The Cowboy She Couldn't Forget

She was touched. “I appreciate you saying that.”

He released a long breath and guided her into the dining room, where they sat down at the table.

“I hate to do this, Ana girl, but we need to discuss what to do while your daddy is recovering.”

She hated that term. “Vance is foreman. Can’t he handle the ranch?”

There was another long pause. She could tell Wade was holding something back. “That’s a temporary fix. I’ve been by the hospital, and right now your father isn’t in any shape to make decisions. You girls will have to decide what to do for now.”

“Dad will be okay,” Ana insisted. “The doctor said... Well, he’s going to need some rehab.”

“I know, and I hope that will happen, too, but as his lawyer, I have to carry out his wishes. To protect his property and his family. And as of right now, Colton Slater is incompetent to run his business.”

Ana felt her heart skip a beat. “So what do I need to do? Sign some payroll checks?”

“Well, first of all,” Wade began, “Colt has a will, so he didn’t put this all on your shoulders. You have a co-executor to help.”

“Who?”

She heard someone talking with Kathleen, then a few heartbeats later, Vance walked into the room. He nodded to Wade. “Have you told her?”

The lawyer turned back to her. He didn’t have to speak; she already knew that her father had picked Vance over his own flesh and blood.

“So you’ve finally got what you wanted,” she said. “Now all you have to do is change your name to Slater.”

CHAPTER TWO

VANCE WORKED HARD not to react. He’d had plenty of practice over the years masking his feelings, especially around Ana.

“I’ll let that pass, since I know you’re upset. Colt named me because I’ve been foreman of the ranch for the past five years. This has nothing to do with me taking over.”

Wade Dickson jumped in. “He’s right, Ana. It wouldn’t be any different if your father had appointed me to oversee things. And believe me, I’m grateful he didn’t. Running a large operation like the Lazy S is a big undertaking, and I don’t think you want to handle that. Do you?”

She didn’t back down. “I’ve never gotten the chance to.” Her angry gaze danced back and forth between the two men. “Dad didn’t have any problem putting his daughters to work. Of course, he made sure we were limited to mucking out stalls or currying horses. And if we were really good at our jobs, we got to help with some of the roundups and branding. Yet once he thought we became a nuisance, he sent us off to the house.”

Vance glanced away. He’d seen over the years how Colt ignored his daughters. The man had never been demonstrative, but he’d given Vance a chance at a life. Hell, the girls had been lucky. When their father noticed his daughters were getting tired, he’d made them stop.

Colt had never been that generous with him. The man was never abusive, but had sometimes worked Vance twelve- to fourteen-hour days when it came to roundup time.

“Colt didn’t want you to get hurt,” Dickson stated. “Ranching isn’t an easy life.”

Ana shook her head. “We both know the truth. Colton Slater just wanted sons. And he sure didn’t want his daughters involved with his precious ranch.” She shot a hard look at Vance. “What about you? Do you have a problem working with a woman?”

He frowned. “What exactly do you mean by working?”

She moved around the table. “I’ve waited twenty-plus years to be able to feel a part of this place. I have the chance and the time, since I’m not going back to work at the school until the fall, and I plan to use it. You can either help me or get out of my way.”

Vance wasn’t sure he liked Ana’s idea. “What are you talking about?”

“You aren’t going to have all the say-so around here. Dad gave me at least half control of this place.”

Why was she acting as if this was war? “Up till now, the only person who had any control was Colt,” Vance argued, trying to keep the anger out of his voice. “He’s the boss. I still plan to carry out his wishes, because his situation is temporary. But if you want to work fourteen-hour days and smell like sweat and manure, feel free.” He started for the door, but stopped. “Just don’t plan for me to babysit you or your sisters, because the Lazy S is depending on this roundup.” He turned and walked out.

Ana realized she might have overreacted a little. But Vance Rivers had always been the thorn in her side. There was no doubt that Colt had favored him over his own daughters. Well, not anymore.

She stood a little straighter. “It seems I’m going to be working this summer.”

Wade Dickson shook his head. “I think you’d better get on that cowboy’s good side, or it’s going to make life difficult for the both of you.”

That was the last thing she wanted. She hadn’t forgotten the teenage Vance, with his bad attitude and swagger. He was good-looking and knew it. That day in the barn when he’d got her alone in the stall and kissed her until she couldn’t remember her own name wasn’t going to happen again. Nor was she going to run away like a scared rabbit.

Ana blinked, bringing her back to the present. “Dad’s stroke is more than making things difficult. But I don’t plan on ignoring my responsibilities to him or the ranch.”

Wade shook his head. “I hope Colt appreciates your loyalty, but don’t be too stubborn to think you can do this on your own. So you might want to find a way to get along with Vance. That’s the only way this is going to work.” The older man sighed. “Also, it might be a good idea to stop by my office tomorrow. There are some more details to go over.”

“What details?” she asked.

“It can wait until tomorrow, but not much longer. Bring Vance with you.”

Ana didn’t like the sound of that.

“What about your sisters?” Wade asked. “When are they coming home?”

Ana had no idea. “Not right away. So this is on me for now.” She tried to sound confident, but in reality she didn’t know even where to start.

* * *

An hour later in the barn, Vance worked the brush along the flank of his chestnut stallion, Rusty. He was angry, more at himself than with anyone else. He’d let her get to him...again. How many times had he told himself to forget about Ana? The woman wanted nothing to do with him. He couldn’t say he blamed her, not when their dad had ignored his girls all those years, while giving Vance the attention they should have gotten.

Many times he’d wanted to let Colt know how he felt about that, but the man had taken Vance in when he had nowhere else to go but into foster care.

Vance already had the stigma of having a father who’d been labeled no good for years. Calvin Rivers was well known as a man who couldn’t hold down a job, and drank away his paycheck when he found someone willing to hire him. Vance’s mother had gotten fed up and took off.

The strokes of his brush got more intense and Rusty expressed his irritation by dancing sideways in the stall. “Sorry, fella.” Vance smoothed a hand over his withers and put the brush away. “I didn’t mean to take out it out on you.”

He walked out of the stall and headed down the center aisle of the large barn, passing the dozen horses stabled here. He stopped and talked to two of the ranch hands, Jake and Hank, giving them instructions for tomorrow’s workday.

He said good-night and went through the wide door into the cool May evening. This had always been his favorite time of day. Work was done. The sun had gone down and the animals were all settled in for the night.

He knew his days on the Lazy S could be numbered. It was past time he left here, especially now that he had his own section of land. He’d already planned to leave in the fall after the alfalfa harvest. Now with Colt’s stroke...

He headed along the path toward his place. A hundred yards away was the foreman’s cottage. About four years ago, Colt had given him the three-bedroom house when he made Vance ranch foreman, after Chet Anders retired. Vance had been twenty-six and had just finished his college courses for his degree. That had been important to Colt. He was grateful, too.

Vance slowed his pace as he reached the house, seeing a shadow on the porch. He paused, then realized it was Ana sitting on the glider swing. Funny, for years he’d dreamed of her coming to visit him. He doubted this time was for the same reason he’d had in mind.

“You want another strip of my hide?” he asked, then kept walking into the house and flipped on the wall switch to light the compact living room.

He was surprised to see that Ana had jumped up and followed him, but stopped at the threshold. “No, I just want to talk to you about something. If you’ll give me a few minutes.”