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“Isn’t that what the hands are for? Honestly, what is the point of being the owner then? Why not just be a hand?”
Wayne widened his eyes. Was this really how he’d raised his daughter? To be a snob? How had that happened? Catie and Harper, his son and Angelina’s brother, weren’t spoiled like this. He’d truly ruined his little girl.
Well, no longer.
“Princess, it’s high time you learned more than just riding. After your lesson tomorrow, you’re spending the day with me. You’ll shadow me, and I’ll show you exactly what’s involved in owning a beef ranch.”
“Wayne.”
He looked up to see his wife in the doorway. How long had she been there?
“We have an appointment tomorrow, remember?”
He sighed. “Right. Sorry, I forgot.” He turned back to Angie. “The next day then. Or better yet, you can follow Harper around tomorrow. He does the same stuff I do. He’ll teach you what running a ranch is all about.”
“Daddy, come on. Isn’t getting up at the crack of dawn to groom a horse enough?”
“Not even slightly,” Wayne said. “Now go on. I need to talk to your mother.”
Angie left the room, pouting.
“What are we going to do with her, Maria?” he asked his wife. “She’s acting like a three-year-old. How did we let this happen? Our other two children are hard workers and understand what goes into ranching.”
“You spoiled her, Wayne,” Maria said, “and I went along with it. We’re both to blame.”
Wayne slowly let out a breath. “I suppose so. The question is can we fix it?”
Maria walked behind him and rubbed his shoulders. Even having the tension kneaded out of his sore muscles didn’t relax him.
“We can fix it,” Maria said. “We don’t have a choice. But Wayne, we need to tell her.”
Wayne shook his head. “No. Not yet. Not until it’s absolutely necessary.”
“It’s necessary now.”
Wayne pounded the desk with his fist. “No. This is my decision, not yours.”
Maria said nothing and continued to massage his neck.
Wayne closed his eyes. Decisions, decisions. Why so many decisions, when all he wanted to do was not think at all?
* * *
“Catie?” Angie entered her sister’s ranch house. “You home?”
Chad and Catie’s black lab, Marnie, greeted her with wagging tail and tongue. Angie gave her a pet. “Hi there, girl. Where’s your mama?”
A quick walk through the living area to the kitchen proved neither Chad nor Catie was home. Angie sauntered out back to the pool house and changed into her red bikini. She loved Chad and Catie’s pool. It was twice the size of the Bays’. A swim and some relaxing sun time would rev her up for the next day of rising at dawn, a riding lesson, and shadowing Harper all day.
Usually a morning of shopping and pampering sufficed to rev her up. Strange that it didn’t do the trick today. She dismissed the nagging thought.
Damn! She was thirty-two years old. She didn’t have to do what her daddy said. No way would she trail Harper around tomorrow. In fact, she might blow off her riding lesson, too.
She pulled a chaise longue poolside, spread a beach towel on the chair, and lay down. Nothing like the Colorado rays.
And nothing burned her fair skin like the Colorado rays. She went back to the pool house, grabbed some 30 SPF sunscreen, and sat back down in her chair. She loosened her straps and started smoothing the lotion over her shoulders.
“Need some help?”
