Lace & Lassos

by Cheyenne McCray

  She tried to take a step back but he gripped her shoulders tighter. “You’re making me crazy.”

  “I need an income and I need something to keep me busy.” She put her hands on his chest. “I’m not going to sit around and do nothing. I don’t have enough to buy a house and to live off of. I’m going to need a job if I’m going to do both.”

  He placed his forehead to hers and brought her close to him. “I have you back in my life,” he said quietly. “I’m not letting you go again.”

  “You don’t have a choice.” She spoke gently. “This is my life.”

  “I’m a part of your life now.” He raised his head. “You need to realize that.”

  She closed her eyes for a moment.

  Wayne brought her into his arms and held her. “I love you, Kait.”

  She opened her eyes and they widened.

  “Why do you look surprised?” He gave her a gentle smile. “Don’t you remember that night at Zane and Jessie’s wedding reception? I told you that I never stopped loving you, and I meant it. My love for you is stronger than ever.” He touched the tip of her nose with his finger. “I named the Diamond K after you.”

  Kaitlyn buried her face against Wayne’s chest. Breathed in the smell of his clean shirt and his masculine scent. She didn’t know what to say. Didn’t know what to think.

  She raised her head and looked at him. “Everything’s all jumbled inside of me.”

  “You don’t have to say anything.” He seemed to read her mind. His smile told her that he didn’t expect her to tell him that she loved him.

  “I have to sort things out.” She rested her cheek against his chest and he held her close. “I need to get my head on straight.”

  He gave a low laugh. “I like your pretty head just the way it is.”

  She couldn’t help a smile. “It’s what’s going on in this head that needs some work.”

  “We’ll work on it together,” he said in a teasing voice.

  “You’re hopeless,” she said.

  “No, I’m hopeful.” He rubbed her back with his palm. “Everything’s going to work out, Kait. Trust me.”

  She drew back and he kissed her. He made her feel like sunshine was breaking through the clouds.

  “I’ve got to saddle up Lily and get to work.” He tugged on her ponytail. “Don’t go anywhere, okay?”

  She bit her lower lip then smiled. “All right. One more day.”

  He grinned and kissed her again. His enthusiasm was contagious and her heart felt lighter being around him.

  What she needed was to get out of the house to clear her head. “I’d like to go for a ride on Jack.”

  She grabbed her western hat as he nodded. “I’ll help you saddle up.”

  After they left the house they headed to the barn that smelled of sweet oats, horses, and alfalfa hay. They brought the horses from their stalls to the tack room. It had been a while since she’d been around horses, so he helped her saddle Jack. The first time she’d been on a horse in eight years had been the day they went shooting. She smiled to herself as she thought of their picnic and “interrogation.”

  When he finished assisting her, Kaitlyn sat astride the horse and studied the hard, sexy lines of Wayne’s body as he worked with Lily. She had to smile at the thought. A tough cowboy with a horse named Lily.

  “Where are you headed?” he asked after he had mounted his horse.

  “Nowhere in particular.” She shrugged. “But I don’t plan to go too far.”

  “Do you have your cell phone?”

  She drew it out of the pocket of her jeans and showed it to him before stuffing it in again.

  “Have fun,” he said before turning his horse and heading for the corrals.

  Kaitlyn clicked her tongue and Jack started forward and down the driveway to the gate. She dismounted long enough to take him through a side gate beside the cattle guard then she had him start out at a walk along the dirt road leading away from the Diamond K.

  She turned over everything in her mind. With her business degree and her experience, she could probably find a good job in Sierra Vista. It wouldn’t be the same as owning the ranch and following her dream of bringing it back to where it had once been, but it would be something.

  She enjoyed the easy gate of the horse and the view. The grasslands extended for miles over rolling hills with dark pockets of native oaks and cottonwood trees. In the distance was a herd of Hereford cattle on Cameron lands.

  Part of the San Rafael Valley was protected, the land purchased as a Natural Area by Arizona State Parks to preserve native plant and animal life.

  Before she knew it she was almost to the gate of the Rocking B. She hadn’t even realized that she was riding toward it rather than going the opposite direction. The ranch seemed to call to her and she felt a wave of sadness. Harold’s truck was parked in front of the ranch house and it caused her stomach to twist.

  She shook her head. Unless a miracle happened, she was going to have to get used to the fact that the ranch didn’t belong to her any longer.

  The rumble of a vehicle’s tires traveling along the rough dirt road met her ears. She looked over her shoulder to see a silver car headed in her direction. She guided her horse closer to the shoulder to make sure they were as much out of the way as they could be.

  The car slowed as it passed her and then came to a stop and parked just outside the ranch’s gate. Dust floated on the breeze, leftover from the car’s wake.

  A woman who looked to be in her fifties stepped out of the car and carried a bouquet of flowers toward the gate. The woman set the flowers beside the cattle guard then started walking back to her car.

  Kaitlyn’s horse reached the car just as the woman returned to it. She looked up at Kaitlyn and then she recognized Harold’s stepmother, Ann Barrett.

  “Hi, Ann.” Kaitlyn smiled and pushed up the brim of her had as the woman looked at her.

  “Kaitlyn.” Ann returned the smile, but it seemed a little sad. “I just found out about your father. She gestured toward the gate. “I brought flowers to take to his grave but I couldn’t locate it, so I put them here.”

  “Thank you, Aunt Ann.” Kaitlyn dismounted from her horse, went to the woman and hugged her.

  “It’s good to see you, girl.” Ann looked her up and down. “I’d say it’s been a while.”

  “It has.” Kaitlyn rubbed Jack’s neck as she spoke to Ann. “How are you doing these days?”

  “I live in Bisbee now,” Ann said. “I don’t have anyone to keep me updated any longer so I didn’t find out about your father until yesterday when I ran into Aunt Grace in Sierra Vista.”

  Kaitlyn raised her brows. “You and Uncle John separated?”

  “About a year after you left, we got a divorce.” She shook her head. “He started suffering from dementia a couple of years later. I haven’t seen him since he was put into care.” Ann glanced in the direction of the Rocking B ranch house. “Are you taking over your daddy’s ranch?”

  Harold and Ann had never gotten along so it really wasn’t surprising that the woman didn’t know what had happened.

  Kaitlyn sighed. “Harold has the deed to the house and it shows that it belongs to Uncle John now that he’s the sole survivor. Harold has his father’s Power of Attorney and he’ll inherit the home. So you could say I just got booted out two weeks ago.”

  Ann frowned. “But your father and your uncle John divided the property up some years ago when your grandfather died.”

  “You remember?” Kaitlyn asked in surprise.

  “Of course.” Ann looked concerned. “Doesn’t it show your father’s name?”

  Excitement started to stir inside of Kaitlyn but she tried to hold it back to keep from getting too hopeful. “No, it doesn’t show my father’s name. Nothing was recorded,” she said. “And I’ve looked everywhere possible for any type of paperwork that would prove the property belonged to my father and now me.”

  Ann put her hands on her hips as she looked
at the ranch house. “Harold knows perfectly well this property went to his uncle George.”

  “I don’t suppose you know where I can find any documents that show that?” Kaitlyn asked.

  Her aunt pursed her lips before speaking. “I don’t want to get your hopes up but I have a box of documents at home that I never tossed. John wasn’t one for organization. I always kept the documents. He would even call me from time to time for something after the divorce and I would send him what he needed.”

  She continued, “Some of the documents I used in the in the divorce. If that property had been John’s, which it wasn’t, it would have been presented in the divorce and one-half of any land he owned would have been rightly mine.” She shook her head “But of course you are the rightful owner. It had to be a mistake in paperwork. I will look.”

  Kaitlyn’s entire body felt jittery. Ann was right that she shouldn’t get her hopes up, but she couldn’t help it.

  “I’m going home to Bisbee now,” Ann said. “I’ll start looking when I get back.”

  “Thank you.” Kaitlyn gave Ann a quick hug. “Can I help?”

  “Sure you want to make the drive?” Ann asked. “There are no guarantees that we’ll find it.”

  “I just need to get Jack back to the Diamond K.” Kaitlyn grasped the gelding’s head harness. “I don’t have anything else to do today.”

  “I’ll give you directions.” Ann started back toward her car. “I have a notepad and pen somewhere.”

  Ann took a few moments to write out the directions. “I need to stop at the store, so I’ll probably arrive close to when you do.”

  “See you there.”

  • • •

  “When you were a little girl you loved peanut butter cookies,” Ann said as she set a plate out on the dining room table in between the two glasses of lemonade she had set out a few moments before. “I picked some up at the store on my way home.”

  “I still love them.” Kaitlyn took one of the cookies and bit into it. After she swallowed her bite she smiled at Ann. “This brings back memories. Thank you.”

  “I’ll get the box.” The woman left the dining room and disappeared down a hallway.

  A few moments later she returned with a white file box and she set it on the table. Dust covered the box’s lid and she set it aside.

  “I’m afraid it’s not too organized.” Ann pulled out a thick file folder. “This might be quick or it might take a while, to go through everything.”

  Kaitlyn took the folder of papers from her aunt and set it in front of her on the table. She opened it up and started going through it page by page.

  A lot of the documents were similar to what had been in her father’s files. Tax records, bank records, receipts, pedigrees, and any number of kinds of paperwork.

  They were about halfway through the documents when Kaitlyn started in on a folder of property records. She flipped through the records and came to the deed to the ranch showing both her father’s and her uncle’s names. She turned the deed and looked at the following page.

  Across the top of the document it read QUIT CLAIM DEED.

  Kaitlyn’s heart seemed to stop beating. She held her breath as she went on to read it. John J. Barrett was listed as Grantor, George H. Barrett as Grantee. The location of the ranch was listed along with the legal description. The document stated that the Grantor quit claims to Grantee all right, title, and interest of Grantor in the property listed.

  She let out her breath, her heart now pounding hard. It was the original with her father’s and uncle’s signatures and the quit claim was notarized.

  “I found it.” Kaitlyn’s voice came out hoarse at first but then clearly as she turned to her aunt and repeated, “I found the original quit claim.”

  She stood up from the table, feeling suddenly hyper and bouncy. She wanted to shout with excitement and bounce up and down like a schoolgirl or celebrate in the end zone like a football player after making a touchdown.

  “That’s wonderful,” Ann said with a broad smile as she got to her feet. “I’m so pleased that you located it.”

  Kaitlyn flung her arms around her step aunt and hugged her. “Thank you, Ann,” she said against her neck. “This means everything to me.”

  Her thoughts turned to Wayne. Almost everything.

  “Now you just need to take it to Nogales to get it recorded,” Ann said, naming the county seat of Santa Cruz County. “It’s a little late in the day but you can make it there in the morning.”

  “First thing.” Kaitlyn grinned then added, “I’d prefer it if Harold doesn’t know until it’s recorded.”

  “We don’t want anything happening to that original.” Ann nodded. “And I hate to say it, but knowing my stepson, he might do something a little crazy once he finds out.”

  “What he’s going to be doing is move out of my home.” Kaitlyn gave a satisfied smile.

  She was getting her home back.

  • • •

  How ironic, Kaitlyn thought as she looked up at the front door to her house. Just weeks ago, Harold was beside the sheriff as she was first told she had a few days to move out of her home.

  Now Sheriff Dan Cooper was at her side as they waited for Harold to come out of the house.

  Wayne stood on the other side of her, lending his support. He took her hand and squeezed and she looked at him and smiled. Just having him there gave her strength.

  “What the hell do you want?” Harold scowled as he stepped out onto the porch, his boots thumping on the wood. His entire demeanor was antagonistic, as if he knew he was in for some kind of fight.

  The sheriff walked forward, clipboard in hand. “Mr. Barrett, it looks like there’s a change in plans.”

  “I don’t give a shit what you want.” Harold narrowed his gaze, looking from the sheriff to Kaitlyn to Wayne and back. “I want you all out of here.”

  “That’s the problem.” Sheriff Cooper held out a copy of the quitclaim. “You might want to take a look at this.”

  Harold marched down the steps and snatched the paper from the sheriff’s hand. He looked at the quitclaim and red began to creep up his neck to his face.

  “What a bunch of horse shit.” Harold’s voice showed his fury. “This is my house and I want you all the hell off my property.”

  “This home and property belongs to Ms. Barrett.” The sheriff remained calm. “You have five days to pack your things and move out.”

  Harold took the copy of the quitclaim in both hands and ripped it in half. He continued to shred it and let the breeze carry the pieces away. “That’s what I think of your damned piece of paper. Now get the fuck out of here.”

  “I’ll be back on Tuesday at five p.m.,” Sheriff Cooper said. “If you refuse to leave, I will arrest you. If that is to happen, you will not be allowed to go back in and collect any of your personal items without Ms. Barrett’s consent.”

  Harold glared at Kaitlyn, hate flaring in his eyes and a cold chill went through her.

  “Get the hell out of here,” he repeated and marched back up the porch steps. He put his hand on the doorknob and looked over his shoulder at Kaitlyn. “You’ll be sorry. You will hear from my attorney and you will hear from me again,” he said in a hate-filled voice before he opened the front door then slammed it behind him.

  She winced, hoping that Harold wasn’t going to tear the place apart before she had a chance to move back in. When they’d been kids he’d been prone to violence. She hoped like crazy that had changed.

  “Come on, honey.” Wayne put his arm around her shoulders. “Don’t worry about him. His bark is worse than his bite.”

  She nodded. “I hope you’re right.”

  “I’ll meet you here at five on Tuesday.” The sheriff touched the brim of his hat then gave Wayne a nod before getting into his cruiser.

  Wayne squeezed her hand one more time before they climbed into his truck. When she was sitting in the passenger seat, she looked at the house one more time. She thought she saw t
he curtain move at the window beside the front door but she wasn’t sure.

  She sank back in the seat. Just five more days and her home would be hers again.

  Chapter 15

  Kaitlyn tried snuggling up to Wayne but no matter what she did, she couldn’t get comfortable. She rolled onto her other side and closed her eyes but they popped right open again.

  Her mind couldn’t seem to get away from earlier today when Harold told her that she was going to regret this. Was he crazy enough to do something to her?

  She groaned to herself. She was wide-awake thinking about something that didn’t matter. An empty threat from a jerk who had wanted to take everything from her home to her grandmother’s things.

  Why was she letting Harold ruin her sleep? Maybe a cup of hot tea would do the trick. She eased out of bed, trying not to wake Wayne.

  “Where are you going?” he asked in a raspy voice.

  “I can’t sleep.” She stepped into her slippers and grabbed her robe from the back of a chair. “I think of cup of hot tea might help.”

  “Okay.” He sounded semi-conscious. “Hurry back, honey.”

  She smiled as she looked at him. Moonlight spilled through the window illuminating his big form. Shadows played on his muscular back and his hair was mussed. He looked so good that she wanted to climb back into bed and wake him up and make love with him.

  Maybe she would after she had that cup of tea.

  She padded down the stairs and to the kitchen. She loved this house. Small and quaint, Wayne had done an amazing job of restoring it.

  Hair slid into her eyes and she pushed it behind her ear as she went to the cabinet, reached in, and pulled out a box of herbal tea. She set it on the countertop, went to the stove, grabbed the teakettle then carried it to the sink that was below the kitchen window.

  She looked out the window toward her home and dropped the kettle. It landed in the stainless steel sink with a crash.

  Fire. An orange glow was in the distance, smoke billowing in the moonlight, flames licking the sky.

  A thousand thoughts raced through her mind in an instant. The orange glow came from approximately where her ranch house was or maybe the barn, she didn’t know. The grasslands could be on fire.