by Ann Major
Why had he written it? Was it a power play on his part to get her home? Or did he really think she could do a better job than the others? Or was there some other reason? What if she let him down?
I can do this! she affirmed, gripping her father’s note.
The next morning Lizzy still felt tired as she drank black coffee with her mother in Gigi’s bright yellow kitchen before she left for the airport to meet Cole.
“I want you to go home to the ranch after the board meeting,” her mother said, getting up from the little table where they’d been sitting together.
“What about Daddy?”
Joanne opened the dishwasher. “He’d want you at the Golden Spurs. He wanted you to take charge. He wrote Leo a memo and he read it, at the last board meeting.” She began removing dishes. “And there’s Vanilla. She’s a baby. She needs you. If you’re going to stay in Texas, you need to wrap your mind around her care, the daily operation of the ranch, and the museum opening.”
Strangely, the thought of caring for Vanilla made Lizzy’s life feel more purposeful.
“I feel so unqualified.”
“Your father chose you.” Joanne opened a cabinet.
“But why?”
Her mother’s hands shook as she placed a stack of saucers onto a shelf. “If I knew that—” She broke off and, crossing her arms beneath her breasts, turned to face Lizzy. “Obviously I am the last person your father confided in.”
Lizzy couldn’t meet her gaze. For some reason Lizzy had always blamed herself for the inexplicable tension in her parents’ marriage.
“Mia was such a natural at everything I do so badly,” Lizzy whispered in an attempt to make peace. And yet, even as she said the placating words, she felt it was unfair she always had to praise Mia to win favor with her own mother.
Her mother’s jaw tightened. “Yes, she was, but she’s gone.” Just thinking about Mia seemed to soften her. She uncrossed her arms. “A lot’s been happening, Lizzy. Too much for me to go into right now. Your father was under a lot of stress. If only we could have put off that museum opening.” Her mother went back to the dishwasher and removed several glasses.
“You’re not telling me everything.”
“Maybe because I can’t. Or, maybe I don’t know how.” Slowly, carefully she set the glasses in a shelf.
“We were never close. I used to wish you’d talk to me the way you talked to Mia. I’d watch you two together. I’d hear you laughing. Then when I walked into the room you both would go quiet.”
“Don’t—” Joanne sighed wearily and sagged against the counter. “Just go home to the ranch after the meeting. You promised him, Lizzy.” She drew a long breath. “This isn’t about you and me. This is about you and your father. He called me and told me that in our last conversation.”
“I thought your lawyer told you not to talk to Daddy until after the divorce.”
“How could we run the ranch or prepare for the museum’s opening and the celebration without talking? We talked. We were talking more and more lately. Maybe we didn’t have the best marriage, but surely it was better than anything he could have had with Cherry. I—I know this is ridiculous, but I was beginning to think maybe he was going to come to his senses before it was too late. Now, we’ll never know, will we?”
“He hurt you so much. Do you hate him?”
“When cops show up to grill me about vehicle license plates and I have to face those reporters at the hospital, I don’t exactly feel the same enthusiasm I felt the day I married him.”
In spite of herself Lizzy smiled. “I’m sorry.”
“Go home. That’s what he’d want. Take a look at the museum and see what Mark and Jim have been doing.”
“Mark and Jim?”
“Mark is the painter who’s doing the murals. Jim’s the sculptor. Walker hired them and was overseeing their work before he left.”
“Why did Daddy get mad at Walker?”
Her mother went back to the dishwasher and began stacking plates on the counter. She sighed heavily. “And…and if you wouldn’t mind too much, look in on my darling birds. Eli feeds them, but he doesn’t go inside the aviary and talk to them. They like to be talked to.”
Why wouldn’t her mother tell her about Walker?
* * *
The international headquarters of Golden Spurs Inc. occupied the top five floors of a tall brick and glass building in downtown San Antonio.
When Cole and Lizzy arrived by limousine from the airport, reporters rushed them as they tried to enter the building, asking the same tired questions.
“Mr. Knight, don’t you usually drive the black truck the police think was seen at Ms. Lane’s before she was discovered missing?”
When Lizzy shuddered, Cole shielded her with his body and grimly pushed past the screaming throng. Then they were in the reception area that was decorated with mirrors, huge paintings of the ranch itself, antlers and hunting trophies from all over the world. A full-size elephant and a giraffe stared at each other through a fake oasis of potted palms.
Cole pushed her into the elevator which was a gilded, glassy cage. As it shot upward, she continued to stare down at the giraffe and elephant in the trees of the lobby.
Only in Texas! Lizzy thought.
“You all right?” Cole asked.
“A little nervous,” she lied, still staring down as the people and trees and even the elephant grew smaller. She was way past nervous. “Yourself?” she managed to add.
When she locked eyes with his, he didn’t answer. His mouth was tightly set at the corners.
“You can do this,” he finally said.
“Mind reader.” She smiled. “That’s my affirmation.”
He grinned. “Don’t tell me you’re into that self-help bullshit.”
She blinked innocently. “Not me!” She balled her hands into fists. “I can do this!” she said, winking at him.
In no time they were in the cherry-paneled boardroom that looked down on the Alamo and a serpentine curve of the fashionable River Walk that was lined with tall cypress trees, posh shops, restaurants and bars.
Not that Sam, Uncle B.B., Aunt Nanette, Hawk, Walker and other members of the family, who were seated at a long table with Leo Storm, the CEO, even noticed the view. Everybody was talking rather heatedly until she entered. Then a hush fell.
Lavish refreshments had been set up on a long table by one of the tall windows, but no one had served himself anything other than coffee or a soda.
When he saw her, Leo moved across the beautiful room to shake Lizzy’s hand. Tall and as dark and fit as Cole even though he held a corporate, indoor job, Leo towered over her. As always he was dressed beautifully in a navy blue suit, Italian, 5probably. His silk tie was expensive and conservative, his perfect smile white and professional.
“I hope we didn’t keep you waiting,” she said.
He eyed his watch. “You’re exactly on time. We were enjoying coffee.” He pressed her hand again. “I’m so sorry about your father. I know how close you two are.”
The sincerity in his low tone caught her off guard, and she was barely able to keep her lips from quivering. She’d caught a glimpse of herself in a mirror downstairs and imagined that she probably looked stiff and pale and very young to him in her simple black sheath and a long strand of white pearls. She’d tried to look grown-up by drawing her unruly hair back from her slender face into a chignon, but the hairdo had been a mistake. Untidy strands of platinum silk kept falling against her cheek, and she kept pushing them away.
“Would you like some coffee?” Leo said.
Oh, God, she couldn’t do this.
She had to do this.
She nodded too quickly. “Black, please.” Unable to face sitting down at the table yet, she turned and found Cole standing beside her.
“Why don’t you take a seat beside your brother, Lizzy, while I pour you a cup?” Cole said.
Even though he wore jeans and a long-sleeved white work shirt, he looked e
very bit as tall and commanding as Leo did in his fancy Italian suit.
She nodded.
You can do this. You can do this.
When she eased herself into a chair, Walker took her hand briefly and touched it to his lips. Everybody else smiled and greeted her. Trying to hide her insecurities, she did the same, but she either talked too fast or mumbled her answers.
You can do this, she repeated silently even as she thought that everyone in the room, including Walker, seemed far more confident and poised than she.
Cole brought her her coffee and she sipped it gratefully.
Leo seated himself at the opposite end of the long table facing Lizzy. “Are we ready to begin?”
Somehow she resisted the urge to squirm in her leather chair. Cole stood at the refreshment table.
“At the last board meeting we asked your father to give up Cherry or resign,” Uncle B.B. said without preamble. “He refused to give us an answer that day. Because of him, the ranch has suffered a great deal of negative publicity. Our bottom line is suffering. Since his stroke and the media’s fascination with Miss Lane’s disappearance, it has only gotten worse. In short, we believe that it is in the best interests of the ranch for us to have a strong leader to steer the south Texas ranching operation during his convalescence.”
Feeling defensive, Lizzy sank lower in her chair. “Someone other than me?” she said.
“Uncle B.B. doesn’t mean to be unkind, Lizzy,” Sam said gently.
“Caesar read us a memo saying he wanted you, but, dear, you have been absent from the ranch for years,” Aunt Nanette added.
Hawk was dark and silent. Walker leaned back in his chair and said nothing, as well.
“I believe you should step down and let a more experienced person fill your father’s position until…he returns,” Uncle B.B. finished.
“If he returns,” Lizzy said, forcing herself to sit straighter.
“Good,” Uncle B.B. said. “I’m glad that’s settled. The important thing is for us to choose the right person.” His broad shoulders seemed to expand. He smiled warmly at everybody.
Cole was so busy slathering salmon and cheese on a cracker, he didn’t return Uncle B.B.’ s smile. But when Lizzy glanced nervously at him, he beamed and waved his cracker at her. When he offered her one, she shook her head so fiercely several more flyaway tendrils came loose.
“What kind of man do you think we need, Leo? What is the biggest challenge facing the ranch right now?” Lizzy asked, pushing the strands of hair out of her eyes, only to have them fall back again. “I know we’ve got the museum opening and the celebration coming up.”
“That won’t be a problem. I’ve come home to take charge of that,” Walker said.
“Which everybody is thrilled about.” Leo smiled. “You asked about leadership, Lizzy.”
Before taking the helm of Golden Spurs, Leo Storm had been the CEO of an immense ranch and agribusiness in Montana for more than eight years. Had he ever doubted himself in his whole life? Probably not, Lizzy thought. After all, he held a degree from Harvard.
From what Lizzy had read about him in the reports Cole had given her, he was an extremely able executive. Nevertheless, someone, possibly a ranch insider, appeared to be sabotaging everything Leo did and everything Caesar had done.
“We’ll need a man who understands the new technology involved in ranching operations,” Leo said. “Then there are environmental values to consider. Not to mention that consumer demands and tastes change constantly, and we must change to meet them. Then there are crises like mad cow disease. So, we need someone strong and flexible. But I guess the biggest challenge—at least in south Texas—will always be the weather. It’s usually too damn hot and too damn dry for anything other than rattlesnakes to thrive down there.”
“Maybe we should market rattlesnake meat,” Lizzy said.
Everybody laughed.
“You didn’t tell her we need to play hardball with the oil company,” Uncle B.B. said.
“He means Sheldon Oil,” Aunt Nanette chimed in.
Uncle B.B. frowned. “We’re being paid for old gas and new gas. We think Sheldon is paying old prices for new gas, which means lower prices, and we’ve got to do something about this.”
“Why don’t we sue?” Aunt Mona suggested.
“All I want is more money,” Aunt Nanette said.
“A lot is going on,” Lizzy said.
Uncle B.B. smiled. “Believe me, we’ve only touched on a few of the high points.”
“Lizzy, you don’t have to worry your pretty head about any of this,” Sam said kindly. “You can just leave it all to us.”
It would be so nice to lean on Sam. Dear Sam. But strangely the part about not worrying her pretty head made her feel defiant instead of comforted.
Lizzy stunned herself as well as the others when she stood up. “You may be right, Sam. But Daddy did ask me to take over for him. Suddenly hearing what he’s been up against, I feel called to serve…at least temporarily.”
There was an audible gasp. In the ensuing silence, she took a deep breath herself. Seconds ticked by, and everybody in the room except Cole and Walker seemed to tense. Walker toyed with his pen while Cole appeared totally absorbed in spreading thick, gooey Brie onto another cracker.
“I’m going to ask Cole if he’ll help me—if I do take over.” She glanced at him just as he chomped a rat-size bite out of his cheese and cracker sandwich, but he turned his back to her and stared out the window.
Everybody at the table except Leo rose and began to object at once. Aunt Nanette even pounded the table.
“But Lizzy,” Uncle B.B. yelled louder than the rest. “We had it all worked out before you showed up.”
“Obviously she and Cole had it all worked out, too,” Aunt Mona said.
“I appreciate all your hard work, Uncle B.B.,” Lizzy offered softly.
“Why do you want to do this when you’ve always hated ranching?” Sam began. “Did Cole put you up to this?”
Because something’s wrong here. And because you don’t think I can.
“It’s not that I want to do it,” she said. “I’m sure I’ll come around to your point of view very soon. This is simply something I’ve got to do right now. For Daddy. He’s so helpless. I want to help him. It’s the least I can do.”
“But can you do it?” Uncle B.B. yelled. “That’s the question.”
Cole wiped his mouth with a paper napkin and strode to Lizzy’s side. “She asked me to help her—and I will,” he said. When she looked up at him, seeking support, his handsome face was dark and closed.
“A Knight? Are you kidding? Your father would roll over in his grave,” Uncle B.B. said.
“Daddy isn’t in his grave,” Lizzy said.
Yet, someone amended silently.
Leo listened to everybody. Finally he said, “All right. We could talk all day. I propose we try this for ninety days. We can see how things go. After all, Lizzy grew up on the ranch, Caesar taught her everything he knew. Besides, she’ll have Cole.”
There were audible groans.
“It’s Caesar’s wish,” Leo added. “For all his faults, he was a hell of a rancher.”
At that, everybody, Hawk, even Uncle B.B., shut up and stared at Lizzy so intently, she began to tremble.
But one of them had murder in his heart.
After the board meeting she followed Cole and Leo into Caesar’s lavish office. Cole was moody and silent, but he took meticulous notes while Leo worked out the details with her for their new arrangement. Leo suggested Cole give her a tour of the ranch first thing and bring her up to date. Meanwhile, Cole sat down and typed his notes into his PDA.
Leo also showed her an outline of the speech about the ranch’s history and future that Caesar had planned to give at the museum opening and asked her if she would deliver it. Even though she wasn’t a gifted orator like her father, she agreed.
When she and Cole finally found themselves in the elevator alone together
again, their briefcases bulging with documents, Cole’s scowl was darker than ever. He stood as far from her as he could possibly get in the gilded cage that whisked them to ground level.
They were both flying back to Houston with John, and once she’d been dropped off in Houston, Cole and John would continue on to the ranch. Hawk and Walker had plans to see Caesar. Lizzy wanted to check on her father one more time and have dinner with both her brothers in Houston beforeshe drove to the ranch. Gigi had promised to loan Lizzy her daughter’s car.
When their elevator reached the lobby, Cole held the doors for her and said he was hungry and intended to catch a quick bite on the river. “You take the limo to the airport, and I’ll catch a cab later.”
“But—”
He wouldn’t even look at her.
“Are you mad at me, Cole?”
He shook his head too fast. “See you in an hour and a half, okay?” Then he practically bolted out of the elevator.
“Since we’re sharing a limo, maybe I should just join you for lunch? Is that all right?”
He turned slowly, his glittering gaze too sharp as he studied her. “Suit yourself.” But he didn’t smile.
With him stiffly leading the way, they strode single file along the crowded river bank. He walked so fast, she had to run to keep up with him.
He chose a French restaurant that wasn’t too packed. Since it was a nice day, he asked for a table outside by the river where they could watch barges and tourists stream by their table.
The day was bright and crisp, and the river sparkled beneath the cypress tress. When the waiter brought menus, Cole didn’t even let him set them down. “We’re in a hurry. We’ll take your specials.”
Then he ordered drinks, which came almost immediately along with a wire basket of bread and assorted butters.
“Why the rush?” she whispered, fearing his reason was that he wasn’t pleased she’d joined him.
“The specials here are wonderful,” he said, evading her real question as he smeared butter on a piece of bread.
“Thanks for saying you’d help me, Cole.”
