“I doubt he’ll admit to what I just told you.”
Probably true. Still, doing nothing made her feel helpless. “I’m going to…” She paused, realizing just how little she could do. She couldn’t prove he’d done anything illegal. She had no recourse at all.
She looked to Landon, and her hurt and anger were overshadowed by gratitude for what he’d done. He could’ve paid Dewayne and taken the ranch. Instead, Landon told her about the offer. He had too much integrity to make an underhanded deal.
That’s when Kate knew she was in love with him. This wasn’t just attraction. It wasn’t some sort of cattle version of Stockholm syndrome. This was what love felt like. Without another word, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. “Thank you for watching out for me.”
He returned the embrace, his hands resting against the small of her back. “I couldn’t have done anything else.”
His body hadn’t lost all of its earlier tension. Maybe he was worried about finding a new foreman for her. Or maybe the adrenalin still coursing through his system made it impossible to relax.
She wanted to whisper into his shirt that she loved him. But saying those words would mean things. It would mean staying in Arizona. It would mean rethinking what she did with Coyote Glen. Because how could she tell Landon she loved him and then cut off his water supply?
With the feel of Landon’s heartbeat underneath her ear, she considered overriding her parents’ objections and selling Coyote Glen to Landon anyway. Technically, she didn’t need her parents’ approval to make a deal with him.
And yet how could she go back on her word and not give the ranch to them?
Landon broke the embrace and stepped away from her. “Until you hire someone new, you’ll need extra help. I have the numbers of some day laborers.” He pulled out his phone and began texting her contacts.
He was already concentrating on the next task and was past Kate’s possible whisperings of I love you. Maybe that was for the best. The ranch issues aside, Landon could be one of those men who didn’t want long-term commitment and bolted at the thought of love. He’d told her often enough that she should stay in Arizona, but he hadn’t said he loved her or wanted a future with her. It would be Kate’s luck to give up her life in Seattle, completely tick off her parents, and then find out Landon was only interested in a temporary fling. How did one go about figuring out what a man wanted?
He slipped his phone back into his pocket. “I need to talk to you about one other thing.” The words were spoken softly, but Landon’s tension had reached his voice. He was staring at her with reproof. “Why didn’t you tell me your parents had turned down my offer?”
Oh. He knew about that. She shifted uncomfortably. The concrete beneath her feet was suddenly hard and uncomfortable. “How did you—”
“Dewayne.”
One more thing to thank him for. “I was going to tell you. I was just afraid it would change things between us.” She tried to read his expression. His eyes were somber, his mouth a serious straight line. “Will it change things between us?”
He hesitated. “I don’t want it to.” The words were guarded.
Guarded wasn’t the emotion she’d wished for after she’d just realized she was in love with him. “Good.” She attempted a smile. “I don’t want it to either.”
He ran a hand across his chin. “We can go a couple hundred thousand dollars higher if that would make a difference.”
She hated answering. “I don’t think it would.”
“I see.”
Silence filled the space between them. He looked upward, considering, and sighed before returning his attention to her. “Since we don’t have any sort of deal, my brothers won’t be happy if I keep helping you with things.”
She should have expected him to say this, but it still hurt a little. When she’d been over at the Wyles’ doing their remodel, his brothers had been so nice. Now they would, what—resent her, wish her ill luck? “Are you saying you won’t help me with anything else, or just telling me your brothers won’t be happy when you do?”
Another hesitation. Those little pauses seemed so brutal now. “I doubt they’ll want me to loan you more equipment. Let’s take it case by case.”
She nodded. Taking it case by case was the sensible thing to do. He was being more than fair. He was in line to inherit her ranch, and he needed her water. She shouldn’t expect his help. On the other hand, he was her boyfriend. That should mean something too. Her gaze sunk to his feet. She couldn’t look him in the eyes anymore. She didn’t want to see anymore hesitations there. “If you knew last night that my parents had turned down your offer, would you have still come to help me with Marigold?”
“Yes.”
That was a relief. “What if it was one of the heifers?” That was a harder question because her grandpa’s will required her to have three hundred and thirteen head of cattle. If too many died and she couldn’t buy more, she’d lose.
Landon didn’t answer.
So that was probably a no. “Okay,” she said, “but the chickens are on the can-help list, right? Because you never know when I might call at midnight for a chicken emergency.”
“Kitty,” his voice was low, asking her to understand. “I have to think of my brothers. This isn’t just about you and me.”
“I know.” She forced another smile and took hold of his hand, threading her fingers through his. The gesture, at least, wasn’t forced. She wanted the feel of his skin against hers, wanted to feel that they still had a connection. “If it were just about you and me, I’d accept your price for the land right now.”