counter and stretched his legs in front of him. “How are the fences coming?”
“Great. They’re scheduled to start tomorrow. As long as the weather holds, they should be done by next week.”
Jenny leaned on the counter, offered a tantalizing view of her ample chest. “So I take it you haven’t lived in the valley your whole life then, cowboy?”
“Been gone a long time. Just came back a few months ago.”
“Do you plan to stay?”
He stood up. “There’s no place like home, isn’t that what they say? What’s the score?” he asked the boys as he moved into the den.
He hadn’t answered the question, Sarah noticed. Jenny passed her a look suggesting they thought the same thing. Even as girls, as different as they’d always been, their minds worked the same. She watched Dodge try to make conversation with Kevin and Lyle. She wanted them to get along. They needed a man in their life, although it seemed unlikely Dodge would be a regular visitor, especially with Jenny leaving town.
###
“It’s six to four, Cardinals in the bottom of the seventh,” Lyle said.
Dodge settled in the chair closest to Kevin. The kid had been clued into the adults’ talk and not the game, which is why he didn’t answer. The kid had an agenda. “Think this is the year the Rockies break out?”
“We’re Braves fans,” Kevin answered quickly, defensively. “Even mom’s a die-hard. Location can’t change that.”
Dodge turned to see her smile at her oldest son. He heard affection from the boy and his mother sopped it up like a woman starved for love. He ached for both of them. “America’s team, huh? I’m not surprised.”
He recognized the undercurrent of sadness that ran through the family. It was all too familiar. Someone was missing; husband, father, peace keeper. That’s how Sarah had described her dead husband. Those were some of the words used to describe his mother in the years after her death; wife, mother, soother. They were spoken lovingly and with a hint of wistfulness. He remembered feeling like there was a ghost in the room at all times. She existed for him through photographs and stories, memories weaved like a tapestry that hung on every wall of every house he ever lived in. Missing her, feeling like he’d missed out seemed comforting because it was all he’d ever known. But for these people, this family, they couldn’t find comfort in his absence. He wondered if there ever would.
“Kevin, will you go light the grill please?” Sarah asked.
He huffed a big breath and then strode to the deck at a commercial. Dodge followed him out and leaned against the rail to enjoy the view. It wasn’t hard with the sunlight slipping behind the clouds and the sky a pink swath that bathed the mountains and foothills before them in color so brilliant it almost didn’t seem real. “You play any baseball, Kevin?”
“Used to.”
Dodge turned from the rail and faced the boy. He’d come out on the deck to feel the kid out, pry loose a few details so they could be more comfortable with each other. If Sarah agreed to let him lease the land it would help if they got along.
He had to hand it to the kid, he was smart. Lyle was easy. Jenny was predictable and thankfully, leaving tomorrow. Sarah was…a distraction. But Kevin, he was an enigma. He didn’t put himself out, probably in fear of being hurt or judged, and it worked at giving him leverage with others. Dodge knew he’d have to draw the kid out piece by piece, and with boys, sports usually provided the easiest path. “I’ve got a few nephews who play rec ball. They’re about your age. You’ll probably meet them at school. I could feel them out, see what their plans are for the summer.
“I told you I quit. I bet the rec teams out here aren’t very good anyway,” Kevin said. “Nothing’s as good out here.”
A hawk flew over the deck and swooped into the nearby cottonwood trees. The river babbled nearby providing a harmony that should have been peaceful. Dodge looked up, pushed his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “Smaller isn’t always worse. Besides, it’d be a good way to meet some other kids, get out of the house this summer.”
“You trying to get me out of the house this summer?”
Dodge let out a breath and looked Kevin in the eye. “Kid, you’re obviously not real thrilled about living here. Just thought I’d suggest a way to make some friends.” He walked back into the cabin wondering if he’d done more harm than good.
###
Kevin and Lyle disappeared to their rooms after dinner. Jenny and Sarah stacked the dishes to clean later and joined Dodge on the deck where he’d started a fire in the outdoor fireplace. He’d refilled the wood bin from Sarah’s pile under the deck and the popping blaze took a bit of the chill off the approaching night.
Sarah brought another bottle of wine from the kitchen. “Sorry it’s not up to collector status, but it’s all I’ve got.” She refilled their glasses. “So, you mentioned something about a business proposition earlier.” She took a seat and curled into an Indian throw she’d brought out from the cabin. “I assume this is about the circle.”
By the way Dodge sat on the edge of his chair with his fingers clasped between his knees Sarah could tell he was anxious to discuss business. “It’s about more than the circle. I had an unfortunate setback today.” He glanced at Jenny and Sarah watched at his mouth twitched in annoyance. “As witnessed by your sister. I’ve got cattle all over the valley, small tracts here and there that I lease on a year-to-year basis. The bulk of my operation is not far from here on a tract owned by a guy from Colorado Springs. He’d just bought the property when I came back to town. He called me today and broke the terms of our lease and gave me one week to get my cows off his property. I’ve spent the whole day on the phone and can’t find a property big enough to work. I don’t have the luxury of time on my side, so…as much as I hate to ask…”
“You want to lease my land for your cattle operation.” When Dodge nodded, Sarah inclined her head and looked out into the darkening sky. What would a lease agreement with Dodge do to her plans? First, she didn’t have concrete plans. She’d had Luis, until this morning, and now she had nothing. No ranch hand and next week she’d have 1200 acres of properly fenced grazing pasture and not a single cow to graze them. “For how long?”
Dodge rubbed his hands together. “I’m not sure. The length of the lease would depend on you. I’ve got 400 pair now that need fattening up, and they’ll be contracted in July for December delivery. I’ll A.I. the heifers in a few weeks. I’d like not to move them again until they calve in February or March of next year. And there’s no telling when another tract of this size will become available. I need at least a thousand acres to support the operation I’ve got.”
“What’s A.I.?” Sarah asked.
“Artificially inseminate. We don’t leave things to nature anymore.”
“How long did you sign the lease for on the property you’ve got to vacate?”
“It was a year-to-year lease, and we’d discussed a multiple year lease if the first year went smoothly for both of us. I can’t tell you how surprised I am that he backed out.”
“And would you want the house?”
“The caretaker’s house? No, I heard you’d hired Luis and I wouldn’t make you kick him out. I can stay with my dad until I find a place to rent.”
Sarah sipped her wine. “Luis called this morning with a sudden change of heart. Seems we’ve both had setbacks today.”
Dodge stood up and stared down at her. “I know this isn’t what you wanted and I hope you don’t think I’m taking advantage of your situation. I just don’t have many options right now. I own some land in Wyoming I could haul the cows to but it’s leased and the expense of it would kill any profit I’d make this year. I’ll understand if you say no, but I thought it wouldn’t hurt to ask.”
Sarah stared into the fire’s blue and orange blaze, fidgeted when the dry wood popped bits out of the enclosure onto the deck near her feet. She took another sip of wine and let the heat of it slip down her throat. “Truth is Dodge, I’m not sure what I want to do with the land right now and I’m equally out of options.” She set her wine on a side table and stood, let the throw pool around her ankles. “I assume I’ll need an attorney to draw up a formal lease? I’ll agree to the same terms you had with your current landlord, a year with the option for more if things go smoothly.” She stuck out her hand so they could shake on her offer.
Dodge took her hand and the relief she saw on his face had her stifling a smile. He began rubbing the back of his neck, a habit she’d seen him do before. “I have to admit I didn’t think you’d agree so easily.”
“I told you before I like to have a plan. This gives me one.” She took her seat and wrapped herself in the throw once more. “You know I’ll have questions.”
Dodge sat back in his chair. “I’d pretty much counted on that.”
“Well, I guess I can leave with a clean conscience,” Jenny said. “I’d appreciate your keeping an eye on my sister, cowboy. In fact,” she raised her glass in toast, “maybe we can put that in the contract. If you fail to uphold your end of the deal, I’ll be the enforcer of punishment.”
“Have you always been this shy?” Dodge asked.
Jenny lifted her chin in the air and Sarah’s stomach clenched. She knew the look on Jenny’s face enough to worry. “I was a little shy, until my sister started writing her steamy little books. If she can have a wild side, I can too. Except I don’t keep mine tucked away in packing boxes. I prefer to keep it on display.”
“Why?” Dodge asked. “So you can bust some guy’s balls when he tries to take you up on what you’re offering?”
Sarah watched Jenny level a look at him that would have frozen hot coals, but Dodge didn’t seem intimidated. He turned to Sarah, his brows knit tightly together. “Wait,” he said. “What steamy little books?”
Jenny laughed. “It’s her dirty little secret.”
“Would you please shut up, Jenny.” Sarah finally found her voice.
“My sister’s an author,” Jenny said with a smug smile. “She wrote a series of romance novels a few years back. You’d think she’d show some pride in her work, especially considering her books paid for this beautiful property, but no. She hides them away so they don’t tarnish her reputation as the good sister.” She raised her glass in toast to Sarah. “Well, secret’s out.”
“Romance novels?”
“I haven’t written in years.” Sarah hoped to dismiss the conversation with the wave of her hand. She didn’t want to talk about her books around Dodge. Damn her sister was maddening, and working her way towards seriously drunk if Sarah didn’t put a stop to it. God only knew what would come out of her mouth next.
“Well, I’ve had all the excitement I can stand for one night,” Jenny said and sauntered to the door. “You kids have fun.”
Sarah watched Dodge’s eyes follow Jenny inside the cabin. “Why don’t you two just have sex and get it over with,” she blurted out. Hell. Maybe she was the one getting drunk.
“What?” Dodge turned back to Sarah. “I don’t want to have sex with your sister!”
“Then why do you goad her like that?”
“She’s asking for it and you know it.” He stood up and paced in front of the fire. “God, she’s a classic man-hater.”
“Excuse me?”
“Your sister’s a man-hater.” He moved to take the seat Jenny had vacated. “She acts like she adores men but deep down she hates any guy with a set of balls between his legs.”
“Got some experience with man haters, have you?”
“I’m just saying that’s what she is. I didn’t make her that way, but she defines the category.”
Sarah sat up in her seat. “Category? As in there’s more than just the one?”
Dodge sighed and leaned back in the chair. “You’re not going to understand, so I’m not going to explain.”
Sarah snorted. “You mean I’m not going to like what you say.” She cleared her throat, leaned forward in her seat and folded her hands in her lap. “I’m listening.”
“I’m not saying any more because you’re just going to make fun.”
“I’m about to see deep inside the male psyche. I’m going to have to insist.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“All right, I’ll explain the categories, but only if you promise not to laugh.”
Sarah lightly tapped her finger against her lips. “I can promise I’ll try not to laugh, but sometimes laughter is difficult to control.”
Dodge braced his hands on his knees and stood. “It’s been fun, but I’ve got to be going now.”
Sarah shot out of her chair and grabbed his arm as he tried to scoot by the fire and into the cabin. “Wait a minute. You’re not getting out of here so easy. Tell me, I won’t laugh, I promise. I’ll probably be too insulted to laugh.”
He sighed and sat back down. “I’ve found that all women fall into a series of categories. Its a little system I’ve devised and perfected through the years.”
Oh, this was priceless. “How many are there?”
“Six.”
“Six? All women fall into just six categories?” When he nodded she said, “Please go on.”
“First there’s the ‘never satisfied with anything’ woman.”
Sarah considered and shrugged. “Okay, I get that one. What’s next?”
“Next is the ‘pretty but unintelligent eye candy’ woman.” Again she nodded. “Then there’s the ‘just plain low class’ woman.” She used her fingers to count along as he named them off. “Probably the least harmless is the ‘book smart but no common sense’ woman.” As Sarah held four fingers in the air he seemed to relax and enjoy explaining himself. “Now your sister had me fluctuating between these last two, the ‘I’ll make you want to touch me until you can’t breathe but you never will’ category and the ‘man-hater.’ And as I stated before, she’s the classic man-hater. Well?” he asked.
Wow. He looked like a normal person, sounded like a normal person most of the time, but his little classification system definitely wasn’t normal. “I’m speechless,” she said and rubbed her temples. He’d pretty much nailed Jenny with both of his last two categories, but the question of where she would fall into his demeaning and narrow-minded system made her want to hurl herself off the deck. No, actually it made her want to insist he tell her which category she fell into and then hurl him off the deck. “What am I?”
“Pardon me?”
“What category am I, just for conversation’s sake?”
“I haven’t been able to put you into a category just yet.”
“Umm.” Liar.
“You may be the first woman who defies my little system. I may have to come up with a new category for you.”
“That’s a rather convenient answer.”
“Now, don’t go making this personal. You insisted I tell you and I did.”
“How can I not make this personal when you said all women fall into one of your six categories and you won’t tell me which one I am?”
“I’m thinking your category might be called the ‘totally condescending woman,’” he said and then laughed when she flew out of her chair.
“You think this is funny?”
“Well, I never imagined I’d be the one laughing at the end of the conversation, that’s for sure.”
She sat back in her chair. “Do your guy friends know about your categories?”
“Guys don’t talk about women.”
“Oh, please.”
“We may mention an attractive body part or two, but we don’t talk about women.” And when she snorted in disbelief he said, “We talk about sports, cows, the price of hay, beer and our softball league. That’s about it.”
“Do any other women know about your categories? Your sisters maybe?”
“Are you crazy? I’m not stupid enough to let them in on my system.”
“You’re smart not to Dodge. It’s a scary reflection of your personality.”
“Is it scary to you?”
Sarah looked at him and shook her head. “No, but it explains a lot.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means if you want to lease my land, don’t put me in a category.”