The Reluctant Texas Rancher (Harlequin American Romance) (14 page)

“Well?” Travis said, as soon as she had finished. He sent her a curious glance.

Liz leaned back in her seat, liking the confident, careful way he drove. They had been thrown together a lot recently and there was no doubt he was nice company.

Liz rubbed at a spot of dried blood and mud on her jeans, from getting the injured goat bandaged and loaded in the hauler for transport. “Apparently, Queenie’s been sold several times. But she’s always had to be returned.”

Travis picked up speed as they hit the open road. The headlight beams illuminated the dark countryside, while light from the dash filled the cab with an intimate glow. “That would have been nice to know beforehand.”

“No kidding.” Liz admired the firm line of his jaw, the sculpted shape of his lips. Though she wanted nothing more than to have him pull over and make out with her again, she kept the talk focused on business. “The breeders have agreed to take Queenie back and replace her with a more docile female.”

Travis turned the pickup onto the ranch road and drove beneath the Four Winds sign toward the house. “Which means the fight for top spot will begin all over again.”

“Um-hmm. The question is why does the process have to be so rough and ugly?”

He shrugged. “Why do a lot of things have to be rough and ugly?”

There was no answer, Liz knew. But her thoughts drifted, focusing again on what Kurt had said in reference to Queenie.

Maybe she’s a bully and entertains herself by pushing others around. Maybe she just likes to be dominant. Or to fight and win. Whatever the reason, you’ve got a problem here, because it may not be in her nature to behave any differently....

And then it hit Liz like a lightning bolt. There was a pattern of behavior to be found that could win their case! She had just been looking in the wrong place....

When Travis cut the engine, she vaulted out of the truck, eager to get to work.

“What’s going on?” he asked, circling around to join her.

Leery of speaking too soon and raising his hopes, only to dash them again, Liz only said, “I have a lot more to do to prepare for the deposition. So if you wouldn’t mind…can we call it a night?”

“
W
HAT
DO
YOU
MEAN
, Liz is gone?” Travis asked early the next morning.

Tillie looked up from her breakfast. “She left last night, right after you got back from the vet. I assumed you knew.”

He hadn’t. But then, he’d been stuck at the homestead. Alone. “Did she say where she was going?” he asked casually as he walked over to pour himself a cup of coffee.

“Houston.” Faye Elizabeth handed him a plate. “She had some things to do before the deposition on Saturday morning. She said she was going to meet up with you there. Is that not the plan?”

It was now. Irked, because it seemed as if his life was spiraling out of control again. Travis coolly played along.

“I’ll be joining Liz in Houston this evening,” he told the women as he poured maple syrup on his hotcakes. “First, however, I need to pick up Buck at the vet and then return Queenie to the goat farm where you-all got her—and select a replacement.”

“What about the guard donkeys?” Faye Elizabeth set a large glass of milk in front of Travis.

“We can’t purchase any until Liz has a chance to look at them,” Reba said, “but not to worry. The goats’ll be fine in the barn and pasture until Liz gets back.”

The question was, would Travis be fine, if Liz kept shutting him out this way? He’d thought she was starting to let him near. Maybe not.

He forced himself to focus on the business at hand. “If you want, I can arrange for a hired hand from the Double Deal to fill in during our absence.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Reba said. “We Cartwright women are used to handling things without a male presence. We do just fine without a man around.”

“Maybe that should change,” Faye Elizabeth interjected.

Everyone turned to look at her. “Are you talking about me or Liz?” Reba asked in a curt voice. “Because there’s nothing but friendship between me and J.T. Nor will there ever be. I’m too independent and he’s too in love with his late wife for that.”

“She was talking about Liz,” Tillie interjected. “And her future.” She frowned at Reba. “And don’t go spouting off about how all my great-granddaughter needs is a baby, not a man. Because a baby alone will never make our Lizzie happy. She needs the whole shebang.” The wise matriarch turned to give Travis a long, contemplative look. “And I think we know just the man to give it to her....”

The Cartwright women were expecting a lot from him, Travis thought, as he headed out to get Queenie for her trip back to the goat farm. The funny thing was, he was beginning to want to give a lot, too.

He knew Liz was focused on the malpractice charges against him. That she wanted not only to avoid going to court, but to win.

He wanted that, too.

More than that, he wanted for it all to be over, so they could move forward. No longer be client and attorney—or ranch hand and reluctant lady rancher—but simply a man and woman destined to be together.

But in order to get there, he had to finish up his chores, see the Cartwright ladies were settled, and then head to Houston himself.

Unfortunately, nothing went as planned.

Queenie fought like hell, and he had a devil of a time getting her loaded up in the trailer.

The goat farm owners tried to give him another less than ideal animal in exchange for her, so he’d had to insist he look at all the females and go over their health and ownership histories.

Finally satisfied he had a good goat to take back to the ranch, Travis headed for town.

Buck was ready to go, but still groggy from the sedatives he’d been given the night before. The ride back to the ranch made him nauseated. What he did to the inside of the livestock hauler was not pretty, or fun to clean up.

Three more calves had been born, and Travis had to help Reba tend to them.

By then it was almost nightfall.

Worried how the women would fare in his absence, he ignored their protests and called over to the Double Deal, arranging for one hired hand to come during the day and another to be on standby at night.

After he phoned Liz to let her know he was on his way, he showered and packed, loaded his pickup and then headed for Houston.

It was nearly midnight by the time he arrived at the hotel where she had made reservations for both of them.

Instead of the warm welcome he expected, he found a message from Liz waiting for him at the front desk telling him she was still working hard gathering background information for the deposition, and instructing him to get a good night’s sleep. She would meet him at the Starbucks across the street from the downtown offices of Haverty, Brockman & Roberts at 10:00 a.m. the next day.

Piqued that he hadn’t received anything but the briefest of text messages since she had left, he carried his bags to his room. What the hell did any of this mean?

Was her prep going badly? Was she afraid to face him, because she thought they were going to lose? Had she discovered something that would exonerate him? And if so, why wasn’t she telling him what it was?

And worst of all, why did he suddenly feel no more important to her than any other client?

Chapter Fourteen

Travis was at the Starbucks, sipping coffee and wondering if Liz was really going to show up, when the Town Car pulled up at the curb. The uniformed driver hopped out to get the door and Liz stepped out, looking gorgeous in a trim black suit and heels. Travis’s heart dropped. He had missed her. And he was ticked off, too, about the way she had shut him out of whatever it was that had been going on with his case.

He understood why, of course. She was trying to keep a professional distance and focus on the deposition, which would be hard to do if she was lying wrapped in his arms. In his bed.

Still, it would have been nice to know where she’d been and what she’d been doing in the last thirty-six hours.

“Since when did you start riding around in a Town Car?” he asked, doing his best not to sound irked. The only person he knew who did that was his grandfather Hargett.

Liz bent her head, rummaging through her purse. She handed the driver a tip—which he refused.

Another clue that maybe the limo hadn’t been her idea?

“The last few days,” Liz murmured, distracted, putting the money back into her handbag. “It was just easier.”

The driver smiled and got into the vehicle.

Resisting the primal urge to haul her into his arms and kiss her senseless, Travis slid his hands into the pockets of his suit pants. Liz was wearing understated gold jewelry, something else she never did. Her auburn hair looked pretty in the sunlight, even twisted into a sophisticated, all-business knot at the nape of her neck.

If he didn’t know better, he would think she still lived and worked in the city.

And that made him wonder what possibilities there were for them, once his legal troubles were behind him.

Would they have unlimited options?

It depended on whatever tactics she had developed—without his knowledge.

Irritation tugged at him once again.

Focusing on the matter at hand, he asked, “Having a driver made it easier to do what?”

Liz waved at the chauffeur as he pulled away from the curb. “Get around town.”

This had his grandfather’s fingerprints all over it. “Doing…?” Travis prodded.

Liz did an about face and headed for the corner. She pressed the button at the crosswalk, then waited. “There’s no time to go into it.”

The light changed and they took off across the street. Travis leaned down to speak into her ear. “So you’re not going to tell me what the game plan is. You just expect me to go into the deposition blind....”

Liz reached the other side and moved out of the way of other pedestrians. Standing against the building, she tipped up her head and, her emerald eyes serious, promised, “I’ll explain everything later, in great detail. Right now it’s better for both of us if we keep our emotions out of it.”

Which meant what…she cared about him too much, or not at all?

No telling from the brisk, purposeful expression on her face.

More silence stretched between them.

She was waiting for his reaction. To see if he would give her the credit she wanted.

“I trust you,” he said finally, realizing it was true. As much as he hated being left in the dark, he didn’t think she would leave him hanging out to dry.

She kept her guard up. “Good,” she said in a businesslike tone.

They walked into the building where he had once worked and took the elevator up to the twenty-sixth floor. Carol, at reception, started to smile, then stopped, uncertain, when she saw him.

Travis knew exactly how she felt.

He didn’t know how to feel about being here again, except…confused. Part of him wanted the redemption he deserved. The other just wanted to get the hell away. Close this disappointing, tumultuous chapter of his life. And never look back.

Avoiding his eyes, the receptionist directed them where to go. Liz and Travis continued down the hall together. Knowing she had to keep in the game, Travis kept his distance. Liz had her head held high.

The firm partners and Olympia Herndon were waiting in the conference room, videotaping equipment and stenographer at the ready. Haverty, Brockman and Roberts all rose as Liz took her place at the table. Greetings were issued and returned, hands shaken.

“Shall we get down to it?” opposing counsel said.

Liz opened up her briefcase, her confidence apparent. “Absolutely.”

“I want to be deposed first,” Olympia announced.

In a white, silk wrap-dress and diamonds, her platinum-blond hair flowing loose around her shoulders, she looked like the pampered Southern heiress she was.

All eyes cut to Liz. She simply nodded in acquiescence, her expression giving nothing away.

Olympia sat back in her chair, crossing her legs at the knee. “Ask me anything you want about my affair with Travis Anderson.” She drew a deep breath. “I’ll be happy to tell you how Travis Anderson pressured me into sleeping with him. And then signing on with his firm, as his client.” Her eyes glittered vindictively as she continued putting her talent for lying to use. “How after I broke up with him, he did everything he could to chase Digger Dobbs, the exceptionally talented wildcatter I was after, away.”

“Actually, I’d prefer to start with your history with Herndon Oil,” Liz said, looking down at the notes in front of her. Her attitude was as exacting—and professionally detached—as her tone. “How long have you been working for the family business?”

Olympia lifted a hand and fluffed the back of her hair. “Since I was fifteen.”

“In an executive capacity,” Liz clarified with an encouraging smile.

Her quarry shrugged. “Since I graduated from college. I guess I was about twenty-two.”

“What was your relationship with Perry Dillon?”

Olympia went still. She shook her head, feigning confusion. “I’m sorry.
Who?
”

“He was an executive assistant for your uncle James.”

She made a disinterested face. “If you say so.”

Liz accepted that and turned the page. Her eyes were riveted on the print in front of her. “What was your relationship with Sam Calvert?”

Everyone in the room tensed.

Olympia’s expression went bland. “He was a field geologist. I received reports from him.”

Liz made a note on the page in front of her. “On or off site?”

Olympia sat back in her chair, beginning to look resentful. “Both.”

“And Allen Mullen?”

“He was an accountant.”

“He conducted audits for Herndon Oil,” Liz confirmed.

“Yes.”

“And for a while he reported directly to you?”

Again Olympia hesitated. “Yes.”

Liz turned another page, her expression matter-of-fact. “And all three of these gentlemen quit the company, did they not?”

Olympia fixed Liz with a killer glare. “If you say so.”

“With rather large severance packages.” Liz looked up, steady as a rock. “Is that correct?”

Olympia examined her manicure and toyed with the diamond on her right hand. “You’d have to talk to human resources....”

“Or perhaps just Perry Dillon, Sam Calvert and Allen Mullen,” Liz suggested.

At that, Olympia paled.

Brockman Sr. leaned forward in his chair. “I don’t know what’s going on here.”

But
his
lawyer did, Travis noted proudly.

Liz narrowed her eyes. “It would seem that what all three of these gentlemen have in common is that they all had sexual relations with Ms. Herndon. And when all three of their relationships with Ms. Herndon ended, abruptly and at her request, they found their careers in jeopardy. But not before each and every one of them did something to help Ms. Herndon advance her own agenda.”

Olympia leaned forward, knowing, as did everyone in the room, that she had already lost. “You can’t prove anything,” she fumed.

Triumphant, Liz turned yet another page in her notebook. “Unfortunately for you, Ms. Herndon,” she said in the deathly quiet that filled the room, “I can and have.”

“
H
OW
DID
YOU
KNOW
where to look?” Travis asked Liz, when they got back to the hotel. No doubt about it, she had done a stellar job, better than he ever could have imagined, in bringing the campaign against him to a screeching halt.

Liz slipped off her heels and walked in her stockinged feet to the minibar. She opened it and pulled out two bottles of Texas-brewed beer. “The goats, believe it or not.”

Travis thought about that as he twisted the top off the bottles and handed one back to her. “Queenie. Her sense of entitlement.”

Liz found a glass and poured the golden liquid into it, being careful not to stir up too much foam. “The breeders said she apparently didn’t know any other way to behave, no matter what situation they put her in.” Liz set the half-empty bottle down and took a sip from her glass. “That led me to think about the fact that Olympia was an heiress.”

Travis opened up the small fridge and rummaged around, bringing out a packet of mixed nuts and a bag of corn chips. He dropped them on the bed, took off his jacket and loosened his tie. “She certainly had a sense of entitlement.”

“And power, both within the family company and her personal life.” Liz sat down on the mattress. She set her glass on the nightstand and opened the chips. “Olympia used both to get what she wanted. I knew, given her age and the smooth but calculated way she operated, that it couldn’t have been the first time she used a man to get what she wanted.” Liz munched on a few chips and offered him some.

Their fingertips brushed as he accepted.

She let out a little sigh—the kind that made him want to haul her into his arms and kiss her—and continued her recitation. “So I knew, if Olympia wasn’t exploiting her other attorneys, then she was definitely employing that same methodology somewhere else. Within her family company, where she quickly rose to power, was the logical place to look.”

“Which is when you went to my grandfather, Hargett,” Travis guessed, sitting down beside her.

Liz flushed.

Guilty as charged,
he thought.

She reached for her glass, took another sip. “I know I should have talked to you about that first…”

Travis paused, bottle halfway to his lips. He set it back down on his thigh. “Why didn’t you?” Hurt warred with the resentment within him.

Liz boldly met his gaze. “Because you would have argued with me and insisted it wasn’t necessary—and we were running out of time.”

Travis thought of how long they’d spent apart. Unnecessarily, in his view. “We could have asked for an extension,” he pointed out casually.

“And we would have if we hadn’t quickly found what we needed.” Liz drained her glass and got up to retrieve the bottle.

Travis watched her pour the other half of her beer. “How did you find her other prey so quickly?” he asked when she returned to his side.

Liz sat down, facing him. “Hargett had the connections within the industry to ferret out any gossip, and the financial resources and private investigators on retainer to help locate the three gentlemen.”

Travis covered her free hand with his own. “You talked to all three of them?”

“Yes.” She exhaled and looked down.

He tightened his grip and felt her fingers curl into his. “And they were all willing to go on the record?”

Liz nodded and solemnly met his gaze. “They’ve had time to think about what happened. To regret selling out and moving on,” she told him quietly.

Travis thought about how much he owed Liz. And the fact that his gratitude was only partially about the case. It went so much deeper.

He tilted the bottle to his lips and swallowed. “You think they’ll sue her?”

Liz relaxed. “They can’t. They waived that right when they accepted their generous severance packages. So there’s no going back for them.” She withdrew her hand and reached for the nuts.

“You, on the other hand, still have many avenues open to you.” She balanced her glass on her thigh and opened the bag. “And the Herndons know it.”

Travis studied her. “You really think Olympia will call it quits?”

Liz shook some nuts into his open palm. “It’s either that or let the whole of Houston know she’s been trading sexual favors for the benefit of her business dealings.” Liz wrinkled her nose in distaste. “And since that’s akin to personally prostituting herself—”

Her BlackBerry rang before she could finish. Liz went to get it. “Let’s hope this is it!”

Amen to that. Although if it was, it would mean the end of this part of their relationship, Travis thought.

“Liz Cartwright. Yes.” She closed her eyes and listened intently.

Travis’s pulse picked up.

“I’ll run it by my client and let you know.”

She clicked off.

Travis leaned toward her. “What did they offer?”

Liz put the device down and did a happy dance. “First, all litigation against you has been withdrawn.”