Page 38 of Taking Charge (Lone Star Burn 4)
David didn’t answer at first. He walked with Lucy back to her house. Deciding how much to tell her wasn’t easy. “He was drunk, and people make poor choices when they hit the bottom of a bottle.”
Lucy tensed beneath his touch. “This is my ranch, David. I have a right to know what’s going on.” She turned and pinned him down with a steady stare. “And everything you’re lying to me about.”
“Lying?” David felt like a child who’d been caught doing something he’d been told not to. His stalling question sounded as lame to him as it probably did to her.
She put a hand on one of her hips. Her cheeks were flushed with anger, and her eyes flashed with temper. If she didn’t look so close to belting him, he would have told her how beautiful she was just then. “I know you went to town hall about property lines. The clerk said you told her you were asking on my behalf. I’d like to know why. I’d also like to know if you’re doing anything else on my behalf.”
David went to pull her to him, but she stepped back. He sighed. “I know I promised I wouldn’t get involved, but . . .”
Lucy shook her head as if wanting to deny what she was hearing. “But you did? What did you do?” She searched his face, and before he had a chance to answer, she said, “No, don’t bother. I won’t know if you’re telling me the truth or not.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “I am the worst judge of character; I thought I could trust you. Really trust you.”
He stepped closer to her, but she retreated again. “Lucy, I didn’t want to lie to you, but—”
“But you did. How many times? Once? A hundred times? How many lies would I have to tell you before you’d start doubting everything I said?”
It was a harsh stance, but one that David could understand. He’d had many opportunities to talk to her about how dangerous he thought York was and how he needed to look into what he was doing even if Lucy didn’t want him to. “All I wanted to do was protect you.”
With large, hurt eyes, Lucy said, “Even if I believe that, it changes us. Do you see that?” She put her hand on the door handle of the house. “You can sleep in the bunkhouse, David. I don’t want you in the house tonight.” She gave him another long, sad look. “Why was Ron here?”
This time David didn’t evade the question. “He intended to burn the barn down.”
Lucy’s eyes rounded. “Because?”
“He thinks you broke up his marriage.”
“I didn’t.”
“I know.”
Lucy looked down at a spot on the porch between them. “At least, I didn’t mean to. I wanted to help Michelle. I should have known it would blow up in my face. I swear I must be cursed or something. You should run back to Fort Mavis, David, before I take you down, too.”
David opened his mouth to argue that point, but Lucy slid into her house and closed the door. He realized then he hadn’t said he was sorry about not telling her everything. It felt like a lie. He should have felt sorry, but he wasn’t, not really.
She’d forgive him for breaking a promise to her, but he’d never forgive himself if anything happened to her—especially if it was something he could have prevented. David turned and strode back to the barn. Half an hour after Lucy had kicked him out of the house, he learned with relief that Tia’s surgery had gone easily. He hoped she would now be out of pain and that it would be a fresh start for her.
Later that evening, he stood beside the cot where Ron was sleeping off his hangover. With the heel of his foot, he rolled the man over, sending him to the floor with a thud.
Ron groaned, then raised himself up by his arms and looked around. “What the hell did you do that for?”
David left his booted foot resting on the side of the cot and leaned forward to look Ron in his bloodshot eyes. “It’s by the grace of God your ass isn’t rotting in jail for arson.”
Ron struggled to his feet. He went to push past David. “Leave me the fuck alone.”
David was on him in a flash, shoving him back against the wall and holding a hand to his neck. “Don’t mistake my even temper for a guarantee that I won’t kill you.”
Fear flashed in Ron’s eyes.
David maintained his hold on the man’s neck. “Did York send you?”
Ron looked away. “Not in so many words.”
David gave Ron a shake and repeated the question in a snarl, “Did he send you?”
Ron met his eyes. “He wants you gone. He wants Lucy gone, too. He doesn’t care how it happens.”
“Did he tell you why?”
“He says you don’t belong here.”
David let Ron go, and the man slumped against the wall. “He’s using you, and you’re letting him. What kind of man are you, Ron? What kind of daddy will you be for those children of yours?”
Ron sank to the floor and covered his face with his hands. “I don’t know anymore. Does it matter? After today, Michelle will never take me back.”
David sighed. He’d seen something in Ron’s eyes, a spark of a better man. “Do you want your wife back?”
Ron laid his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. “Of course I do.”
“What would you do to keep her?”
Ron opened his eyes. “Anything.”
David continued, “As I see it, you’ve got one chance to get your wife back, but I don’t know if you’ve got the balls to make the kind of changes you need to.”
“She said she won’t take me back. It’s too late.”
“Not if you stand the fuck back up.”
Ron pushed himself back to his feet and shook his head. “Why do you care? And why didn’t you press charges for what I did?”
“Because I believe in second chances, and this is yours. You haven’t lost everything yet, Ron, but you need to cut certain elements out of your life. Starting with York.”
Still looking somewhat beaten, Ron said, “Michelle hates that I work for him, but there’s no real choice around here. Not if a man wants a decent wage.”
“I’m always looking for good men to help me with the horses.”
Ron was quiet for a long moment. “You’d hire me after what I done?”
“If you stay off the booze and work hard.”
Ron’s face twisted with shame. “I will. Michelle always said the bottle brings out an ugly side of me. I proved her right today. You may not believe it, but I don’t hate Lucy. I don’t want harm to come to her or her place. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I had hurt anyone this morning.”
David walked to the door. If Ron knew anything else, it would come out soon enough. David didn’t want to hear lies or a cover story. Once Ron found his place with the men at the ranch and realized they weren’t the enemy, he’d talk. For now, it was enough to throw Ron a lifeline. “But you didn’t. It’s kind of ironic. You owe your second chance to a horse who is about to get her second chance. Might be I’ve just thought of how you can help around here.”
Ron’s eyes widened. “You want me to break your mare? The one that tried to kill me?”
“No, I want you to gentle her.” He briefly explained to him about the shard of metal the vet had taken out of Tia’s neck. He also outlined his philosophy of reaching a horse rath
er than utilizing more forceful methods of taming it. “Her name is Tia, and she associates being handled with being hurt. It’s going to take patience and a whole lot of understanding of what she’s been through to win back her trust.”
Like Michelle will, David thought but didn’t say. He measured men by what they did, not by what they said. Ron said he wanted his wife back. He said he’d do anything. Tia would be the first test of that. If Ron had no sympathy for an animal that had struck out at him through no fault of her own, then Michelle, his daughter, and his unborn child might be better off without him.
It wasn’t really a matter of Ron changing; it was a matter of him choosing.
David walked out of the room and went to sit on the steps of the bunkhouse.
Wyatt joined him. “I once had a dog my wife didn’t like in the house. He had that same sad expression on his face every evening when he knew he’d be sleeping outside.”
David shot Wyatt a glare, but it didn’t bother the older man at all. He could have told Wyatt to mind his own damn business, but Wyatt cared about Lucy, and David liked to think he cared about him, too. “She’s right to be mad at me. I lied to her. A couple weeks back, she received a nasty anonymous text. She asked me to stay out of it, and I promised her I would.”
Wyatt sat down beside David. “And you didn’t?”
“No, I didn’t. I went around asking questions, hoping I’d find out who’d sent that text. So far I have a whole lot of rumors and possibilities, but nothing worth lying to her about.”
Wyatt tipped his Stetson back and stared out into the distance. “I can’t say I support lying to anyone, but I know where your heart is. Lucy does, too. Or she will if you give her time. More important, what did you find out?”
David picked up a pebble from the step beside him and tossed it out onto the grass beside the porch. “This area is being assessed for potential oil pockets. That explains why York is trying to buy up property. I don’t fully understand how he expects to benefit from trying to drive Lucy away. Until she pays me back, I own the note on this property. Even if he drove me back to Fort Mavis and scared Lucy into leaving, he has to know that neither of us would ever sell to him.”
