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His friend gestured toward the chair and closed the file he had on his desk. “What’s up?”
“Have you met any of the Keagans?”
“That big family we talked about? No, why?”
James settled onto the edge of the chair and clasped his hands together. He shifted, attempting to get comfortable but wasn’t very successful. “Constance and I went out to their property to help one of their mares give birth.” Suddenly James wasn’t so sure he should be telling Shane any of this. But Constance sat in the car out in the parking lot, and he hated seeing her heart so heavy.
Shane gave his undivided attention, making it even more difficult to come up with the words James needed.
“Their property is run down and in need of a great deal of repair. They have a lot of land that could be used for crops or raising animals.” He blew out a breath through pursed lips. “I thought I’d see if there was something you could do to help them.”
Shane’s gaze didn’t leave James’s face and the longer he stared, the more James fidgeted.
“Obviously, if you don’t have the means to do anything—” James started to say.
He held up his hand. “I have certain funds set aside for charitable opportunities. What exactly are you thinking?”
All reasonable thoughts left James’s mind. He hadn’t expected Shane to agree so quickly. Best case scenario, he might say he’d think about it. “I’m not sure. I’d say they need to fix up their living arrangements and maybe get a few pieces of equipment.”
“I think that sounds reasonable. What do the Keagan’s think of this plan of yours?”
James made a face. “They don’t exactly know. In fact, that might be the one thing that causes a problem.”
Shane arched a brow. “How do you mean? I don’t understand. Why would you come to me before speaking with them first?”
He swallowed hard. “Think about it, Shane. If you were in a tight spot, would you be okay with someone barging in and forcing you to take charity?”
“I see what you mean.” Shane rubbed his chin. They sat in silence for a few minutes.
There had to be a reasonable solution, but James couldn’t see it.
Shane nodded once. “Let me think about it and I’ll let you know what I come up with. But we’ll figure something out.”
James smiled. “Thank you. And if there’s any way I can help, please call me.”
“Of course.” Shane turned to his computer. “I’ll contact my CPA and see how many funds we can allocate to this project. Then I’ll check with my assistant and maybe we can come up with a way for the Keagans to accept our offer without feeling like a charity case.”
James rose to his feet and held out his hand. “Thanks again.”
Shane glanced up at him, then got to his feet as he accepted James’s hand.
He wouldn’t be able to tell Constance about his plan, at least not yet. Especially when he didn’t quite have the whole plan yet. But when everything got figured out, he’d make sure she was the first to know.
20
Constance
Weeks turned into months and Constance continued to fall more deeply in love with James. When he’d hired Liam to help out at the clinic, it had melted her heart. There were still little bumps in the road. Plus, there was the big issue that continued to hang over her head.
She still hadn’t gotten up the courage to tell her father about James. Brielle continued to shoot judgmental looks in her direction across the dinner table or when they crossed paths while getting work done on the ranch. But she was the only one out of those who were aware of her secret relationship who even seemed to care.
Dianna might not approve of Constance’s relationship, but she seemed content to let Constance make her own mistakes. And Adeline was completely in her corner. Everyone else, including Sarah, Dax and the other ranch hands, were completely in the dark. At least Constance was pretty sure they were.
The hardest part about her relationship was that the closer they got, the harder it became to want to keep it a secret. James made her happy. He was kind and generous, and all it took was one look to make her feel like the most beautiful girl in the entire world.
She should want to be able to share what she found with other people.
Her father included.
