Dani strolled back into the kitchen clutching a piggy bank to her chest with a big grin on her face. She walked to Lexie's side and held the bank out to her. "I've got money, Mama. Here," she said, "you take it."
A rush of pride rose in Mitch's chest. What a daughter they had made. He watched tears build in Lexie's eyes and a smile tremble over her mouth. She handed the bank back to Dani. "Thank you, sweetheart," she said with her voice breaking, "But that's your money. We'll have enough after the auction. Remember I told you about it.”
Lexie pulled Dani close and sucked in a ragged breath. "Don't worry, baby," she said smoothing a hand over her hair. "Everything will be okay."
Mitch watched Lexie struggle to hold back her tears. He wished she would come to him for comfort. Why couldn't she see that what he offered was the best for everyone?
Lexie licked her lips and said, "Go ahead up stairs, pumpkin. I'll be up in the few minutes to help you with your bath."
After Dani left the kitchen, Lexie rose from the floor and leaned against the sink. She clutched the edges with her hands for a moment before she turned and looked at him. Misery shone in her eyes. "In case you were wondering, the bank served foreclosure papers today," she said in a low, shaky voice. "Now you can make the deal.” She exhaled. "But I'm okay with it.” She pressed her lips together briefly as her skin flushed. "Really. It's not such a big deal after all.” Her voice rose in a high, fragile tone as she struggled to be brave in the face of disaster. He wanted to hold her, soothe her, tell her he would make everything okay. But he couldn't.
"I was thinking of quitting anyway," she finished on a ragged whisper. She forced a smile and tucked some hair behind her ear. "If it's okay, I'd like to be alone for a while."
Before she could brush past him, Mitch rose from his chair and stepped in her path.
She stared at the floor for a few seconds then lifted her chin. "Please, Mitch...let me go."
He cupped her cheek. Her skin felt warm and soft beneath his fingers. Mitch felt her tremble at his touch and her anguish seared him. "No. You don't have to pretend to be brave with me, Lexie.”
She pressed her lips together, swallowed and stared at him. Her blue eyes glistened with tears but she blinked them back. She looked so defeated he couldn't stand to see that expression of sadness in her eyes a moment longer.
He pulled her close. She resisted at first, holding her body rigidly in his arms but he refused to let her go. After a while, her hands clutched at his shirt and her muscles tensed. "You never quit, Lexie. At anything.”
Mitch drew back so he could look in her eyes. They brimmed with despair. "I finally figured out why you want to keep this ranch...and it has nothing to do with Parker.” Her gaze shifted away, but he cupped her chin bringing her upturned face toward his. "It has to do with your old man lying up there on the hill."
Her lips parted and a shuddering breath sighed out as tears rolled down her cheeks. Her fingers fluttered to her face and brushed them away but more took their place. She dropped her chin. Mitch grasped her hands and held them between his own. "Look at me, Lexie."
Slowly, she lifted her head until her eyes met his. "You're still a little girl inside who desperately wants to please her father...even after he's dead."
She tried to scoot around him and walk away but Mitch grasped her upper arms to hold her in place. Lexie turned her face away. He shook her gently. Her chin came up and she speared him with raw hurt glittering in her eyes. "Don't you see? It doesn't matter what he thinks. Mason's gone, Lexie," he said with deliberate harshness in his voice. "But the old man might as well still be living in this house. You've never let him go or the influence he had over your life. It's time you did...and the ranch along with him."
She jerked from his arms. "Don’t you understand? I can't," she rasped in an emotionally laden voice.
She walked quickly from the kitchen leaving Mitch alone. He understood all too well. She would fight up until the bitter end. Now was his chance. So what was stopping him? Why didn't he just go to the phone, call the bank and finish it?
Because he was too afraid, scared down to his soul that he would lose Lexie and Dani and the life they had begun to build together. He went out into the hall to get his coat. There was only one thing to do. Make a new deal.
Chapter Eleven
Lexie lifted an old photograph of her and Parker from the box of pictures she'd pulled from the top shelf in her closet. She smiled remembering when it had been taken. Parker smiled back at her from the photo, his hair mussed by the breeze, his eyes glinted with the familiar spark of mischief.
Her heart ached as she looked at his face. Why did he have to die? He was such a good person and so full of life. She glanced about the room at the familiar pieces of furniture, the faded wallpaper she hadn't been able to replace.
She'd given herself some time to grow used to the idea of losing the ranch. Lexie looked back at the picture. How would she ever become accustomed to living in a strange house on a new patch of land without memories like the one she held in her hand surrounding her?
Mitch's words from a few weeks before resonated with truth. Could he be right? Why couldn't she just accept defeat and move on? One thing for sure, now she had no choice.
Her thirty days were almost up. Mitch and Dani had spent a great deal of time together over the last month and she had continued training horses and biding time. Mitch had taken them both to Chimney Rock's Fall Carnival.
They'd screamed in excitement and fear together as they'd braved the wild roller coaster, eaten tons of junk food and through it all Lexie had discovered once again how to have fun. She couldn't help smiling in spite of all that had happened. It had been nice to have someone to lean on and forget her troubles with at least for a while. But the most frightening thing of all was that she'd grown even closer to Mitch during that time and fallen even more in love with him. He'd been charming, caring and funny. He'd helped her on the ranch when she'd needed it despite the fact that she knew he still wanted the land. As if by tacit agreement, they hadn't talked that much about it. They talked more about old times and Dani of course.
She placed the photo in the box, put the lid back on and thought about all the memories the box contained. At least until the deadline the house, the land and everything in it were still hers. She would think of them that way until the last hour of the last minute of the last day when she and Dani would climb in the truck and drive over the cattle guard for the final time.
She'd taken a kind of inventory of the house. She'd walked around the house, making lists, jotting down notes trying to decide what to keep and what to sell. After a few days, Lexie had come to the decision that most everything they had would need to be sold. Their next house would be smaller for sure and they wouldn't need half of this stuff.
She and Dani could buy new as money allowed. How would she keep Dani from the hurt she was going to feel? She knew that she couldn't. Her little girl would be hurt and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
Late morning sun streamed through the den windows. She listened to the wind buffet the house and moan about the eaves in a gentle murmur. It was a comforting sound, a sound that spelled...home. Unexpected tears sprang to her eyes and she blinked them back.
Today was an ordinary Friday, she thought, and yet in a few hours the ranch, the house and all of the ranch's equipment would be put on the auction block. Outside a blanket of blue draped the sky. She'd taken a meatloaf out of the freezer and set it on the counter to thaw. She would make mashed potatoes to go with it--Dani's favorite. They would both need some comfort food after today.
The bank had contacted an auction house over in Alamosa and arranged for them to conduct the sale. She listened to the voices of the men who'd arrived earlier to move the furniture outside. Having the furniture outside would make it easier for the buyers to examine it and place their bids. At least she wouldn't have people from all over the county tromping through the house.
Lexie taped a red
tag on her father’s large, maple desk in the study. She tied one around an antique clock that had belonged to her mother. Lexie sighed and squared her shoulders against the tide of emotions that assailed her. She had to be strong. For Dani's sake and for hers or they would never make it through this. They needed to move forward with confidence and hope for the new life they wanted to build.
Think of the positive, she thought. It was a good thing that she no longer had loan payments hanging over her head. Wasn't it? Who was she kidding? She would take back those payments in a second if she could have the ranch back. She sighed and tried to feel relief.
"Hold everything, boys.”
Harlen Fielding's voice echoed down the main hall from the front of the house. Toby started barking, jumped from his perch on the sofa and dashed out of the room.
"Stop moving furniture. Bring everything back in. Auction's been called off," Harlen continued.
Harlen's statement was followed by a series of groans from the movers. Lexie stopped in her tracks. Her heart picked up rhythm and her pulse leaped in disbelief. Could it be true? Relief that she'd been trying to find over not worrying anymore about her loan flooded through her. Lexie clasped her hands together and held them beneath her chin. She closed her eyes and smiled. Thank you, Lord.
Lexie opened her eyes and blinked back tears of joy. Harlen must have been able to convince the board to give her an extension. She tossed the stack of tags onto her father's desk and walked briskly down the hall to the foyer. Toby danced at Harlen's feet begging for some attention. Harlen leaned over, patted him on the head then straightened. A grin split his face.
With a spring in her step, Lexie hurried over to him and laid her hand on his arm. "Harlen, thank you for talking to the board. I'm so grateful.” She heard the sound of her voice as emotion thickened her words but she didn't care. "How did you convince them to give me an extension? You were so adamant the other day that they wouldn't change their minds."
Harlen shook his head. "No, Lexie, I didn't talk to the board.” He strolled over to a table in the foyer and picked up a large, manila envelope. He handed it to her and said, "Congratulations. I'm so happy for you, Lexie, and relieved that we don't have to foreclose after all. Mitch and the Brookfield Foundation satisfied the loan."
His words struck her like a hot needle through the heart. "What?" she said barely managing to croak out the word.
One of the movers, dressed in dusty overalls shuffled over. He slid a worn cap from his head and slapped it against his thigh. "Are we still going to get paid, Mr. Fielding? We were promised a day's wages."
Harlen patted his shoulder. "Your wages will be covered," he assured him. The man nodded and smiled before he walked outside followed by the other men.
Mitch bought the ranch.
Lexie couldn't believe it. Hurt flooded through her in a jagged, hot stream. How could he?
She gripped Harlen's arm as shock rolled through her. "When did this happen?”
Harlen smiled at her obviously misinterpreting her words for happiness rather than shock and disbelief. "The majority of the land is gone but you get to keep the house plus fifty acres. So there's good news all around," he said with excitement. He gestured toward the front door. "Don't worry about the furniture. The men will move everything back inside.”
He reached out and pumped her hand. "Again I'm so happy for you, Lexie.” He tipped his hat. "Call on Mavis sometime. She'd love to see you. And give Dani a hug for me.” With those last words, he strolled through the door into the bright, fall sunshine.
Lexie stood in the hallway stunned down to her bones. Everything seemed enhanced somehow by the shocking news. Sounds like the ticking of a clock and the soft click of Toby's claws on the wood floor grew louder, more pronounced. She felt every nuance of the wood beneath her feet. She heard the intense thumping of the pulse in her ears, the voices of the men outside and the distant call of a bird. He had congratulated her as if she'd just been told she'd won the lottery.
The ranch that she and Dani called home, the land she loved with every fiber in her body was gone and with it any chance of healing the past between her and her father. "This can't be true," she said to herself. "It can't be."
Anger rolled through the shock.
Mitch bought the land behind my back.
Lexie sucked in a breath to fight the lump of emotion swelling in her throat and clenched her hands into fists. Her breath shuddered out in a rough spasm of sound. "That dirty, low down, scheming jerk," she murmured in a harsh whisper. "He's damn well got some explaining to do.” Lexie pitched the envelope onto the side table and stomped out of the house.
Chapter Twelve
By the time Lexie reached Judson's house she had managed by sheer will and determination to beat back her tears and let her anger steam through. The garage door stood open and Mitch's head popped up when she swung the car into the driveway. With a snap of her wrist, Lexie cut the engine and slammed out of the truck. She strode to the edge of the garage. Mitch stood up and smiled at her. Her heart turned over despite the pain and fury she felt.
He wore an old, grey sweat shirt with the University of Colorado logo on it and jeans that were worn white at the knees. Grease covered his hands and tools lay scattered on the cement floor of the garage where he'd been repairing his dad's lawn mower. He pulled off his baseball cap, raked a hand through his hair. "Hi, what are you doing here? Not that I mind," he said with a small shrug of one shoulder.
Lexie smiled back but she didn't put any warmth behind it. His smile faded. "What's wrong?
Every muscle in her body grew taut. She clenched her hands into fists at her sides. "How can you even ask? You betrayed me. How could you? Even when you helped build the new barn and helped me save those cows in the river...you still planned to take the ranch. Didn't you?” Her voice grew higher in pitch with each word.
Mitch slapped his hat down onto the floor of the garage. "Damn it, Harlen said he would wait until this afternoon.”
Lexie waved a hand through the air then let her arm drop to her side. "I'm standing there putting tags on furniture when Harlen bursts in all smiles and grins congratulating me. He says, 'Oh yeah, Mitch and the Brookfield Foundation have taken care of everything.” She flicked her gaze to his. "You took care of it all right."
"Lexie, you need to understand that what I did was for you, for Dani and for Parker."
She made a sound of disgust. "Spare me your excuses. You went behind my back!"
Mitch held his hands out to the side. "I know that and I'm sorry.” He paced a few steps then turned toward her again. "But you have the house and fifty acres. You can still train horses and live on the land that your love.” He held out a hand with his palm upward. "Think about it, Lex. You and Dani won't have to move," he said as if that resolved everything. "Your debts have been paid. You can start fresh.” He shook his head and laughed without mirth. "I honestly don't understand why you aren't happy about this?"
Disbelief ripped through her. She lay a hand in the middle of her chest and felt the mad thumping of her own heart. "Happy! You must be joking! Mitch, I've lost the majority of the land. It's gone. Forever."
He started toward her and she held up a hand. "Don't, it's over between us.” Even as she said the words, her heart ripped in two. "Whatever we had...whatever we started together...is over.” A cold expression of hurt and anger settled on his handsome face. So finally the tables had turned. She'd hurt him, she'd really hurt him. Then why didn't she feel some sense of satisfaction, some dim feeling that she'd been compensated however remotely for the loss of her land?
It took every ounce of strength she had to keep her voice steady. She flicked her gaze away from Mitch's face and focused on a wrench lying on the garage floor to keep from looking at him. "You can of course see Dani whenever you'd like. I would never try to keep you from your daughter.” She had to get out of there before she scattered into a thousand pieces. Lexie turned and started walking away then stopped and looked at
him over her shoulder. Hurt hammered through her. "Goodbye, Mitch.”
# # #
Mitch stormed inside the house with the intention of washing the grease from his hands and found his father putting some sandwiches together in the kitchen. When he slapped the swinging door with his hand leaving a black smudge his father turned and raised a brow then went back to making sandwiches. Mitch noticed the window by the breakfast table was open an inch or two which meant that his father had heard some if not all of his conversation with Lexie.
Oh to hell with it. He stomped through the kitchen to the laundry room and scrubbed his hands. When he came back in the kitchen his father sat at the table munching his sandwich. His father shoved one of the chairs out with his foot and slid a plate loaded with a sandwich and potato salad toward Mitch. "Take a load off. After the hide Lexie just stripped off you I suspect you need it.”
His father poured him a glass of iced tea from a pitcher sitting on the table. Mitch slumped into the chair, picked up the glass and sucked down a long swig. He huffed out a breath when he finished and set the glass back on the table with a snap.
"You're my son, Mitch and I'd give my life for you if I had to.”
He paused for a moment and the warmth of his words sunk into Mitch and gentled him somewhat.
"But right now I'm ashamed of you."
Mitch's head popped up at the shock of his father's words. "Ashamed? What the hell for?"
"For betraying Lexie."
Mitch slapped a hand down on top of the table. "Christ, I didn't betray her.” He rose abruptly from the table, stalked across the room then spun on his heels. "Harlen jumped the gun in telling her about the loan being paid off. Besides, I did the right thing. She still has the house, the horses and fifty acres to do with what she wants."
The Secret Truth at Dare Ranch Page 13
