Page 3 of The Cowboy's Downfall
And she was so tired of them all.
“We can try it until Christmas,” Shauna said, knowing she had no other choice, because while she might not want to live with Taryn, at the end of the day, she had to live with herself. She’d come to Grand, Montana, to get to know her mother’s family better. Her grandfather, Angus McKillop, was in his early nineties and showing signs of dementia. Saddling him with a rebellious teenaged granddaughter would never work out.
Well. It might work well for Taryn, who had zero interest in supervision—either giving or receiving. Plants withered and died when she walked past.
Satisfaction strode through the phone signal along with her mother’s next words. “Excellent. If Taryn leaves here on Saturday, she should be in Grand by next Tuesday.”
“How is she traveling—by Pony Express?”
Natalie laughed, happy again now that she’d got what she wanted. “She’s driving. We bought her a car.”
“She got expelled from school and you bought her acar?”I can’t even.
“She’ll need one to survive in rural Montana.”
The better question might be, what would rural Montana need to survive Taryn?
“This is wonderful,” her mother prattled on, ignoring Shauna’s silence. “Gunther and I can come to Grand for Thanksgiving. You and Taryn can visit LA for Christmas. It will be fun to catch up with family. Have you visited the Endeavour Ranch yet? I’m dying to see it.”
Shauna’s cousin, Dan McKillop, was one of the Endeavour’s three owners. He was also the county sheriff. Having Taryn in town was about to do wonders for his career. Shauna’s, too.God, give me strength.
When her mother finally stopped talking, and Shauna had disconnected the call, she folded her arms on her desk and rested her head on them. She couldn’t decide what would be the best cure for her headache, although she leaned toward day drinking. Lou’s Pub was close by, and it opened at noon.
A light, one-knuckled knock bounced against her closed office door.
“Come in,” she said, without looking up.
A man cleared his throat, which got her out of her chair in a hurry. She’d expected Lillit, the motherly front desk receptionist, not Lillit’s husband George, theCooperin Grand Cooper and Nash. He carried a stack of file folders.
“Lillit asked me to give these to you. She needs your signature on them. Is this a bad time?”
“Sorry.” She smoothed her linen skirt, trying to get her head back on track. George Cooper was a nice man, but he was also her boss. “Unexpected phone call from my mother.”
“I see,” George said kindly, sounding as if she’d just explained everything, which she probably had, because of course he’d know Natalie McKillop—or know of her, at least. Grand was a small place.
He sounded so kind and understanding, in fact, that she found herself oversharing. “She’s asked if my younger sister can live with me for the school year.”
He laid the folders on her desk and tidied the small pile so that it lined up with the edge. “I assume your younger sister will be living with you and going to school here because she’s unwanted everywhere else.” His mild gaze met hers. “Being unwanted… That’s a hard thing for a child, even one who’s a teenager.”
George specialized in family law. When it came to reading people and situations, he was astute.
“I wasn’t thinking of it that way,” Shauna admitted, and now, she felt guilty. “It’s not that nobody wants her. We love her. It’s just that she’s…a whole lot of work.”
“I wonder why that might be.”
Point taken. Nannies, daycares, and an age difference of thirteen years with an older sister who lived in a boarding school throughout the year and spent most of her summers with grandparents in Oklahoma. A few weeks at Christmas, and the occasional Easter and Thanksgiving, didn’t offer much opportunity for sibling bonding.
This was still a mistake. A bad one. Her gut instincts said so. “I don’t know anything about raising teenagers.”
George tapped the folders. “You aren’t raising a teenager. That obligation belongs to her parents.”
Since they were the same parents who’d raised Shauna, she already knew they were useless. They’d bought Taryn acar. “They’re reneging and passing her over to me. She’s a juvenile delinquent, George, and they don’t want to see it. She’s not going to listen to me any better than she listens to them.”
“How old is she? How many times has she been arrested?”
“She’s seventeen. And three,” Shauna said. “Two for shoplifting, one underage drinking. Oh, yes. And resisting arrest. She flirted with the female officer who patted her down.”
He chuckled. “Female officers have no sense of humor.” His laughter died off and the lawyer emerged. “Would you like my professional advice?”
