Jenny (8 page)

Cole could only hope the lawyer and banker could
talk some sense into her tomorrow and make her see
that it was pointless for her to stay around and try to
run the Lazy S.The easiest thing for her to do would
be to let him buy her out. He would pay her a fair
price, and then she would be free to go on her way and do whatever she wanted to do. If only she would
listen to reason.

Paul had once told him that his daughter was as
stubborn and headstrong as he was, and Cole was
finding out for a second time just how right his friend
had been. He had wanted her out of sight and out of
mind, but it was obvious that she wasn't going to
cooperate with what he wanted.

As always, Jenny was going to do exactly what she
wanted to do when she wanted to do it.

Cole's irritation grew as he thought about her. He
hadn't thought it possible, but Jenny was even prettier
now than she had been two years before. She'd been
lovely then, but she was even more beautiful now. He
had been in love with her for some time before he'd
finally proposed. He'd waited until she was old
enough to marry, and he'd been thrilled when she'd
said yes. He had played the perfect gentleman-never
letting on how much he desired her. There had been
any number of occasions when he'd been tempted to
do more than just give her a chaste kiss, but he'd
controlled himself He had always respected and honored her, for he had wanted their wedding night to be
special for them.

Cole's mouth twisted bitterly at the thought of their
wedding night.

It had been special all right especially painful.

Cole vaguely recalled all those hours he'd spent
drinking at the High Time. He had thought he would
be making love to Jenny that night, not downing a large portion of a bottle of whiskey all by himself at
a saloon.

He had thought Jenny loved him as much as he
loved her.

He had thought they would have a wonderful life
together.

He'd been wrong.

Cole had sworn he was never going to make a mistake like that again. It didn't matter how beautiful a
woman was or how much he wanted her, he was
never going to let himself care about anyone the way
he'd cared for Jenny. He'd learned the lesson the hard
way, and it was a lesson he would never forget.

When the main house at the Branding Iron came
into view, Cole was glad. His fury had subsided some,
but he still felt in need of a drink. Things were not
going to get any easier for him until the future of the
Lazy S had been resolved. He could only hope Marsden would convince Jenny that the smart thing for her
to do was to sell out to him.

Cole let himself into the house and poured himself
a whiskey. He savored the liquor as he thought about
the days to come. As much as he tried not to think
about it, he couldn't help wondering how he would
manage if Jenny really did stay on.

His worries would not be dismissed as he retired
that night. What sleep he managed to get was restless.

Morning found Cole up early. He took care of his
own ranch business and then got ready to ride to Durango. His lack of sleep had not helped his mood, and he doubted that it was going to improve any until the
meeting with the lawyer and Jenny was over.

Jenny dressed sedately as she prepared for her trip
into town the following day.

"You look lovely, dear," Evelyn told her when she
came downstairs. "Are you sure you don't want me
or one of the hands to ride into town with you?"

"There's no need," Jenny said, knowing that her
aunt must be exhausted from all the traveling they'd
done.

"Are you sure?"

"It's an easy ride. I'll be fine," Jenny said.

In truth, she selfishly wanted some time alone just
to think about all that had happened. She needed to
plan how she was going to handle things. It was plain
to see that a lot of work needed to be done around
the ranch, and she was ready to get started once this
meeting with the lawyer had been taken care of.

Evelyn waved from the front porch as Jenny drove
off in the buckboard. The prospect of seeing Cole
again did not improve Jenny's mood, but there was
no way out of it.

The ride into town passed quickly, and Jenny
girded herself for what was to come as she entered
the lawyer's office. As she'd expected, Cole was already there when Andrew Marsden ushered her into
his inner office. What surprised her was not only the
presence of Judge Harold Lawson, but also the town's
most prestigious banker, Lyle Stevens. A short time later, she understood all too clearly why the banker
was also in attendance.

"But you can't be serious!" Jenny exclaimed.

Her expression was one of complete disbelief as
she looked from Andrew Marsden to Lyle Stevens
and then over at Judge Lawson, who was there to
oversee the reading of the will. Lyle Stevens had just
given her devastating news, and though she wanted
to deny it, from the looks on their faces, she knew it
was true.

"I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you these
things, Jenny," Lyle Stevens said.

"But my father was too good a businessman to
have let this happen!"

"I'm afraid it's all true," Andrew Marsden said.
He'd known this moment was coming and, as much
as he regretted having to give her bad news, there
was no way to avoid it.

"My father would never have let things get in this
condition," she insisted.

"Miss Sullivan, it's true your father was very astute
in his business dealings, but the trouble on the Lazy
S all started with the blizzard we had winter before
last," Lyle Stevens explained. "Ask Cole, here. He
can tell you how bad things were. The Lazy S lost a
large part of its herd. Cole had been working with
your father for over a year now, trying to help him
rebuild the stock."

Jenny was aghast at what she'd just learned. Why
hadn't her father ever told her any of this? Why hadn't he let her know that the Lazy S was in dire
financial straits? She was hurt that he hadn't confided
in her. She could have quit school and come home to
help him! Instead, from what they'd just explained to
her, he had borrowed heavily from the bank to keep
things going. It seemed that Cole, not she, had been
there to help her father after the hard times had befallen him hard times that she'd known nothing
about!

"And then your father reported to me that several
times a number of head disappeared."

"You mean there was rustling going on?" Jenny
asked, even more shocked by this bad news. Why
hadn't her father ever told her? She wondered if they
had anything positive to tell her.

"It's been widespread. A number of ranches were
hit, mine included," Cole put in.

"Do you have any idea who's behind it?"

"No. There was talk for a while of hiring a range
detective, but the losses let up, so nothing was done,"
Cole explained.

Jenny looked back over at the banker, trying her
best not to let her distress show.

"How much money is available?" she asked, trying
to figure out how much time she had to turn things
around.

Lyle Stevens went into detail with her. He showed
her the books and explained all of the transactions
that had taken place.

Cole listened closely, too, as they went over all the facts and figures. As executor, the Lazy S would be
his responsibility, and he needed to know all that was
going on.

"So what you're telling me is that, basically, I have
only enough money to keep the ranch going for four
more months," Jenny said quietly.

She frowned as she considered the seriousness of
her situation. Things did not look good. The possibility of taking Cole up on his offer to buy the ranch
flitted through her thoughts, but she immediately dismissed it.

"If you're lucky and nothing unexpected happens,
yes," Lyle answered honestly.

"Cole's offer for the ranch is a substantial one and
quite fair. It would be enough to pay off your debts
and see you comfortably settled with an inheritance
in the bank to live on," Marsden put in, trying to
encourage her to take that course of action. He knew
what a hard job it would be to bring the ranch back
to its former glory. Paul had been having a terrible
time trying to recoup his losses. Marsden could just
imagine how difficult it was going to be for Jenny.

Jenny looked up at the lawyer, her expression determined and a bit mutinous.

"I'm not going to sell the ranch," she declared with
finality. "It meant too much to my father, and it means
too much to me."

The lawyer and the banker exchanged concerned
looks, while Judge Lawson counseled her.

"Miss Sullivan," Lawson began, "I understand that this bad news about the state of your finances is upsetting to you right now, but it's important that you
make your decisions based on sound logic and hard
facts, not just emotion. I would hate for you to ultimately lose everything because you wouldn't listen to
reason."

Jenny rose to her feet, glaring at him. "So would
I, Judge Lawson, but I have no intention of selling
out and running away from my responsibility."

Cole was startled by her fierce determination to
stay. She'd thought nothing of packing up and running away from him on their wedding day. He'd expected her to do the same now-pack up and get out
of town as soon as she'd heard the truth about the
state of her finances.

"But restoring the ranch will be a monumental
task," Marsden cautioned her. "Your father hadn't
been certain that he could bring the Lazy S back.
We've shown you what bad shape it's in. If your father had serious doubts, what makes you think that
you can do it?"

She gave a stubborn lift of her chin as she leveled
a serious gaze upon the lawyer. "The Lazy S is my
father's legacy to me. I owe it to him to do everything
I can to make sure the ranch is a success."

"While I admire your spirit, Miss Sullivan-" the
judge began.

"I'm sure Cole will work with me and help me do
whatever is necessary to make the ranch pay again,"
she interrupted, looking at Cole. "After all, he is the executor and has been entrusted with the job of making sure everything in my father's estate is handled
properly until I'm twenty-five, isn't that right?" She
deliberately didn't mention the "or married" part in
her father's will.

Marsden, Stevens, and Judge Lawson all looked
expectantly at Cole.

"Cole?" Marsden asked, waiting to see what he had
to say about her decision.

Cole had been listening to the exchange in silence.
He glanced up at Jenny, who stood proudly and defiantly next to him.

"Are you absolutely certain that you don't want to
sell out and go back East?"

"Why does everybody keep asking me if I want to
sell? I'm not going to run away from my responsibilities here."

"If things get tough, you're not going to just up
and disappear?" Cole pressed. He felt a bit of shame
over the satisfaction he got when he saw her flinch at
his words.

"I'm not going anywhere," she declared.

After a moment, Cole gave a terse nod. "If this is
what Jenny wants to do, then we'll do it."

"But, Cole-Paul was having one hell of a Excuse me, Jenny Paul was having a lot of trouble
making ends meet. If he couldn't keep things running
smoothly at the Lazy S, how is one woman going
to-"

Cole silenced him with a sharp look. "I'll work with Jenny to see that everything is handled properly,
and that all debts are paid in a timely manner."

"You are the executor of the estate, Cole. As such,
you're in charge. Whatever you say goes." Judge
Lawson then looked at Jenny and directed his next
comments to her. "You should report to Cole directly.
He is the authority on Lazy S business."

"If that's the way my father wanted it, then that
will be fine," she agreed with less than enthusiasm.

It bothered Jenny greatly that she was indebted to
Cole for the help he'd given her father. She'd had no
idea that Cole and her father had remained such good
friends after the canceled wedding. There was no
doubt that Cole had little use for her. Establishing and
maintaining any kind of relationship with him would
not be easy for her, and she was certain that he felt
the same way. She would have to do her best to keep
any contact with Cole to an absolute minimum.

"Good," Marsden stated.

"Things will remain as they are, then. If any problems arise, just notify me." Judge Lawson turned and
spoke directly to Cole next. "And, Cole, you will be
diligent in performing all the duties appointed to
you?"

"I will," he told the judge.

"I will expect a report from you regularly."

"Yes, sir."

"I guess we're finished here for now, unless you
have any more questions, Miss Sullivan?" Marsden
announced.

"I think everything is settled," she said.

As Lawson and Marsden walked with Stevens into
the outer office, Jenny and Cole were left alone.

Jenny felt victorious. She had stood her ground
against these men, refusing to sell to Cole when it
would have been the easy way out. She knew her
father would have been proud of her. The Lazy S was
too important to be cast aside. There was too much
of her father in the ranch. She loved it, and she was
going to bring it back to its former glory.

"Is there anything you need from me?" Jenny asked
Cole.

"Not a thing," he answered coldly, and he meant it
as he rose to leave. There had been a time when he
had needed and wanted a lot from her, but not anymore.

For some reason, Cole's response bothered Jenny,
but she wasn't about to let him know it. She nodded
and started from the office.

"Fine. I'll be going. I'll let you know if I incur any
major expenses. With Louie there to help me run
things, everything should be all right."

Cole watched her as she turned her back on him
and, without another word, walked away. Something
about the proud way she carried herself impressed
him, in spite of himself. He didn't want to be impressed by her. He didn't want to feel anything for
her, but he did begrudgingly admire her determination
to try to save the ranch.