Page 135 of The Guy Who Stole My Ranch

I smiled. “I was happy that my trip here worked out so we could see each other.”

“I bet.”

Their mother scoffed. “She lives in Texas.”

“I’m aware, Mother.” Courtney’s voice practically sent a shiver down my spine.

“I told her she’s going to need to move here.”

Courtney took a sip of her drink, then set it down and leaned toward me. “Unfortunately, she’s right about that.” A sour expression bent her beautiful face into something ugly. “William, the golden boy, is all set to spend the rest of his life running Harris Inc.” Her breath floated across the table, and like her mother, this had obviously not been her first drink. “They sent us both to good schools, but William got to go to Oxford.” She glared at her mother. “They always put him first.”

On one level, I could sympathize with Courtney. I’d never been good enough either. The boys had almost always outworked me and outplayed me. If not for the Curvy Girl Crew, I’d be a bitter old woman at the age of twenty-nine. Instead, they’d taught me to side with my strengths and strengthen any weaknesses I thought were affecting my life. I doubted Courtney had ever had anyone like that. Except maybe William.

Courtney went on. “He’s brilliant, don’t get me wrong, but his heart isn’t in it.”

“Courtney,” her mother growled in warning.

“What? You know he’s a logic machine. People are baffling to him.”

I almost smiled, because I’d come to the same conclusion. Except for the fact that he’d somehow figured me out.

“Your brother is the right person for the job,” Mrs. Harris said.

A few minutes before, her mother had been after me, but now I was witnessing a family dispute at a garden party.

Not the most comfortable moment of my life, but William had promised drama.

Luckily for me, my phone buzzed. My heart leapt, and I swiped the device to life, hoping it was William.

Instead, it was a call from Todd.

I frowned. He only called when he wanted to “big brother” me, and while I wasn’t in the mood for that, and despite how entertaining it might be, I also wasn’t in the mood to listen to William’s mother and sister have a cat fight. So I stood and offered an apology. “Sorry, it’s my brother.”

The two women didn’t look away from each other as I moved onto the lawn.

Once I got rid of Todd, I’d find William. “Hello?” I asked as soon as I was out of earshot.

“Brooke?” Todd sounded serious, as usual.

I decided to fight back with some nostalgic silliness. “That’s my name, don’t wear it out.”

“That got old when you were eight.” I could feel his disapproving gaze through the phone.

“It never gets old.” Before he could argue, I said, “What do you need?”

There was a momentary pause, which made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

Was something wrong? Had something happened to Dad? Had someone left him on the ranch unsupervised and he’d gotten into trouble? The possibilities flooded my brain, and I had my mouth open to ask Todd how bad it was when he cleared his throat.

“Brooke, I got a call from Randy today.”

The trepidation from thinking there was something wrong with my dad turned into a cold ball of ice in my chest.

Randy was the only person besides the Curvy Girl Crew who knew about the loan. Why had he called Todd?

Todd went on without prompting. “Why didn’t you tell us that you wanted to keep the ranch?”

A flash of irritation ran through me, followed quickly by the heat of anger. Todd was always trying to help me run my life, and it had gotten old when I was eight. “Why don’t you mind your own business?” I snapped.

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