Her manicure was a wreck, but she’d given up any hope of nice fingernails on the day she’d decided to stay. “They’re getting better. I’m sure I’ll have calluses in no time.”
“You sound pretty cheerful about calluses,” her mother said.
Kate brushed bronzer against her cheeks. “I’m just in a good mood. Landon asked me out. We’re going to dinner and then dancing.”
Silence filled the line. Finally, her mother said, “Do you mean he’s showing you around and you’ll be dancing with other people? Or is this an actual date, as in, there’s a chance he’ll be kissing you at the end of it?”
Chances were very high. She wasn’t about to tell her parents that she’d already done her fair share of kissing Landon. It would be better to ease her parents into the idea of her and Landon as a couple if she left out those details. “It’s an actual date. Since I’ve been here, Landon has been really nice. He’s letting me borrow his baler, and I told you how he came over and helped me spread manure.”
Her father grunted. “Oh, I can tell he’s been spreading more than manure and laying it on thick.”
“The guy could be playing you,” her mother said. “You can’t get romantically involved with him. You can’t even trust the advice he gives you on ranching. He wants to take Coyote Glen from you.”
Kate should have expected that reaction. After all, her parents didn’t know Landon like she did. Each summer when they’d dropped her off, they’d only stayed a few days before going back to Washington. They’d hardly spent any time with the Wyles. “Landon isn’t like that. He isn’t trying to take the ranch from me. He’s already told me he thinks we can reach a financial agreement. He’s working on getting a loan approved so he can make us an offer.”
Landon was undermining his own plan by asking her out. At the moment, she had no desire to leave Arizona.
“He’ll most likely lowball you,” her father said. “And then he’ll pressure you into accepting it. I bet that’s why he wants to date you—so he can manipulate you into agreeing to his terms.”
The words stung. “You think that’s the only reason someone would want to date me?”
Her father sighed. “That’s not what I’m saying. You’re a beautiful, talented, intelligent woman. If Landon is truly interested in you, he should understand the position he’s putting you in. He should be willing to wait until after the land isn’t an issue anymore. Then if the two of you want to date, you’ll know he doesn’t have ulterior motives.”
“Exactly,” her mother said. “Tell him you need to wait until the financial matters are taken care of.” She said this as though the matter was settled and Kate ought to agree.
Problem was, Kate didn’t want to wait for weeks or months for another kiss. She was already going into withdrawals. Besides, if they couldn’t agree on a price for the land, Coyote Glen’s ownership wouldn’t be settled for a year. Telling Landon to wait until then would be tantamount to telling him she didn’t trust him—that she suspected his motives. Still, she couldn’t ignore her parents’ concerns. “I won’t consider any offer the Wyles make without consulting you first. You don’t need to worry about him pressuring me into anything.”
“Steer clear of Landon’s advice on running the ranch,” her father emphasized, like she might have missed his earlier opinions. “Dewayne has worked for your grandfather for years. Get his advice before doing anything, and that includes borrowing equipment from the Wyles. What would happen if they loaned you something and then claimed you damaged it? Unless you have them sign something that says you’ve returned the equipment in good working order, they could sue you for the price of a new baler. You have to be careful of anything that might put you into the red.”
Kate brushed mascara on her lashes. “Landon wouldn’t do something like that.” And she wasn’t about to ask him to sign documentation after she borrowed his equipment. Not only would it be insulting, the Wyles would never let her borrow anything else. “Weren’t you listening to all of those stories Grandpa told about how upstanding Landon and his brothers are?”
“When millions of dollars are at stake,” her father said, “even upstanding men do some bad things.”
She couldn’t keep arguing that point with her parents. Pretending to acquiesce was the next best thing. “Maybe you’re right. I’ll talk to him.” Technically, her words weren’t a lie. There was always a minuscule chance her parents were right, just as there was a minuscule chance that Landon was a vampire. And she did plan on talking to him—while they ate dinner and danced.
What this conversation really meant was that Kate would have to keep any dates with Landon a secret from her parents. That wouldn’t be such a bad thing. If the relationship went nowhere, then her parents wouldn’t be the wiser. And if things went somewhere, then she’d find a way to break the news to them. No point fighting that battle right now.
Her mother’s voice took on a cheerful encouraging tone. “I’m sure you’ll find plenty of other handsome men around.”
“I’ve already run into plenty, but since they’re all Landon’s brothers, I assume you won’t like them either.”
“Five thousand people live in Bisbee,” her father said. “A few must be eligible men. If not, I hear internet dating is big with your generation.”
Kate would’ve been very depressed at that moment if she’d decided to give up Landon, but she wasn’t planning on it and didn’t want more of her parents’ advice. Instead of commenting, she changed the subject and told them that Dewayne had suggested she sell all the cows and heifers that weren’t pregnant.
“Dewayne’s probably right,” her father said. “I’ll give him a call and talk about your options.”
Which brought up another issue. If Kate was going to keep Landon a secret from her parents, she’d have to keep her relationship a secret from Dewayne too. Otherwise, he’d probably say something about it to her parents. Luckily, Dewayne didn’t seem all that interested in her personal life and turned in for the night around five. He wouldn’t know what she did in the evenings.
Cue a double life.
That night Landon picked her up at six. He wore a black button-down shirt that accentuated his broad shoulders. Ranch work was good for keeping a man in shape. She couldn’t help but compare him to the men she knew back in Seattle. They all seemed so thin and pale next to him, so insubstantial.
Kate wasn’t sure how to break the news that they needed to keep their relationship a secret from Dewayne. The Wyles had been nothing but helpful to her since she got here, and now she was going to have to admit to Landon that her parents thought he might be manipulating her.
She got into his truck, a white dually that was surprising clean, and they headed toward Bisbee. On the way there, they talked about the moisture content in alfalfa. She wouldn’t have thought a conversation about hay could be interesting, but now she tried to remember everything Landon said as though studying for a test.
When they neared Bisbee, he suggested a couple of restaurants. “The steak at the Double P Roadhouse is good.”