The Cowboy's Family (Family Ties Book 2)

by Carolyne Aarsen

She couldn't be around him anymore. She couldn't be anywhere near him. She had come so close to truly giving her heart to this man. And now, she had to find this out about him? It cut her to the bone.

  Without a backward glance, she strode away from him, her boots pounding out a harsh tattoo on the wood of the porch.

  She got to the grass and ran.

  That certainly didn't go the way he had hoped it would.

  Mason watched Tricia run away from him, surprised she hadn't slapped him.

  The betrayal on her face cut him to the bone. But what else could he do? He had to tell her the truth before he left. It would come out one way or another.

  If you had waited, you might have a little more time to break it to her gently.

  And lead her on even longer?

  Mason closed his eyes, dropping his head against the back of the chair. He had gambled on her feelings and lost. One small hopeful part of his heart had nurtured the idea that he could make her understand. But their conversation had veered out of control.

  He knew he hadn’t handled himself well, but there was no way he could have confessed the truth to her without his own duplicity coming out. The need to talk to Roger was even more urgent now. If he could salvage anything out of this mess, it would have made it somewhat worthwhile.

  And your heart?

  Mason almost doubled over at the thought of losing Tricia. But he had. After what he told her, he doubted she would trust him with her heart, or her children.

  Tricia wanted to grab a horse, bridle it up, and go. Just leave. Get as far away from the ranch as she could. Put as much distance between her and Mason Harding as possible. But she had her children to think of. Especially now, after hearing Drew's father was planning to take her children away because of her irresponsibility, there was no way she could leave them.

  She stopped by the horse pasture, the lowering sun shining off their backs, burnishing their hair, creating halos on their manes. They looked so beautiful.

  To her surprise, Abby nickered and then plodded toward her with a steady determination.

  "Hey girl," she whispered as Abby drew near. Abby put her head over the fence, and Tricia stroked her nose, scratched her neck, and patted her gently. What a difference from when she had first worked with her.

  Which made her think of Mason. She drew her hand back, rubbing her forehead with her fingers, trying to press her errant emotions back inside. She wanted to cry, she wanted to scream, she wanted to run back and slap Mason across the face. Why hadn't she done it when she had the chance?

  She folded her arms on the top rail of the fence, laying her head on them.

  "Hey, sis, what's up?"

  A hand on her shoulder, a familiar and welcome voice.

  Tricia straightened and launched herself at Elliot. She buried her head in his shirt, and the sobs she had swallowed down finally had room to be released.

  Without another word, Elliot pulled her close, patting her back.

  Tricia’s shoulders shook as the sorrow poured out of her. Her eyes burned with tears and her hands clutched Elliot's shirt. "He lied to me," she gasped out. "All the time he was here, he was lying."

  This set off another storm of tears, and finally she knew she had to stop. Her sobs eased, and she pulled away.

  Elliot looked down at her, concern etched on his face. "Who was lying to you?"

  Tricia swallowed hard, then swallowed again. "Mason. He didn't come here just to train the horses, he came here to keep an eye on me. To find out what he could for Drew's father."

  "What do you mean?"

  “Mason was here on orders from Drew’s father to find out if I’m a suitable mother." With the heels of her hands, she swept the tears out of her eyes. "Drew always warned me not to let his father find out about the kids. That's why I kept it so quiet. And it turned out he was right."

  "Drew's father wants to take the kids away from you?"

  "That's why he sent Mason to do his dirty work. To report back to him like a little spy." Her voice caught in her throat as the reality of what she had just said settled in her heart. Mason. Spying on her. Was it all an act? Had he just been pretending to care for her so he could find out more about her and her situation?

  "So how did Mason end up in all of this?"

  "Apparently he works for Drew's father. They found out that Dad needed someone to train horses, so Roger sent Mason here. And stupid me, I believed he cared for me. I believed I mattered to him, and that my kids mattered to him. I thought we might have a future together…" Her voice trailed off as another wave of sorrow attacked her.

  Elliot blew out a sigh, leaning one hip against the fence. "But I saw the way Mason looks at you. I've heard how Kane talks about him. He really admires him."

  "Well, we were all fooled." But even as she said those words, Tricia thought back to the moments she and Mason had shared. She couldn't believe that was all fake. Or didn't want to believe.

  "So why did he tell you now? Why didn't he keep the secret, if you don't matter to him?”

  Elliot's words shifted her thinking. She was angry with Mason, but what Elliot was saying teased out a tiny doubt.

  "Maybe he finally wanted to come clean,” Elliot continued. “Maybe he wanted to come clean for a reason. A fresh start, because he cares about you."

  "Why are you defending him?" Tricia yelled, her emotions a tangle of confusion. "He lied to me."

  Elliot crossed his arms over his chest, chewing his lip as if thinking. "Maybe, but eventually he told you the truth."

  Tricia pressed her hands against her eyes, trying to forestall the headache that was blooming. "I don't want to talk about him anymore. It's over."

  Elliot slipped his arm around her shoulders and gave her a hug. "Let's go back to the house. I think you could use some tea."

  "I could probably use something stronger, but I've got my kids to think about. Besides, I don't want to give Mason one more reason to think I'm an irresponsible mother."

  But as they walked back to the house, they could hear the growl of Mason's truck leaving the yard. Tricia felt relief and thankfulness that he wouldn't be around. She didn't want to think about what the next few days would bring. Somehow they had to find someone else to train the horses, someone who could help teach her what she needed to know.

  That's for another day, she told herself. Just get through tonight.

  And yet, despite her anger with him, despite the betrayal that gnawed at her, she couldn’t keep herself from watching his truck leave, her heart rending in two.

  Chapter 15

  Give me the right words, Mason prayed as he pulled up to Roger's house.

  He couldn't remember much of the drive last night. Only that Tricia's words had echoed in his ears with every mile he drove. All he could think of was how he had hurt her. How he had disappointed her.

  It had to happen sooner or later. You couldn't put it off forever.

  Maybe. But he had so hoped he would have had the time to find the right way to explain his situation to Tricia.

  And what would time have given you? What would have changed?

  With those questions echoing in his mind, Mason stepped out of the truck and strode down the gravel path up to Roger’s house. The building wasn't as imposing as the Tye ranch house, but Mason knew how much money Roger had poured into it. It was a showpiece for sure. A testament to how much money he had.

  It sure hasn't bought him much love though, Mason thought as he knocked on the door. The man was as lonely as he could be.

  He waited a minute or two and was just about to knock again when the door creaked open and Roger stood in the doorway. Mason used to think of him as imposing, but somehow after being away from him for a couple of weeks, he saw Roger Bouche differently. Hunched, gray-haired, a face that seemed to hold a permanent scowl. A body that looked weaker than when Mason last saw him.

  But when his eyes narrowed and he held the door further open, he seemed to straighten. To raise himself up. "I heard you
were coming back. Come on in, and bring me up to date on what's happening."

  Roger stepped aside, and Mason walked over gleaming hardwood floors, past white couches and chairs, past a kitchen with gleaming aluminum appliances, and into a small den that housed leather chairs and a wall full of books. The entire house was perfectly appointed but lacked any personality. Mason mentally compared it to the Tye household with its bustle and noise in coming and going.

  For a small moment he felt sorry for Roger.

  "So, how are things going for you down at the Tye ranch?" Roger asked as he eased himself into his chair. "Training going well?"

  "It's going very well," Mason said, thankful for the momentary distraction. The easing into a more difficult conversation. "The horses are good quality and have lots of potential."

  "Good. Good." Roger nodded absently then pulled a paper off the desk behind him. "So I've been talking to my lawyer. He says my case isn't completely bulletproof, but we've got enough things working for us. The fact that Tricia's old boyfriend was a drug dealer and that she put him in direct contact with the kids is in our favor."

  "She didn't know he was a drug dealer when she was dating him," Mason said.

  "And the fact that she didn't tell her own family about her children gives me some leeway as well." Roger barreled on as if he hadn't even heard Mason's comment. He looked up at Mason, his icy blue eyes drilling into him. "And your testimony will also be beneficial."

  "That's what I came to talk to you about." He drew in a long, slow breath, forcing himself to hold his boss’s gaze. "I can't do this anymore. I can't testify for you. I won't."

  Roger stared at him, as if Mason was speaking another language.

  "Tricia cares a lot about her children," Mason continued, struggling to keep his voice even. “She's a good mother."

  "But you said she's helping you train the horses. Who's watching the kids when she does that? That doesn't sound too responsible."

  "Zach watches the kids while she's helping me with the horses. Or if she needs extra time.”

  "Why are you defending her? Why are you saying you can't testify for me? You work for me, not them,” Roger snapped.

  And here it came. "I am defending her because I can't do this for you anymore. In fact, I refuse to. Tricia is a good mother, she loves her children dearly. Yes, she has made mistakes in the past, but many of them were made with good intentions. She thought Perry could provide for the kids but when he became verbally abusive, she broke up with him. After that he followed her to a job conference and physically abused her, putting her in the hospital."

  "But does she know for sure he did nothing to my grandchildren?"

  "Tricia would never let anyone do anything to her children," Mason returned. "She is making plans for their future. Plans to take care of them. I can't defend anything you might want to do to take those children away from her."

  Roger's eyes narrowed in anger, his face growing an alarming shade of red. "I sent you down there to do a job. The only reason you got that work was thanks to me. You had a responsibility to me. How dare you turn your back on me now after everything I've done for you and your family? You owe me more than you could ever repay."

  Mason held his boss's gaze, thinking of what his sister had said. Thinking of his own doubts about where his responsibility to his boss was concerned.

  He leaned forward, lacing his fingers together as his mind slipped back to that time when his family thought they would lose everything. The house, the cows, the ranch. Everything. Then Roger came in and rescued them. But something else his sister said had been niggling at him.

  "Why did you bail my father out?" he asked.

  Roger looked momentarily taken aback at the conversational switch but then shrugged. "Your father was a good friend," he said. "I wanted to help him out."

  "But you took on a silent partner, an investor, so you could buy my dad's ranch," Mason said. "And thanks to his hands-off approach, you could keep the ranch and run it as well as your own.”

  "I took advantage of a situation. That's just business." Roger pulled back, glaring at Mason. "You’re not accusing me of anything are you?"

  "Why didn't you tell my father about the investor?" Mason asked. "My father could've been the one to take advantage of a good situation. Why didn't you tell your good friend, my father, about that?"

  Once again, Roger’s eyes narrowed. "I don't think you have any right to question my judgment. Your father wasn't a good manager. His bad choices ran that ranch into the ground. He had no right to even have it in the first place."

  His choice of words caught Mason's attention. "What do you mean, ‘he had no right’?"

  Roger’s only answer was to look away, his jaw clenched. But as Mason watched his boss’s reaction, he felt as if he was peering through a fog, coming closer and closer to what he needed to see.

  "Why did you think my father had no right to it?” he repeated.

  Roger fidgeted, avoiding Mason's eyes. Finally he spoke. "Your mother inherited that ranch from hardworking people, your grandfather and great-grandfather. She could have married someone else, who could have helped expand the holdings, but then your father came along.” He spat out his next words. "He was a nobody. A nothing. Knew nothing about ranching or equipment. She met him in the city, at a football game, of all things. He was working for some oil company. Your mom insisted they move out here and run the ranch. But your father didn't have the first clue or even appreciate what he had received. In so many ways.”

  Roger’s unreasoning anger combined with the peculiar tone in his voice raised even more questions for Mason. It sounded like it wasn’t just the ranch that bothered Roger.

  "Were you attracted to my mother?" he asked, taking a chance. A shot in the dark.

  "She was a beautiful, stunning woman. And your father had no idea what kind of treasure he had gotten." Roger’s hands were curled into fists, and his face was a deep red. "He should've taken better care of her and that ranch. He should never have left her when he did."

  Realization washed over him in a wave of truth. Mason got his answer and, with it, a sudden comprehension of something he had struggled with. His father’s mismanagement of the ranch. He knew his father wasn’t a rancher, but he’d never known it was because of his mother’s insistence that they’d moved to the ranch. What if his father hadn't wanted to?

  However, Roger had no right to say what he did the way he did.

  "Maybe my father could have been a better manager. Like you said, he grew up in the city, knowing nothing about farming. You always told me you were a friend to him. You could've helped him out. Maybe shame wouldn’t have sent him away from us when he lost the ranch."

  Roger was silent.

  "Are you denying what I'm saying?" Mason insisted.

  "You're right, he was never a rancher," Roger said finally. "But he didn't appreciate your mother the way he should have."

  "And like I said, you could've helped him out." Mason got to his feet, regret and anger clawing at him. However, on the ebb of those overwhelming emotions came a sense of freedom.

  He and his family owed this man nothing, just as his sister had said.

  "And I'm telling you right now, you may be the twins’ grandfather,” Mason continued, “but I think you want them because you can't have them. Just like you wanted my mother because you couldn't have her. And I'm not helping you one iota. Those twins belong with Tricia, and they belong with the Tye family. I lost a lot…" His voice almost broke, but he carried on, knowing he had no right to feel sorry for himself. "Tricia is an amazing person. A loving mother, just as loving as my mother was. And that's saying a lot. And you need to know that as of now, I quit. I don’t want to work for you anymore."

  Roger sucked in a deep breath, and Mason braced himself, wondering what was coming. But the man said nothing for a long, drawn-out minute. A clock ticked, marking off the heavy seconds; a breeze outside sent a branch tapping against the window.

  Finally
Roger looked up at him, and the desolation on his face was almost Mason’s undoing.

  "I have nobody," he said finally. "My son is dead. My wife left me years ago." He released a harsh laugh. "You didn't know that, did you? She was as poor a driver as our son, Drew. She died in a car accident as well. As she was leaving me. She left me because she said I cared for someone else. And I did. You are right. I did care for your mother. More than she realized. I think Drew knew that too."

  "Tricia said he told her not to tell you about the kids. That you would take them away. And she was right."

  Mason ignored the flash of pity he felt as Roger began speaking again. “Drew was a selfish, spoiled child. His mother doted on him, and he hated me.” Roger’s voice grew harsh again, as he seemed to go back in time. “He wasted so much of my money. Blew it all. We fought all the time. I know I was hard on him, but I had to be. Tricia isn't the first girl he got pregnant."

  Mason stared at him as Roger nodded slowly, his expression hard. "But Drew convinced that other girl to have an abortion. My own grandchild." Roger curled his hands into fists. "When I found out I told him that if he ever had another child I would find that child and I would not let Drew have one penny. Ever.

  "Drew knew you would try to take them away. He warned Tricia about you just before he died."

  "I didn't really want to take them away. But if she believed even a part of what Drew might have told her about me, she would keep them a secret. I had to do what I could. For me."

  Mason stared down at him. "You might have somebody if for once you could stop thinking about yourself and think about somebody else,” he said finally. “Maybe if you were to go see Tricia and talk to her like the mother of your grandchildren and not like the enemy, you might be surprised how giving she can be."

  Roger clutched the armrests of his chair. "Too late for that. And much as I hate to do it, I accept your resignation.” His voice wavered, and Mason was shocked to see a tear drift down his cheek. "Just go now.”

  Mason knew his ex-boss wanted to be alone. But as he walked out of that perfect house, his feet echoing in the emptiness, despite his anger with Roger, he couldn't help a flicker of sympathy for the man.