Page 17 of The Cowboy's Downfall
If only he hadn’t promised Levi and Miles that he’d run the clinic for the ranch so they wouldn’t have to. He didn’t care if he disappointed Ryan. That was business. Levi and Miles, however… They were his friends. Good ones were hard to come by.
“Okay. Tell her I’ll be there in a second,” he said to Handy, who didn’t know how to take a hint, because he stayed right where he was.
“Tell her yourself,” Handy replied. Then he grinned at Shauna, who tried to straighten the blouse Nix had mussed up. “How’s your little sister liking Grand?”
“She hasn’t complained about it, so that’s a good sign. But it’s only been a few days.” Shauna edged toward the open door. “Superhero movies aren’t really my thing, but I’d better get back and catch the ending, so we have something to talk about in the car on the drive home.” She took a few steps into the night.
“Don’t worry about the bull riding,” Nix called after her. “No one says Taryn has to ride a bull just because she shows up. Either way, at least she’ll have a dozen or so boys to keep her company for a few months.”
The little hitch in her stride said he’d hit his mark. He should feel mean, and a part of him did, but if he wasn’t going to get any sleep tonight, then neither was she. He hadn’t asked for Trouble. Or Too Good either.
And he’d really thought his ex-wife was no longer his problem, but now she plagued him, too.
While Shauna set off for the main house in a snit, he headed for the bunkhouse in the opposite direction. Handy trailed behind him, not wanting to miss out on the next act of the evening’s entertainment.
The phone’s receiver dangled by its cord from the wall, because in the age of cell phones and wireless communication, these young guys didn’t know how to deal with landlines anymore. They did, however, know how to make a bad situation worse.
There were six bunkmates altogether, including Handy and himself, and the other four sat at the kitchen table next to the dangling receiver, pretending to play cards. In reality, they were discussing Nix’s nonexistent sex life in lurid and grossly embellished detail.
Nix grabbed the receiver and stretched the cord as far as it would go, wrapping it around the corner of the wall that led to the bathroom, to at least gain a pretense of privacy.
“Hey, Peg. What’s up?”
She sniffled and his heart pinched itself. If there was one thing he hated, it was a woman in tears. Then came a long stretch of silence that he didn’t fill.Stay strong.He had his own problems to deal with.
The sniffles turned into gut-munching sobs. “Mitch left me. You have to stop my parents from coming here. I don’t want them to find out. Not like this.”
Damn.
He didn’t have it in him to rejoice or point out how she got what she deserved because he had no regrets that their marriage was over. If they’d had a good one, she’d never have cheated.
“They’ll find out eventually,” he said. “They found out about us.”
Peggy got the sobs under control, since those didn’t appear to be working for her, although she sniffled again—but discreetly, to let him know how stoic she was. “I want to come home.”
Now he knew the real reason she’d called. Her new boyfriend left her because the money had run out, leaving him with a moral dilemma, because he couldn’t leave her stranded in Switzerland, or wherever she was. He wished he could, but he couldn’t. Not when he had money saved that he wasn’t using. Not when he lived at the Endeavour Ranch and had no expenses. Not when he had no backbone to speak of.
“How much do you need?” he said, then braced himself for the blow.
“Just enough for airfare and to settle a few bills.”
“Howmuch?”
She named an amount that made his brain curl into a tight ball and bounce around inside his skull. He’d have to borrow against his wages to come up with that much, which wasn’t a serious problem, because Ryan was generous when it came to loans. The downside was that he’d also own Nix for the next two years or more, and he’d get his money’s worth from him. With interest. Ryan might be generous, but he was also pragmatic.
Nix sighed, then relinquished ownership of his soul. “Hang on while I grab a pen and paper so I can write down your bank information.”
Chapter Six
Shauna
Whether Nix hadeither an ex-wife or a current one changed nothing as far as Shauna was concerned. In her professional experience, any ex-wife who felt free to call her ex-husband any time she liked, and insist he come to the phone, presented a problem she did not need to involve herself in.
But she hated unfinished business. Especially when it resulted in awkwardness. Since Taryn refused to back down, and Nix and Shauna would be seeing each other on a regular basis, they had to get past this. The Remi problem hadn’t yet been resolved either.
She waited until Taryn was in the shower Monday morning before calling the bunkhouse. No answer. She called from her office at lunchtime. No one picked up.
Finally, after Taryn went to her bedroom that evening, she ducked outside and called from her car.
