Claiming Her Cowboy

“My personal life has nothing to do with Big Heart Ranch.”

“No?” She cocked her head.

Silence settled between them. “What’s going on?” his aunt finally said. “You’ve been unhappy for some time. I could tell from your phone calls.”

He met his aunt’s perceptive gaze. Was he unhappy? Or simply disenchanted and searching for something real in his life?

She frowned. “You always wanted to make a difference, Jackson. What changed?”

“Make a difference? Did I say that?” He scoffed. “If I did, then you’re correct. That was a long time ago. What’s changed is that I’m not an idealistic attorney anymore.”

“I think maybe deep inside you are.” She placed her hand on his arm. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad to have you here, but as far as Lucy Maxwell and Big Heart Ranch are concerned, you couldn’t be more off base. I still contend that you can’t make a decision to cut off their funding without investigating the situation.”

“Off base? I did my research. That ranch is a money pit.”

She offered a sound of disgust. “That doesn’t mean they’re mismanaging the funds. I don’t believe for a minute that anything shady is going on at that ranch, and I challenge you to find one bit of evidence to support your claim.”

Meredith gripped her cane and walked to the wall of family portraits. Her hand trailed the ornate, gilded edges of the frames. A huge portrait of Jack’s grandfather hung next to a smaller one of her husband, followed by another of Jack’s father. She stopped at a painting of Jack with his twin brother, Daniel. They were nine years old, mirror images, with matching grins and dark curls. There, however, the similarities ended. Daniel was charming, outgoing and impulsive, while Jack was shy, hesitant and introverted.

A wave of sadness and guilt slammed into him as he stared at the painting. Twenty-five years had passed, yet nothing would ever be the same. Daniel was gone and it was his fault. He’d been minutes behind his brother that day and hadn’t been able to save him.

“I miss Daniel,” Meredith murmured with a soft sigh. He was surprised when she turned and wrapped her arms around him in a loving hug.

The scent of his aunt’s lavender perfume carried him back years. “I miss him, too, Aunt Meri,” he whispered.

His father’s words from when Jack left New York raced through his thoughts. When we lost your brother and your mother left, your aunt was there for both of us. This is an opportunity for you to be there for her. She won’t ask, but Meri needs help.

He swallowed hard as he stared at his brother’s smiling face. “I’ll go to the ranch, Aunt Meredith.”

Jack grimaced when he realized that the words had actually slipped from his lips. When his aunt’s face lit up, he knew that it was much too late to take them back.

“Oh, Jackson, I knew I could count on you to do the right thing. I’ll call Lucy immediately.”

The right thing.

For a moment, he’d let his guard down and sentiment had strong-armed him. Jack took a deep breath. He suspected his orderly life was about to be blown wide-open, and he placed the blame squarely at the feet of Little Lucy Sunshine, the director of Big Heart Ranch.

Chapter Two (#uf216b09b-e74e-5314-b1ac-4798159b588f)

“I need a favor.” Lucy stood in the doorway of the children’s therapist and child care director of the Big Heart Ranch office. It belonged to her sister, Emma.

“Good morning to you,” Emma said. She tidied the bookshelf in her already immaculate office and turned to Lucy. “What sort of favor?”

“Can you handle my calls for a couple of hours? I have to start a new volunteer.”

“Sure. Only because then I can remind you that you need to hire an assistant.”

“Not going to happen.”

Lucy glanced at a platter of chocolate muffins artfully arranged on a table. “You made muffins? Like you don’t have enough to do?” She nodded toward the portable cribs set up in the back of the huge room. Inside, her twelve-month-old twin nieces slumbered, thumbs in mouth and bottoms in the air.

Emma shrugged. “So tell me what happened at the Brisbane Foundation yesterday.”

Lucy grabbed a muffin and peeled back the paper. “Meredith said to tell you hello.”

“Was that before or after she handed you a sizable donation check?”

“Things didn’t exactly work out that way.”

“What do you mean?”

“Meredith has a new attorney who hasn’t approved the funding. I’m sure everything will be taken care of soon.”

Emma sank into a chair and nervously fingered her braid. “Lucy, we need to finalize our budget. I don’t understand what the holdup is. She sent us preliminary numbers weeks ago.”

Lucy met her sister’s worried gaze. “The attorney is doing things differently.”

“Is Travis aware?” Emma asked quietly.

“Yes. But you know Travis. All he cares about is the cows.”

Emma glanced at the calendar and cringed. “This puts everything on hold.”

“I know. Which brings me to the other news.” Lucy dusted off her hands. “Leo quit.”

“What? Why? He’s our best ranch hand.”

“He was offered more money at a ranch in Driscoll. I simply can’t match the offer.”

“So we’ll hire someone else.”

“I’m not going to hire anyone until the budget situation is resolved. In fact, I may have to lay off staff if we don’t get the Brisbane Foundation backing by the end of summer.” She met Emma’s gaze. “All expenditures outside of the day-to-day ranch maintenance are on hold.”

“What about the gala? I’ve already placed deposits for caterers, waitstaff and flowers. Not to mention the entertainment. Meredith always funds the gala.”

“The gala is low on my worry list. Let’s try to focus on what’s really important. The kids.”

Emma nodded.

“The Lord has been the financial backing for Big Heart Ranch since day one,” she said. “This is His ranch. These are His children. He will continue to provide more than we can ask or imagine. Right?”

“Right,” Emma said. “I couldn’t agree more.”

Lucy took a bite of the muffin and glanced toward the parking lot.

“Was there something else?”

“Yes.”