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No way was he going to let Lexi’s sweet smile and mesmerizing eyes sway him. She was trouble—in capital letters. His best course of action would be to avoid her. After all, even if he could trust her, he didn’t want his land falling into the hands of a developer.
From what he’d been able to learn, developers were scouring the Western states buying up large tracts of land. They’d then subdivide the property into five-or-ten-acre home sites. And with all those homes would come businesses, like grocery stores and gas stations and strip malls. He hated the thought of having all of that noise and traffic butted up against his property. But if he didn’t sell, how in the world could he make the balloon payment on his mortgage to save the ranch—his home?
Cord glanced around the spacious rooms of the prominent ranch house that his grandfather had built with his own two hands. Queasiness churned in the pit of Cord’s stomach at the thought of losing everything he knew—the one place where he felt comfortable in his skin—where his difficulty with reading wasn’t noticed by others, making him less in their eyes.
But there was something missing. In the wake of Susan’s departure, he’d been thrilled to have the place to himself. He enjoyed coming home after a long, hard day and not having someone constantly nag him about all he wasn’t doing or providing. For a while, a peacefulness had reined throughout the house, but lately the quietness had lost its luster. But that didn’t mean he wanted to part with his home. Not a chance.
Spurred on by his need to find an alternative to the foreclosure—one that had nothing to do with Alexis Greer—Cord called the bank again. This time he reached a woman who agreed to pull his file and discuss his loan. After ten minutes of hearing the same old spiel, he gripped the phone tighter. “Listen to me. I just need a little more time.”
“With no proof that an extension will provide the necessary funds to pay off the balance on your loan, you are prolonging the inevitable,” the woman said without an ounce of emotion, as though she’d become indifferent to smashing people’s dreams.
The loan officer continued to
tick off the various reasons why pushing his balloon payment back was not feasible for the bank. Cord scrambled for any excuse to keep the bank from foreclosing. He’d already tried obtaining another loan from just about every bank he could think of, but they’d all turned him down.
With each passing moment, the band of stress ratcheted tighter around his ribs. He was about to lose not only Haggerty but also the Brazen H. His chest tightened. His home, the cattle, the horses and even his ranch hands—his only friends—would be gone.
They’d all be lost to him.
That just couldn’t happen.
“We’ll start foreclosure proceedings in the morning,” the woman said matter-of-factly. “Unless you can come up with the full payment or you can produce a buyer willing to sign an intent-to-purchase agreement for the two hundred acres.”
Cord rubbed his damp palms over his jeans. There had to be something, anything, to stave off the foreclosure. His gut knotted up. He had nowhere else to go. No other skills with which to earn a living. He was a rancher. He wouldn’t change. He couldn’t change.
“I have an interested buyer,” he blurted out.
An awkward pause ensued.
“Why didn’t you mention this earlier?” The skepticism rang out loud and clear.
Drumming his fingers on the large oak desk in his study, he thought of Lexi’s offer—the one that left a sour taste in his mouth. Not wanting to give the banker too many details, he said, “I don’t know anything about the buyer. My real estate agent just informed me last night. I’m waiting to hear back from him.”
“Your agent is…” The sound of shuffling paper filled the silent void. “Ah, here it is, Mr. Forbes. If I were to call him, would he be able to verify what you’ve told me?”
Cord’s jaw clenched until his muscles throbbed. He hated how this woman talked down to him. With great difficulty, he swallowed his indignation.
“Yes, he’ll verify it. Does this buy me some time?”
“I’ll need to speak to Mr. Forbes.”
The woman summarized what they’d already discussed. Cord’s thoughts strayed back to another businesswoman—the one with a sweet tooth. He couldn’t help but wonder if Lexi would be as difficult to deal with as the woman on the phone. Although after haggling with Lexi over some silly candy bar and then finding out she liked to play hide and seek with the truth, he decided she’d definitely be worse.
Cord gave his word to the banker to be in touch as soon as he got more information about the interested party and hung up. The weight of his hasty agreement weighed on his shoulders like a gigantic boulder, threatening to crush him. How could he have promised the bank a buyer—a buyer whose blue eyes weaved a charming spell over him—a buyer who wanted to destroy his little piece of heaven on earth?
CHAPTER FIVE
The following morning, after assuring her father that she would e-mail him pictures of the ghost town in a day or two, Alexis dressed in a new topaz sundress that stopped a couple of inches above her knees. On her feet, she slipped on a new pair of tooled cowgirl boots. She worried the inside of her lip while trying to decide if she should wear such a casual outfit to conduct business. However, with her luggage still lost, her only options consisted of her dirty suit or the new things she’d picked up at Miss Mabel’s Dress Shop and Sam’s Hitchin’ Post.
She wondered what Cord would think of her makeover. She wasn’t so sure what she made of it herself. As she applied a light layer of foundation, she imagined herself as a cowgirl, riding horseback and rounding up a herd of cows. She laughed at the image—executive, up-town-girl goes country chic.
A month ago, the idea simply would not have crossed her mind, but after being here in the Southwest, where the sun warmed her face and the wind combed through her hair, she found herself drawn to this place like a hummingbird to sweet, red nectar.
Oh, who was she kidding? She’d never be a cowgirl. Her life was in a high-rise in downtown Manhattan. She had to think of her father. He’d spent years putting her interests ahead of his own, trying to be the best single parent. He’d planned out her future probably before she’d even been born. Now it was time for her to live up to his expectations by walking the walk and talking the talk.
Her father deserved no less than for her to look after him—starting with finalizing this deal for the land to build their latest resort—the key to saving her father’s life’s work. She just needed to get through to Cord. Why did he have to be so stubborn? Why couldn’t he see reason?
Alexis ran the brush over her hair. Pushing Cord may have worked to gain his chocolate bar, but something told her it wouldn’t work in buying his land—especially when he learned she had no intention of buying anything unless the ghost town was part of the package. She should make some sort of friendly gesture to regain her footing with him, but nothing over the top. It had to be something subtle but thoughtful.
