Lay Down the Law

by Carsen Taite

  “I like that you’re so unguarded. I spend a lot of time around people who filter their every word. Now, how about joining me for a piece of cake before I have to get back to business?”

  Lily hesitated, but Courtney was nowhere to be seen and she couldn’t exactly leave without her. Besides, she didn’t want to leave. “Okay, but we better eat it in the dining room. I won’t be responsible if we wind up alone, fueled by chocolate. Lead the way.”

  A few minutes later, they were seated around a large kitchen table, digging into the cake. Peyton hadn’t mentioned the rest of her family, and Lily hadn’t seen signs that anyone else was home. “How’s your dad?”

  “He’s had a bit of a setback. His doctor was here earlier and gave him a sedative. He’s upstairs, resting. ”

  “That’s too bad.” Lily wondered if the setback had to do with whatever was happening at the ranch. “Everyone else out?”

  “Mom’s keeping an eye on Dad, and I imagine Zach is showing off for Courtney out back. Neil hasn’t been home all weekend.”

  Peyton’s eyes stormed with anger when she mentioned Neil’s name, and Lily was certain he was the source of trouble. She placed her hand gently on Peyton’s arm. “Is there anything I can do?”

  Peyton’s shoulders relaxed. “You mean besides delivering the best cake I’ve ever had?” Her smile slipped into a grimace. “No, this is something I have to deal with on my own. Besides…”

  Lily watched as Peyton’s gaze grew cloudy again. “Besides, what?”

  Peyton shook her head. “Nothing.” She looked at her watch. “Can you stay for a bit? Maybe walk off this cake with me?”

  “There’s nothing I’d rather do.”

  “Great. I’ll just leave a note in case Mom needs me or Courtney gets tired of Zach.”

  Peyton scrawled a note and left it on the kitchen table, and then took her hand and led her out of the house.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Well, I already showed you one of my favorite places on the ranch. Would you like to see another?” Peyton cast a pointed look at her shoes. “It’s a short hike.”

  Lily laughed. “Just because I like pretty shoes doesn’t mean I hate my feet. I promise these are comfortable. Lead the way.”

  Peyton never once let go of her hand as they walked along the old bridle trail, past the stables and the hayfields. Lily enjoyed the connection. It was simple, yet incredibly intimate. After about twenty minutes, they emerged from dense wood into a small clearing and Lily gasped. “What a beautiful house.”

  “You think so? She needs a lot of work.”

  Lily’s eyes swept the two-story Craftsman home. It had once been painted the same sage green as the big house they’d just left, but nature and time had left it looking weathered and gray. The railing sagged, and Lily could see several rotted boards in the floor of the porch. The stone chimney was crumbling, and twigs poking from the top meant a family of birds had probably taken up residence. In spite of its lack of polish, Lily could see the potential. She turned to Peyton. “I love it.”

  Peyton tugged her hand. “Come on.”

  Lily followed Peyton into the house and found the real surprise. As crumbling and weathered as the outside looked, the inside was clean and well kept.

  “My great-grandmother had this built for her daughter, my grandmother, and she lived here with her family, including my mother, for years. When my great-grandmother died, my grandmother moved into the big house. No one’s lived in this house since, but Fernanda takes care of the inside. Unfortunately, no one has kept up with the outside of the house.”

  “Someone should restore it. It would be a shame to let all of this go to waste.” Lily stood with Peyton in the living room and admired the hand-scraped wood floors and high-pitched ceiling.

  “There was a time I thought I might live here. Raise a family in this house.”

  Peyton’s voice had dropped low, and Lily stepped closer and looked into her eyes. She saw mostly wistfulness, but it was laced with a trace of hope. She wanted to spark that hope. “Is there any reason you can’t?”

  Peyton started to shake her head, but stopped and met Lily’s gaze. “There are so many things pulling at me lately that I suppose I’ve shoved thoughts like that down deep.” She took both of Lily’s hands in her own and held them to her chest. “But right now, in this moment, I feel like I could do anything.”

  The spell of Peyton’s confidence was strong, and Lily was completely entranced. She leaned in close so their lips were almost touching and whispered, “What would you do first?”

  Peyton answered with a kiss, a slow, burning, glorious kiss that spread heat through Lily’s body like wildfire through a drought-ravaged forest. She slipped her hands free and pulled Peyton closer. She ran her hands down Peyton’s strong back and murmured against her lips, “You feel wonderful.”

  Peyton leaned back and smiled. “Yes, I do. How could I feel anything else? You, Ms. Gantry, are an amazing kisser.”

  Lily raised her fingers and brushed them against Peyton’s lips. “So strong, yet so soft.” She toyed with the buttons on Peyton’s shirt. “Makes me wonder about the rest of you.” She slipped loose one of the buttons and then looked up to meet Peyton’s eyes, drawing permission to keep going from her gentle gaze. Another button and then another. She slipped her hand inside and cupped Peyton’s firm breast, pulling her into another kiss as Peyton arched against her stroking fingers.

  “Talk about amazing,” Peyton gasped. “Makes me wish this place was furnished. I’m not sure how long I can stay on my feet.”

  Lily looked around, but other than the hard floor, there weren’t any possibilities to get Peyton on her back. “I guess we’ll just have to see how long you can hold out.” She reached for Peyton again, but Peyton beat her to it, catching her lips with her own and running her hand up her sweater and along the edge of her bra. It was Lily’s turn to succumb to arousal, and she pressed into Peyton’s skillful touch, craving more.

  “Peyton? Are you in there?”

  Peyton gave her a quick kiss, pushed her sweater back into place, and stepped toward the sound of the voice. “Yes, Mom. I’ll be right there.”

  She grinned at Lily and Lily couldn’t help but grin back, feeling like a teenager caught in the act. Peyton started to walk toward the front door, but Lily pulled her back and fastened the buttons on her shirt. One more quick kiss and then they both walked out to greet her mother who was seated on a four-wheeler in front of the house.

  “Hello, Lily,” Helen said. “It’s good to see you again.”

  “Good to see you too, Mrs. Davis.”

  “Please, call me Helen.” Her eyes swept the both of them, and her lips turned into a slight grin. “Sorry to bother you two, but, Peyton, Roscoe called and he just passed the front gate.”

  “Okay, I’ll be right there.”

  “Great, see you at the house.”

  Helen rode away with a wave and Peyton waited until she was out of sight before speaking. “Sorry about that?”

  “The interruption or what came before?” Lily asked in a teasing tone.

  “I’m not sorry about anything that came before.” Peyton’s expression turned serious. “I want to spend a lot more time with you. Uninterrupted time, but there is something I need to tell you. It’s important.”

  Lily stared into Peyton’s eyes. She carried so much weight, so many worries. She wanted to take all that away, be the one thing that wasn’t a source of stress. “Not now. Go do whatever you have to do and we’ll talk later. Just promise it will be soon.”

  “Tomorrow night. We’ll have a real date. Away from any family, away from work. Just us.”

  “On one condition.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Will there be more kissing?”

  “Like this?” Peyton bent down and captured her lips with her own. Lily groaned as the heat of her touch spread through her belly and between her legs. She ran her tongue along Peyton’s lips and sa
vored the taste of her. She could hardly wait until tomorrow for more.

  *

  Within moments after Lily and Courtney left, Roscoe pulled up in his older model Cadillac Seville. Peyton, who’d stayed on the porch after bidding Lily good-bye, ushered Roscoe into the house, showed him to the kitchen and the chocolate cake, and then went looking for Zach and her mother. When she returned with her family in tow, she took a moment to observe the old family friend. His face was wrinkled and his eyes were baggy and he looked a good deal older than the last time she’d seen him, which had been a number of years ago. Roscoe had handled the family’s legal business for as long as she could remember, and he’d stood as her sponsor when she took the state bar oath. Until now, everything he’d done for them had been about keeping their family close. What they were asking him to do today threatened to tear it apart.

  “Peyton. It’s been a long time. It’s good to see you, but I’m sorry about the circumstances.”

  “It’s good to see you too. Can’t be helped I guess, but we appreciate you making time for us on a Sunday.” Peyton nodded to her mother to start the conversation.

  “Roscoe, as I explained on the phone, things with Neil have gotten out of hand. He signed a contract with one of Cyrus Gantry’s companies to explore drilling at the ranch without getting permission from anyone else in the family. We gave him a week to get out of it, but he flat out refused. On Friday, he showed up with a team ready to break ground, but Peyton ran them off. On top of all that, it looks like he either forged Jim’s signature or he pressed Jim to sign the drilling agreement.

  “Peyton has Jim’s power of attorney and she’s ready to use it. What do we need to do next?”

  Peyton admired her mother’s get to the point approach. No attorney would ever make a ton of money billing hours on work for her because she wouldn’t stand for waiting around for them to figure out what they planned to do. Roscoe was used to her style, and Peyton couldn’t wait to hear what he had planned.

  “Well, I drew up that power of attorney, so I know it’s solid. It doesn’t require a declaration that Jim’s not able to fulfill his duties at the ranch for Peyton to exercise control, but it wouldn’t hurt to have such a declaration if Neil decides to challenge it, especially if he’s pressuring Jim into signing documents that he might not understand.”

  “I’ve always included Jim like a partner, but the ranch is in my name,” her mother said. “Does it even matter that we have the power of attorney?”

  Roscoe rested his chin in his hand and appeared to ponder the question. “It’s a little more complicated than that. There’s the ranch land itself and then there’s the family business. Jim’s a legal partner in the business and, the way we have it set up, the business leases the land from the ranch. Problem is Neil’s a part owner of the business too.”

  “But he’s not enough of an owner to make decisions on his own,” Peyton said. “Not important ones anyway.”

  “Not on his own, but with his father’s shares and Zach’s, they can outvote you both, and the lease gives extensive rights as to the use of the land,” Roscoe said. “Zach, you haven’t said much. Where do you stand in all of this?”

  All eyes turned to Zach and he squirmed a bit under the scrutiny. “I haven’t thought much about it. I mean Neil’s always been fair to me. I know he’s spent quite a bit of time with Dad, and I do think that was Dad’s signature on the papers those oil men had on Friday.”

  “Do you really think Dad would have given permission for drilling without getting Mom’s okay?” Peyton asked. She and Zach had spoken several times about the issue since Friday, and she’d grown increasingly frustrated that his perception of Neil seemed so skewed.

  “I guess not.”

  He looked like he’d rather be talking about anything else. Peyton understood. He’d always hated conflict, but it was time to step up and she said so.

  “I guess if it comes to a vote,” he said, “you can count on me.”

  Peyton nodded and turned back to Roscoe. “Okay, what’s the next step? I told Neil if he didn’t get us out of the contract, we’ll get a court order.”

  “We can do that, but it’ll be difficult to walk it back once we file a petition with the court. Are you all prepared for a permanent rift with Neil?”

  How did anyone really prepare for such a thing? Peyton pondered the question while her mind traced back through the events since she’d returned home. Nothing about her relationship with Neil had changed since she’d left for D.C. She hated the idea of losing any chance of a renewed connection with him, but his choices were what had gotten them to this point. You don’t pick your family.

  The thought brought Lily to mind. Her family had picked her and now she was stuck with a father that might be indicted and sent to prison. If she was prepared to saddle Lily with that kind of fate, she better be able to accept that her own family had its bad apples and she would have to deal with the fallout.

  She knew what she had to do about Neil and she also knew she couldn’t wait any longer to be honest with Lily about her father. She would talk to Lily tomorrow.

  “File whatever you need to, Roscoe. We’ll be ready for whatever comes next.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Lily’s nostrils flared at the scent of pancakes, but she struggled to stay in the dream. She was standing on the edge of a cliff, and Peyton, astride Ranger, was riding toward her. She waved her arms in warning, willing her to stop before they got too close to the edge, but Peyton only smiled and rode faster. Just as she thought they would plunge to their deaths, Ranger came to a stop at her side and Peyton bent down and pulled her up into the saddle. She nestled back against Peyton, enjoying the strong warmth of her embrace. And then the pancake assault happened.

  She sat up in bed, stretching to meet the new day, and resolved she would have to find her own place soon. Someplace where people didn’t make pancakes every day that they expected her to eat as if she were still a kid with a crazy good metabolism. She’d put off calling the realtor that Courtney had recommended, but only because she wanted to have her future a little more set up before she made a commitment to a monthly mortgage. And she wasn’t sure where she wanted to live. In town or closer to the Circle Six? Was it silly to think about finding a place closer to Peyton? She slipped into the memory of their last kiss and decided no, it wasn’t silly at all. Both of them had things they needed to sort through, but it was obvious they were very attracted to each other, and any distractions were only bumps in the road—nothing that would keep them apart.

  Resolving to eat only grapefruit for breakfast, Lily climbed out of bed and headed to the shower. Before she could get undressed, her cell phone rang and the display showed the number for Morgan’s law firm. She pressed the button to accept the call and barely got out a hello before the voice on the other end started talking.

  “Lily, it’s Erica Osten. I’ve completed my research and I’m confident they can’t prevent you from accessing your trust fund if you don’t sign the waiver.”

  She stared at the phone, willing her brain to engage. Erica. The attorney she’d hired to look into whether she would really lose access to her trust fund if she didn’t sign the waiver that stated she wouldn’t go looking for her mother’s family. The news kicked up a storm in her head, and she tried to stymie the effect by slowing Erica down. “Good morning, Erica.”

  “Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to launch right in. I just thought you’d be glad to hear the news. You don’t sound glad.”

  “What you’re hearing is the sound of someone who’s not quite awake yet. You might want to start with a gentler lead in when you’re calling to deliver big news.”

  “Good idea.” Then without so much as a breath, she asked, “So, how do you want to handle this? I can send a letter to Mr. Rawlins this morning letting him know you have consulted with me and I have advised you not to sign the waiver. If they are going to fight you on it, my letter will be the opening bell.”

 
The call to action made her head hurt. “How about we slow things down a little. Remember the I just woke up part? I need a little time to think things over.” She was awake enough to deal with decision-making, but she wanted to talk to Skye and see if she’d made any more progress in her investigation before she made any decisions that would stir things up with her family. “I’ll give you a call later today and let you know what I’ve decided.”

  She hung up the phone and considered her next move. No way did she want Erica to send a letter to her father’s attorney before she had a chance to give her father a heads up. Best-case scenario, she would tell him why the trust waiver Nester wanted her to sign wouldn’t hold up in court and therefore there was no reason for her to sign. She picked up her phone and dialed her father’s office. He wasn’t in, but she spoke with his secretary and scheduled some time on his calendar for later in the morning. That settled, she dialed Skye’s number, but had to leave a message.

  Frustrated at her attempts to reach anyone, she closed her eyes for a moment and attempted to reconnect with her dream.

  *

  The next morning, Peyton paced the kitchen until her mother barked at her to sit down. She sat reluctantly and said, “Roscoe’s going to call any minute, and I wanted to give Neil one last chance to back down.”

  “He’s not going to back down. You haven’t been around to see it, but his stubborn streak has gone up tenfold since you’ve been away. If you’re trying to give him one last chance for Zach’s sake, don’t you worry. He’ll be fine. Now, eat your breakfast and relax.”

  Peyton picked at her bacon and eggs, but she had no intention of relaxing until things were settled with Circle Six. Neil hadn’t been home since Friday, and she’d even ridden out to the old bunkhouse at the rear of the property to see if he’d decided to stay out there. No one had a clue where he was, and for some reason that had her on edge.

  At her mother’s urging, she ate some of Fernanda’s cooking and then resumed pacing, but this time on the back porch. She’d called the office to check in with Bianca, but had been told she was in court. She considered calling Dale, but doubted she’d have much to report. Bianca had assured her she’d keep Dale in the loop, but she was probably at home recovering.