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“Why don’t you give us a raincheck?” Ty suggested. “Then later, if the auction is as successful as we believe it will be, we can sit down with you again.”
“Flabbergasted” was not an adjective that normally would be applied to Tara, but it described her reaction perfectly. “But signing the lease doesn’t require any financial commitment on your part. It merely gives you control of the land. Surely you want that?”
“Wanting something and not being able to afford it are two very different things. But I doubt you have had much experience with that.” Rising, Ty reached across the desk, slipped the lease back in its folder, and offered them to Tara. “I hope this hasn’t inconvenienced you too much.”
“Inconvenienced me? What about you?” Tara argued. “What about the winter hay you always got from Wolf Meadow? You will need it. And the water, too.”
“We have already committed to buy our hay from an outside source. And without additional cattle, we don’t need the water.” Ty’s smile was wry with regret. “If you had said something about this before, I could have saved you from going through all the trouble and expense of having a lease drawn up.”
“I believe Buck is still outside waiting to drive you back to town,” Chase inserted. “Ty, why don’t you walk Tara to her car?”
Short of creating a scene, Tara realized she had no choice but to leave. As furious as she was over her plans being thwarted, she longed to indulge herself with a nasty scene. But both men had been much too cordial, too reasonable in their rejection, leaving her with no opening.
Keeping an iron control on her temper, Tara accepted the folder from Ty and rose to her feet then paused, determined to gain something positive from the evening. “At least tell me you aren’t angry with me anymore? That you understand my reasons for doing this?”
“Naturally we understand. You explained things very well.” Chase nodded in assurance. “And we always try to get along with our neighbors. Which is what you will be, right?”
“Right.” Try as she might, Tara didn’t know what to make of any of this. Both Ty and Chase were too calm, too congenial. It worried her. Did they know something she didn’t?
PART THREE
The wind, it’s blowin’ dry through the grass.
Trouble’s brewin’ a-plenty.
You hear its hum,
But where will it come?
It’s a question that’s makin’ a Calder worry.
Chapter Fourteen
Reclining in the driver’s seat, Buck had his hat tipped forward to shield his eyes. The radio was tuned to a country music station, the volume low enough that he could still hear the murmured voices of the two cowboys lounging by the porch steps. He didn’t recognize either man, but assumed they were more than likely the offspring of somebody he knew.
Neither cowboy had so much as nodded a hello to him when they walked up to The Homestead. Buck knew right away that Chase had given orders for them to watch him. It had crossed his mind to see if he couldn’t engage them in some small talk just to pass the time, then decided not to give them anything to report, convinced that would bother Chase more.
A long rectangle of light spilled into his side vision, its presence signaling the opening of the front door. With a slight turn of his head, Buck glanced at the couple exiting The Homestead, quickly identifying Ty and Tara.
Giving his hat a push off his forehead, Buck sat up and popped the lever that brought the driver’s seat back to its upright position. By the time he stepped out of the car, the two were coming down the steps. Quickening his steps, he had the passenger door open for Tara before she reached it.
All smiles, she turned to take her leave of Ty. “Please tell your father how grateful I am for his understanding. I meant it when I said you all are the same as family to me.”
“I will tell him,” Ty promised, smiling easily as he stepped back. “Have a good evening.”
“You, too.” With a farewell wave to him, Tara slid into the seat.
As Buck moved to shut the door, he got a good look at Ty’s face. There was something just a little too pleased and a little too confident about his expression in Buck’s way of thinking. He had a feeling that his employer had just found out what it was like to tangle with the Calders.
After he had climbed into the driver’s seat, Buck flicked a quick glance at the rearview mirror, inspecting Tara’s reflection in it. But he could tell little from her expression.
Buck waited until he was headed down the forty-mile-long lane to town before he asked, “How did it go?”
She met his reflected glance in the mirror, her gaze cool and sharp. “That is really none of your business.”
Buck grinned. “That bad, huh?”
In a burst of angry frustration, Tara snapped, “If you must know, yes!”
