Page 39 of The Cowboy's Redemption
Ford, if he sensed sarcasm from her, didn’t care. “The business needs you,” he said to Levi. “But I’d be willing to buy Dana out at the end of six months.”
Dana nodded, as if understanding completely, which it turned out she did. “Giving you sixty-seven percent,” she inserted.Controlling interest.
Again, Levi had to drown one of his smiles. As a bar manager, one might assume Ford would be better at reading a room. Levi sat back, stretching his legs under Dana’s side of the table, and waited to see how this played out.
“I’ll pay a fair price for it,” Ford assured her. “With Ryan as the executor, you won’t be allowed to give it away.”
“What if I want to sell my share to Levi?” She met his eyes with that calm fearlessness Levi admired. “You said the business needs him. Does it need you?”
Ouch.Levi jumped in on that. “It absolutely needs Ford. These are show horses. He trains them for the purposes they’re bred for.”
Dana nodded again. She played with her glass. Her whole demeanor read thoughtful, not anxious, and Levi waited for the point she planned to make. He didn’t have to wait long.
“Now that we’ve established who the unnecessary partner is, let’s discuss the way forward. George suggested I hire someone to take on my responsibilities, which would fulfill my terms. What if I hire you both, then in six months, I sell my third to you so you each own fifty percent?” she suggested.
Ford raised the question Levi wanted to ask. “What about Tanoa? She still belongs to the estate.”
“I’d need Ryan’s permission to take her now. George said I’d also likely have to pay the estate some sort of compensation. If Ryan doesn’t agree to it, then I’ll have to wait six months, which I don’t want to do, because as it is, I might not qualify for the FNR Open. I’ve had to pull out of too many rodeos because of Lady’s health. I’m anxious to get Tanoa home to Billings and start working with her so she’ll be ready for next year.”
A frown settled inside Levi’s chest. It shook hands with the one in his gut. Together, they set off alarm bells in his head.
“We should sleep on this for a few days rather than make hasty decisions,” he said. “We can’t leave Otto’s horses unattended for more than a few hours at a time. There’s that to consider.”
“I work evenings. You work days. We’ve got it covered.” Ford lifted his glass. “Cheers.”
Levi raised his glass in return, but his heart wasn’t in it. They’d resolved only one part of this mess. He wasn’t sure what to do about the other—the one most important to him. Dana was leaving.
And if she took Tanoa with her, she wouldn’t be back.
*
Dana
She’d survived aconversation with Tanner’s frightening older brother, mostly because they’d agreed on what was best for the business. She didn’t think she’d survive six months of having to do business with him. Ford had the same determined streak as his brother, except Ford was more open about it. Thank heavens for George, who’d anticipated opposition to Otto’s terms, and done his research on every possible solution to any potential objection.
By the time they left the taproom, the rain had slowed from an ark-worthy torrent to a pipe-tightening leak. Her head spun a little. She hadn’t expected a beer with maple flavoring to have so much kick.
“Mind if we make a quick stop at my parents’ so I can get rid of this suit?” Levi asked.
She had no urge to meet his parents, who were probably as decent as he was, when she was doing indecent things with their son. But he’d been quiet since they’d reached their agreement with Ford, and right now, riding the high of extracting herself from the will—with Ryan O’Connell’s approval, which George had assured her would happen—she raised no objections.
“I don’t mind. I’ll wait in the truck,” she said.
He parked in front of a square, two-story house. “You can’t stay in the truck. You don’t know my mother. She’ll come out and wait with you, and believe me, that’s not what you want.”
For some reason, Dana was irritated by that. “Not what I want, or what you want? Are you afraid she’ll figure out how we spend our spare time?”
If she’d thought to annoy him in return, he disabused her by laughing. “She teaches high school. Biology, I might add. She had that figured out as soon as she heard a beautiful woman was staying at Otto’s with me.”
“Beautiful, hmm?”
She longed to strip the suit off him right there for that comment. If they weren’t parked on the street, she’d have put the thought into action. She hadn’t minded the distance they’d maintained between them all day for the sake of appearances, because she’d never enjoyed public displays of affection. But now that the long day was finally over, a private display would be welcome. The gorgeous lawyer had shaken her confidence where he was concerned.
A trickle of sadness filtered past the warm glow of the beer. Another day or two, after George spoke to Ryan, and these days with Levi would be over. She’d miss him. She’d miss Otto’s small ranch and his horses. She’d miss the solitude and peace.
She wouldn’t miss Tanner’s hometown. There seemed to be nowhere in Grand she could go to escape being identified with him, as if she had none of her own. It was worse than the circuit.
“Come on,” Levi said, and she followed, because she had a sudden desire to know more about him, and no desire whatsoever to sit alone in the truck.
