Llano. But we might just get stuck again—”
“No,” she said. Being cooped up inside the ranch house was one thing, but she couldn’t get stuck in close quarters with him again, say inside a truck or out at the hunting cabin.
“Okay. So, we’ll just wait it out. That’s fine. You got ahold of your family? They know you’re safe?”
“I e-mailed my cousin Gabby, my sister and my mother. They didn’t know I was coming here. They think I’m on an archaeology dig in New Mexico with a friend from grad school. It’s just my brother, Blake, who knew. I sent him a text message today to let him know I’m safe and out of the storm, but I didn’t tell him I was at your ranch house. He’s going to have a million questions, and—”
She broke off and he gave her a sharp look, one that said he was just waiting for something bad to come out of any dealings with her brother, maybe her whole family.
“What is it?” he demanded.
“Blake. He’s going to want to know what’s going on with the search for the diamond, and I don’t know what to tell him—”
“Right. There it is. You want to stay because you think you can talk me into letting you back into the mine, don’t you?”
“No,” she claimed.
“So, you’re just giving up on the search that easily?”
“No…I just…I don’t know what to do now. I don’t know what to say. I didn’t expect to come to your house or even to meet you. I didn’t expect to get trapped with you and have some time to get to know you and now…I don’t know, Travis. This is my family we’re talking about. Our family’s business. I told my brother I could do this, that I could find the diamond—”
“Yeah. Thrill of the discovery and all that. I remember you lying to me about it—”
“It wasn’t a lie!” she cried. “Granted, it certainly wasn’t the whole truth, but it wasn’t a lie. I am a scientist. I like to dig in the dirt. I’m fascinated by the things created by the earth, some of them incredibly beautiful things, some of them incredibly old and still here and marvelous. And it’s not easy to be taken seriously as a scientist, particularly when you’re young and a woman and an heiress to a jewelry fortune. People tend to think you work as some kind of a lark. So, yes, it would be incredible for me to be the one to find this diamond. And yes, that does meansomething to me. This is my life, just like this ranch is yours. How about we agree on this one thing. You don’t insult my dreams, and I don’t insult yours?”
“Fine,” he growled. “But don’t stand here and try to tell me you aren’t trying to figure out how to get me to let you back into that mine, when I know you are.”
“I’m telling you the truth. I don’t know what to do or what to say, either to him or you. It’s all just a big, damned mess, a lot more complicated than that, but that’s the bottom line. I don’t know what to do.”
She was yelling at the end, and the horse whinnied nervously and backed away from the front of the stall, as if the crazy woman was just a little too close, and that’s what she felt like. A crazy woman.
He wasn’t any better, damned stubborn man.
“This isn’t going to go away, just because you caught me and you run me off the ranch. You know that, don’t you?” she tried, once she’d calmed down a bit.
He looked coldly furious. “Believe me, I know I’m never getting the McCords out of my life.”
And that did it. It was just too much. She was too mad to even say anything. She couldn’t even yell at him anymore, and if she stayed there any longer, she was going to start to cry, she feared.
So she turned around and stalked out of the barn. He chased after her.
He caught her just outside in the rain and pulled her back under the slight overhang of the barn roof, barely out of the rain.
“Ah, hell, Red. I’m sorry.”
“Of course, you are.”
“You just…you make me crazy, okay? You and the whole situation make me mad
“No,” she said. Being cooped up inside the ranch house was one thing, but she couldn’t get stuck in close quarters with him again, say inside a truck or out at the hunting cabin.
“Okay. So, we’ll just wait it out. That’s fine. You got ahold of your family? They know you’re safe?”
“I e-mailed my cousin Gabby, my sister and my mother. They didn’t know I was coming here. They think I’m on an archaeology dig in New Mexico with a friend from grad school. It’s just my brother, Blake, who knew. I sent him a text message today to let him know I’m safe and out of the storm, but I didn’t tell him I was at your ranch house. He’s going to have a million questions, and—”
She broke off and he gave her a sharp look, one that said he was just waiting for something bad to come out of any dealings with her brother, maybe her whole family.
“What is it?” he demanded.
“Blake. He’s going to want to know what’s going on with the search for the diamond, and I don’t know what to tell him—”
“Right. There it is. You want to stay because you think you can talk me into letting you back into the mine, don’t you?”
“No,” she claimed.
“So, you’re just giving up on the search that easily?”
“No…I just…I don’t know what to do now. I don’t know what to say. I didn’t expect to come to your house or even to meet you. I didn’t expect to get trapped with you and have some time to get to know you and now…I don’t know, Travis. This is my family we’re talking about. Our family’s business. I told my brother I could do this, that I could find the diamond—”
“Yeah. Thrill of the discovery and all that. I remember you lying to me about it—”
“It wasn’t a lie!” she cried. “Granted, it certainly wasn’t the whole truth, but it wasn’t a lie. I am a scientist. I like to dig in the dirt. I’m fascinated by the things created by the earth, some of them incredibly beautiful things, some of them incredibly old and still here and marvelous. And it’s not easy to be taken seriously as a scientist, particularly when you’re young and a woman and an heiress to a jewelry fortune. People tend to think you work as some kind of a lark. So, yes, it would be incredible for me to be the one to find this diamond. And yes, that does meansomething to me. This is my life, just like this ranch is yours. How about we agree on this one thing. You don’t insult my dreams, and I don’t insult yours?”
“Fine,” he growled. “But don’t stand here and try to tell me you aren’t trying to figure out how to get me to let you back into that mine, when I know you are.”
“I’m telling you the truth. I don’t know what to do or what to say, either to him or you. It’s all just a big, damned mess, a lot more complicated than that, but that’s the bottom line. I don’t know what to do.”
She was yelling at the end, and the horse whinnied nervously and backed away from the front of the stall, as if the crazy woman was just a little too close, and that’s what she felt like. A crazy woman.
He wasn’t any better, damned stubborn man.
“This isn’t going to go away, just because you caught me and you run me off the ranch. You know that, don’t you?” she tried, once she’d calmed down a bit.
He looked coldly furious. “Believe me, I know I’m never getting the McCords out of my life.”
And that did it. It was just too much. She was too mad to even say anything. She couldn’t even yell at him anymore, and if she stayed there any longer, she was going to start to cry, she feared.
So she turned around and stalked out of the barn. He chased after her.
He caught her just outside in the rain and pulled her back under the slight overhang of the barn roof, barely out of the rain.
“Ah, hell, Red. I’m sorry.”
“Of course, you are.”
“You just…you make me crazy, okay? You and the whole situation make me mad
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