THE COWBOY SHE COULDN'T FORGET Page 13

  Ana turned to him. Vance owned property?

  Vance shook his head. “Sorry. I have plans for those sections.”

  “Well, if you ever change your mind, I might know of a development group who would pay top dollar for that sweet piece of meadow acreage.”

  Vance’s face paled. “Like I said, it’s not for sale.”

  What meadow? Her meadow? Ana’s heart sank and she suddenly felt sick. Somehow she managed to hold it together until they were out of the building. Then she took off down the street. She could hear Vance calling her name, but Ana didn’t stop. She couldn’t breathe.

  All these years she’d done everything to be the perfect daughter but her father had never wanted her. Why would he, when he had Vance?

  Her long stride ate up the distance along the sidewalk as she headed for her apartment. She needed to be alone. Someplace where she could deal with the pain, the hurt. She felt Vance’s hand on her arm and she turned around.

  His gaze was intense. “Ana, talk to me.”

  “It’s a little late for that, don’t you think?”

  He didn’t budge. “I’m not going away until we talk.”

  “Well, you’re going to have a long wait.”

  “This isn’t going to solve anything, Ana. I’m either going to speak to you right here or we go someplace private.”

  Ana saw the curious looks of people passing by. She smiled at them in greeting. “Okay. My apartment is three blocks away.”

  With a nod, Vance fell into step beside her, but he remained silent as they made their way to Elk Drive. She went up the steps to her one-bedroom apartment and took out her key.

  Vance knew he had to explain, but he seriously doubted he could find the right words to convince Ana he wasn’t trying to take over the ranch.

  He followed her into a small room that included both a living and kitchen area. Hardwoods covered the floors and the furniture was in earth tones. He glanced around the generic apartment and realized just how isolated Ana’s life must be.

  He stopped in the middle of the living room. “I’m sorry, Ana. I never meant for you to find out this way. Colt deeded me a few sections after I graduated from college three years ago. I tried to tell you the other night, but you fell asleep.”

  She didn’t look convinced. “That was convenient for you.”

  “It’s the truth. I never meant to deceive you. A month ago, I didn’t think you’d care. It wasn’t until we went riding to the meadow that I realized that wasn’t true.”

  She wouldn’t look at him in the eye. “Who else knows about the land transfer? Am I the only one in town who was kept in the dark?”

  “No one knew, except Wade and whoever else Colt told.”

  She was silent for a long time.

  “Colt probably wouldn’t have done it if any of his girls ever came back to the ranch.”

  “You have to feel welcome to want to come back.” Vance could see Ana was fighting tears. “It’s still our heritage,” she told him. “Not yours.”

  Her jab hit him hard, but this time it came from someone who truly mattered to him. Right when he was beginning to think he could be a part of her life.

  “Dammit, Ana, I can’t change what happened over twenty years ago. I’m sorry as hell that your mother took off and left you. And I’m also sorry that Colt wasn’t there for you. But I won’t take the blame for it. I worked hard to make my place on the Lazy S, but I never tried to take anything away from you or your sisters.”

  This time her eyes were ablaze. “You didn’t have to—it was given to you. You truly became the son Colt always wanted.”

  Vance tried to block out the hurt from her words. It didn’t work this time, despite years of practice. He’d already lost, when all he’d wanted was to love her.

  * * *

  Two hours later, at the ranch, Vance saddled up Rusty and led his horse out of the barn. He climbed onto the chestnut cutting horse and rode across the corral. He needed to clear his head, to clear his heart of the one woman he could never have in his life.

  Once through the gate, he kicked the animal’s sides and the race was on. Rusty loved to run, and Vance wanted to get to a place where the hurt didn’t reach him any longer. Problem was, he wasn’t sure he could run that far.

  Run from the mother who’d never wanted him, or a father who had no use for him except as a punching bag. Twenty years later, he still hadn’t been able to outrun his past.

  The river came into view and Vance suddenly realized how far he’d gone. He slowed his horse, then stopped when he saw another rider standing by a black gelding at the riverbank. Garrett.

  He climbed down. “Hey, Garrett, what are you doing here?”

  “I’m doing some surveying for the building. You here to chase me off Slater land?” he said jokingly.

  Vance shook his head. “I have no authority to do that. But you might be wasting your time. The bank wasn’t very receptive about the project.”

  Garrett tipped his hat back as their horses drank from the river. “Then find another source for the money.”

  Vance wasn’t in the mood to talk about this. “I doubt Ana is interested anymore.”

  Garrett tied his horse’s reins to a branch of a tree and leaned against the truck. “What happened? You two have a lovers’ quarrel?”

  Vance head shot up. “How...?”

  His friend laughed. “You’re not good at hiding much, Rivers. Whenever Ana comes around you get all tense and can’t take your eyes off her.” He sobered. “I take it she’s the one you want to share that new house of yours with.”

  Vance froze. Now that the words were spoken, it made him realize how crazy he’d been to even think they could have a future together. “You have those designs finished already?”

  Garrett gave a nod. “Take some advice and show them to her before you break ground. A woman wants to add her own touches.”

  “The way things look now, I need to hold off on thinking about anything permanent.”

  His friend studied him a second. “That serious, huh?”

  He nodded in turn. “Thanks to Colt, Ana isn’t going to ever trust me again.”

  Garrett shook his head. “I know that feeling all too well.”

  Vance saw the strange look on his friend’s face. The man had his own past troubles with a Slater woman.

  “I’m not a good one to ask for help with your love life, but I might have some ideas about the business side,” Garrett stated.

  Vance knew that was pretty much all he had left. He needed to concentrate on the ranch, and leave anything personal out of it. Could he do that? Could he give up on the woman he’d loved all these years? It seemed Ana had already answered that question for him.

  * * *

  The next afternoon Vance stormed into Colt’s room, to find him sitting by the window.

  “Colt, you need to do something,” he said. “To start with, you can’t keep letting Ana or any of your daughters think that you don’t care about them.”

  “What h-happened?”

  Vance paced the room. He hated that he had to do this when the man was still recovering, but everything was falling apart.

  “What didn’t happen? Ana has been trying to come up with a way to pay off the lease.” He went on to explain about the idea for bringing in more revenue. He told Colt about the plans for building cabins to bring in more anglers. Not knowing if there was still animosity between the Slaters and the Temples, he conveniently left out that Garrett was heading up the project.

  “Whether you like the idea or not, the Lazy S needs to make money, and Ana and her sisters have been working hard to make that happen. She needs some encouragement from you.”

  Colt frowned. He hadn’t seen Ana in the past two days, but thought that was because she
’d been busy. She had told him some things about the project and he had enjoyed hearing her enthusiasm. Something wasn’t right between her and Vance. “What d-did you d-do?”

  The younger man stopped and glared at him. “What did I do? I did nothing. You’re the one who teamed me up with Ana to run the place, when it should have been your daughters in charge. I’m an outsider. Not family.”

  Colt hesitated. Was that how Vance felt? “You know the r-ranch.”

  Vance sent him another glare. “And whose fault is that? Your daughters would like to know how the ranch runs, but you refused to show them.”

  Colt fought not to look away.

  “I watched for years how you treated them,” Vance said. “How you barely acknowledged them. Why, Colt? What did they do that was so wrong?”

  Colt was ashamed of his lousy parenting. After Luisa left, he’d wallowed in self-pity, ignoring the girls until they stopped depending on him for anything. It had been easier that way. He wouldn’t be hurt again when they left.

  “Do you know that Ana can’t trust another man because you’ve never been there for her?” Vance crouched down in front of his chair. “Ana feels lost, Colt. She’s hurt because of the land you deeded to me. Now she hates me because she thinks I matter more to you than she does. And I don’t blame her. But unlike you, I care about her.”

  Colt’s chest ached. He hadn’t wanted this to happen.

  “So you can’t hide any longer. You need to tell her the truth. Let her know how you feel before it’s too late.” Vance turned and walked out of the room, leaving Colt alone.

  He sat there in the deafening silence. Was this what his life had become? He’d pushed just about everyone who ever care about him away. Maybe he deserved to lose everything and to end up a lonely old man.

  Memories flooded into his head. The good ones early on, then years and years of bad memories. Years when he could have made a better life for his girls, but had chosen not to. He’d stood back and let someone else care for them; someone else got Ana’s, Tori’s, Josie’s and Marissa’s kisses and hugs. Someone else got their love.

  He brushed a tear from his face. “It’s your own damn fault, old man,” he chided himself, not wanting to go back to that life. He wanted Ana to stay at the ranch, and try and bring the other girls home, too.

  He turned his wheelchair and reached for the phone on his bedside table. He got the operator. “I need the R-Royerton First National Bank.” He waited until a woman’s voice answered. “Alan H-Hoffman Sr.”

  “Who’s calling, sir?”

  “C-Colton Slater,” he said. Although the effort was exhausting, his speech was clear.

  Hoffman’s booming voice came over the line. “Well, you old son of a gun, how are you?”

  Colt smiled, hearing the familiar voice. “B-better. N...need a favor, friend.”

  * * *

  “Okay. What’s going on?” Sarah stepped into Ana’s apartment two days later.

  It was after ten o’clock in the morning, but Ana hadn’t showered or gotten dressed yet. “What are you talking about?” She shut the door behind her friend.

  “Why are you staying here instead of the ranch? Don’t you usually have a hundred things to do out there? Dad said the fishing has been incredible. Word has gotten around and the anglers are asking to go out to your place.”

  Ana hadn’t been back to the ranch since Friday. Besides not being able to face Vance, she didn’t have her car.

  “They’re taken care of,” she said. “I’m sure Vance can handle anything that comes along.”

  Sarah studied her. “Speaking of that good-looking man, you two seemed to be getting pretty chummy.”

  She wasn’t that surprised by her friend’s observation. “How did you know?”

  Sarah smiled. “So you are dating?”

  Ana shook her head and headed for the small apartment kitchen. “No. I’m not sure if we really ever were.” She began to fill the coffeemaker. “I mean, we were so busy with the ranch and Dad. We just kind of fell together.”

  “But it was getting serious, right?”

  Ana couldn’t talk about it. “Not anymore. I mean, it never was. I should have stayed focused on the ranch and taking care of Colt.” She leaned against the counter. “Then it wouldn’t hurt so much.”

  “Oh, honey, I can’t believe Vance doesn’t care about you.”

  Ana shook her head. “No, but it doesn’t change the fact that he’s always had Colt’s attention.”

  “And you blame Vance for that?”

  Ana looked at her friend and brushed her hair away from her face. “No. Yes. I don’t know.”

  “I do,” Sarah said. “Vance was only a kid when he showed up. Okay, Colt took him in, but I bet whatever Vance got from your father he earned with hard work.”

  “What about me, Tori, Josie and Marissa?” Ana knew she sounded like a spoiled child. “Don’t we deserve anything?”

  “Of course you do. And isn’t it about time to finally confront Colt about this issue?”

  Ana’s bravado began to fade. “But what if he finally tells me the truth? What if he tells me that he doesn’t love me?”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  OVER THE NEXT week Vance tried to stay busy with the day-to-day running of the ranch, but all he could think about was Ana. Then to top it off he’d gotten a call from Hoffman at the bank, who asked to see him. Vance called Ana, but she didn’t answer, so all he could do was leave a message telling her about their appointment.

  He wasn’t surprised when he walked into the bank lobby and she wasn’t there. Not that he expected her to be able to forgive him, but he had hoped that they could at least work together for the ranch. He’d thought wrong.

  He walked into Alan’s office and was greeted by a smile. “Hello, Vance. Good to see you again.”

  Vance hoped the man was feeling this good for a reason. They exchanged handshakes.

  “Glad you could come in. Will Ana be joining us?”

  “She couldn’t make it today,” Vance said. “I’ll relay any news to her.”

  “That’s right, the school year is starting soon.” The loan officer looked over the papers on his desk. “Well then, I guess you’ll get the pleasure of telling her the good news. We’ve approved the loan.”

  “You’re giving us the business loan?”

  Alan nodded. “Yes, and for the amount requested. I have the paperwork right here. Since you’re partners, I’ll need Ana’s signature, too.”

  “Of course.” Vance was caught off guard by the news.

  “We could get your signature today, and if you take the papers to Ana to look over, she can return them at her leisure.” Alan smiled. “Just have her call to arrange a time to come in and sign. We need to make sure it’s notarized.”

  The banker sobered. “Vance, about the other day, I overstepped when I mentioned your property. From Ana’s expression, I take it she didn’t know that Colt had deeded it over to you.”

  Vance nodded. He remembered Alan Hoffman from high school, but they hadn’t been friends. Not with his father being the bank manager. Many parents didn’t let their boys associate with that good-for-nothing Rivers kid. “I was surprised when he gave it to me.”

  Alan held up his hands. “You worked hard for Colton over the years. If he’s anything like my father, you earned every acre.”

  Vance shrugged. “I only did my job.”

  “I’d say you did a lot more than that.”

  “You mean despite being Calvin Rivers’s son?”

  “Okay, we all knew of your dad’s reputation, but I hope you know we’re not looking back. The people in this town respect you, Vance. You made a place for yourself in this community.”

  Vance should be happy with this man’s praise, but without Ana
none of it mattered to him. “Thank you.”

  Hoffman nodded. “So that being said, I do know of a buyer for your land if you’re interested.”

  Vance thought back to the day he’d ridden to the meadow with Ana. He could still hear the wonder in her voice as she’d looked over the land of her ancestors. “Sorry, it’s not for sale.” He took the loan papers, said his goodbyes and walked out.

  Once outside of the bank, Vance stood on the sidewalk. What was his next move? So far, he’d lost the most important thing to him—Ana. No matter what he planned to do with the land, she wouldn’t give him a chance to tell her.

  He walked two blocks to the office of Wade Dickson, Attorney at Law. Vance removed his hat and walked inside to the receptionist’s desk. “Hello, Mrs. Smart. Is Wade in?”

  The middle-aged woman smiled. “I’ll see, Vance.” She went to the door, knocked, then peered inside. After an exchange of words, she motioned for Vance to go in.

  He walked into the office. Before the lawyer could even stand, Vance stated his case. “I need some advice.”

  Wade made an effort not to smile. “Ana?”

  He nodded.

  “Have you tried to tell her how you feel about her?”

  Vance wished he had the chance. “I don’t think any amount of sweet words are going to fix this.”

  * * *

  After trying for the past two days, Vance didn’t know where else to go to look for Ana. The only place left was the high school, since classes were starting the following Monday. It might be his best shot to catch her.

  Memories flooded back as he walked through the double doors and down the hall to the main office. As a fourteen-year-old, he’d spent a lot of time with the principal before Colt had given him a home and adjusted his bad attitude.

  A woman coming out of an inner office told him where Ana’s office was, and he set out on a search. He walked the short distance to the counseling center, where he spotted her right away.

  Through the glass partition he could see she was busy talking with another teacher. She wore her dark hair pulled back in a ponytail, with short bangs across her forehead.