All for a Cowboy

CHAPTER FIVE

SHAE SPREAD THE packet of eight-by-ten aerial photos on the dining room table, determined to get the general overview she hadn’t gotten that afternoon due to Jordan’s arrival. Each day was precious and she’d lost one, but Miranda had said not to worry. Shae was going to do her best not to.

Except that was impossible.

Finally she picked up her phone and called Mel, who, despite her invitation to Shae to call anytime, did not answer. Study time. Mel was going to make a great lawyer because she had laserlike focus. Well, so did Shae, but somehow organizing marketing events, rodeo-queen competitions and weddings—all of which took an incredible amount of planning and effort—just didn’t generate the same respect as pursuing a law degree did. Shae smirked at herself, lifted her wineglass and took a healthy swallow. Nope. No respect for the wedding planner.

Not even from the groom, who’d said he’d felt secondary to the process more than once. And she had not listened. That had been a mistake.

The phone rang and Shae scooped it up, thinking Mel had taken a break.

“Shae.” Not Mel.

“Miranda?” Shae took a fortifying swig of chardonnay.

“Yes. Would it be possible for us to meet informally? Tonight or tomorrow morning?”

Shae almost choked on the wine. She was being fired. “Tonight?” It was close to ten o’clock.

“I’ve driven in from the ranch to attend to some business, so I’m in town right now.”

“Then why not tonight?” Shae said. Because she wasn’t going to sleep until she knew what the deal was...although she probably wasn’t going to sleep afterward, either. “Would you like to come here?” Home territory. That way she wouldn’t have to drive home while upset. She’d done enough of that recently.

“That would be fine.”

Shae gave Miranda the address, hung up and then collapsed on her sofa, letting her head fall back against the cushions. The phone rang in her hand and Shae raised it to see the caller. Mel.

“How was your first day on the job?” Mel asked cheerfully.

“Not what I expected,” Shae said flatly. “Jordan Bryan showed up.”

“Jordan!”

“Funny thing. Miranda had the same reaction.”

“The last I heard from the grapevine—” meaning her sister, Dani, who kept close tabs on everyone they went to high school with “—he was recovering from his accident in some kind of special care facility.”

“He’s out. He’s back. And he thinks he owns the property I’m working on.” Shae took a couple agitated paces toward the darkened window. “Why didn’t you tell me how seriously he’d been hurt?” She vaguely recalled hearing that Jordan Bryan had been injured in a military accident. Injured. That had been the description, which in her mind had meant broken bones or injuries one healed from. No one had said, “seriously injured” or “heinously injured.” In fact, no one had ever brought the matter up again, that she could recall.

“Honestly, Shae, I thought I had. But you were pretty immersed in other things when it happened, so maybe I didn’t.”

Other things. The wedding, of course.

“How bad is it?” Mel asked softly. “I know that Cole flew back east to see him, but the visit didn’t go well.”

“It’s bad.” She described what she’d seen—his hand, his face. “I don’t know what the rest of him looks like and I don’t know that he’s all there, Mel. Mentally, I mean. He looked pretty out of it.” Which concerned her if she was returning to the property.

“So what happens now?”

“It’s complicated. Miranda’s on her way over to explain it to me now.” And probably to fire me. But if she did, Shae was going to do her best to finagle another shot at her old job.

“Miranda’s coming to your place at this time of night?”

“Yeah. I know. Doesn’t sound good, does it?”

She heard Mel blow out a breath. Answer enough. “Let me know what happens,” Mel said.

“Will you pick up?”

“Yeah. I’ll pick up.”

A soft knock on the door made Shae jump. “Miranda’s here. I’ll talk to you later.” She set the phone on the glass coffee table and crossed the room, heart pounding.

She pasted a smile on her face as she swung the door open. “Miranda. Hi.”

“Shae. Thanks for allowing me to come over.”

Oh, yeah. As if she wouldn’t.

Miranda walked inside, glanced around and gave an approving nod before moving over to the table where Shae had spread the aerial photos.

“Will I need those?” Shae asked, deciding they might as well get to the crux of the matter.

Miranda traced her finger over the photo with the ranch buildings before looking up. “I certainly hope so,” she said and Shae felt a swell of optimism. “But there are issues. That’s why I need to make certain you know exactly what’s going on, so that you can tell me whether or not you want to continue.”

“I signed a contract.”

“And I’ll release you. If you want, that is.”

“Does Jordan own the property?” Shae asked.

“He does.” Miranda met her gaze square on, a touch of challenge in her pale green eyes. “Hank held the land in common tenancy with Jordan, who inherited Hank’s part of the tenancy, meaning the actual land, upon his death. However—” Shae found herself holding her breath, sensing this was a big however “—I inherited Hank’s lease on the property, which allows me to conduct business operations. The guest ranch is a business operation and I plan to proceed with the proposal.”

“Does Jordan know this?”

“He does now.”

“And he’s okay with it?” Which she was going to have one hell of a time believing.

“He doesn’t have much choice.”

Shae exhaled, focusing on the photos. Nothing was ever easy. “Is he leaving, then?”

Miranda slowly shook her head. “Probably not until he understands that I’m serious about developing this property.”

“He can live there.”

“Yes.”