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Tessa’s nerves tightened. “Good morning,” she said, forcing a smile into her voice.
“Same to you. I’ve been thinking, and I’ve decided I want the stallion and those two mares—the black and the chestnut.”
“Both?” she repeated.
“If you’re willing to sell.”
She swallowed back the urge to tell him no, that she wanted to keep all three. “I am,” she said, though a pain slashed deep into her heart.
“Good. Now, I know the mares are both with foal, and I’ll buy ’em as such and keep the offspring, but if you’d rather, you can have the foals after they’re weaned. I’ll sell ’em back to you at a fair price.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
“I’ll give you fifty thousand for the whole lot. I figure the stallion’s worth twenty-five and the mares in their condition are between twelve and thirteen apiece.”
She couldn’t argue. She’d already decided that she wouldn’t take less than forty; the extra ten thousand was a godsend.
“I’ll give you a couple days to think on it.”
“What was that all about?” Denver asked as Tessa slowly replaced the receiver.
“Nate Edwards has offered to buy Brigadier and the mares. It’s enough money for the down payment on this place.”
“And the rest?”
“The bank will loan the difference, I think,” she said, sitting carefully in the nearest chair. Now that her dream was so close, almost in hand, she was scared.
“And Colton’s been found.” Denver didn’t smile as he stared at her. “It looks, Ms. Kramer, as if you’re on your way to owning a ranch.” The words were said without malice, but there was an empty note in his voice. Denver finished his coffee, placed his dishes in the sink and turned toward the door. “I think I’ll get cleaned up and drive into Helena. Maybe I can catch Ross when he gets out of court.”
“I don’t suppose you’d want company?” Tessa asked boldly.
His eyebrows shot up. “Don’t you have things to do around here?”
She lifted a shoulder. “Mitch and Dad can handle everything. We may as well give them a trial run, don’t you think?” she added, ignoring the quizzical look on Milly’s face.
He grinned and drawled, “That might not be a bad idea. I’ll be ready to go in about twenty minutes.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
“And I’ll tell your brother and father they’re in charge,” Milly said.
While Denver showered and changed, Tessa walked outside. The morning air was brisk, the grass still covered with dew. From his paddock, Brigadier whistled softly, tossing his head. Sunlight gilded his red coat as he hoisted his tail high in the air and raced around the fence with long, sweeping strides.
“You know this is killing me, don’t you?” Tessa asked, delving in her pocket for a bit of apple. As the big stallion nipped the morsel from her palm, she wrestled with her conscience. Caught in a vicious circle, she found no answers. If she didn’t sell her best horses, she wouldn’t have money to buy the ranch, and if she couldn’t buy the ranch, someone else would. Then she and her animals would have to find a new place—a place they could afford, a place that might not be big enough to support her growing herd. Besides, Nate Edwards was a good horseman and he’d treat her horses well.
But the crux of the problem was Denver. As it always had been. If she bought the ranch from him, he’d surely leave. If she didn’t buy the McLean place, he might stay longer, but only for a while. Then he’d be forced to return to L.A. For good. Without her. She had agreed to a weekend trip to California, but not a lifetime in L.A., which, she reminded herself, he hadn’t asked her to share.
Her brows drew together in vexation. “Damned if you do, damned if you don’t,” she murmured, eyeing Brigadier fondly. There was just no perfect answer.
“Ready?” Denver called as he crossed the yard.
Tessa whirled and her breath caught in her throat. Clean-shaven, his hair neatly combed, he was dressed in a gray business suit—no longer the man she loved, but a stranger—an engineer who owned a firm of his own in Los Angeles.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” she quipped. She walked to Denver’s rental car just as her father and Mitchell drove in.
Mitchell was out of the cab before the truck had rolled to a complete stop. “Going somewhere?” he asked.
“Into Helena. It looks as if Colton’s finally surfaced,” Tessa explained.
