Missy trotted over to sniff the cookies to see if they were perhaps dog food. She decided they weren’t and lay down again, resigned.
Landon seated himself on the opposite couch, hands on his knees, and watched her. Kate sat up straighter to prove she felt better and took another drink. In the future when she worked outside, she’d have to make sure to keep a water bottle nearby.
Landon’s gaze remained on her. “Again, I’m real sorry about breaking the news that way.”
“It’s fine.” Her voice only shook a little. “Like you said, they have a happy marriage. I guess it doesn’t matter how it started.”
“Exactly.”
She ate another cookie. “I’m okay now. You don’t have to keep worrying.” This was going to be another memory to add to the list of mortifications—the time she fainted in front of Landon Wyle after finding out she was an unplanned pregnancy. Really, how many embarrassing moments could the man be a part of?
“Good.” He paused and shifted on the couch. “Well, anyway,” he said, as though the whole interruption to their conversation hadn’t happened, “now you understand why your grandfather overreacted the way he did. He was worried because he loved you.”
That was stretching Grandpa’s reaction a bit. “Right. He was all about love. That’s why he cut his only child out of his inheritance.” Saying the words were a reminder of her dad’s pain at the lawyer’s office. “My father didn’t deserve that.”
Her accusation didn’t faze Landon. “Cal left your father everything else he had. He just didn’t leave your dad things he didn’t appreciate.”
Did Landon really not understand that her grandfather’s will was an insult? “The stuff in the house is worth nothing. He didn’t even leave my parents the money in his bank account. He tied that up with the ranch too.”
“Because he knew you’d need it to run Coyote Glen.” Landon’s voice took on the tone of a teacher. “The land and cattle are worth a lot of money, but the profit you’ll make every year is slim. It’s eaten up by your costs. If you need new equipment, that’ll set you back thousands. Cal wanted to give you the tools to succeed.”
Landon seemed earnest enough in his trust of her grandfather’s motives, but she couldn’t help wonder why he was saying all this, why he was telling her what she needed to do to run Coyote Glen. Landon didn’t, couldn’t really want to help her. “You keep offering me help. Do you want me to succeed?”
He didn’t speak for a moment. “Can’t say I do. Not when my ranch’s water is at stake. But it seems a shame that you think so little of your grandfather when he thought highly enough of you to trust you with the things he loved best in life.”
Landon was right about that. Grandpa had loved the ranch best: the rock and dirt, cacti and ocotillo. Landon edged off the couch to stand. “Since you’re feeling better, I’ll go. Lie here and take it easy for a while.”
As he headed toward the door, Kate realized she’d been a horrible hostess. He’d finished her chore, bandaged her hands, carried her to the couch, and gotten her water. In return, she’d argued with him about her grandfather. She needed to make it up to Landon somehow.
He pulled on his boots.
“Thanks again for helping me with the manure,” she called to him. “Will you let me buy you dinner sometime as payment?”
Jaxon would have probably thought this was poor flirting technique, a too blatant way of setting up a date, but she didn’t like being in anyone’s debt. Spending time with a handsome man would just be a pleasant bonus.
“Sure,” he said. “But it wasn’t any trouble at all.” He put on his hat and winked. “I need to make sure you fertilize the land right so it’s in good shape when I inherit it.” He opened the door and strode outside.
Earlier, when she’d wondered why he’d helped her, she shouldn’t have overlooked self-interest.
Missy followed Landon outside, trotting happily beside him and wagging her tail. The little traitor. Kate didn’t bother calling the dog back. She was half afraid the dog wouldn’t obey, which would be proof that Landon belonged here more than she did.
Chapter Seven
“So,”Jaxon said, “you straight out told Kitty that her mom got knocked up as a teenager? You just plunked down that family secret?” He and Landon were stringing wire between some fence posts. They each held one end of a pipe with a large roll of barbed wire between them, uncoiling it as they hiked to the next post.
“Not on purpose,” Landon said. “I went over to be neighborly.”
“Well, that’s not really the best way to go about it.”
Yeah. Landon was painfully aware of that. “I’m only telling you about this so you won’t do something to make the situation worse.”
They stopped at a wooden post and Jaxon wrapped the wire around it. “I don’t think my skills are needed to make the situation worse. You’re doing a fine job on your own.”
He was right. Landon was used to being the one who fixed problems, who always knew what to do. Not this time.
“You don’t have to keep groaning.” Jaxon finished with the post and picked up his end of the roll again so they could head to the next post. “I’m sure she’ll get over it. And this probably won’t even make her parents’ dislike you more. There isn’t a level past red-hot hatred.”
Yep. Landon was undoubtedly the Bentons’ least favorite person right now. He didn’t want to imagine the conversation Kitty had with her parents after he left. His mind kept replaying how she’d looked when she’d fainted—colorless and shocked. And it was all his fault.