Rumors: The McCaffertys: The McCaffertys: Thorne

“Such as?”

“To begin with, your friend Striker hasn’t returned any of my calls, Randi’s editor at the Clarion is always ‘out’ or ‘in a meeting.’ I think he’s avoiding me. I’ve talked to the sheriff’s department, but so far there’s nothing new. A detective is supposed to call me back. The good news is that the equipment I ordered for this office is due to arrive today, and the phone company’s gonna come in and install a couple of lines. I’ve talked to an agency specializing in nannies as we’ll need one when J.R. gets home—”

“J.R.?” Slade repeated.

“I call the baby that.”

“After Dad?” Slade asked, obviously perplexed.

“And Randi.”

Slade gave out a long, low whistle. “You have been busy, haven’t you?”

Thorne elevated an eyebrow and remembered that this was his youngest brother, the playboy, a man who had never settled down to any kind of responsibility.

“All I’ve had time for this morning is a call into Striker and a couple of cups of weak coffee down at the Pub’n’Grub. I ran into Larry Todd down there.”

“Why does his name sound familiar?”

“Because he was the man who ran this place when Dad became ill.”

Thorne settled into his father’s chair and leaned back until it squeaked in protest.

“Get this. Randi kept Larry on when she inherited the bulk of this place.”

Thorne remembered, though he hadn’t paid much attention at the time. He’d been in negotiations for the Canterbury Farms subdivision at the time and had been dealing with land use laws, an environmental group, the city council and an accounting nightmare because one of his bookkeepers had been caught embezzling off the previous project. On top of all that, John Randall had died and Thorne, though he’d known his father was dying, had been stricken by the news and assuaged by grief. He hadn’t cared much about the sixth of the ranch he’d inherited and had left Randi, who owned half of the acres and the old ranch house, to run the place as she saw fit.

“But just last week, Randi called Larry up, told him she didn’t need him any longer and that she’d pay him a couple of months’ severance pay.”

Thorne’s head snapped up. “Why?”

“Beats me. Larry was really ticked off.”

“When did this happen?”

“A day before the accident.”

“Did she hire anyone else?”

“Don’t know. I just found out about it.”

“Someone would have to come and look after the stock.”

“You’d think.” He saw movement outside the window and watched Matt hiking the collar of his jacket more closely around his neck as he made his way to the back door. Slade frowned. “Guess I’d better help out with the cattle. I told Larry we’d hire him back, but he’s pretty mad. I thought Matt might talk to him.”

“Let’s see.”

They convened in the kitchen where Matt had set his hat on the table and had flung his jacket over the back of a ladder-back chair. He was in the process of pouring himself a cup of coffee. “There’s nothing to eat around here,” he grumbled as he searched in the refrigerator, then the cupboard. He dragged out an old jar of instant creamer and poured in a healthy dose as Slade and Thorne filled him in on everything they’d already discussed.

“We need Larry Todd back on the payroll,” Thorne said to Matt. “Slade ran into him today and thought you might talk to him.”

Matt studied the contents of his cup and nodded slowly. “I can try. But he called me after Randi let him go, and to say he was a little ticked off is an understatement.”

“See what he wants,” Thorne suggested.

“I’ll give it a shot.”

“Convince him.”

“I’ll try.” Matt slowly stirred his coffee. “But Larry’s been known to be stubborn.”

“We’ll deal with that. I’ve got a call in to Juanita to see if she’ll come on board again,” Thorne said.

“She might be working for someone else by now. Randi let her go after Dad died.” Matt hoisted himself onto the counter and his feet swung free.

“Then we’ll have to make it attractive enough that she’ll come back.”

“Might not be that easy,” Slade said, sipping coffee from his paper cup. “Some people feel obligated to stay with their employer.”

“Everyone can be bought.”

Slade and Matt exchanged glances.

Thorne didn’t waver. “Everyone has a price.”

“Including you?” Matt asked.

Thorne’s jaw hardened. “Yep.”

Slade snorted in contempt. “Hell, you’re a cynic.”

“Aren’t we all?” Thorne said, undeterred. “And we’ll need a nurse. When Randi and the baby get here, we’ll need professional help.” He was running through a mental checklist. “I’ll call a law firm I used to deal with.”

“A law firm?” Slade shook his head. “Why in the world would we need lawyers?”

“For when we find the boy’s father—he might want custody.”

“He should probably get it, at least partial,” Matt allowed.

“Maybe, maybe not. We don’t know a thing about this guy.”

Slade rolled his eyes and tossed the remains of his coffee into the sink. “For the love of Mike, Thorne, don’t you trust anyone?”

“Nope.”

“If Randi chose this guy, he might be all right,” Matt conceded.

“So then where is he? Assuming he knows that she was pregnant, why the hell hasn’t he appeared?” The same old questions that had been plaguing Thorne ever since learning of his sister’s accident gnawed at him. “If he’s such a peach of a guy, why isn’t he with her?”