Boots and the Heartbreaker: Ugly Stick Saloon, Book 11 (8 page)

Chapter Eight

“Angus! Brody! Mom!” Colin yelled as he stomped through the house. Where was everyone?

The kitchen was empty, dishes were put away and the smell of bacon lingered in the air.

A note on the refrigerator explained.
Gone to church.

They wouldn’t be back until after noon, which meant Colin wouldn’t have any answers until then. With too much pent up energy, too many unanswered questions, Colin couldn’t sit around and twiddle his thumbs.

He changed into work clothes and hit the barn where he mucked every stall, fed and watered the animals and still had an hour and a half until noon.

Saddling his buckskin gelding, he rode out across the pastures, hoping the wind in his hair would blow the concerns and feelings of betrayal out of his head. He’d thought what had happened between him and Fancy last night had changed everything.

He’d even begun to think she might come around to believing in a future with him. Then wham! That text message, his mother’s threat coming true and him hopelessly in love with the woman who’d keep something like losing the family ranch from him.

No matter how hard he rode, the words on that text circled around and around in his mind. The implication settling heavy in his heart. He turned the horse around and headed back to the ranch. Maybe his mother had some documents in the house that would clear up the confusion.

Back at the barn, he quickly stowed the saddle, blanket and bridle and brushed the horse. He settled the gelding in his stall, gave him an extra bucket of feed and then headed to the house and into the ranch office. He searched through drawers, file cabinets and boxes and found nothing that indicated any sale of property. But he did find an envelope from a local attorney. The seal had been broken, so he pulled the letter out and read.

Thank you for your inquiry into the legal transfer of property. We would be happy to assist you in your endeavors. For a personal consultation, please schedule a meeting at your earliest convenience.

Colin’s head spun and his stomach clenched. Legal transfer? Holy hell, what was his mother doing? And how was Fancy helping? Was Carl Landers behind all of this? Had he convinced their mother to sell so he could get his hands on the cash? Colin didn’t want to believe Fancy could be involved in a scam like that. But the man was her uncle.

He showered and changed into clean clothes and checked the clock. Twenty minutes until noon. Exactly the amount of time it took to get from the ranch to the diner in Temptation. He’d confront his mother and Fancy at the same time. Nothing like killing two birds with one stone. His only regret was that it would be in public.

“Church got out early, today.” Mrs. M smiled at Fancy. “Thank you for coming earlier.”

“You’re welcome. I’m glad I can help with the plans.” Fancy stared down at the designs and samples she’d brought with her, her heart not at all into the conversation. But Mrs. M had insisted on helping and she was doing it as a favor to her Uncle Carl.

When Mrs. M offered to assist, Fancy was glad to let the older woman dig in and come up with the best alternatives to satisfy her uncle.

After Colin’s hasty departure that morning, Fancy couldn’t concentrate on anything. Nothing made sense, especially one moody McFarlan who’d seemed to be as infatuated with her as she’d been with him last night and early this morning. She’d gone over and over everything that had happened and couldn’t identify anything she could have done that he might have misconstrued.

Mrs. M reached across the table at PJ’s Diner and laid her hand over Fancy’s. “What’s wrong, dear? You look sad.”

For a long moment, Fancy stared at the older woman’s hand on hers. She was like the mother Fancy had lost too early in life. And she really needed someone to talk to. But she was Colin’s mother.

She sighed for the hundredth time. “Why would a man shower you with attention one minute and run away from you the next?”

“Sometimes men show you what you want to see until they get what they want. Then their real nature comes out.” Mrs. M’s brows puckered. “You were with Colin last night at the fair.” Her eyes widened and she bit her lip. “Has my son said or done anything to hurt your feelings?”

Fancy shook her head and looked away as her eyes filled with tears she’d been holding back all morning. “I thought we had something going.” She sniffed. “Then he left. No, he practically ran out the door.” She raised her hands and stared across at the older woman through the tears. “What’s wrong with me?”

“Honey, there’s nothing wrong with you. You’re beautiful inside and out. The question is what’s wrong with that thickheaded son of mine?”

“Oh, Mrs. M, don’t tell him I said anything. Please.” Fancy dabbed at the tears on her cheeks. “Rejection is bad enough without the embarrassment of asking why.”

“Are you sure he rejected you?”

“One minute he was totally into me. The next he was running out the door, claiming he had an emergency on a job site.”

“He’s been known to have emergencies on a job site.”

“I know where his job sites are. I drove by. Nobody is working today.” Her bottom lip trembled and she bit it to make it stop.

“I’m sorry, sweetie. I don’t know what’s gotten into his head. Maybe he got cold feet at the last minute. I’ve been pressuring the boys lately to get on with their lives. This could all be my fault.”

Fancy gave Mrs. M a weak smile and patted her hand. “You didn’t make him lie.”

The older woman frowned. “I taught him better than that.”

“Exactly.” Fancy sat up straighter, brushing the moisture from her cheeks. “And I’ll just have to get over it.”

“Sorry I’m late.” Uncle Carl slipped into the booth beside Maggie and kissed her cheek. “How are my two favorite girls?”

Maggie blushed. “I haven’t been a girl for over forty years.”

“You’ll always be the prettiest girl in the state of Texas to me.” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “When are you going to marry me and make me the happiest man alive?”

Both “girls” gasped.

“Carl, is that your idea of a proposal?”

“Well, it kind of slipped out. I’ve been waiting for the right time, but the right time seems to be now. I’ve waited for over thirty years, please tell me you won’t make me wait longer.”

Maggie opened her mouth to respond when another voice interrupted.

“Mom, what the hell’s going on?”

Fancy turned to find Colin striding across the floor to stand at the end of their table.

Mrs. M frowned at her son. “Colin, that was rude to interrupt.”

“I want to know what’s going on. I believe I have every right to know.”

His mother glared at him. “Until you approach me in a reasonable tone of voice with a reference to what you’re talking about, I have nothing to say.”

“Colin, perhaps you could wait until your mother is home to question her,” Uncle Carl suggested calmly.

Colin grabbed Carl by the front of his shirt and yanked him to his feet. “If you had kept out of our business and lives, none of this would be happening.”

“Colin McFarlan, let go of Carl,” his mother said. “If you’re talking about the ultimatum, that’s all my doing and I’m done talking about it.”

Colin released Carl and planted his hands on the table. “I know what you’re doing, Mom. And I know why you and Fancy have been meeting secretly.”

“We haven’t been meeting secretly. We’ve had lunch a few times here at the diner. Since when do you care what I do in my spare time?”

“Since you’ve contacted a lawyer and realtor to sell the Rafter M.”

“What?” Three voices said the same word at once.

Colin stared from his mother to Carl, his gaze finally landing on Fancy. “You aren’t helping Mom list the ranch?”

She crossed her arms, her brows drawn together. “No, I most certainly am not.”

He turned to his mother, her face stormy. “And you’re not getting with a lawyer to sell the ranch?”

“I’m getting with a lawyer, but not to sell the ranch.”

Colin faced Carl, frowning. “Are you dating my mother to get your hands on the ranch? Because, if you break her heart, I’ll be the first in line to rip you apart.”

Carl laughed. “Your brothers being the rest of the line?”

“Damn right.” Colin bunched his fists, waiting for the man’s answer.

His mother slid out of the booth and stood beside Carl. “Carl suggested I hire an attorney to transfer the property into a trust.” She paused and added, “In my sons’ names. I haven’t made up my mind.”

“I don’t want your ranch, Colin.” Carl drew Colin’s mother into his arms. “All I want is your mother. The woman I’ve loved since she was a girl in pigtails.”

His mother’s look reflected disappointment in her son. “Carl has more money than everyone in the tri-county area…put together. He doesn’t want or need our ranch. I was helping him with the designs and remodeling of his home. Those were the plans I was working on with Fancy.”

Colin wanted to hold onto his anger, but he couldn’t. All his theories had been debunked. His mother would forgive him, and so would Carl to appease his mother.

Fancy was another story all together. Her jaw was set and her lips were pressed into a firm line. “Is that why you ran out on me this morning?”

Colin confessed, “Your cell phone went off with a text from my mother. I happened to see it.”

“First of all, you had no right to read my texts.”

“I know.” Now he wished he’d followed his original instinct and not read the message. Only hindsight was that clear.

“Secondly, how could you believe I’d be so underhanded? Your mother has every right to do with the ranch what she wants, but I wouldn’t have taken the listing unless I could tell you what was happening. I believe a relationship won’t last until both parties can be open and honest with each other.” Her voice broke and her bottom lip trembled.

Colin had screwed up, royally. “Fancy—”

“You should have asked.” Her eyes filled. When he reached for her, she pushed past him and ran for the door.

“Fancy,” he called out.

“Colin, she’d not going to listen to you now,” his mother said behind him. “Go home. We’ll talk when I get there.”

He strode for the exit. “I have to do something.”

“Trust me, Colin,” Carl said. “You have to give Fancy time.”

Colin turned back to the older couple. “I screwed up.”

“Yes, you did.” His mother held Carl’s hand, her chin titled upward. “Call your brothers, tell them to meet me at the house. I have an announcement to make and I want all three of you there to hear it.”

Carl lifted Maggie’s hands and held them to his lips. “We’ll talk later.”

Colin’s mother nodded.

Colin stood by, helpless to make things right. The best he could do was notify his brothers their mother wanted to see them. “Mom, I’ll be at the house.”

As soon as he stepped out of the diner, he dialed Brody’s number, gave him the news and then dialed Angus. The men agreed to be at the house in an hour. Both wanted to know what was happening.

Colin didn’t know, but he suspected his mother had come to a decision about the ranch. For their sakes, he hoped what had happened between him, Carl, Fancy and his mother hadn’t destroyed his brothers’ chances to keep the Rafter M.

Fancy could barely see through the tears in her eyes to drive back to her house, but she managed. Thankfully, traffic wasn’t heavy in Temptation. She entered and went straight to her bedroom where she yanked luggage out of the closet. One by one, she emptied the drawers of her dresser into the suitcases. When one was full, she filled another with the clothes in her closet.

She’d headed for the bathroom when she caught sight of BOB on her nightstand. The tears she’d barely held in check burst like water through a broken dam, spilling onto her cheeks. The sobs rose up her throat and wracked her body with the force of her heart breaking.

Fancy fell across the bed and curled into a fetal position, crying like she had when Colin had left her the first time.

“Fancy?” a voice called out from the front of the house. “Fancy, it’s me, your Uncle Carl.”

“I don’t want to talk to anyone,” she said, her voice muffled in the pillow.

“Too bad. I’m coming in as long as you’re decent.”

She hugged the pillow to her chest and buried her face in it, the tears coming in another wave of misery.

“Oh, sweetheart.” He sat on the edge of the bed and patted her back. “He’s a man. Speaking from experience, we make stupid mistakes.”

“I made the mistake,” Fancy said. “I came back to Temptation to get Colin out of my system, and it backfired on me.” She laughed, the sound catching on a hiccupping sob. Fancy sat up, resting her back against the padded headboard. “Joke’s on me.”

“Aren’t we a pair?” Uncle Carl leaned back against the headboard next to her and sighed. “I came back to Temptation to get Maggie back in my life. All I’ve done is cause a rift between her and her sons.”

“That’s their problem. Those McFarlan men are all grown up. They’ll get over it when they see how much you love her, and she loves you.”

“I don’t know.” He shook his head. “I’m thinking I might have jumped the gun and pushed too hard, too fast.”

“Don’t give up, like me.”

“You’re giving up?”

Fancy flung out her hand. “What good does it do to stay here? He doesn’t trust me, or my family. He thought we were taking advantage of his mother! I can’t stay in Temptation. Though I admire that he wanted to protect his mother, I can’t be near him when he has no respect for me. I had hoped being here would help me let go. Well, maybe it has. But I can’t stay. Every time I’m near him, I would think of what could have been. It would kill me to see him moving on with his life with another woman.”

Uncle Carl captured her hand. “I understand. I think we need to pack up and move back to Dallas.”

“We?” She squeezed his hand. “This isn’t about you and me. Just because I’m leaving doesn’t mean you have to as well.”

‘“I can’t stay when my presence is ripping Maggie’s family apart.” He gave her a tight smile. “But I need you to draw up the paperwork to transfer the title of my house and property to Maggie. I wanted her to help design the renovations because I’d hope to share the house with her. Now it’ll have too much of her in it for me to live there without her. Let her have the house.”