“You would?” His expression implied surprise and relief, not disbelief.
“I’ll tell my parents you’re willing to go up two hundred thousand and ask them to reconsider, and…” Now the pause was on her side.And maybe it will make a difference when I tell them we’re in love. Only she wasn’t sure if Landon was.
He ran his thumb softly against her knuckles and waited for her to finish. He was more patient where pauses were concerned.
She couldn’t come right out and ask him how he felt about her, so instead said, “Where do you see us being after the will is resolved?” The question seemed to hang in the air. Her heart was hanging there with it, suspended on nothing but hope.
He smiled in that way that always made his blue eyes shine. “I see us in the barn delivering another foal. By that point, you love Arizona too much to leave ranching behind.” His smile turned teasing. “Which is a good thing because in this scenario I’ve inherited Coyote Glen, and you’d have been out of work if I hadn’t taken you in.”
He saw them together still. That was a good sign. She nodded casually. “It’s kind of you to let me be a horse midwife and continue to live at my grandpa’s ranch.”
“Nah.” Landon’s slow drawl was every bit as sweet as honey. “You’ll stay at the Wyle Away with me.”
“Oh.” An even better sign. Her insides fluttered. “Am I an honest woman in this scenario?”
“Completely honest, and you can’t possibly live in your grandfather’s house anymore because I’ve turned it into a pigeon sanctuary.”
He was joking about that. He was probably joking about them being married too. Still, the thought of being his wife sent a happy thrill through her. “Ah, Mr. Wyle, if you could bottle those sweet words and sell them to lonely women, you’d be rich.”
He chuckled and pulled her closer. “That would be one way to make a living.” Then he kissed her with an intensity that made her think he hadn’t been joking about any of it. The kiss said he wanted her. The wordsI love youcouldn’t be far behind. She just had to wait.
His lips grazed the side of her neck, and she closed her eyes, relishing his touch. She might just float away. “I think it’s time to tell my parents about us. Maybe that will make a difference.”
When Landon left,Kate went back into her bedroom for her phone. She’d give her parents one piece of news at a time. She’d start with Dewayne’s treachery and then tell them how Landon had ordered him off the ranch. She would emphasize how honest and supportive he’d been. Her parents would have to appreciate what Landon had done and realize how wonderful he was.
After that, admitting that she was dating Landon wouldn’t be so hard. Eventually, as she and Landon became more serious, her parents would have no choice but to see him as son-in-law material. They wouldn’t want to take the water supply away from a possible, maybe future son-in-law. They’d see a compromise was necessary.
Before Kate reached her phone, it rang. The number was her father’s.
She answered with, “Hey, I was just going to call you.”
“I should hope so,” her father said, clearly displeased. “What is going on with Landon Wyle?”
The question took her aback. Did her parents already know about the two of them?
“What?” Kate stalled.
“We just got off the phone with Dewayne,” her mother said. The call was on speaker phone. “He told us Landon asked him to keep Coyote Glen in the red, and when Dewayne refused, Landon assaulted him. Didn’t you know about this?”
“That’s not what happened.” Kate had expected Dewayne to deny the truth, but somehow she’d failed to see this coming. The man had called her parents and lied to them. “He offered to sabotage the ranch for a price. Landon sent him away. No assault happened.” At least Landon hadn’t said it had. Certainly he would have mentioned that detail.
“Dewayne sent us a picture,” her father said. “He’s got a fist sized welt on his cheek. He said he won’t go back to work unless you get a restraining order against Landon.”
Nope. Not a chance of that happening. “Dewayne is fired. He isn’t trustworthy. He’s not telling you the truth about what happened.”
“How do you know Landon isn’t the one who’s lying?” her father asked. “He has much more to lose, and Dewayne is the one who got hit.”
“Because I know Landon.”
“That brings us to our second point,” her mother said. “Dewayne seems to think something is going on between you and Landon.”
How had he known that? Well, regardless of how he’d figured it out, this wassonot the way Kate had planned to tell her parents. She rubbed her forehead and silently cursed Dewayne.
Her parents waited.
“Yes,” she said, “Landon and I are seeing each other. Look, he’s a really great guy, not the devious, assaulting person Dewayne is making him out to be.”
Her father groaned his disapproval. “We talked about this. You agreed to stay away from him.”