Sherryl Woods - Courting the Enemy

“Fine,” Grady said. “Bring us two cups of coffee.” He glanced at Karen. “Have you had breakfast yet?”

“It’s after ten. What do you think?”

He bit back a grin, then glanced up at Cassie. “I guess the coffee will do for now.”

He noted that Karen’s hands were folded primly on the table, that her gaze was everywhere but on him. Those angry patches of color in her cheeks hadn’t faded. He warned himself to give it another couple of minutes before saying anything. Maybe once she’d had her coffee, her temper would die down and she’d be ready to listen to reason.

Cassie brought the steaming cups to the table, then lingered, but when neither Karen or Grady looked up, she sighed and walked away.

“I suppose you were wondering what I was doing with Nate Grogan,” he said finally.

“I don’t think it takes much imagination to figure that out,” she snapped. “Did he agree to let you buy up the mortgage this time?”

“I never tried to buy the blasted mortgage,” Grady retorted. “Not today. Not two years ago.”

“So you say.”

“Ask Grogan. He intends to call you to explain what happened anyway.”

“I’m sure he’ll say whatever you want him to say,” she said.

“He didn’t before, did he? Wasn’t he the one who called Caleb to tell him what I was supposedly up to?”

She hesitated at that. “Yes,” she conceded.

“Well, today he found out that I was not the person who filled out that original paperwork. I’m sure he’ll tell you that if you ask.”

She turned to him at last, her blue eyes filled with confusion. “But the papers…?”

“They were forged by someone and later notarized by a loyal secretary who thought she was doing what Grogan wanted her to do.”

Her gaze searched his and Grady thought he saw a faint flicker of hope in her eyes. “Honestly?”

“I won’t lie to you, Karen. I haven’t before and I won’t start now. I want that land, but I have never done anything devious or underhanded to try to get it.”

A sigh seemed to shudder through her at that. “I want to believe you,” she admitted.

“Then do it,” he pleaded. “Believe me. Trust me.”

“If only it were that simple,” she whispered.

She didn’t have to say what she was really thinking. Grady knew. Caleb had labeled him the enemy. How could he possibly overcome the accusations of a dead man, especially a dead man that she had loved with all her heart?

At that moment, for the first time, Grady understood the true meaning of hatred and jealousy. He hated Caleb Hanson, not for all of the lies he had believed about Grady and shared with his wife in the past, but for his ability to rob them of a future even from the grave.

Something had changed in that split second when Grady had looked into Karen’s eyes at Stella’s. It was as if a light had gone off inside him, as if he’d been defeated. It wasn’t long before he’d made his excuses and left, leaving her staring after him in confusion.

She had told herself then that it would pass, that things would return to normal, that he would pop up when she least expected him at the ranch, but it hadn’t happened that way. Just as he’d disappeared before when she’d hurt him, he hadn’t been around for days now. Even Hank and Dooley, who had regarded him with suspicion from the beginning, had commented on his absence.

“Thought he was becoming a permanent fixture around here,” Dooley said, a hint of disapproval plain in his voice.

“Well, he wasn’t,” Karen said defensively. Hiding her confusion behind anger, she added, “And we don’t have time to stand around gabbing about a man who had no business being here in the first place.”

“Fine by me,” Dooley said.

“And me,” Hank said fervently. “The boss never did like him.”

“I’m the boss now,” Karen reminded him. “You need to worry about what I like.”

Dooley’s eyes widened. “Are you saying you trust a scoundrel like Grady Blackhawk?”

“He’s not a scoundrel,” she said. “And what I was saying is that you both have work to do. Didn’t I ask you to finish checking that fence today? I saw another section down when I drove back here yesterday. We’re going to be moving the herd in a few weeks and I don’t want them wandering off our land. We can’t afford to lose a single head.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Dooley said, his tone respectful, even if he was regarding her with a worried frown that suggested he wasn’t entirely certain she was in command of things.

After both men had left, she sat down with a sigh. Who was she kidding? She might be in charge, but she was only holding on to this place by a thread. She knew well enough what needed to be done, but she didn’t have the resources to make much of it happen. Lately it seemed she lacked the stamina as well. She simply wanted to crawl under the covers and sleep the winter away.

For a brief time Grady’s presence had stirred her out of that depressing inertia, but now that he was no longer around, she couldn’t seem to shake it.

The welcome ringing of the phone jarred her out of her misery.

“Hey, girl,” Lauren said, her cheerful voice bringing a much needed smile to Karen’s lips.

“Hey, yourself. What’s up in Tinseltown? I need some hot Hollywood gossip to perk me up.”

“Since when do you care about celebrity gossip?”

“It’s the closest I’m likely to come to having any glamour in my life,” Karen said. “Come on. Spill something absolutely titillating.”

“Sorry. I’ve been holed up trying to learn my lines for this new movie. Brad Pitt could get married and I wouldn’t know it.”

“Brad Pitt did get married,” Karen pointed out with a chuckle. “Ages ago, in fact.”

“See what I mean? I’m oblivious.”

“What good is it having a friend who’s a superstar if you never know any hot secrets?”

“I do know one,” Lauren retorted. “I know that a certain rancher has been seen hanging out with her mortal enemy. Quite an intense little tête-à-tête from what I heard.”

“Cassie blabbed,” Karen said with a resigned sigh. She should have known her friend would make way too much out of that public appearance she and Grady had made at Stella’s. It had probably taken all of fifteen seconds for her to spread the word to the others.

“I never reveal a source,” Lauren said loftily. “So, what’s the scoop with the sexy Mr. Blackhawk? Are you two becoming an item after all?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Karen snapped, pushing back the thought of those two steamy kisses. “Even if I was attracted to him, which I’m not, how could I get involved with Grady?”

“Because of Caleb,” Lauren said flatly.

“Of course because of Caleb.”

“You have to live your life for you now,” Lauren reminded her, her tone gentle. “I’m not saying you shouldn’t remember Caleb, but you can’t take on his baggage, Karen. If you like Grady, if you want to spend time with him, that’s your decision to make.”

“Not according to the Hansons,” Karen said dryly.

“Oh, what do they know?” Lauren said, dismissing the importance of the opinion of Karen’s former in-laws. “Besides, they’re in Arizona.”

“With a direct hotline to the gossip in Wyoming,” Karen reported.

“Ignore them,” Lauren advised.

“How can I? They’re Caleb’s parents.”

“So naturally they’re going to be upset if you get involved with someone new. They’ll get over it.”

“Not if it’s Grady,” Karen said flatly.

“Then you are interested,” Lauren said, seizing on her slip and obviously concluding that Karen regretted being unable to act on her fascination with the man.