The Last Cowboy Standing (11 page)

“Here.” She clicked the mouse through a couple of menus. “You need to enter all of your supplier’s tombstone information, and the system will assign them a five-digit number. That’s your vendor ID.”

“I type with two fingers,” he lied. “There’s no way I can enter all that stuff tonight.”

She closed her eyes for a long moment. “You have got to be kidding me.”

“No, ma’am.”

“You do realize I have a whole other job.”

“Yes, I do.” But he couldn’t seem to bring himself to care about that at the moment.

“And you do realize your brother-in-law is paying several hundred dollars an hour for me to type for you?”

“He offered,” Travis defended, silently thanking Caleb for setting this whole thing up.

“So, I have to type in all of your vendors before we can even start.”

Travis gave a shrug of innocence.

“Do you at least have a list of their names and contact information?”

“Maybe.” He stood up and maneuvered his way to the cabinet. “I know they each have their own file folder.”

“Give me strength,” Danielle breathed from behind him.

Travis opened the drawer, pulling the first file. “Should I read them out to you?”

“If that’s the best we can do, that’s the best we can do.”

“Acme Feed and Supply,” he began. “Seventeen twenty-two, Rosedale Road.”

Danielle’s fingers clicked on the computer keys while Travis worked his way through the files.

At Streamline Irrigation Equipment, she finally agreed to break for lunch.

They left the office and worked together in the kitchen, making stacked sandwiches on rye bread, with turkey, cheese, tomatoes and cucumbers. Travis retrieved a pitcher of iced tea from the fridge, and they perched on stools around the island breakfast bar.

“This is a big job for one person, isn’t it?” she opened before biting down on her sandwich.

“Running the ranch?” he asked, surprised that her mind might have gone to that.

She nodded.

“It is,” he agreed.

He knew he’d have to find himself some additional help of some kind. But he hadn’t quite wrapped his head around what that might be. The place had gone from a family of six, excluding Katrina, with a wide variety of skill sets, down to only him in less than two years.

“Do you think Seth might come back and help you?”

“Not anytime soon. The railway project is going to take at least a couple of years.”

“Maybe you should find yourself a wife,” she suggested.

He frowned as he bit into his own sandwich. If he had a wife, he couldn’t sleep with Danielle anymore.

“Someone who can rope and ride and cook and type,” she continued. “I’m sure there are plenty of nice ranch girls in Colorado who know their way around a personal computer.”

“Maybe I can take out an ad and collect resumes,” he offered dryly.

“You could fill out an online dating profile. Just be specific about what you want.”

“Is that how you’re planning to do it?”

She sucked something from the tip of her thumb. “I don’t need a man.”

“Right, I forgot. Self-sufficiency is your mantra.”

He didn’t know why he was getting annoyed, but he was. He should be happy that she wasn’t interested in a serious relationship. That should leave Randal out in the cold.

“It is,” she agreed. “And I don’t have a ranch to run. My condo is pretty low maintenance. No livestock or irrigation equipment.” She grinned into her sandwich. “Good thing. It’s probably against the zoning bylaws anyway.”

“What makes you so cheerful?” he couldn’t help asking.

A few minutes ago, she’d been clearly frustrated at having to spend so much time helping him. Now, talking about marrying him off, all of a sudden she was bubbly and joking.

“You’re complaining because I’m too happy?”

“I don’t know why you want to see me married in such a hurry.”

“I was only suggesting it as a means to divide the workload.”

“Yeah, well if I marry some Colorado ranch girl, I’m going to have to sleep with her.”

“That’s the generally accepted convention. Though, legally speaking, it doesn’t necessarily nullify the marriage if you don’t.”

He couldn’t seem to help the annoyance churning its way through his stomach. “Legally speaking?”

“Yes.”

Their gazes met and held.

“I’m guessing she’ll expect it,” he noted.

“I’m guessing she will.”

“And if I don’t want to?” he asked softly.

“Then, you’ll probably have some explaining to do.”

The room went silent between them. The only woman he wanted to sleep with was Danielle. Did she know that? Could she guess that?

“I’ve missed you,” he told her.

“Don’t.”

He reached for her hand, taking it in his own. “You want me to pretend I didn’t miss you?” He was tired of tiptoeing around his feelings, of measuring his every word.

She looked him straight in the eyes. “Yes.”

For some reason, her answer amused him. “Do you also want me to pretend I’m not attracted to you?”

“That would be helpful.”

“Why?”

“All the regular reasons.”

“There are regular reasons? What are the regular reasons?”

She thought about it for a moment. “For starters, because I’m me, and you’re you.” She stretched her arm around the kitchen. “You have to take care of all this. Which is good, which is great. But I’m only going to be here for a couple more days. After that...” She paused. “After that, I have to...” She pulled her hand from his.

Travis’s chest tightened. “You’re going to take it aren’t you.”

At first she didn’t answer.

A cold feeling of dread moved through his stomach. “Danielle?”

“Yes,” she whispered. “I’m going to take it. I have to take it.” Her voice grew stronger. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do exactly what I want to do with my career.”

“And Randal?”

Her eyes narrowed. “What about Randal?”

“He’s going to be there.”

Her tone went tight. “And?”

Travis couldn’t seem to stop himself. “And, you know he wants you. He’s not going to give up.”

The thought of Randal seeing her every day, having an open field to charm her and convince her. It might take him weeks or months, but eventually, he might succeed. They’d been an item once before.

“I can handle Randal,” said Danielle.

“Can you?” Travis demanded. “Can you really?

Her face flushed. “What kind of a question is that?”

“You didn’t do so well
handling him
in Vegas. You didn’t see it coming. You wouldn’t even believe me until it was almost too late.”

“Almost too late for
what
?”

“He tried to kiss you.”

She came to her feet. “And I stopped him.”

“Do you think that settles it?”

“It settles it in my mind.”

“Not in his. He’s regrouping, re-strategizing. He’s going to come at you all over again with a new game plan.” Travis couldn’t let this happen. With every fiber of his being, he knew he couldn’t let this happen.

Her eyes went dark with anger, and her jaw clenched down tight. “That’s got nothing to do with you.”

He knew that was true, but he didn’t care. “You can’t go to D.C.”

She was silent for a long while. Then she shook her head. “Watch me.” She turned on her heel and walked out.

* * *

Danielle’s heart was pounding and her hands were still shaking as she brought the car to a halt in front of the Terrell ranch house. Travis’s questions had made her angry. His demands had infuriated her. Her career was none of his business. Randal was none of his business. None of this was any of his business.

She rammed the gearshift into Park and turned the key.

The idea that she couldn’t manage Randal was ridiculous. It was insulting. Yes, sure, Travis had seen it coming before she had. But Danielle was the one Randal tried to kiss. She was the one who’d held him off. She’d told him no. She’d set down the ground rules. She was absolutely and completely capable of taking care of herself in D.C.

She exited the car, slamming the door harder than necessary. Then she stalked her way to the porch.

She’d slept with Travis twice. Big deal. They’d promised to leave it in Vegas. Well, she’d left it all in Vegas. As far as she was concerned, he was Caleb’s neighbor, Katrina’s brother, nothing more, nothing less.

She entered the ranch house, closing the door firmly behind her.

Okay, so maybe she still had the hots for him. Maybe she missed him. Maybe she couldn’t stop dreaming about him. Again, big deal. Nobody got everything they wanted in life.

“Danielle?” came Katrina’s voice.

“I’m back,” Danielle called out, struggling to keep the anger out of her voice.

“What’s wrong?” Katrina appeared in the entry hall. “You sound upset. You look—” Katrina peered at her. “What the heck?”

Danielle knew she couldn’t brush it off completely. “I had a fight with Travis,” she confessed, bracing herself for the worst.

“Is that all?” asked Katrina, expression neutralizing. “You fight with him all the time.”

“Yes,” Danielle agreed. “I do.” A little bit of the tension left her stomach.

Maybe this was a good thing. Fighting with Travis was certainly more normal than sleeping with him. Although, their fights hadn’t used to upset her this much. Then again, their fights had never been this personal before. Maybe she could look at this as a step back to their old relationship. It was worth a try.

“Did you get the software up and running?” asked Katrina.

“Partway,” Danielle answered. “We ran out of time,” she lied.

“I think Caleb will be glad to have you back.” Katrina moved toward the living room, and Danielle went with her.

“Is something wrong?”

Katrina glanced at the stairs. “Judging by the language I’m hearing. Yes.”

“Uh-oh.” Danielle headed for the staircase.

“So, you’ll finish tomorrow?” called Katrina.

“Pantara?” Were they done? Could she go back to Chicago now? That would be great news. She’d love to put Lyndon Valley in her rearview mirror.

Katrina looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. “The accounting software. Will you finish with Travis tomorrow?”

It was on the tip of Danielle’s tongue to announce that she’d already finished with Travis. But that would only provoke questions.

“I think he’ll be fine on his own now,” she answered instead.

“That’s great,” said Katrina.

A string of swearwords echoed down the stairs.

Danielle glanced up. “Oh, that doesn’t sound good.”

“I’ve been afraid to investigate,” Katrina confessed.

Danielle couldn’t help hoping it was Pantara. Then again, she hoped it was a problem she could solve. She paused, realizing she would have to solve it in only three days.

She was almost out of time. Very soon, she’d have to tell Caleb her decision.

She mounted the stairs.

When she peeped into the office, Caleb had his phone to his ear. He motioned her forward.

“That’s not good enough, Stan.” Caleb paused. “Tell them no way in hell. Tell them we’ve got an ironclad contract. There is no loophole. And tell them to source the raw materials out of Brazil if they have to and pay the extra freight.”

Danielle could tell he was talking to Stan Buchannan, the president of their South American division.

She sat down to wait for him to finish.

“Yeah,” Caleb said gruffly. “Call me after.” He hung up the phone.

“Trouble?” she asked, relieved to be back on familiar ground.

“I need you to go through the Greystoke contract. They want to backorder us on steel.”

Danielle sat up straight. “They can’t do that.”

“That’s exactly what I said.” He gave a sheepish grin. “Well, I said a few other things, too.”

“Won’t that shut down the Columbia plant?” She moved to the computer desk, typing her log-in and password to the Active Equipment server.

“It sure will,” said Caleb.

“It’s all in Annex P,” she spoke as she typed. “You’ll be able to sue them into bankruptcy.”

“I don’t want to sue anyone. I want my production lines to keep running.”

“You think threats will help?”

“I think they need to know exactly the consequences if they mess with me.”

“On it, boss.”

“That’s what I like to hear.”

Katrina appeared in the doorway. “Has the storm subsided?”

“For now,” said Caleb, coming to his feet. “Sorry you had to hear all that.”

“Danielle, I just talked to Travis.”

Danielle’s fingers faltered on the computer keys.

“He says he does need you to come back tomorrow. Something about finishing the vendor master file and looking at the payables system?”

“He’ll be able to figure it out,” said Danielle, blindly scrolling her way through the contract.

Katrina hesitated. “I know you were arguing, but maybe you should call him directly. There seems to be some confusion.”

“Maybe later,” said Danielle. “I need to get through this for Caleb right away.”

“Sure,” Katrina replied.

There was a moment of silence, before Danielle heard her walk back down the hall.

Thankfully, her vision cleared, and she was able to find Annex P.

“What’s the confusion?” asked Caleb, moving up behind her.

Danielle swallowed. “I don’t know. He’s stubborn.”

“No kidding.”

“It’s all there in the instructions.”

Caleb paused. “What was the argument about?”

Danielle was losing her concentration again.

“Same old, same old,” she offered airily. “But I really need to focus here.”

“I know what happened between you two in Vegas.”

Mortification washed through her. She spoke before she could stop herself. “Travis
told
you?”

“I guessed. He didn’t deny it. And now, neither are you.”

She shook her head at her own foolishness. She should have pretended she didn’t know what Caleb was talking about.

“It was nothing,” she told him now. “It’s nothing. It was nothing, and it’s over.”

“Okay.” Caleb’s voice was calm and kind.

In her peripheral vision, she saw him sit down. “So, what was the argument about?”