by Lori Wilde
Annie rose to her feet. She’d known Tyler’s hand was in this mess. “You’re kidding, right? You’re not really going to take him on as a partner, are you?” Her voice had risen as she’d spoken, so she made a conscious effort to get it under control again. “Dad, he can’t be trusted.”
Herb shook his head. “Nonsense. He’s a great guy.”
Annie blinked at her father. How could he say that? Just because they’d had one not-too-awful spaghetti dinner, that didn’t mean it would undo the past. Sure, she didn’t hate the man anymore, but that didn’t mean he was trustworthy. “Don’t you remember what Tyler did? How much he cost this family?”
“Honey, that was a long time ago.”
She took a deep breath and tried a different approach. “Dad, you can’t be serious. Tyler can’t get involved in the business. This is the family’s business—you and Brett and I run it together. What’s Tyler going to do? Exercise the horses? Help with the feedings? Shoe them? He has a law practice to return to soon. He’s not staying in Falling Star.”
Her father again avoided eye contact with her. “If he needs to help, I’m sure he will. Plus, some things have changed lately.”
Annie’s stomach tightened even more. This conversation was coming at her from left field, and she felt completely unprepared for whatever it boded. She didn’t like change. During the last couple of years, with the exception of Courtney’s birth, change in her life was synonymous with disaster. Losing Paul had made every aspect of her life change, so now even small changes disturbed her. “What things have changed? Nothing’s changed.”
He shook his head slowly. “Sure they have. I’m not as young as I used to be. Your mother and I are thinking about retiring and having some fun. If Tyler buys me out and then joins the two ranches, he and Brett can run the business. That means your mom and I can afford to retire. Tyler has the money, and you and Brett will be kept plenty busy. You can hire whatever extra help you need.”
When the phone on his desk rang, he grabbed it like a drowning man going for a buoy.
Annie knew it was a nonsense call, but she let her father take it. She needed a chance to calm down. At the moment, she was barely resisting the impulse to stare at her father with her mouth hanging open. Her family had gone insane. Completely insane. Join their ranch with Tyler’s? The ranch that had been in Herb Lee’s family for generations. Like most ranchers, that land meant everything to him.
Plus, her father hated free time more than anything in the world. He had to be right up to his elbows in work before he’d crack a smile.
When he hung up the phone, Annie said as calmly as possible, “Retire and do what? You’ll drive Mom nuts within a week. Plus, you’ll just show up and watch Brett work, so why bother?”
Her father fiddled with the pencils again. “Well, we might not stay here. We might move.”
When would the sucker punches stop? “Move? Move where?”
Her father grinned a little-boy grin. “Oh, one of those warm places. Tahiti or someplace. Both your mom and I have had it with the cold. I don’t want to shovel any more snow. People think Texas is always baking, but we know that’s not true, especially up here in the panhandle. Tahiti sounds nice.”
“Tahiti?” The knot in Annie’s throat made it difficult for her to speak. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Tahiti’s on the other side of the world. Brett and I would never see you. Courtney’s getting to the age where she appreciates having grandparents.”
Her father shrugged. “We haven’t decided anything definite yet. Maybe we’ll just spend the winters there. Maybe we’ll move to Florida near all the theme parks. That would be fun.”
How could her father say retire even in jest? If he really did intend to retire, the first thing she’d expect him to do would be to form a long-range plan for his future, something that would help him accumulate the necessary money to retire to someplace sensible—like closer to Fort Worth or maybe Austin.
But she loved her parents and wanted them to be happy, so she forced herself to take a deep breath. When she was finally calm, she said, “Well, I’m sure it will be a while before you and Mom come to a final decision.”
Again her father shrugged. “Not really. We love being around the family, but we’d like some time to ourselves too.”
Annie stared at him, unable to decide what to say. Since when did he and her mother want time alone? And since when was he a shrugger? Her father was a definite man, and definite men didn’t shrug. They told you what things were and how they went, and that was that. There was no reason to shrug, no reason to avoid eye contact.
No doubt about it—this was all Tyler’s fault. Somehow, he was behind the breakup of her family. He was a rotten rat. She needed to sit down with him and talk this over before he had a chance to do any real damage. For the moment, though, she needed to get her father to understand.
Forcing herself to gather her thoughts, she finally said, “Why don’t we talk some more this weekend at the house? Brett and I can sit with you and Mom and talk it over. I’m sure you both would like some time to think about it.”
“I’m sorry, honey, but we’ve thought this through, and we’re sure this is what we want to do. But if you want to come over this weekend, that’s great.” Her father stood. “I’ll barbecue something on Saturday, and you and Courtney can stop by.”
“Sounds great.” Thank goodness he’d finally said something that made some sense. If her father intended to drag out the old barbecue grill, then things were back to normal. He’d grill some steaks, and they’d all laugh about him even thinking he could retire anytime soon.
Plus, he couldn’t move. His whole life was in Falling Star. He’d been born and raised here. His children had been born and raised here. He was the one who’d taught them about wishing on falling stars.
He couldn’t leave the small town.
“I think I’ll see if your mother can make some veggie burgers,” he said.
The warm, comfortable feeling that had settled over Annie evaporated, and her head snapped up. Veggie burgers? Her father was the cholesterol king. She’d been trying to talk her father into watching his diet for years and avoiding too much red meat. “Veggie?”
He nodded. “Yeah, the burgers are pretty good. Tyler showed us how to make them. He likes to spice his up, but I kinda like them plain. I thought they’d stink, but they don’t.”
His comment made anxiety flood through her again. “Dad, when did you see Tyler to have veggie burgers?”
“Oh, a few nights ago. He stopped over at the house and dropped off some oranges. He’d heard about my high cholesterol level, and he wanted to give us some ideas for new menu items that’d be easier on my arteries.” His smile was huge as he added, “He said I needed to take care of myself. Wasn’t that nice?”
“Yes. Very considerate of him,” Annie said with effort. Tyler was suddenly appearing all over the place like some silly guardian angel, giving advice to her father, advice that included selling the business he’d run for the last forty years.
“Yeah, the burgers were good. Even Brett liked them,” her father said, oblivious to the effect his words had on his daughter.
“Brett?” Annie’s voice wobbled slightly. “Brett was there too?” Up to this point, she’d assumed only her parents were involved in this plan. She’d hoped her brother would take the news the same way she had, and together they could persuade her father it wouldn’t work.
“Sure. It was his idea that Tyler drop over in the first place.” Her father started fiddling with the pencils again. “Brett knew I wanted to talk some business with the man, so he called Tyler a while ago and started the whole ball rolling.”
Annie mentally counted to ten. Then to twenty. Then gave up. “Dad, what’s really happening? Don’t pretend that for years you haven’t had a thing about the Nelson family, because I know you have. You haven’t trusted them since the wedding fiasco. Now, suddenly, you’re thrilled to work with Tyler.”
; Her father waved his hands as if he were erasing the past. “That was a long time ago. I know now that Tyler was a kid and didn’t mean to hurt any of us, especially you. Brett’s right—he’s a great guy.” Somehow a lot of this conversation involved Brett, and her radar told her that her sneaky brother was a prime suspect in this plan.
Deciding to leave before she upset her father, she stood and walked around the desk.
“Brett certainly is something else,” she muttered, not trusting herself to say more. She wanted to hunt down her brother and find out what was really going on.
Her father looked slightly shamefaced. “I’m sorry we didn’t bring you in from the beginning, sweetheart. Tyler kept telling us we should, but we wanted to think through the details before we . . .”
“Told me?”
He shrugged. “Well, yeah, I guess so.”
Annie didn’t know what to say. She loved her father, and she wanted him to be happy. But Tyler? Why him?
Her dad smiled, apparently thinking everything was settled. “I told your mother you would be fine with Tyler buying in and joining the ranches, but you know how she worries. She said you’d be upset, but I knew you wouldn’t still hold a grudge about something that happened so long ago.”
She wasn’t holding a grudge. Sure, he’d hurt her, but that was in the past. She’d moved on with her life.
Her problem now was that she wasn’t sure they could trust Tyler when it came to the business.
She glanced at her watch. She needed to head home and meet her mother, who was picking up Courtney from day care. She couldn’t talk to Brett now, but when she did, she was going to let him have it. He’d gone behind her back and set this whole fiasco into motion. What a lousy thing to do.
**
Tyler looked across the backyard to the rear door to Annie’s house. He was pushing Courtney on the swing, and she was incredibly happy.
Something, he’d bet, the toddler’s mother wouldn’t be when she learned what happened.
“I bet your mama is going to be mad,” he told Courtney.
The little girl giggled and said “higher” again, or rather “igh,” which Tyler guessed meant higher. Tyler obeyed and pushed the swing a little higher.
He hoped he was wrong about Annie. He didn’t want to upset her. He’d been trying to help. But he knew everything that had happened so far hadn’t helped. Not her fall in the grocery store. Not his appearing for dinner without her knowledge. And certainly not the deal he was making with her family.
Yep, she was probably going to be mad, and he couldn’t blame her. He cared about Annie. She’d been his friend long before they’d become a couple and gotten engaged. The second he’d seen her in the grocery store, he’d felt the same pull of attraction he always felt around Annie.
Even after all these years, that attraction hadn’t abated. Obviously, she felt at least some of the same pull. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have kissed him.
The back door swung open, and Tyler braced himself. He was tempted to smile or wave, but both actions might make her even madder.
When she reached the swing, Annie stopped. “So you picked up my daughter at day care,” she said.
Her voice was quiet and steady, not at all what he’d expected. “Your mother was ill and couldn’t do it, and my mother was ill and couldn’t do it, so they asked me. I stopped by your mom’s house and got the car seat and the keys to your house. I would have called you, but both mothers told me you were in an important meeting and you couldn’t be disturbed.”
When he finished speaking, Tyler realized he’d spouted off the information like a toddler caught by his parent. “I didn’t know what to do, Annie. My mom said someone had to pick up Courtney, and there was no one else to do it. I couldn’t get your father or your brother on the phone. So I did it, and I’m sorry if it upset you.”
Annie nodded slowly, her expression unreadable. Tyler couldn’t tell what she was thinking, which was driving him nuts. “I am sorry,” he said again.
“Day care let you pick her up with no problems?” she asked.
He hadn’t expected her question. “Yes. Your mother called them and told them it was okay for me to pick up Courtney.”
“I see.”
For a moment, Annie just looked at him. Then with a groan, she sat in the other swing seat. “Thank you. I had a meeting this afternoon with Dad. I didn’t realize Mom was unable to pick up Courtney.”
“I just wanted to help.” Tyler kept pushing Courtney’s swing, and the little girl kept saying, “Whee” every few seconds.
Annie sighed loudly. “You did. I appreciate you picking her up. Today has been an unusual day.” She stood and looked at him. “Mostly because of you.”
“You mean because I picked up Courtney?” He wasn’t sure where this conversation was going.
“No. Mostly because you met with everyone in my family and made all sorts of plans without consulting me,” she said.
Now he understood. He’d been expecting this. “I wanted to tell you.”
“So I gather,” she said. “My father maintains that he and Brett wanted to wait until everything was settled before telling me.”
Tyler was glad that her father had told Annie the truth. He had tried many times to get Herb and Brett to talk things over with Annie before any decisions were made, but they both said she was busy with her bookkeeping clients and wouldn’t care.
But he’d suspected she would care. Annie was still part of the business, and she probably was hurt or mad or both that her family had made plans without consulting her.
“We haven’t signed any papers yet. We’re still in the talking stage,” he said. “I told both your dad and Brett I wouldn’t draw up any paperwork until you had a chance to express your opinion.”
“Thank you,” she said. “If I understand this correctly, you plan to pay Dad for the right to join the business. Then your ranch and our ranch will work together to create a very large horse farm, is that correct?”
“Yes,” he said. “And eventually, we might expand and offer riding and boarding services as well.”
She was silent for a few seconds, and Tyler would give anything to know what she was thinking.
“Want to call me a muck-eating varmint?” he asked.
For a split second, she just stared at him. Then she laughed. A rich, full laugh.
Tyler had never felt happier in his life. “Go ahead. It’s okay. I deserve it.”
When she finally stopped laughing, Annie shook her head. “No, you don’t. I’m upset that my father and my brother went behind my back and made all sorts of plans without talking to me. I’m also upset because I can’t figure out why you are giving my father money. You have the ability to start a horse farm on your own. You don’t need our family business.”
Tyler had expected this question. Oddly enough, neither Herb nor Brett had asked him this question when they’d been talking over their plans. But it seemed like the most logical question.
“I don’t want to compete with your father. He’s worked hard for many decades to earn a reputation as an excellent horse breeder. He has credibility. People know him and trust him,” Tyler said. “Together, we can expand that business and make it even more successful. There will be plenty of work for you and for Brett.”
“I’m not worried about that,” she said. “I can expand my bookkeeping business if I need to earn more money.”
“But that’s what is great about this situation, Annie. You won’t have to do that. Both you and Brett can draw excellent salaries plus you’ll have a percent of the profits. Your father also will get enough money to retire and take things easy if he wants to do so.”
“Tahiti,” she said.
“What?”
“My father said he and Mom are thinking about moving to Tahiti.”
Tyler couldn’t help the grin that crossed his face. “Seems kind of far away.”
She nodded. “I think they should visit first.”
Courtney st
arted fussing, so Tyler got her out of the swing and took her hand. Slowly they walked across the backyard toward the house.
“Tell me the truth, Annie. How do you really feel about this deal?”
When they reached the back door, she turned to look at him. He could see the hesitancy in her expression. “I’m worried about it.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m not sure about it,” she said. “What if something goes wrong?”
He knew what she was saying. What if he did something wrong. “I realize you might still have some anger about—”
She shook her head. “I’m not angry about the wedding. That was a long time ago. I’m worried about this deal. Will you suddenly change your mind and bail, leaving Dad and Brett with a mess? You can’t walk away from something this big.”
“I realize that,” he told her. “I’ve decided to stay in Falling Star and work on the ranch.”
For a few seconds, she just looked at him. Then she headed inside. “I wish I could believe that,” she said. “But a zebra doesn’t change its stripes, no matter how much it tells everyone it will.”
Chapter Five
Tyler Nelson was taking over her life Annie decided as she got ready for work the next morning. From the second he’d appeared in the grocery store, everything in her life had been in disarray. There was no escape.
Which was how it had always been with them. Growing up, she and Tyler had been inseparable. They’d done everything together. He had been her world.
Until he’d left her.
Then she’d been left to pick up the pieces all alone. Those first few weeks had been horrible. Even once she’d realized he’d been right to call off the wedding, she still couldn’t get over her resentment for the way it had happened.
He was right. He should have handled it better.
But now he was everywhere. In the grocery store. Having dinner at her house. Picking up Courtney from day care.
And most annoyingly, in her dreams.
She had woken up this morning realizing that for the first time in years, she had dreamt about him. And it bothered her. A lot.
