Page 11 of River Legacy
“Let me get this straight,” Brand said at the kitchen table. “You told Wendell Forester off and then kidnapped his daughter?” Brand and his wife, Birdie, were still living in a private wing of the house until their home on the ranch was completed. Birdie had gone shopping in Billings for the weekend, but Ryder was sure Brand would fill her in when she returned. He could see that his brother was enjoying this way too much.
“I didn’t kidnap her,” Ryder said. “I just brought her here for the weekend. I didn’t know what else to do, under the circumstances.”
His brother stared at him. “Something tells me it wasn’t with Wendell Forester’s blessing.”
Ryder shook his head, picked up his coffee mug and took a sip before answering. “Things got out of hand.” Brand lifted a brow. “Not likethat. She just needed a place to hide out for the weekend.”
“Hide out?”
“Her father’s intent on marrying her off to a man of his choosing. This weekend’s lucky winner was a real loser. I was her escape hatch.”
Brand chuckled. “Sounds like the two of you got pretty close for her to agree to come with you.”
“Believe me, she would have taken off with anyone to get away from the obnoxious Claude Duvall.”
“Okay, but what happens after the weekend?”
Ryder shrugged. “We didn’t get that far.”
“Aren’t you worried what Forester will do?”
“I’m not worried about Forester. I made it clear to him that if he sent anymore of his associates to try to strong-arm me into selling the ranch, I would shoot them.”
“Uh-huh,” Brand said. “And then he invited you to dinner. Doesn’t sound like he was shaking in his boots. After that, why not invite his daughter to the ranch?”
“It was Victoria’s idea to come to the ranch for the weekend.” Ryder raked his fingers through his hair. He knew how it must sound. Like his trip to Billings to confront Forester had been a waste of time. It certainly hadn’t turned out like he’d planned it, that was for sure.
His brother lifted a brow. “And this is going tosolve the problem with her father trying to buy our ranch how exactly?”
With a sigh, Ryder said, “Look, I told Forester to leave us alone. Short of shooting the man, that was the best I could do. I think I made my point.”
His brother looked skeptical. “Yet you ended up with his daughter.”
“Do I smell bacon?”
They both turned to see Victoria and quickly got to their feet. She’d borrowed some of the clothing Tilly had left behind in her room, Ryder saw. She now wore a pair of worn jeans, a Western shirt and a pair of Tilly’s scuffed up cowboy boots. The jeans seemed to fit quite well, the shirt stretched a little tight over her breasts, and the boots might have been a little big. He realized that he hadn’t paid much attention to her body, or he would have realized she was taller that Tilly and more... endowed. Now he couldn’t help but notice.
“Come join us,” he said, his voice sounding strange even to him. “This is my brother Brand. Brand, this is Victoria Forester.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Brand,” she said as she flipped a strand of her curly copper hair back from her face. “Just call me Vicky.” She smiled at Ryder. “Ryder does.”
“Nice to meet you, Vicky.”
Ryder groaned inwardly as he pulled out a chair for her. All the while, he tried to ignore his brother, who was grinning from ear to ear—no doubt seeinghow flustered he was and enjoying every moment of it.
As he sat back down, he kicked his brother under the table. “Coffee?” he asked Victoria. At her nod, he said, “How about bacon, eggs, hash browns with a side of flapjacks?”
Her green eyes widened, her lips turning up. She looked from Ryder to Brand and back. “Seriously? You don’t really have that for breakfast.”
“We have a long day of work ahead of us. Gotta eat,” Brand said.
She smiled. “All right, but only if you let me help with your work today.”
“Why not?” Brand said and excused himself to go turn her order in with the cook. “You were planning to put her to work, weren’t you, bro?” he said over his shoulder.
Clearly, Victoria Forester knew nothing about ranching. Ryder doubted she’d ever had a job of any kind. More than likely she’d been waited on her whole life. So what was it he found so appealing about her this morning? Then it dawned on him like a bolt of lightning. She looked as if she could fit in here, he thought and mentally shook himself.
“How’d you sleep?” he asked her as his grinning brother disappeared down the hallway. Bringing her here had been a huge mistake—even if she hadn’t been Wendell Forester’s daughter.Onlydaughter. He obviously hadn’t thought it through, which wasn’t like him.
