The Cowboy Imports a Bride(The Cowboys Of Chance Creek #3)

by Cora Seton

  "Can I join you?"

  The man brightened. "Sure thing. What're you drinking?" He lifted a hand and signaled the waitress.

  "Hi Rob," Trisha Bentley said, making her way over from the bar. "What'll you have?"

  "Budweiser is fine," Rob said.

  "Join me in a whiskey?" Carl offered.

  "Not tonight – another time."

  "Suit yourself. I'll have another one, honey."

  "Coming right up," Trisha said and walked away.

  "I haven't seen you here before," Carl said after a moment of awkward silence.

  "Nah, I'm usually over at the Boot."

  "I've decided to keep my distance from that establishment," Carl said. "I don't want Lacey to think I was out looking for women while she was away."

  "Sounds wise," Rob said and draped an arm over the back of his chair. "I'm looking for work," he said, coming straight to the point. "Need some cash, so I'm trying to scare up some extra jobs I can do around my work for Ethan."

  "You're working for Ethan? Figured you'd be helping your Dad on the Double-Bar-K," Carl said, playing with his glass.

  "Not anymore. We've had a parting of ways. You know of anyone looking for extra helping hands?"

  "Well, now that you mention it, I've got a job I could use a hand with myself. I figure Lacey's going to need something to do when she gets back. Something to keep her busy. I don't imagine she'll want to get a job…"

  Not likely, Rob agreed.

  "So I figure I'll set up a garden for her. A nice big one. Flowers. Vegetables. You know what I mean."

  Rob couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. A garden? Carl thought Lacey was going to garden?

  "Where you plan to put it?"

  "Close to the house is best, I think. I figure an acre ought to do it."

  Rob nearly spit out the mouthful of beer he'd just sipped. "An acre?" Did Carl have any idea how much work an acre garden would be to maintain? He'd be lucky if Lacey even deigned to walk in it. He opened his mouth to tell this to Carl, then shut it again. The man probably wanted the land cleared and tilled, flower and vegetable garden beds built, and then seeing how it was already fall, he'd probably want bulbs planted for next year and some annuals to pretty it up for now.

  That was a lot of work.

  "I'll do it," Rob said.

  "Well, now, let's negotiate a price first," Carl said. "There's a deadline, too. October first."

  Rob calculated fast. Carl was a wealthy man, but he probably didn't get that way by being a fool. How much could he get away with charging? Hell, only one way to find out.

  "That's a rush job. I'll need twenty thousand dollars – that's only the labor, not the cost of supplies," he said and held his breath. Any other rancher would laugh his ass right out of the bar. Then probably hunt him down later and use him for target practice, for good measure.

  "Well, that seems fair," Carl said.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  It was dark out when Morgan gave up on waiting for Rob to return and went to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water before heading to bed. The kittens were curled up in a furry lump in one corner of the couch. Autumn and Ethan had turned in for the night long ago. The back door was open, letting a breeze waft into the kitchen. As she went to close it for the night, she heard footsteps crunch on the gravel outside, and a man-sized shadow appeared on the other side of the screen door. Morgan stifled a scream.

  "Didn't mean to startle you," the man said. He looked familiar, but she couldn't place him at first. "You're Morgan, right?" The porch light behind him shadowed his face, and she fought the urge to turn and run.

  "Yes, and you're…"

  "Ned. Rob's brother."

  She relaxed a little. "Is he okay?"

  "Far as I know. I haven't seen him today."

  She wondered what Ned could want at this time of night. "He's out right now."

  "That's okay. I didn't come to see him. I came to see you. Why don't you come on out and have a seat." He indicated the swing.

  She had a bad feeling about this, although she couldn't say why, exactly. Ned hadn't been along for the ride when Rob, Jake, Jamie and Ethan came to her rescue the night she and Claire went after Claire's stolen things, but she had no reason to think he wasn't as nice as the other Matheson boys. This situation, though, didn't feel nice and she'd learned to trust her instincts.

  "I don't think I want to," she said, not moving.

  "Fine. Have it your way – we'll do this standing up," Ned said, folding his arms across his chest. Claire glanced at the old-fashioned metal hook and eyelet that were the only way to lock the screen door, and wished they weren't hanging uselessly undone, but she had a feeling such a flimsy mechanism wouldn't stop this man if he was really determined to get inside, anyway. Ned leaned forward. "You're destroying my family, you know that?"

  "In what way?"

  "Rob's supposed to work our ranch with the rest of us. When Dad passes on, the four of us are supposed to work together to keep it all going. It's been the plan all along, until you came around and ruined it."

  "You'll need to talk to Rob about that," she said, stepping back.

  "You've got him too wrapped up around your little finger to listen. This whole plan of yours? Making him build a winery for your spoiled little ass? It's crazy – don't you realize that? Any money and time Rob invests in it will be pissing in the wind. Meanwhile, we've got work that isn't done. Not to mention that there's no way in hell we're letting you tear up good rangeland for a bunch of stupid grapes."

  "Okay, for one thing – I'm not spoiled," Morgan said, anger overcoming her fear. "Not by a long shot. For another, we're not going to tear up any of your rangeland, so you can butt out of it. We don't need your stupid 200 acres. We've got our own."

  That shut him up. He looked at her through the screen door for a long moment. "You'd better explain that."

  "Rob's buying 150 acres from Ethan, so don't worry; you're precious ranch will stay in one piece and you don't have to worry about my spoiled little ass anymore, because I'm never setting foot on the Double-Bar-K again."

  Ned didn't look pleased. "If you keep my brother away from his family, you'll be sorry. My father's been beside himself since Rob left last night. He's not young anymore. Rob knows that."

  "Rob knows that your father is hell-bent on controlling every last thing he does. Your father's a bully."

  Ned scowled. "At least my mother's not a whore. Dad told Rob to stay away from the likes of you – now he's probably getting the idea why. You'll drain all his money and energy, and then move on to the next man, right? Just like your mother." He spit on the porch.

  Morgan lost her cool. She barged through the screen door, which slammed into Ned, knocking him off balance.

  "Hell!"

  Whipping the door closed behind her, she lowered her shoulder and charged him before he could recover. Catching him in the sternum, she rammed him over the edge of the porch. He grabbed for the post as he went down, caught it for an instant, lost his grip, and crashed in a heap in the garden bed below. It wasn't much of a fall and she knew he'd be on his feet in an instant; she needed to make the most of this momentary advantage.

  She grabbed a nearby watering can and chucked it at him.

  He batted it out of the air. "Dammit. What're you doing?"

  "Giving you the beating your Momma should have a long time ago. You arrogant son-of-a-bitch, get out of here!" She picked up the next thing to hand – a garden clog – and threw it with all her might.

  "Stop that!" Ned tried to jerk out of its path, but failed and it clipped him on the arm. "God dammit!" This time he made it to his feet. For an instant, he hesitated and she knew he was weighing his options – come after her again, or beat a retreat.

  "What the hell is going on out here?" Ethan appeared in the kitchen door in a pair of pajama pants and nothing else. Morgan froze, a flower pot in hand. She'd forgotten about him.

  "She's crazy! That's what's going on here," Ned
said.

  "Morgan?"

  She tightened her grip on the pot. "I took exception to something he said. I thought he needed to learn some manners."

  "You're the one who needs to learn some manners," Ned began but Ethan strode down the steps, collared him and marched him around the side of the house. In the sudden quiet, Morgan realized she was shaking, and she sat down on the steps before her legs gave way. A few moments later, Ethan returned.

  "You okay?" he said, sitting down beside her.

  "Not really. Rob's family hates me."

  "Nah."

  "Yeah." She turned to him. "They're furious Rob's not going to ranch with them. Ned called Mom a whore. He said I was breaking up their family."

  "Huh." She watched him process this bit of information. "I'll sort him out about Mom later."

  "I told him Rob's buying the land from you and we'll be living here. I thought it would settle him down since he didn't want us to till up his ranchland for the vineyard. But he went berserk. What's with him?"

  "The Mathesons are a pretty tight-knit clan. Family is everything to them. Holt probably sent him over to try to persuade Rob to change his mind, but he's wasting his time. You can't keep someone on a ranch who doesn't want to be there."

  "But if it weren't for me, Rob wouldn't have left in the first place."

  "Maybe, but if he'd stayed, he'd be miserable. Sooner or later something would happen to make him leave. I'm glad he found a good reason to do so."

  "Everyone thinks the winery is crazy," she said, remembering Ned's words.

  "I don't," Ethan said. He put an arm around her shoulders and she leaned against him. "I know you two will make it a success. I think no one knows what Rob's capable of yet. Not even him."

  She hoped he was right. But even after Rob got home and shared his good news about building a garden for Carl, it was a long time before she fell asleep.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  The following evening, after a day spent helping Ethan escort his guests on a long trail ride around the ranch, complete with picnic lunch, Rob prepared to head over to Carl's spread to get started on Lacey's garden.

  "So let me get this straight," Ethan said when they met by Rob's truck. "You're going to build a massive garden for my ex-fiancée? Whose side are you on?"

  "Don't pretend you give a crap about Lacey anymore, now that you're married to Autumn. That's like worrying about losing track of a skunk when you've been given a thoroughbred race horse."

  "I think I understand what you mean," Ethan said wryly, "though I've never exactly heard it put that way before."

  "Anyway, I need the cash and Carl's being real generous on this deal."

  "Oh, yeah?"

  "Yeah."

  "All right, then. Have at it," Ethan said.

  When Rob arrived at Carl's, he found the man had staked out the plot he had in mind in back of the enormous log house he was building. Unfortunately, he could barely see the tops of the stakes over the shoulder-high brush that grew all over this part of the property.

  "You got some tools with you?" Carl said, when he came to meet him.

  "Yep," Rob said. He figured he'd hack down the big stuff and then subcontract out to one of the locals who owned an industrial-strength tiller to come plow the whole acre. "You got any plans for the layout of the garden?"

  "Not really." Carl scratched his head.

  "How about a photo from a magazine or something – to give me a basic idea."

  "Okay. Lacey's always looking through things like that. I've probably got something in the house," Carl said. "I'll go on inside and look around. You get busy."

  Forty-five minutes later, Rob was ready to give up. The brush was so thick and high it was about impossible to cut through by hand. He was wasting precious time and energy doing it like this. He needed to hire someone with a tractor and rotary mower to power through all of it. Then a tiller could come through.

  It was too late to call around, so he headed back for his truck. Carl met him in the driveway.

  "I got it," he said. He waved a piece of paper at him. When he got closer, Rob saw that it was a page torn from a magazine. In the failing light he couldn't make out much of it, so he turned on the cab light in his Chevy and examined it there.

  "This is what you're after?" he asked after a moment.

  "Yep – that's it exactly."

  "You do realize it's September." The page showed an old-fashioned English garden with formal raised beds bursting with perennials in full bloom. There were perfectly clipped hedges, flagstone walkways, a fountain, statuary and a fence around the entire perimeter.

  "I don't care what month it is. I'm paying you plenty – make it happen," Carl said.

  "That fence alone will cost twenty thousand dollars."

  "Fine. Make a list of the materials and costs, add on twenty thousand for your labor and show it to me tomorrow," Carl said. "We'll go from there."

  What the hell had he gotten himself into? He'd never get this done in a single month. Should he confess that to Carl and negotiate a new time-table?

  No, he needed that money before the wedding. Somehow, he'd have to perform a miracle.

  "Will do."

  * * * * *

  Morgan couldn't believe she was actually driving voluntarily onto enemy territory. She inched along the long lane that led to the main buildings on the Double-Bar-K, following the directions Autumn had given her. She drove Ethan's Ford F-150, and desperately missed the Honda Civic she'd placed in storage with her furniture back in Victoria before she'd left for Montana. Lisa Matheson had called her mid-morning to remind her about their date to go dress shopping, and asked if she could swing by and get her since her own vehicle was acting up.

  The last place on earth she wanted to be after her fight with Ned was pulling up in front of the Matheson house. An impressive two-story home with a wrap-around porch, it had a slightly more old-money feel to it than the Cruz ranch did. She didn't need to be told this ranch had been in Matheson hands for a long, long time.

  The front door opened and Lisa peered out. "I'll be ready in a minute – come on in!"

  Sighing, Morgan gathered her purse. She'd hoped she could pull up, load Lisa into the truck, and leave before anyone else saw them. She guessed that would be expecting a miracle. She exited the Ford, climbed the steps to the porch and hesitated in the doorway.

  "Come on in," Lisa sang out again from somewhere farther into the house. "I need to find my purse."

  Morgan walked into a wide entryway. A formal living room lay through a door to her left. The dining room was to her right. A staircase in front of her swept up to a second floor balcony with halls extending from either end of it that must lead to a number of bedrooms. Somewhere farther back on the first floor must lie a kitchen and perhaps a family room. It was an elegant home and Lisa had every right to be proud of it.

  "Found it!" Lisa called, and came bustling back up the central hall, as the door opened behind Morgan and a masculine voice said, "What are you doing here?"

  Morgan spun around. It was Rob's oldest brother, Jake, and behind him, Rob's father was entering the house.

  "Jake, behave yourself," Lisa said. "Morgan and I are going dress shopping. Lunch is all set in the kitchen. I'll be back in time for dinner."

  "Dress shopping? With her?" Holt said. He glared at Morgan and she wished she could sink into the floorboards. Why, oh why hadn't she put Lisa off on this fool's errand?

  "You behave yourself, too, Holt Matheson," Lisa said. "You go ahead and grumble all you like when it's family, but when there's a guest in our house, you mind your manners."

  Morgan looked at Lisa in surprise. Holt frowned. "This woman is stealing our son. I guess I'll growl at her if I want to."

  "She's marrying our son, not stealing him," Lisa said.

  "What's the difference? She's taking him away, ain't she? Buying Cruz land, for God's sake. What's wrong with our spread, I'd like to know that."

  "He's buying Cruz land bec
ause you didn't want him to build a vineyard for me here," Morgan said. "He loves me and wants me to be happy. Did it ever occur to any of you that he could use your support?"

  "Did it ever occur to you we need his help here with this ranch?" Holt snapped back.

  "No," she stated firmly. "That hasn't occurred to me, because according to Rob, none of you have ever needed him to do anything except your own dirty work. You miss having your slave to order around, because that's all he's ever been to you."

  "I've never treated him like a slave," Holt said.

  She simply stared him down. Eventually, he glanced away.

  "Rob knows what I want," he said gruffly. "My four boys working this ranch together. That's always been my dream."

  "Have you ever asked Rob what his dreams are? Or have you been too busy telling him what to do to ever ask?"

  "Who the hell do you think you are coming to my house and speaking to me that way?" Holt drew himself up to his full height and Morgan could see where his sons got their stature and self-confidence.

  "I'm the woman who loves your son. And pretty soon I'll be his wife and the mother of your grandkids, so you better get used to me. I'm not going anywhere." She turned to Lisa. "I'm sorry, but I think we'd better shop another day." She'd already said too much, and she knew if she stood for a minute longer in the entryway of the Matheson house, she'd say something they'd all regret. She pushed past Holt and opened the door, hurrying down the steps back to Ethan's truck.

  She managed to hold back her tears until she'd reached the end of the long dirt lane, but then they began to fall. As she moved to turn back toward the Cruz ranch, she hesitated. If she drove back there, someone would ask questions and she knew she couldn't talk about what had happened without losing her composure all together. Making up her mind, she turned left instead of right, and drove into town.

  Ten minutes later she entered the Chance Creek Pet Clinic, her eyes dry but rimmed with red. She hoped Bella would be there, but instead a young blond woman whose nametag read Hannah sat at the front desk.

  "Can I help you?" she asked cheerfully. Several people sat in the waiting room, dogs on leashes and cats in carriers.