The Secret Truth at Dare Ranch (6 page)

"I
know all that, Mitch," Lexie interrupted. "Why do we have to go
through it again?" she asked in frustration.

 Mitch
plopped back in his chair. "Of course, your old man didn't stop there.” There
was scorn in his voice and he didn't try to ease it. "He used a loop hole
in the sales contract to take back the ranch, then he vilified dad in the
newspapers and heaped guilt on him.” Mitch slammed his fist against the arm of
the chair. "He never once considered dad's feelings, how devastated he was
at Parker's death.” He turned toward her, the need for closure heating his
blood. "Mason should never have taken our land."

Lexie
moved closer and knelt beside him. "I love your father. You know that. We've
already talked about the land. I explained everything to him. He understands,
Mitch. Why can't you?"

Mitch
stared into her eyes. Bitterness burned there, deep and hot and real. They'd
grown up together, they'd made a child and yet he had no choice but to take her
land. "Because you love the land, more than anyone or anything, except
maybe Dani. You used your relationship with Dad once by convincing him to keep
Dani a secret. I won't let you do it again."

Lexie
rose. Her eyes sparkled with challenge. "You're a cold unfeeling bastard. I'll
do anything to save my land. I'll prove to you and the bank that I can raise
the money to pay the taxes and the debt I owe. Daddy controlled my life while
he was alive, but I'm running my own life now."

Mitch
rubbed a finger over the scar under his left eye. Her father caught them coming
out of the barn, the night Dani was conceived. He punched Mitch hard, knocked
him against a stall and rung his bell. Mitch had charged back like a raging
bull, but she had stepped between them. Only her interference, the edge of
steel in her pleading voice had stopped him then.

"You’re
not a quitter, Lex. Well, neither am I.”

"You
do what you have to do. But know this," she said in a cold exacting voice.
"You'll never get this ranch."

"I
won't stop until I do.” He paused for a moment and watched her face fill with
strength and a steadfast determination. "Besides, the decision to sell the
ranch isn't your choice to make. You have an obligation to your creditors. It's
their option whether you sell or not."

Lexie
moved closer. Tiny chips of gold brightened the iris of her eyes. "Go to
hell!"

"How
dare you say that to me," he grated between clenched teeth. "I'm not
the one who kept our child a secret!"

Mitch
strode to the screened porch door, gripped the door handle and turned. The
intensity of Lexie's glare speared into him. "This isn't over. Not by a
long shot.

Chapter Four

Mitch
turned right into downtown Chimney Rock and headed down Sixth Street. A fat,
white moon sailed overhead and a cold breeze blew in through the partially opened
window but did little to cool his anger. He slammed his fist against the
steering wheel.

     Lexie's words
reverberated through his mind and stung.
Go to hell.

Damn
her for turning his world upside out.

Five
minutes later, he swung the car into his father’s driveway and cut the engine.  Mitch
slid out of the car, slammed the door and went in search of his father. Darkness
and Aggie's bark greeted him when he stepped inside the house. He gave her head
a cursory rub before heading for the stairs. Aggie followed close on his heels.

When
he reached the top of the stairs light spilled out of a small guest room his
father had turned into a study. He stepped up to the open door. Aggie, wagging
her tail scooted around him and trotted over to his father. His father sat at
his old scarred desk entering numbers into a calculator. Papers lay in neat
piles on the desk. The room smelled of pipe tobacco, smoky and sweet. Light
from a brass desk lamp illuminated his  face.

His
father turned and threw Mitch a brief glance. "Lucky for you I wasn't
asleep yet. Made enough noise coming up those stairs to wake the dead." He
turned back to his calculator. "Be with you in a minute."

Mitch
flicked his gaze around the room. Damn he wanted to hit something, a wall, a
bookcase, anything to release the mad he'd built up. He crossed the room
instead and plopped down on the ragged, brown sofa that sat beneath the window.
He leaned forward, rested his hands on his legs and waited.

In
a few moments, his father stopped tapping on the calculator. He reached for his
pipe and began packing it with tobacco from a pouch. He flicked his gaze toward
Mitch then back to the pipe. "From the look on your face, I'm guessing
dinner didn't go so well.”

The
calm tone in his father's voice increased his anger.  He clutched his hands
together until the knuckles turned white. "Oh, dinner went fine," he
grated. "I told Dani I was her dad then Lexie and I went out onto the back
porch and ripped each other's guts out. Just a pleasant evening all around.” He
spit out the words while his stomach churned.

Aggie
lay on the floor with her head up and her ears pricked. Sensing Mitch's anger a
soft whine issued from her throat.

His
father reached down and patted her head. "It's okay, gal, he just needs to
blow off some steam.” At his words, Aggie rested her head on her front paws and
sighed.

Unable
to sit a moment longer, Mitch popped up from the sofa and paced to the center
of the room. He spun on his heels and raked a hand through his hair.

His
father leaned back and propped his sock-clad feet on the desk's surface. "Let's
start with Dani...how did she react to finding out you're her father?"

Dani's
pretty little face with her gray-green eyes opened wide in surprise and her
mouth formed in a perfect O filled his mind. His heart swelled. "She
seemed okay with it. She wanted to know if I could get her a baby sister."

His
father's laughter filled the room cooling Mitch's anger to a slow simmer. Aggie
lifted her head and gave his father a doggy grin while her tail swished over
the floor.

"She's
a great kid," Mitch said. "I should have known about her from the
beginning.”

He
stared at his dad who studied the bowl of his pipe. "Yeah, you should
have, but I thought we'd already plowed through that ground."

Mitch
strolled to the window and stared out at the darkness. "I know why she
didn't tell me, but I sure as hell don't understand her reasons."

"Give
yourself some time."

Fresh
indignation spurted through his veins. Mitch jerked his head toward his dad. "Time?
I've had nothing
but
time.” He heard the hard edge of anger spill over
into his voice. "Six years of time that I missed with my daughter because
you and Lexie kept her a secret from me.”

He
heard the squeak of his father's chair as he stood up. His dad shuffled over
and laid a hand on his shoulder. Mitch shrugged it off. "Damn it, I don’t
want sympathy. I want to understand why I wasn't told about Dani."

"Lexie
can make you understand her reasons," his father said as he sat down on
the sofa. "All I can do is listen."

Mitch
crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the floor. "What if this
whole mess had been reversed and it was Mom that didn't tell you about me. How
would you have felt?"

His
father cleared his throat. "I would have been damn mad and I would have
stayed mad...for a while anyway. But for your sake I would have gotten over it.
And that's what you're going to have to do.” He paused for a moment. "What
did you and Lexie argue about besides Dani?"

Mitch
rubbed a hand over the back of his neck where a headache thrummed at the base
of his skull. "The land, Mason, Jake Ellis. You name it.”

He
heard his father's heavy sigh. "Sounds like the two of you really went at
it."

The
smoldering bitterness Mitch had felt had begun to cool replaced by misery
settling in the pit of his stomach. "Yeah, it was quite a scene.” He
turned and looked at his father. "What should I do, Pop?"

His
father smiled. "The last time you asked me for advice you were ten and
wanted to know if your new sneakers looked cool.” The smile faded and his eyes
grew serious. "There's been loss in both our families, son. Parker, the
land, you and Lexie...I don't want that to happen again."

Mitch
exhaled a deep breath. "There is no me and Lexie. Not anymore."

"Sit
down.”

After
Mitch settled on the sofa, Aggie walked over and lay at their feet. "Your
mother and I would still be together if I hadn't been so stubborn," his
father began. "She gave the mountains a chance and I should have given the
city a chance. Instead, I planted my feet and insisted here was the one place I
could ever be happy.” A kind of wistful expression stole into his eyes along
with regret. "If I had it to do over I would have gone to the city with
her.” His father turned his head and looked at Mitch with a mixture of love and
understanding shining in his eyes. "It's up to you to build the bridge
between you and Lexie."

Resentment
streamed through him. "Me? Look, she's the one who's hell bent on keeping
that land and she's the one who didn't bother to tell me about Dani.” He turned
away, exhaled and clenched his jaw together. "I want to do what's right
for her and Dani, but damn it I refuse to grovel."

His
father squeezed Mitch's shoulder. "You'd better learn, pal, if you want
time with Dani."

Panic
rushed through him. "What do you mean? You don't think Lexie would keep me
from seeing Dani, do you?"

His
father shook his head. "I don't know but from what you've told me Lexie's
good and mad right now. When a woman's mad and feels trapped she won't listen
to reason. I should know."

Panic
turned to determination. "Whatever happens I want a life with my little
girl and I'm not going to let Lexie stand in my way."

 His
father laid a hand on his arm. "Look at me.” Mitch raised his gaze to his
father. "Are you sure you want the ranch for the right reasons? Or are you
looking for revenge?"

"Revenge?"

He
nodded. "Yes, against Mason for tearing you and Lexie apart and for taking
back the land. You can deny it, but I know you loved what we had as much as I
did."

Mitch
shrugged. "Maybe I did. I just never understood why Mason hated me so much.
Parker was my best friend."

"Maybe
that's why. You reminded him of Parker too much. You stirred up too many
memories."

"I
thought if I left town it would make everything better for everybody...for you,
for Lexie, for Mason. I thought if I was out of sight and out of mind he could
deal with his grief."

His
father exhaled. "Now you think that if you buy the ranch it would be
better for her and Dani?"

Mitch
turned and looked at his father. "It
will
be better. I've got to
get her to see my side of things."

"What
about her side?" his father asked in a patient tone.

"She's
made her side crystal clear," Mitch said in a tight voice as he waved a
hand through the air in a dismissing gesture. "She wants the land--all of
it--period.

His
father rose from the sofa and turned. He patted Mitch's shoulder. "If
you're going to spend time with Dani and get to know her you've got to make
peace with Lexie.” Regret filled his eyes. "I lost your mother and my
friendship with Mason. Don't let the past repeat itself.” He paused for a
moment. "Talk to Lexie, Mitch. Negotiate a truce."

# # #

     The phone rang late Saturday morning and Dani
scrambled up from the table where she was finishing her breakfast to answer it.
Lexie rose from her seat at the table, gathered their dishes and headed toward
the sink.

     "Hello," she heard Dani say with an
expectant ring in her voice.

     "Oh, hi, Daddy," Dani said with
excitement.

     Lexie felt surprise at first that Mitch would
call Dani. But then it faded. Of course he would call Dani to talk to her. She's
his daughter after all.

     Lexie turned her head and looked at Dani's face.
Her eyes sparkled and a huge grin creased her mouth. He was getting too close
to her--way to close. It was obvious that Dani already accepted Mitch as her
father. No doubt she assumed he would stay. How would she react when he walked
away and shattered her world? And she was certain that he would once the shine
of being a new father began to dull. How would she ever be able to heal Dani's
broken heart?

     Then a sudden, terrifying thought struck her. Her
breath backed up in her lungs and she laid an unsteady hand over her heart. What
if he sued her for custody? She gazed at her daughter while tears welled in her
eyes. He wouldn't try to take Dani away from her...would he?

     "We're having a party at school,"
Lexie heard Dani say over the pounding of her heart. "Everybody's 'sposed
to bring their daddy. Can you go with me?"