This was the side of town I’d never seen. Before tonight, it’d felt like an exclusive club that I’d never learn the secret handshake to. Now, Dawson was my invitation.
Dawson
The slap of air-conditioning on my face was welcome after the sun baking me on the sidewalk. I’d had to stop and talk to Samuel about raising the deductible on my pickup. Bristol’s reaction toward how I dealt with him had left a bad taste in my mouth. I’d caught him on the way out to lunch and—shockingly—he hadn’t had time to talk to me. He’d claimed he had to run an errand for his wedding.
I had my doubts.
If I had to make an appointment and push for a lower-priced policy because I didn’t need to be covered to my earlobes when I could easily cover the cost of a higher deductible, then I would. I would just because he was being cagey.
Then I’d walked to the bank for my appointment with Richard Lang. I wouldn’t forget the way he’d treated Bristol at Hogan’s.
The night at Miller’s had turned out better than I’d imagined the night going when we’d first gone out. After what had happened at The Tap, I’d thought I’d lost Bristol for good. That she was done with me, with the town, and with people in general.
But the guys and their wives had helped redeem me. I’d had nothing to do with it, but I owed them all. Not just for paying for the drinks that Bristol had accidentally knocked out of Danika’s hold. They weren’t nice to Bristol because she was my girlfriend. They were just decent people, and it showed in how they treated her. Same with their significant others.
The receptionist at the front desk in the bank grinned as I approached. “Dawson, he’s waiting for you.”
I wandered through the desks on the main floor of the bank. Richard was behind his desk, a pair of reading glasses on as he scrutinized his computer screen. I tapped on his doorframe.
His gaze popped up and he took his glasses off. “Come on in. Shut the door.”
Once I was sitting across from his wide desk, he slid a folder across the top. He was old school. If he could print it, he made five copies. Richard wasn’t just the bank president, he was a savvy financial planner. He’d taken over the bank but kept some financial planning accounts as clients. King Ranch was one of the few.
“Haying yet?”
He asked that whenever I was in. Didn’t matter if it was November when all the plants were going dormant or March when they hadn’t started to grow. “Soon.”
He brushed invisible crumbs off his chest and folded his hands across his belly. “I’ve had a look at everything. Your investments are growing nicely. I don’t think we need to move anything around. Your income continues to grow steadily.” He adjusted his hands. “It’s your call. What are your plans? We can make it happen.”
“I’d like to take on another employee.”
He sat up, interest gleaming in his pale blue eyes. “Oh, yeah? You’re thinking of expanding?”
“Eventually. I’d like more time off. The guys and I are making do, but I don’t want to burn them out. Maybe we’ll start with a part-timer and see how it goes.”
His interest changed to calculation. “I thought you’d be considering expanding. Like to a certain neighbor who’s struggling to get by.”
My blood ran cold at his suggestion, but as my irritation crept up, heat swept through my veins. “Bristol is quite capable of successfully running her ranch.”
“Or she could sell to you, move somewhere else, and have a fresh start.”
“Bristol’s not going anywhere.” That was her home. It’d been in her family for generations. I didn’t want her to go anywhere, but I didn’t have to worry. She wasn’t leaving. “That ranch is hers. To say it’s in her blood is putting it lightly.”
Richard tapped his fingers on his gut. Soft thumps filled the office. “It would be a good move on your part. The oil wells aren’t active; you can pasture that land. Expand your business. Hire more people.” He sucked his lips against his teeth. “It’d be a good move.”
“Regardless, it’s not for sale.”
“It will be. Just give it time.”
My eyes narrowed. He didn’t know that by next month, Bristol wouldn’t have to sell in her lifetime if she didn’t want to, but I couldn’t use that to make a point. “It wouldn’t be if companies in town quit making her pay for her dad’s illness.”
“Illness?” Richard scoffed. “Danny made his choices, none of them good. Bristol’s done the same.”
“But she hasn’t—hasn’t been given choices, I mean.” I leaned forward, put my elbows on my knees, and folded my hands together. “If she were to walk in the door right now, would you treat her fairly?”
A faint flush spread across Richard’s cheeks. “I didn’t think you were the type to get drawn into that stuff.”
“What stuff, Richard?” I enunciated each word and settled my weight into my elbows. And I waited.
He tipped forward in his chair, keeping his arms across his gut like a seat belt. “She’s a pretty girl. Despite all the . . .” He fluttered his fingers up and down his body. “You’re young. She’s been forbidden for so long.”
I barked out a laugh. “I’m young? Dad had four kids under the age of ten by the time he was my age. He worked on the ranch and for the oil company. I’m almost thirty.” Too damn close to twenty-nine to think about. “I’ve had plenty of time to think about what I want. I’ve had plenty of time to be distracted by a ‘pretty girl’ and whatever else you’re insinuating.”
“Now, Dawson, I wasn’t saying—”
“I don’t care what you were saying. I don’t want Cartwright Cattle. I want Bristol to have her place, and I’m willing to help her keep it. Not screwing over my neighbors is good business.” I sat back. “Maybe you should reconsider what your idea of good business is.”
The red blotches crept up Richard’s neck. “I was merely suggesting your options for the inevitable. There’s help and there’s charity. You need to clarify what it is you’re doing for her. That way you’ll know if she’s using you.”
“Using me?” Bristol had spent her life pushing people away. How would she use me?
“Her grandparents thought yours should hand over all their assets. Her daddy thought the town owed him for what his parents drove into the ground. It’s what Cartwrights do.”
“It’s not what she does.” I gathered up the folder. We hadn’t reviewed my accounts like we usually did. After the conversation we’d had, I couldn’t talk business like nothing had happened. “I’ll talk to you later.”
I strode out of his office. He didn’t bother to stop me. He had to know he’d overstepped, had to realize I’d called him out.
On the drive home, I tried to forget my interaction with Richard. One detail that he hadn’t mentioned, because he didn’t know, was that I would be helping Bristol a whole lot more than anyone in town. But to do that, I’d have to hurt her. I’d done that enough when she’d been all by herself and I’d been surrounded by family and town support.
The money in my trust was life changing, but not necessarily for the better. My brothers and I hadn’t doubted that had Danny gotten some of the money, he’d have been like one of those lottery winners that takes the windfall and blows it, ending up more destitute than they were before. The only thing the money had done for them was ruin everything good in their life.
A what-if niggled at the back of my brain. What if he’d done everything we thought he would’ve, but what if he’d given Bristol some, free and clear? He’d known he had issues, yet he’d done what he could in his diseased state of mind, with his meager means, to protect his daughter.
And that daughter was so dedicated to him, she might’ve burned her good fortune to keep her dad going just a little longer.
In the end, it wasn’t for me to say. We’d never know. We’d never given the Cartwrights the opportunity.
I pulled into my drive, my dust cloud dwindling with my speed. I stopped in front of the house. Bristol was laughing wit
h Kiernan by the barn. A kitten squirmed in her arms. She set it down when she spotted me and waved. Kiernan lifted his chin.
I wiped all the disgust from my meeting off my face and hopped out. I was returning their grin by the time I reached them. “How’s it going?”
“Better,” Kiernan replied. His jeans were muddy and he had dirt smeared across his face. “Bristol and Bucket came to the rescue.”
Kiernan looked like a mud-dipped lollipop, but Bristol only had a little dust on her clothing and the comforting smell of horse sweat surrounding her. No wonder the kitten was so cuddly. I’d cuddle them after a ride, and the little critters associated horse sweat with petting and treats.
Kiernan squinted into the sun and wiped off his face, leaving a larger smudge of grit behind. “After last night’s rain, the little water hole in the pasture closest to the river was able to fill and not quite dry.”
I groaned. We’d talked about fencing that portion off, but most of the time it functioned as an extra water source. Other times, it was a death trap. “And after today’s heat, some cow thought it was a great way to cool off.”
He tipped his head toward Bristol. “She spotted the calf this morning, lowing away, up to his rump in muck and tipped sideways.” He held his hands out and looked down at himself. “So, roping him was out.”
So he’d waded in and hooked the rope around the calf and Bristol and Bucket had pulled it out. Not only had they helped rescue the calf, but Bucket was trained. Bristol had probably positioned him between the calf and its worried mama so Kiernan could work safely. User? Fucking Richard. Human safety aside, Bristol had saved me more than a few thousand dollars I would’ve lost if we hadn’t seen the calf in time. “Thanks to both of you.”
Bristol’s grin stretched wide, her emerald eyes glittering under the sun. “It was nice to bail out a King for once.” She lifted a shoulder. “Even if it was by proxy.”
“I owe you a lunch.” I’d come up with any excuse to spend more time with her.
“What about me?” Kiernan cried.
I swatted his shoulder. “You need a shower and a change of clothes.”
“Eh, Tucker’s almost back from his daughter’s softball game. I’ll head home and change when he returns.” He wandered into the barn, the kittens following him.
Bristol hooked her hands in her back pockets. “You don’t owe me lunch. I’m serious. It was nice to be able to help someone out.”
“You mean after you saved Emma? You’re going to need a cape soon.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’ll borrow yours. How was your meeting?”
“Fine.” She didn’t have to know what Richard had said. “I’m thinking of hiring a part-timer.”
Her eyes brightened. “This summer?”
I twined my fingers through hers and started toward the house. “Maybe.” I didn’t mention that I’d discussed it before with Tucker and Kiernan months ago. We’d hoped to have someone training by now, but Cartwright Cattle had soaked up the extra time needed to hire and orient a new employee. “They’d have time to train and learn where everything is before we’re deep in winter work.”
“Good plan. So what food are you going to reward me with?”
I tugged her close. “Did I say we were going to have food for lunch?”
Her laughter rang through the yard. A joyous sound that originated from deep inside of her. A sound that I wanted to spend the rest of my life coaxing out of her.
Chapter 13
Bristol
This wasn’t my life.
The group of older men I was starting to know by name were circled around the big table in the corner of Creek Coffee. They’d started with four guys but somehow managed to play pinochle no matter how many others showed.
Taya had taken her break when Emma and I had arrived. We’d grabbed the smaller table in the other corner while her summer college student worked the counter. She had tables set up on the sidewalk, but they seemed to know that I enjoyed soaking up the AC.
“Ugh,” Emma said. She rubbed her eyes. “Switching from nights to evening shifts sucks.”
Taya took a drink of her caramel something or other. “I’ll remember that the next time I wonder why I went into the coffee shop business. I don’t know what teenage Taya would say if someone had told her that she’d be getting up at four a.m. every day by choice.”
Teenage Bristol wouldn’t believe this either. A coffee date? I took another pull off my straw. Today’s Italian soda was coconut cream. I really didn’t care what the flavoring was as long as it paired with cream.
Friends. Fancy drink. And a break in the middle of the day. The only time I’d taken a break when Pop was alive was when he’d needed someone to watch over him in case he vomited while he was passed out. The work hadn’t diminished since his death. Without Pop around to help what little he could, the duties had multiplied.
The pressure from the magnitude of the work that needed to be done was still there. But the worry of what Pop would do to create an even longer to-do list wasn’t.
And this was important. A social network, however tentative. My friendship with these two didn’t feel superficial. Emma talked about how she’d love to get a dog, but with her schedule, she couldn’t let the poor thing sit alone in the house for twelve or more hours. And that she was sure she wouldn’t find love in this small town, or that she wouldn’t have the tolerance to put up with anyone if she did. Taya talked about how she’d left Wyoming right after graduation and thought she’d have to hitchhike to California so she could be homeless someplace warm. These two skipped the superficial bullshit and I liked them more for it.
“Everyone’s excited for the fair,” Emma said. “I work evenings that weekend, but I have the first night off that it’s in town.”
“Girls’ night?” Taya asked, sitting straighter. Her body vibrated with energy that I was coming to recognize wasn’t from the caffeine she peddled. She needed the coffee shop as an outlet.
“I think I’m supposed to go with Dawson and his family.”
“Oh.” Emma propped an arm on the back of her chair. She waggled her eyebrows. “Getting serious?”
“Maybe?” I’d dated Marshall twice as long, and it hadn’t felt as serious. There was no comparison between my time with Marshall versus Dawson. A five-minute chat with Dawson blew my entire time with Marshall out of the universe.
Emma gave me a lopsided smile. “I think it’s safe to say you two are the real deal.”
“I’m new to long-term relationships.” Ones that had potential to be long term.
“So is he,” Emma replied.
I lifted a shoulder. Not entirely, but I wasn’t going to spout his private life. “We managed to have a decent date last Friday. It ended decent, anyway.” I told them about The Tap.
“Ugh, I wish there were more places in town,” Emma said. “I like Miller’s but it’s a little sedate. But then I’d have to deal with the crowd at The Tap, and well, you know exactly why that’s a bad idea.”
“You two have had issues there too?”
Taya wrinkled her nose. “You mean with Danika’s single-minded attempt to screw over every woman Darren has flirted with?”
I ran my bottom lip through my teeth. “And here I thought I was special.”
Emma let out a wry laugh. “Where Creeper strays across the line of legal, Darren’s smarter. He’s a shit husband and he’s not ashamed of it. I don’t think Danika knows better.”
I twisted the cup of creamy white soda in my hands. “You know . . . I thought it was just me. Because of Pop and how I act.”
“I won’t compare my experience to yours, Bristol,” Taya said. “But adult bullies are the same as playground bullies. They can sniff out who’ll give them a satisfying reaction. It’s a game.”
“But Dawson—”
“Has a lot of power behind his name,” Emma finished. “And a lot of charm. Pair both together and he’s—”
“King’s Creek royalty.” Taya took a
sip of her coffee.
“I . . .” I debated what to say. I instinctively held in personal topics with Dawson, but this was about me. The other two waited for me to finish. “I grew up seeing how the Kings were treated compared to me and Pop. I didn’t hear about other experiences.”
Taya nodded knowingly. “And you thought all of us were treated the same as him.”
I dipped my head. I was on the far side of my twenties and this social-life thing was new to me. Deep down, I was still that hurt kid getting teased on the playground. Most days, I didn’t think there was another person in town more miserable than me. But when Emma rattled off what she experienced at work . . . Well, I’d never been so drunk I tried biting anyone.
“You and Dawson are polar opposites,” Emma said. “And being with him, it’s going to feel like a bigger gap than maybe it would for you and someone else.”
“He said he has to do business with people. Thus the charm.”
“I can see that,” Taya said. “It’s not always how much pride I’m willing to sacrifice to keep crappy customers. I also have to work with other businesses in town, and smiling a little extra reduces the friction.”
“That’s the part I get wrong.” I was usually the customer and my cash was too hard earned to put up with idiots. Dawson had proved me wrong, but I held on to lingering disappointment in the way he wouldn’t refuse Samuel.
Emma rested her hand on my forearm. “Bristol, don’t quit standing up for yourself. No one’s going to screw over a King. The rest of us, though . . .”
Taya lowered her voice. “Just the other day, the grocery store manager tried telling me that since she only stocks roasted cashews for my shop and my homemade turtle candies, that she’d have to raise the price. Premium shelf space and all that. I said, ‘Aw, I’m sorry, I don’t want to cost you money. I can just order them online,’ and for a whole lot cheaper, but I didn’t add that part. I know damn well that she carried them before I opened my doors. I went in there to figure out if I had to order them or not, so she was trying to play me. She was guaranteed sales from me. ‘Premium shelf space’ is pure bullshit.”
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