Million Dollar Baby

Austin simply ignored her bluster. “I’d like you to leave now,” he said politely. “Brooke and I both have work to do for the club, and you are delaying our progress.”

Margaret raised her fist...she actually raised her fist.

Austin stared at her.

To Brooke’s amazement, her mother backed down. She dropped her arm, turned on her heel and simply walked away.

“Oh my God, you’ve done it now.” Brooke felt her legs crumpling.

Austin whirled and caught her around the waist, supporting her as she went down. She didn’t faint, but she sat down hard on the grass and put her head on her knees. “She’s going to make your life a living hell.”

“Sounds like you know something about that.” He crouched beside her and stroked her back, his presence a quiet, steady comfort after the ugly scene.

“I appreciate your standing up for me, but you shouldn’t have done it. She doesn’t make idle threats. She’ll try to get you fired.”

“I’ve dealt with bullies before. But I confess that I’ve never had to deal with it in my own home. I’m sorry, Brooke.”

She wiped her eyes and sniffled, too upset to be embarrassed anymore. “I’ve applied for six different jobs here in Royal since I finished school, and in every instance I got some flimsy excuse about why I wasn’t qualified. The first couple of times I wrote it off to the fact that I was straight out of college and grad school and had no experience, but then I got turned down for a waitressing gig at a place where one of my friends worked. I knew she had put in a good word for me.” She released a quavering breath. “So I couldn’t understand what I had done wrong...how I had interviewed so poorly that they didn’t want me.”

“Did you ever find out what happened?” he prodded gently.

“Yes. I couldn’t let it go, so I screwed up my courage and went back to the restaurant and talked to the manager. He admitted that my mother had called him and threatened him.”

“Son of a bitch.”

Austin’s vehement shock summed up Brooke’s reaction in a nutshell. “Yep. Who does that to their own kid?”

“What exactly is it that she wants you to do?”

“Daddy would be happy if I went to law school and joined him in his firm. Mama is Maverick County royalty. Her family owns one of the richest ranches in Texas. I’m supposed to play the part of the wealthy socialite. Wear the right clothes. Hang out with the right people. Marry the right man.”

He grimaced. “Sounds wretched.”

“You have no idea. And my mother is relentless. I have an inheritance coming to me from my grandmother’s estate when I turn thirty. All that’s necessary for me to get my money sooner is to be married or to have my parents’ permission. But my mother has convinced my father not to let that happen.” She lifted her chin. “So I’ve decided I’ll do whatever it takes to get out from under their roof. This job is the first step toward my liberation. Alexis isn’t afraid of my mother. This is real employment with a real paycheck.”

“But it won’t last long, surely.”

“No. The garden part will only take a few weeks. After that, Alexis wants me to do the walls in the childcare center. I’m saving every penny so I can rent an apartment.”

He put the back of his hand to her cheek and gazed down at her in concern. “You don’t look good, honey. Maybe you should go home.”

Brooke struggled to her feet. “Absolutely not. I won’t let Alexis down.”

He sighed. “When do you quit for the day?”

“Around four.”

“How about afterward we grab some food and take a picnic out in the country...find a quiet place where we can talk?”

“What if someone sees us and asks questions?”

His grin was remarkably carefree for a man who had recently tangled with the Goodman matriarch. “Let’s live dangerously.”

Five (#u55d1a74b-7e1f-5330-87d9-fec97bea603e)

Gus peered through the French doors and frowned when he spotted Brooke Goodman getting chummy with Austin Bradshaw. He’d have to nip that in the bud. Austin was on his radar as the perfect match for Alexis, even if neither of them knew it yet.

Impulsively, he strode out to the parking lot and climbed into his truck. There was one person who shared his goals, one woman who would understand his frustration. He drove out to Rose Clayton’s Silver C Ranch feeling more than a little regret for all the years of bitterness and recrimination that lay between him and Rose. She had hurt him badly when he was a young man. Betrayed him. Broken his heart.

Still, five decades was a long time to carry a grudge.

The only reason they were speaking now was because they were both determined to keep their grandchildren from hooking up. Wasn’t that what the kids called it these days?

Hell would freeze over before Gus Slade would let his beloved granddaughter Alexis marry a Clayton.

Rose answered the door almost immediately after his knock. She had aged well, her frame slim and regal. Chin-length brown hair showed only a touch of gray at the temples. Her gaze was wary. “Gus. Won’t you come in?”

He followed her back to the kitchen. “I found a good prospect for Alexis,” he said.

Rose waved him to a chair and poured him a cup of coffee. “Do tell.”

“His name is Austin Bradshaw. Architect. Widower. Did some work for me a few years back...a handsome lad.”

“And what does Alexis think?”

Rose’s knowing smile irritated him. “She doesn’t know my plans for the two of them yet, but she will. I need some time, that’s all. As long as you keep Daniel occupied, we’ll be fine.”

“You can rest easy on that score. I’m sure there will be any number of eligible women bidding on him at the bachelor auction.”

Gus drained his cup and leaned his chair back on two legs. “Did Daniel actually agree to the auction thing? It doesn’t sound like his cup of tea.”

Rose’s face fell. “Well, I had to coax him. I did point out that he and Tessa Noble would make a lovely couple, if she bids on him.”

“I agree. Makes perfect sense.”

“Unfortunately, Daniel gets quite frustrated with me when I try to give him advice about his love life. He has come very close to telling me to stay out of his business. Imagine that. His own grandmother.”

Gus snorted. “The world would run a lot more smoothly if young people did what their elders told them to.”

Rose went white, her expression agitated. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, old man.”

Her demeanor shocked him. “What did I say, Rose?” The change in her was dramatic. He felt guilty and didn’t know why.

“I’d like you to leave now. Please.”

Her startling about-face stunned him. He thought they had worked through some of their issues. After all, she had wronged him, not the other way around. Was she implying somehow that she had been manipulated by her father? Gus had worked for Jedediah Clayton. To a sixteen-year-old kid, the ranch owner had been both vengeful and terrifying. Yet that hadn’t stopped Gus from falling in love with the boss’s daughter.

Gus had finally made the decision to leave the Clayton ranch. He’d spent four years on the rodeo circuit, saving every dime. Then he’d returned to Royal, bought a small parcel of land and gone back to claim the woman he loved.