“I’m sure we’ve done this one before,” Jessie complained, flipping over the page she was filling out by hand.
“We did, but it disappeared into the legal system never to be seen again,” Morgan told her. She heard the bitter edge on her voice but wasn’t in the mood to do anything about it, so she willed her younger sister to let it go.
Fat chance.
“Morgan.” When their eyes connected across the table, Jessie set down her pen and crossed her arms over the jumble of papers she’d been working on. “You’ve been out of sorts for days now. What’s up?”
“There’s just a lot going on. Sorry to be cranky.”
“Is it Mom? I mean, Dad seems a lot happier now that the divorce paperwork is in process. He even asked Sharon Grainger to go to that auction with him today.” Pausing, she laughed. “I can’t believe she went, but it was cute how he changed his clothes three times before leaving.”
“No, it’s not that. I’m glad he’s moving on, since that was the whole point of him going to see Mom in Helena.”
Jessie gave her a long, suspicious look. “Then it’s got to be Ty. I haven’t seen him around here at all lately. What happened with you two?”
“Nothing.” That’s the problem, she added silently. Just when she’d started trusting him again, he’d gone and let her down in the worst way possible. Betraying her trust, getting their daughters excited about having their father in their lives. Whenever she thought about it, she could feel her blood pressure skyrocketing.
“Allie and Hannah keep asking when he’s coming over, and you always put them off. That’s not nothing. Now, spill it, or I’ll keep guessing till I get it right. You know how annoying I can be,” she added with a little-sister grin that would grate on the nerves of a saint.
“Fine. I’ll tell you, but you have to promise to keep it to yourself.”
“Deal. Now, ’fess up. You’ll feel better if you tell someone.”
Morgan laid it out for her, keeping her voice low to prevent it from traveling into the family room, where the girls were occupied playing the latest round of their favorite board game. When she was finished, she sat back and sighed. “So, that’s what happened. Happy now?”
Jessie hesitated, as if she was trying to frame her response just right. That usually spelled trouble, and Morgan cautioned herself to be patient. It wasn’t easy.
“You probably won’t like what I have to say,” Jessie finally began, toying with her pen to avoid looking up. “But I’m gonna say it anyhow.” Lifting her eyes, she said, “I get where Ty’s coming from. They’re his daughters, too, and it’s obvious he really loves them. He has a right to be part of the picture.”
“He did,” Morgan countered, “before he broke his promise to me. I’m their mom, and I get to decide who sees them and who doesn’t.”
“I know he agreed to your conditions, but it really wasn’t fair of you to expect that to go on indefinitely. They’re great kids, and he’s proud to be their father. I know he hurt you terribly, but that was a long time ago. From what I’ve seen, he’s done everything he can to mend fences with you.”
“And then he broke them again,” Morgan announced firmly. “That’s his problem.”
“And the girls,” Jessie pointed out somberly. “They just found out that their father is the guy next door, and they’re not allowed to see him. That’s really sad.”
Morgan was digesting that when a knock sounded on the back door. Brooke Hamilton, the conservancy’s lawyer, stood on the porch, framed in the screen and smiling. Morgan had never been so glad to be interrupted in her life.
“Come on in, Brooke,” she called out, waving her in. “We could use some good news right about now. I hope you’ve got some.”
“Very good,” the young attorney replied, sitting in an empty chair next to Jessie. Pulling a thin stack of papers from her briefcase, she beamed. “The judge granted our temporary stay. Cartwright Energy is blocked from doing any more prospecting in Mustang Ridge until all these conditions are met.”
Fanning out the pages, she showed them the lengthy list of demands the conservancy had compiled. The judge had ticked most of them and crossed out a few others. But it was the front page that interested Morgan the most.
“‘Cease and desist,’” she read with a surge of pride for what their little group of crusaders had accomplished. “My new favorite phrase.”
“Mine, too,” Brooke agreed enthusiastically. “When I was in law school, I dreamed about using what I was learning to really make a difference someday. Beating back a greedy corporation like this makes me feel like Robin Hood.”
Standing, Morgan fetched three glasses from the dish drainer and took a pitcher of lemonade from the fridge. After filling the glasses, she raised hers. “To the Mustang Ridge Conservancy. May this be the first victory of many on our way to booting Cartwright Energy back over the Bridger Mountains where they belong.”
While they toasted and drank to their success, her conversation with Jessie was still echoing in Morgan’s mind. Thinking about Ty—and what had so nearly almost been—left her with a pang of regret.
He’d done so much to help make this happen, from lending his celebrity to the cause, to bringing Craig Barlowe in on the effort, to hours of helping her craft and hone her pitch to the committee in Washington. If things hadn’t gone so far awry, Ty would have been here, celebrating with them.
But he wasn’t. And she honestly couldn’t envision how they might bridge the gap he’d created to find their way back to where they’d been during their DC trip. Normally, Morgan faced reality head-on and accepted situations for what they were.
This time, she just felt sad.
One morning, Perry rushed into the feed store as if he was being chased by an angry bull. “Ty, did you hear about the Connors place?”
“No,” he replied, concerned by the urgency in his boss’s tone. “What happened?”
“Frank and Sally have been trying to sell their extra acreage for years, but they could never find a buyer for their property. Kailani heard through the grapevine that Cartwright Energy made them an offer they couldn’t refuse.”
Morgan.
It had been two weeks since their last—and apparently final—blowup, but how she’d react to this news was the first thing that came into his mind. “The mustang herd crosses that spot to get to the river and up to their summer grazing on that swath of public land. Morgan has a permanent right of access for them to use it.”
“Only as long as the Connors own it. If that changes—” Perry shrugged.
“There has to be a way to stop this.” After a few seconds, he asked, “Did they sign the papers yet?”
“Not as far as I know.”
“Can I take an early lunch?”
“It’s eight in the morning,” Perry argued, then grinned as the reason dawned on him. “You’re gonna stop the sale, aren’t you?”
“I’m sure gonna try.”
“Anything I can do?”
“Not that I can think of. Thanks, though.”
“No problem,” Perry said, flipping up the hinged countertop to change places with Ty. “Call if you need me.”
Ty waved in thanks as he all but ran from the store. On his way through town, he stopped in at the bank and emptied his savings of all but the few dollars required to keep the account open. It might not be close to the offer the couple had gotten already, he acknowledged as he raced along the road that led to their place. But it might be enough to stall until he could figure out something else.
Pulling up in front of the Connors’ modest ranch-style home, he swung down from his truck and hurried up the front steps. Pulling in a few deep breaths, he summoned a friendly smile as he knocked on the screen door. It seemed to take forever, but finally Sally appeared in the hallway, squinting to see who was visiting so early. Fortunately, when she saw him, she beamed as if he was a long-lost son.
“Ty Wilkins,” she greeted him, opening the door to let him inside. “It’s so nice to see you.”
Reminding himself to tread carefully, he accepted her welcoming hug. “It’s nice to see you, too. I’ve been meaning to come by, and this morning seemed like the perfect time.”
“How sweet. Come on in. I’ll let Frank know you’re here.”
Sweet, he mused as he followed her into the sunny kitchen. Morgan had called him that a time or two, before he completely messed up and lost her for good. There was no help for that now, he reminded himself sternly. But the least he could do was make an attempt to save the mustangs she loved so much.
Taking a seat at the round table, he tried to organize what he wanted to say to the elderly couple, who had every right to sell their property to anyone they chose. He hadn’t really thought about it, and suddenly it occurred to him that he didn’t have a good reason for them to change their plans. When Frank appeared alongside his wife, Ty stood and shook the man’s hand. “Good to see you, Mr. Connors. How’ve you been?”
The old farmer gave him a once-over and then, to Ty’s surprise, he chuckled. “Well, news sure does travel fast in this little town.”
“Don’t be rude, Frank,” his wife chided, pouring a cup of coffee and setting it in front of Ty. “This young man came all the way out here to see us. The least you can do is hear him out.”
“I’m guessing you know why I’m here,” Ty began, drinking some coffee to help his suddenly dry throat.
Frank sat back, folding his arms across his chest with a curious expression. “Morgan’s been after us for months to buy that land. What I can’t figure out is what you’re doing in the middle of this? Word is she hasn’t spoken to you in weeks.”
Hearing it phrased like that smarted, but Ty put his own feelings aside and concentrated on his reason for being here. “I’m here to keep Cartwright Energy out of Mustang Ridge, for all our sakes. Once you give them a few acres, they’ll use ’em as a foothold to buy up more land on either side. Before we know it, we’ll all be living in an oil field.”
“Their plans make a lotta sense to me,” Frank countered. “They’re pros, and they know what they’re doing. If they do find oil here, we’ve been assured that they’ll pump it without ruining the land around it.”
“No one can promise that,” Ty pointed out in the most controlled tone he could manage with his quickly panicking heart slamming away in his chest. Looking to Sally, he found a sympathetic face. “If they’re wrong about the impact, they can just pull up stakes and leave. We’re the ones who’re gonna be left with the consequences.”
Frank chewed on that for a few seconds, and Ty could tell the man was beginning to have second thoughts. Seizing on the opportunity, he pulled the bank envelope out of his rear pocket and set it on the table.
“What’s this?” his host asked suspiciously. “A bribe?”
Forcing himself to sound casual, Ty replied, “A down payment. If you can stall Cartwright a few days, I’ll get you the rest.”
Interest flared in the man’s eyes. “How much?”
Ty had no clue how much they’d accepted from the developer, so he sent up a quick prayer for help. After doing a quick mental inventory of his remaining possessions, he named a figure that thankfully didn’t earn him a laugh. Instead, Frank stroked his chin pensively.
“That might be worth considering,” he agreed, giving his wife a questioning look. “What do you think?”
She thought it over and then said, “I think we should have our lawyer check over that offer for us. That could take a week or so, with him being away on vacation and all.”
Ty suspected their lawyer hadn’t gone anywhere, and that she’d come up with a clever—and believable—way to hold off to give him the time he needed. Wary of getting too excited about something that could still fall apart, he asked, “Does that mean we have a deal?”
“If you can come up with what you’re suggesting,” Frank answered, “then yes, we have a deal.”
He held out a calloused hand that had seen a lot of hard work over the years. It was a hand that Ty could respect, and he gladly shook it to seal their agreement.
“From one local boy to another,” the farmer confided, “I wasn’t too keen on selling to them, anyway.”
“Keith and Trina weren’t fans of the idea, either,” Sally added. “They want to bring their kids here from California to visit in the fall.”
“Oh, yeah?” Ty asked, leaning back to enjoy the rest of their visit. “Whereabouts do they live?”
“She and her husband live in Sacramento with their two boys, and Keith just moved there with his crew of three. He and his wife bought a beautiful new house, and he sent us some pictures. Would you like to see them?”
“Now, Sally,” her husband said, “I’m sure Ty needs to get back to work.”
“Perry’s covering for me, so I’m good.” He’d owe his old buddy big-time, but after the coup he’d just pulled off against the big, bad energy developers, he couldn’t care less. “If you’ve got pictures, I’ve got plenty of time.”
Friday afternoon, Morgan was on the front porch playing Go Fish with Allie and Hannah when a delivery truck pulled into the driveway and continued on to the house. The driver held a small folder-style envelope in his hand as he approached them and stopped at the base of the steps.
“Excuse me, ladies,” he said pleasantly, touching the brim of his company’s ball cap with a friendly smile. “I have a registered delivery for Morgan Whittaker. Is she around?”
“That would be me,” she answered, setting her cards facedown on the table to meet him on the lawn. She noticed that the package had come from a bank in Helena, but she couldn’t imagine what might be inside. It definitely was addressed to her, so she tipped the driver and gave him directions to his next stop a few miles down the road.
After he’d gone, she tamped down her curiosity long enough to lose four more hands of the game that Allie had an uncanny knack for. “You’re turning into a real expert at this. What’s your secret?”
“I ask you for the cards you asked me for earlier.”
“That’s really cool. How can you remember all those turns?” Hannah asked, clearly baffled by her twin’s stunning memory.
“I just can.”
That kind of laser focus was a feature of autism, Morgan knew. It was nice that among the many challenges Allie faced, there were some skills that came naturally to her. Morgan made a mental note to mention this development to Allie’s teacher when school started. Hopefully, they could use it to hone her abilities and help keep this special girl on the path to a good, fulfilling life.
Once they were bored with beating her at cards, she took them inside for a snack and some art time. Summer vacation went by so fast, and it was nearly September. She loved her job, but there was nothing like spending long, lazy days with her daughters, laughing and playing with them. Childhood came around only once, and she’d gladly work until midnight if it meant she could spend the afternoon with her girls.
While they munched and drew, she opened the cardboard sleeve and set the contents on the table. The pages were stapled onto an official-looking backer, and at first she didn’t understand what she was looking at. There was no letter of explanation, and a peek back inside the sleeve showed her it didn’t contain one.
Interesting, she thought, turning her attention back to the document. It was a sales agreement for some land in the area, and she wondered if someone had donated it to the conservancy anonymously, to keep folks from discovering who they were. And then, she saw the line that explained it all, and her heart shot into her throat.
“Undeveloped tract of land referenced herein is gifted to Morgan Jo Whittaker, in perpetuity, to use, preserve and protect for the remainder of her life, and thereafter, for the lives of her heirs.”
Morgan was no lawyer, but she had enough knowledge of property grants to recognize that what she was holding in her hands was absolutely priceless. The location of the acreage in question registered with her immediately, and she took out her phone to call Ben.
“Yellow,” he answered, punctuating his greeting with a grunt that told her he was still wrestling with the cranky antique baler out in the back hay field.
“How’s it going?”
“Slow and hot. What’s up?”
“I need you to come in and keep an eye on the girls for a little while,” she explained. “I’ve got an errand to run, but I’ll trade you the time after dinner tonight.”
“Not a chance, sis. Between the ranch and the conservancy, you’re doing enough already. I’m happy to get something to eat and hang out with Allie and Hannah till you come back.”
Her youngest brother could be a royal pain in the neck when he wanted to be, but apparently this wasn’t one of those times. “Thanks, Ben. I really appreciate it.”
“No problem. I’ll be there in ten.”
He was true to his word, and after reminding her daughters to be good for him, Morgan got in her truck and headed for the Connors home. Like everyone else in town, she’d heard that they’d had an offer from Cartwright Energy, and she’d assumed they’d completed the sale to the developer. Finding out differently was an enormous surprise to her, and she wanted to thank them in person for helping to protect the unspoiled beauty of Mustang Ridge.
When she arrived, the two were in the middle of eating an early dinner. They graciously interrupted their meal and welcomed her inside.
“I’m sorry to disturb you,” she said, “but I just got a very special delivery and wanted to thank you in person.”
“For what, dear?” Sally asked, frowning in confusion.
When Morgan explained, Frank shook his head. “We sold the land to a private buyer, but we didn’t deed it to you. That was his doing.”
“Frank,” his wife scolded in a whisper, slapping his arm with an oven mitt. “We were supposed to keep the details to ourselves. Remember?”
Looking chagrined, he clamped his mouth shut as if that would help the situation.
More confused than she’d been in a long time, Morgan glanced from one to the other, but neither of them said anything more. And then, in a flash of inspiration, it hit her.
Ty.
She didn’t want to put the sweet couple in the position of confirming her suspicions, so she opted to drop the subject. “Well, however it happened, on behalf of the conservancy, I still want to thank you for deciding to keep the land in private hands. I promise you we’ll use it for the benefit of everyone who lives here, whether they walk on two legs or four.”
“Don’t forget the snakes and the fish,” Frank teased, obviously relieved to be let off the hook for blabbing.
“We won’t,” she promised, giving them each a grateful hug. “Once word of this gets around, I’m sure we’ll be having a party to celebrate. If you don’t mind, I’d like to include you on the guest list.”
They agreed, and she bid them goodbye before heading back to her truck. While she drove away, her eyes went across the swale that separated the Connors’ side yard from Ty’s. She still didn’t understand what was going on, and there was really only one way to find out. At the very least, she should call and thank him. He, more than anyone, knew that this piece of land was the buffer zone between possible development and the mustang herd she’d fought so hard to relocate. It didn’t take a genius to understand that he’d executed this clever end run around Cartwright Energy and their fancy lawyers for her.
The big question was how?
She knew the value of the Connors’ former parcel, and to her knowledge, he didn’t have anywhere near that kind of money. At the last minute, she yanked the steering wheel to the right and skidded into the gravel drive that led to his house. She wasn’t exactly anxious to see him again, but her father had taught her that some things were just better done in person.
Stepping out of her 4x4, she heard the whine of a circular saw coming from his living room. She went up on the porch and waited for a break in the noise before knocking. When he saw her, he looked almost as shocked to see her as she was to be there. But she’d made her choice, and now there was nothing to be done except see it through.
“Hey there, cowgirl.” His nonchalant greeting sounded a bit strained, but he strolled over to look at her through the screen. “What brings you onto this side o’ the fence?”
He looked tired, and there was a wariness in those hazel eyes that made her feel sorry for him. He was expecting a dressing down, she realized, and in all honesty she couldn’t blame him. Their last conversation hadn’t ended well, and he had no reason to think this one would go any better. “I wanted to talk to you, if you have time.”
His eyes narrowed suspiciously. “What’d I do now?”
“Something really sweet that I want to thank you for.”
Understanding dawned, and he chuckled as he swung the door open. “Frank and Sally weren’t supposed to tell you about all that.”
“Why not? It was a wonderful thing to do. I don’t know why you’d want to keep it a secret.”
“Because it’s me,” he explained in a hesitant tone very unlike him, “and it’s you.”
“And that makes it complicated?” He nodded, and she sighed. “Yeah, I get that. We never seem to do anything the easy way, do we?”
That got her a look filled with a remorse so deep that she could almost feel it. “We used to. Then we grew up, and everything got tougher.”
She couldn’t have debated that if she wanted to, and she hunted for something to fill the silence stretching out between them. Glancing around the dusty room, her eyes landed on something in the middle of it all. Or rather, something that was no longer in the middle of it all.
Striding toward the fireplace, she stopped in front of it and picked up the only thing that was still displayed there: the framed print of Ty and her after competing at Cheyenne Frontier Days for the first time.
Photo in hand, she slowly turned to face him. “Tyler, where are your trophies?”
“Helena.”
His jaw had tightened up the way it always did when he was hiding something, but this time she couldn’t bring herself to get angry at him for keeping the truth from her. Walking toward him, she stopped when they were almost toe-to-toe. “What are they doing there?”
After a few moments, he rubbed his neck and gave her a sheepish look. “I sold them to a dealer so I could make the Connors a decent offer on that vacant land.”
“Those were the last things you had from your rodeo career. Why on earth would you sell them?”
“I’ve still got Clyde,” he corrected her, then tapped the frame with his finger. “And this. Besides, now there’s a lot less to dust.”
She laughed, and after a moment, he joined her. “You’re not mad?”
“Mad?” she echoed in disbelief. “I’m grateful, and touched that you’d do something this generous for me. What I don’t understand is that after the way we left things, why did you do it?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” When she shook her head, he leaned in and kissed her cheek. Nosing along her jaw to her ear, he whispered, “I love you.”
As he pulled back to give her one of those warm, lazy grins, she blinked up at him in astonishment. “You do?”
“For most of my life.” Reeling her into his arms, he brushed a kiss over her lips that melted her heart on the spot. Resting his forehead against hers, he sighed. “Guess I just don’t know how to stop.”
And in that moment, she knew why she’d been so out of sorts lately. Why every time she thought of him, it took everything in her not to break down and cry. Reaching up, she bracketed his tanned face in her hands and gave him her very best smile. “Then I guess we’re stuck with each other, because I don’t know how to stop loving you, either.”
Drawing him in for another kiss, she reveled in the feeling of being in his arms again, safe and protected by a man who’d given up his most valued possessions to secure the future of her mustangs. Not for his own gain, but because he knew how much that motley crew of ponies meant to her.
“Good to know,” he said, a mischievous grin working its way across his features. “Y’know, I just had a thought.”
“Will I like it?”
“Maybe. You know how you hate it when I call you MJ?”
She had no idea where this was going, but she laughed and played along. “Yes.”
“How ’bout if I come up with something else?”
“That depends,” she teased. “What did you have in mind?”
“Mrs. Tyler Wilkins.” Lifting an eyebrow in a questioning look, he grinned. “Whattya think?”
Standing on tiptoe, she kissed him. “I think it’s perfect.”