A Cowboy Comes Home

Eleven

The trip to Lyndon and the rodeo day over and done with, Mandy and the local vet were working their way through a list of minor injuries and ailments in the ranch’s horses. Midafternoon, they were inside the barn looking at a quarter-horse colt who’d been limping on and off for about a week. The colt’s left fetlock felt warm, and Mandy was worried about infection.

“Mandy?” a whispered voice questioned from behind them, the person obviously being careful not to spook the colt.

Mandy smoothly rose from the colt’s leg and turned to find Robby, one of the young hands, waiting.

“There’s someone on the office phone for you,” he told her quietly. “Danielle something? She’s pretty insistent.”

“I’ll take it,” Mandy agreed, optimism rising within her. “Can you give Dr. Peters a hand while I’m gone, Robby?” She dusted her hands off on her jeans and moved from the stall to the main barn aisle.

The young man set aside his manure fork and took Mandy’s place in the stall.

Anticipation tightened Mandy’s stomach as she paced her way quickly to the small office that sat just inside the main door of the barn.

She closed the door behind her for privacy and picked up the phone. “Danielle?”

“Mandy?”

“It’s me.” Mandy forced herself to sit down on the leather chair with wheels, telling herself to stay calm. “You have news?”

“I do. Enrico found Reed.”

Mandy’s spirit soured. “Yes!” They’d found him. They’d finally found him. “Thank you.”

“Right now, he’s staying at a hotel in Helena.”

“Really?” That information surprised Mandy. “Reed is in Montana?” She’d assumed he was at least still in Colorado.

“The Bearberry Inn. He’s been there a couple of days, but there’s no way of knowing how long he’ll stay.”

“Don’t worry. I’m leaving right away.” Mandy hopped up from the chair, cataloging exactly what she’d have to do to get to the airport, get to Helena and find Reed. When she did, she was cornering him and demanding to know what the heck he thought he was doing.

Okay, maybe she wouldn’t demand. Maybe she’d just ask him. But, first, maybe she’d just hug him. After the past few weeks like he’d had, the man was going to need a hug.

“Call me when you get there,” said Danielle. “And please, please convince him to come home. Whatever it takes.”

“I will,” Mandy promised.

“If we can wrap this up by Wednesday, my life gets a whole lot easier.”

“Uh, okay.” Two days. “I’ll do my best.” Mandy signed off.

As she headed across the yard, toward the house, she remembered the Brazilian deadline was looming. That was obviously the rush. Danielle was going to do everything in her power to get Caleb to Sao Paulo in time to deal with the banking regulators.

That meant there was every chance he’d be gone before Mandy got back. As soon as Reed agreed to return, she’d have to call Danielle. Danielle would obviously call Caleb, and Caleb would have no reason to stay in Colorado, especially if his business depended on him getting to Brazil.

That meant the two brothers might not even see each other. They might not get a chance to talk. And once the crisis was over, things could easily go back to the status quo, Reed here, Caleb there, still estranged from each other.

Mandy trotted up the stairs, across the porch and into the ranch house foyer. Maybe keeping Danielle’s search a secret from Caleb had been the wrong idea. Taking Caleb with her to Helena made much more sense. If he’d come, he’d have to talk to Reed. That would break the ice. And he’d still have time to make it to Brazil. And, afterward, maybe he’d come back.

She pulled off her boots in the front foyer and headed for the second floor, intending to have a quick shower and pack an overnight case.

She warmed to her modified plan. Reed was sure to be happy with Caleb’s honor and generosity. The two brothers could talk in Helena, resolve things and then… Well, the plan got a little fuzzy after that, but at least it was a start.

She stripped of her shirt, peeled off her jeans, discarded her underwear and stepped into a hot shower.

She hadn’t talked to Caleb since they’d returned from Lyndon last night after the rodeo. Seth and Travis had finished in second place, and after a celebratory beer and a round of burgers, she and Caleb had driven back together.

He’d been unusually quiet on the drive, but had kissed her good-night, and he’d told her he was going to miss her overnight. Nothing wrong with that. Everything was fine between them. She could safely broach the subject of Reed.

Perhaps she could do it between kisses. That would be manipulating the situation. But it was for a good cause.

Then again, that was probably a bad idea. She’d go with a straight-up outline of the facts. Caleb liked facts, and the facts were on her side in this.

She dressed, blow-dried her hair, put on a touch of makeup, a pair of clean jeans, a striped T-shirt and a navy blazer. Then she tossed a few clothes into the overnight bag, left a note to her brothers, saying she’d call them when she got to Helena, and jumped into a pickup truck.

The ride to the Terrell ranch took its usual twenty minutes, but it felt much longer. She pulled up to the house, took a very deep, bracing breath and set out to reason with Caleb.

When she knocked, he called out a huffed “come in.”

“Caleb?” she called back as the door opened. She could hear scraping sounds coming from the living room.

She followed the noise, rounding the corner from the foyer to find him surrounded by cardboard packing boxes, a tape dispenser in his hand, as he sealed one of them up.

“What are you doing?” Her tone came out sharper than she’d intended.

“Packing.” He voiced the obvious.

“But, why?” What had happened? Had she missed something? Had he already sold the ranch?

“Mostly, because it’s not going to pack itself,” he answered.

“But I thought-”

“Can you hand me another box?”

Mandy was too stunned to move. She felt sick to her stomach.

“Did you sell?” she managed on a harsh whisper.

“Not yet.”

She put out a hand to brace herself against the back of the sofa, all but staggering in relief. There was still time.

“A box?” he asked again.

“Sure.” She picked up a flattened box from a pile beside her feet and handed it over. She met his gaze. “And, if we find Reed?”

His jaw tensed. “Seriously, Mandy. I’m not having that conversation all over again.”

She swallowed against her dry throat. “But, if we did find him. Like, right away. Would you be willing-”

He smacked the box on the coffee table in the middle of the room, startling her. The thread of anger in his voice was crystal clear. “What is with you people? This isn’t a Jacobs family decision. It’s my decision.”

His tone set her back. “But-”

“No.” He jabbed his finger in her direction. “No, Mandy. I am packing. I am selling. I am going to Brazil and then back to Chicago. And I’m not changing my mind. You won’t change it. Seth won’t change it. And neither will Travis.”

So much for gentle. So much for reasonable. “You’re a stubborn fool.”

“You’re not the first one to notice.”

She came around the end of the pile of boxes, staring straight into his eyes, lowering her voice. “You step over this cliff, Caleb, and we can’t come back.”

He went still for a very long moment, staring levelly back. “We, as in you and me?”

“As in your brother, your family, your heritage.”

“I can live with that.” It was obvious he was serious, completely serious. There was no way she’d get him to Helena.

Though she told herself it was a much less significant matter, she couldn’t seem to stop herself from asking. “What about me and you?”

His expression didn’t change. He leaned in and gave her a fleeting kiss. It wasn’t exactly a cold kiss, but it didn’t invite anything further. “Me and you are still going to Rio.”

She tried not to let his words hurt her, but they did. So her voice was laced with sarcasm when she answered. “Is that an ‘I’ll call you sometime, babe’?”

“That’s not what I said.”

She bit her tongue. He was right. He’d been up front and honest all along the way. All he’d ever offered was Rio and New York City. If it wasn’t enough for her, she should have spoken up a long time ago.

She knew she couldn’t change Caleb. But she could still help Reed. Pretending everything was fine, she stretched up and kissed Caleb on the cheek. “Rio sounds good. I gotta go. The vet’s working with the horses today, and he’s, well, they’ll need me down there.”

“Sure,” Caleb agreed, flipping the box over to reinforce the bottom with a strip of tape. “See you later.”

“Later,” she echoed, turning to leave.

Caleb worked for about an hour, reassuring himself he was doing exactly the right thing. He couldn’t stay here. He growing frighteningly attached to Mandy, and it got worse every day.

But every time he turned around in this house, there was another picture, another memento, another annoying memory trigger, like the woodsy scent of the throw blanket his mother had knit for the back of the sofa.

It had taken a long time for Chicago to feel like home, and he wasn’t about to lose that. Not for the sake of his family’s land, and not to be near Mandy for a few more days.

Mandy. He blew out a breath. He hadn’t wanted to fight with her. But she had to understand. There was no hope that he’d erase his childhood, nor would he ever come to terms with it. The best he could hope for was to leave it far, far behind. So he didn’t have to think about it every day of his life.

Still, he shouldn’t have taken it out on her.

She was entitled to her opinion. And she held that particular opinion only because she was a compassionate, generous, caring person. She couldn’t stand to see anyone hurt or upset, and that included Reed. And what did she get from Caleb for her trouble? Anger and the cold shoulder.

He needed to apologize.

Silently acknowledging he’d been a jerk, he deserted the packing job and headed for his SUV. He rammed it into Drive and peeled out.

Down the ranch roadway, he took the corners fast, his back tires breaking loose on the gravel ranch road. Then he sped along the main valley road to the arched gateway to the Jacobses’ ranch. It was five minutes up the driveway, and then he was pulling up front of the house.

He knocked once, then let himself in to find Travis and Seth at the table, digging into steaks.

He glanced around. “Is Mandy upstairs?”

Seth shook his head. “You didn’t talk to her before she left?”

“Left?”

Mandy sure hadn’t said anything to Caleb about leaving.

“For Helena,” said Travis. “I thought you must have gone with her, taken your jet.”

Caleb walked farther into the room, his hands going to his hips. “She didn’t say anything to me.”

Seth glanced at his watch. “She said she’d call us when she landed at the airport. You hungry?”

No, Caleb wasn’t hungry.

Mandy was gone. She’d left after their fight. What did that mean? Was she going to pull the same stunt as Reed and disappear when things didn’t go her way?

What the hell was the matter with her?

He struggled to keep the anger from his voice. “Did she say where she was going in Helena?”

“Nope,” said Travis, obviously unconcerned. Sure, now he didn’t worry about his sister.

“Do you have any business interests there, suppliers?” Caleb pressed.

“Nothing,” said Seth.

“She did have a college friend who was from there,” Travis offered. “I don’t know her name or anything.”

“But it was a woman?”

Seth gave him a confused look.

Travis scoffed out an amused laugh.

Caleb headed for the door. “If you hear anything, send me a text.”

“Will do,” said Travis.

“Where you going?” Seth called out behind him.

“Helena,” Caleb answered. “Let me know if you hear from Mandy.”

“What on earth is going-” Seth’s voice abruptly disappeared as Caleb shut the front door.

Caleb stomped his way back to the SUV. It seemed impossible that Mandy had a sudden desire to visit an old friend. Unless the old friend was in trouble. But, if that was the case, she should have told him. He could have lent her his jet to get to Helena.

Unless it was Mandy going to see her old friend for solace. Could she be that angry with him? She’d said yes to Rio. That was a good sign, right?

He started the vehicle and pulled it into gear, wheeling through the roundabout and back out the driveway. He reached for his phone and dialed her cell with his thumb.

He got voice mail, and didn’t really care to leave a message.

By the time he hit the main road, his confusion had turned to anger. No matter what her reason for leaving, the least she could have done was call him, or send him a text if she was too mad for a civil conversation. She’d let her brothers know where she was headed. Well, at least the rudimentary details. A motel name would have been nice.

Coming up on the highway, he dialed the pilot. It would be late before he got to Lyndon, but the airport was equipped for after-dark takeoffs, and they could land in Helena on instruments.

Having managed to get a flight from Lyndon to Denver last night, then a flight into Helena this morning, Mandy had camped out in the restaurant of the Bearberry Inn for over two hours. It was three in the afternoon, but there was still no sign of Reed.

The front desk had refused to give out his room number, and she didn’t want to call him, for fear he’d refuse to see her. She’d chosen a table in a back corner where she could watch both the restaurant and the front desk across the lobby without being easily seen.

She figured her last hope was to get him to come back to Lyndon Valley right away. If she did it quickly, there was a chance Caleb would still be there. If not, she was certain he’d finish packing and leave for Sao Paulo, sale or no sale. But if she could make it in time, Caleb, the stubborn fool, would be forced to have a conversation with his brother.

Just as Mandy was ordering her third cup of coffee, her patience was rewarded. She caught a glimpse of Reed’s profile, his tall, sturdy frame, striding across the lobby toward the bank of elevators. Quickly canceling her order, she tossed some money on the table and jumped up, grabbing her shoulder bag and slinging it over her blazer.

She trotted out of the restaurant, determined to catch him. A few feet away, she called out his name.

He turned and stared at her in obvious shock.

“Mandy?” He glanced around the expansive lobby. “What on earth are you doing here?”

“I’m looking for you.” She immediately hugged him, and he hugged her back. But her joy at finding him turned almost instantly to frustration. Drawing back, she socked him in the shoulder. “What is the matter with you?”

“Me? I’m not the one who appeared out of nowhere.”

“Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been?”

A couple of guests gave them curious glances as they walked past, causing Reed to take Mandy’s arm and lead her toward a glass door that led to the hotel courtyard.

“Why would you worry?” he asked. “What are you doing in Helena? How on earth did you know I was here?”

They made it outside to the relative privacy of an interior courtyard with a table-dotted patio, a manicured, green lawn, towering trees and colorful, raised brick gardens.

“I didn’t know if you’d been kidnapped, shanghaied, injured, arrested or mugged.”

“Kidnapped? You’ve got to be kidding me. Like somebody’s going to hold me for ransom.”

“You know what I mean.”

“I’m fine. Nobody’s going to mug me, Mandy. At night, on the darkened streets? I’m the guy people are afraid of.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t call me.”

“I can’t believe you were worried.”

“Why didn’t you at least send me a text?”

“Because I didn’t want anyone to know where I was.”

She jabbed her thumb against her chest, voice going up. “ I’m not anyone.”

“You’d have told your brothers.”

“I would not.”

He gave her a look of disbelief.

Okay, maybe she would have, if they’d asked. She wasn’t the world’s best liar.

He glanced around the courtyard. “Do you want to sit down?”

“Sure,” she agreed, taking a deep breath. She’d found him. Whatever else happened, at least she’d found him.

He guided her to one of the small tables, pulling out her chair before taking the seat across from her. “You shouldn’t have come.”

Okay. Now was the time to tread carefully. She had to make Reed want to come back to the ranch and be willing to speak to Caleb. Otherwise, she’d never get him to budge.

She struggled with where to start.

“Mandy?” he prompted.

“Why Helena?” she asked, giving him a smile, intending to ease her way in, telling herself to relax and act as though everything was normal.

“Besides the fishing? It’s good ranch country, Mandy. I’ve had a job offer here.”

“Of course you’ve had a job offer. You could probably have a thousand job offers if you wanted them.”

He allowed himself a smile. “You’re such an optimist.”

“I am,” she agreed. “And I have faith in you. You’re an amazing person, Reed, a phenomenal person-”

“You know, don’t you?”

She played dumb. “Know what?”

“About the will.” He waited.

“Fine,” she conceded. “I know about the will.”

“How?”

She straightened in her chair, leaning over the round metal-framed, glass-topped table. “Can I start by saying I understand that you’re upset.”

“You can if you want. But that doesn’t tell me anything. And it only puts off whatever it is you’re dancing around here.”

“It was a mistake to leave, Reed.”

He scoffed out a laugh.

“You don’t understand what’s going-”

“How do you know about the will?”

“I want you to come back.”

“You do, do you?”

“I do.”

“You don’t know what you’re asking.”

She reached across the table for his big hand. “I know exactly what I’m asking. If you’ll just-”

“How did you find out about the will, Mandy?”

She closed her eyes for a brief second. “Fine. Caleb told me.”

Reed gave a snort of derision, pulling his hand back. “Didn’t take him long.”

“Didn’t take me long at all,” came another deep, masculine voice.

Mandy’s heart all but stopped.

She turned her head. “Caleb,” she breathed.

“Was this stunt part of some grand plan?” he asked her, not even acknowledging his brother.

Reed came to his feet.

“I found Reed,” she stated the unnecessary. “That’s what I wanted to tell you-”

“You hoped I’d follow you?” Caleb demanded.

She was confused by his statement. “Follow-”

He gave a cold laugh. “Of course you knew I’d follow you. How could I not follow you?”

“What?” she couldn’t help asking, giving a small shake of her head. If she’d wanted him to follow her, she’d have told him where she was going.

“That’s what this was all about, all along.” His blue gaze crackled into hers. “You realized you couldn’t get me to talk to him by being honest.”

What? No. Wait a minute.

Reed stepped forward. “Nobody invited you to join us.”

Mandy whirled her gaze. “Reed, no. Let him explain.”

Caleb sized up his brother. “What the hell is the matter with you?”

Reed’s voice was stone cold. “Somebody stole my ranch.”

“You didn’t stay to defend it.”

“Right. Like I’m going to hang around under those circumstances.”

“You hung in there with Wilton.”

Reed clenched his jaw down tight, and the edges of his mouth turned white. “Shut up.”

“I don’t think I will.”

Mandy was starting to panic. She stepped between the two angry men. “Reed. Listen to me. He’s giving it back. Caleb’s giving you back the ranch.”

“I’m selling the ranch,” Caleb countered.

She ignored him and continued talking to Reed, her words spilling out fast. “That’s how I found out about the will. Caleb came to Colorado to give it back to you.”

“It doesn’t matter,” said Reed.

“How can it not matter?” she practically wailed.

“I don’t want it,” he spat.

“That’s ridiculous,” said Mandy. Her gaze took in both of them. “Come on, you two, quit being such-”

“You heard him,” said Caleb.

She rounded on Caleb. “Of course he wants it back.”

“Are you reading his mind?”

“I’m using logic and reason.” Her expression of frustration took in both of them. “Something that seems to be in ridiculously short supply in this conversation.”

Caleb angled his body toward Mandy, arms still by his sides, hands curled into fists. “You heard him. He said no.”

“He’ll change his mind.”

“No, he won’t.” Caleb’s gaze flicked to Reed. “He’s as stubborn as a mule.”

“At least I don’t cut and run,” Reed returned.

Caleb glared at his brother. “Back off.”

“That’s your specialty,” said Reed. “And it’s exactly what you’re doing right now.”

“I’m getting rid of an albatross that’s been around our necks our entire lives.”

“Around your neck?” Reed countered, squaring his shoulders, voice getting louder. “ Your neck.”

Caleb ignored the outburst. “I’ll send you a check.”

“Don’t bother.”

Mandy’s stomach had turned to churning concrete. “Please, don’t fight.”

“Quit it,” Caleb told her.

“Don’t you yell at Mandy.” Reed inched closer to his brother, shoulders squared, eyes hard as flints.

For a horrible moment, she thought they might come to blows.

“I’m not yelling at Mandy.” When Caleb glanced back down at her, his expression had softened. “I’m not angry with you, Mandy. I swear I’m not. But you have your answer. He doesn’t want the ranch.”

“He does,” she put in weakly.

“Are you ready to go home now?” Caleb asked.

Mandy shook her head. “I’m not going home. I just got here. Reed and I haven’t even had a chance to-”

Caleb’s voice went dark again, suspicion clouding his eyes. “To what?”

For a second, she thought she must have misunderstood. But his expression was transparent as usual. He actually thought there was something between her and Reed.

Mandy threw up her hands. “You can’t possibly think that.”

After all they’d been through? Could Caleb honestly think that? He’d asked her three times, and she’d told him over and over that they were just friends.

“So, you’re staying here with him?” Caleb pressed.

She mustered her courage. Fine. If he wanted to think that, let him think that. “Yes, I am. I’m staying here with Reed.”

Caleb’s voice went quiet. “Is that what this was all about?”

She didn’t understand the question.

“All along? Your plan was to make me like you, worm your way in until I can’t-”

“Are you kidding me? ” she all but shouted.

Did he seriously think she’d sleep with him to get him to stay? To not sell the ranch? Had he gone stark, raving mad?

He stared at her for a long minute. “Then, prove it. Prove you were being honest about your feelings all along.”

What was he asking?

“Him or me, Mandy. What’s it going to be?”

She froze.

Caleb couldn’t ask this of her. She wasn’t leaving Reed. If she did, Reed would disappear, and this time they wouldn’t find him.

“So, it’s him.” Caleb’s voice was completely devoid of emotion.

She hated his expression, hated his tone, hated that he was putting her in this impossible position. Under these circumstances, there was only one answer.

“Yes,” she ground out. “It’s him.”

Caleb was silent, the breeze wafting, birds chirping in the trees, faint traffic noise from the other side of the building.

Finally, he gave her a curt nod, turned abruptly and stomped back into the hotel lobby.

She and Reed said nothing, simply staring at each other.

“I didn’t mean for it to go this way,” Mandy offered in a small voice, trying desperately not to picture Caleb getting in a cab or maybe a rental car in front of the hotel, making his way back to the airport, flying to Lyndon, packing up the ranch, maybe meeting with another buyer and never seeing her again.

Reed sat back down at the table, his expression implacable. “Did you honestly think putting yourself in the middle would help?”

Her chest tightened, and her throat started to close. “I…” She was at a loss for words. She’d thought it would help. She’d hoped it would help.

“Mandy, all you did was give us something more to fight about.” Reed’s words pierced her heart.

“I didn’t mean…” She’d thought it would work. She’d honestly thought once they saw each other, they’d realize they were still brothers, that they still loved each other, and they’d reconcile.

But now she was in the middle, and Caleb was furious with her. He thought there was actually a chance that she was romantically interested in Reed. And he was gone. Likely gone for good.

Her voice began to shake. “I was only trying to help.”

Reed nodded, and his fingers drummed on the glass top of the table. “I know. You can’t help being you.”

She drew back in confusion.

His expression eased. “We should get you a cape and a mask, Mandy. Swooping in, solving the problems of the world.”

“I’m not…” But then Abigail’s words came back to haunt her. Was this what she’d tried to warn Mandy about? Was Mandy substituting Reed for her own family? Had she become way too invested in Reed and Caleb’s relationship?

Had she made a colossal mistake that was going to hurt them all?

Reed’s dark eyes watched her closely while she struggled to bring her emotions back under control.

“Mandy?” he asked softly, a sad, ghost of a smile growing on his face. “How long have you been in love with Caleb?”

Mandy’s stomach dove into a freefall. “What?” she rasped. “I didn’t… I’m not… It isn’t…” She could feel her face heat to flaming.

Reed cocked his head and waited.

She couldn’t explain.

She wouldn’t explain.

She didn’t have to explain.

“I only slept with him,” she blurted out.

Reed’s lips formed a silent whistle. “And you just forced him to walk away and leave you with me? Oh, Mandy.”

“I’m not in love with him,” she managed. Falling in love with Caleb would be the most foolish move in the world. “It was a fling, a lark. It was nothing.”

Reed reached across the table and took her hand in his. It was big, strong, callused. “You shouldn’t have come here.”

“I know that now,” she admitted. She should have listened to her big sister. She should have minded her own business. Maybe if she had, Reed and Caleb would have found their way back without her.

“Go to the airport,” Reed advised. “Go to Caleb right now.”

But Mandy vigorously shook her head.

It was far too late for her to go to Caleb. And it wasn’t what Reed thought. Caleb never offered her anything more than a plan for a fling in Rio. And even that was over now. She was pushing Caleb right out of her heart. Forever.