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“You were scared,” Harper repeated, not giving him a way out. They needed the truth between them. “And that’s okay, you don’t have to agree with me.”
“Good.” His mouth twitched. “Because I won’t.”
Harper smiled softly, as Brody tossed another rock into the water. She couldn’t get any of this wrong. Not only for her relationship with Brody, but for his relationship with Chase. “My decision not to go to Vegas isn’t about you.” Only when he looked at her did she continue. “It’s not about Chase. It’s about me. All this time, I’ve wanted to feel what I used to feel when I was in the kitchen cooking with Mom. I wanted to feel that excitement that she felt about Vegas. And what I’ve come to see is that what I wanted all along was what was stolen away when they died.”
Brody paused. Then, “A family?”
She nodded, not surprised he understood. “That feeling I had with Mom in the kitchen.” Tears blurred her vision. “Everyone here in River Rock, Brody . . . they’re my kitchen.”
Brody’s shoulders slumped, and he sighed dejectedly. “I hear you, Harper, I do. But I also don’t want you making a huge mistake. Vegas was your dream for as long as I can remember.”
“You’re right, it was, but dreams change. People change, and that’s okay.” She reached out, placing her hand on Brody’s forearm resting on his knees. “I know you want to hate someone for this, so you’re blaming Chase, but don’t punish him for something that is my choice.”
“But if he hadn’t—”
She gave him a hard look, and said firmly, “Please hear what I’m saying. This is my choice, no one else’s. Yes, I could go to Vegas in search of what Mom felt there, and maybe I’d see what she did. I could open a restaurant and make a name for myself. I could even become famous and get my chance back that I lost when I had to leave the TV show. But what is any of it without the people who love me?” Her voice cracked, and she managed to choke out, “Mom loved Vegas, but she loved us more. Now I see what she saw, and why she never moved us away. Happiness isn’t what you do, it’s who you’re with when you do it.” She wiped the tears off her cheek before addressing him again. “I don’t have it all figured out. Maybe I won’t ever. But all I know is my happiness cannot be found by leaving the people who love me.”
Brody’s eyes searched hers for a long while, then his head tipped back, looking skyward. “No, I imagine it can’t.” When he finally looked at her again, he gathered her in his arms and hugged her tight. “When, and how, did you get so grown up, so damn smart and strong?”
She leaned into his hug and the comforting warmth of it. “Because I have a really amazing brother who gave up a lot to raise me and loves me like crazy even though he has a really hard time saying it.” Tears spilled from her eyes, her voice scratchy through her tight throat. “And because he protected me from every dangerous thing out there, I had to get smarter than him so I could have a little fun in life.”
Brody chuckled, rested his chin on her head. “I suppose that’s true.” A long while passed as they stared out at the lake that held so many happy memories, then Brody said gently, “We’ve done okay, huh?”
“Yeah, we’ve done okay.”
Chapter 14
Later that afternoon, with Nash sitting in the passenger seat next to him, Chase drove through the weathered wooden log gate with the wrought iron sign IRISH CREEK RANCH hanging from the top log. To the right of the driveway, the herd of cattle were off in the distance grazing the fields by the mountains. The horses were in the field on the left next to the huge wood-stained barn with the black roof.
Chase parked his truck behind the blue Chevy, and he noted the ten or so cowboys walking the grounds. Some with horses, others with wheelbarrows and buckets, doing precisely what Blackshaw Cattle cowboys were doing back at the ranch this afternoon.
Only mere seconds passed for those cowboys to notice Chase and Nash. He’d anticipated their arrival might cause some tension. Especially considering his truck read BLACKSHAW CONSTRUCTION on the side. It had been a long time since any Blackshaw man had come to the Harrisons’ ranch.
Nash unbuckled his seat belt and grinned at Chase. “Looks like we’ve got some enemies here.”
“Don’t be stupid,” Chase told him firmly. “We need answers. Let’s get them and go. I don’t want trouble.”
Nash opened the door. “And that’s why you’re boring.”
Chase shook his head, grabbed the keys from the ignition, and followed Nash out. A surly man walked toward them, his eyes barely visible beneath his black cowboy hat, his jawline strong. “What can I do for you?” he asked in a low voice.
“Is Harrison around?” Chase asked.
The guy flicked his chin toward the house. “Ya, he’s there.”
Chase glanced sideways, only now spotting Clint Harrison sitting on his porch chair, smoking a cigar. With a nod of thanks at the cowboy, he turned, and Nash stepped into stride with him.
On his approach, Chase took in the extravagant house. The large bungalow had an exterior of wooden beams mixed with limestone and dark-red brick. Their parents had never changed the farmhouse, even after they gained their wealth. Clint obviously hadn’t lived by that motto. The house screamed wealth and extravagance.
His focus shifted to the man in the chair. Early fifties, with sharp dark eyes, a white beard, and a round belly, Clint was a slight bit shorter than Chase. With his worn brown cowboy hat and dark scuffed boots, he looked the part of a Colorado rancher.
When they reached him, Clint squinted and gave a hard smile. “I never thought I’d see the day a Blackshaw would step foot onto my land.”
Nash cleared his throat, obviously swallowing back whatever comeback lay on the tip of his tongue.
Chase let the first jab of many he assumed they would hear roll off his back. “We’ll make this quick,” he told Clint. On his ride with Mac, his mind had kept circling back to the inspector and to Shep’s concern that he might be connected to Clint. No matter how Chase looked at it, the failing inspections did not add up. Yes, so
me inspectors were pickier than others, but this inspector seemed determined to delay the grand opening. Chase was done waiting around, hoping the answers came to him. “You’ve heard about Blackshaw Cattle’s guest ranch?”
