Mary Leo - Christmas with the Rancher

Her father used his stern, unwavering voice, but it didn’t scare Bella. When she was a kid, that voice had always struck a chord of fear inside her and she’d instantly relent to his demands.

But she wasn’t a kid anymore.

“Don’t be silly. I have your best interest in mind.”

“That’s your mama talking.”

“She was right. You should have sold the inn years ago. It’s been nothing but a money drain. Because of this deal, you’re getting more than market value. You stand to make a very nice profit.”

She placed her pen down in front of him. The tiny pink topaz stone on the clip caught the light from the fireplace and she thought about what a good purchase that pen had been, that she’d deserved to have something this pretty after all the long hours and hard work she’d put in. At least she’d learned perseverance from him, and for that she would always be grateful.

“That may be true, but it’s my offer to read before I sign.”

Agitation clawed at Bella’s stomach as a clock tick-ticked in the background, a truly annoying sound. “I don’t have time for this, Dad. We need to be on our way out of here in less than two hours.”

“And who’s going to run my inn when I go running off to Orlando?”

“Tampa.”

“Whatever.”

“You should have closed it weeks ago like I asked you to.”

“I couldn’t. I have guests booked who are looking forward to their stay.”

“That’s not your problem.”

Her dad shook his head. “It’s Christmas, Bella. I can’t do that.”

“Surely there’s someone on your staff who can take charge.”

“Wouldn’t be fair to my employees. What you’re asking me to do is impossible. I can leave for one or two nights, but not like this. Not for good. And not a week before Christmas. They all have their own families to attend to. They can’t be doing my job as well as their own.”

She rose and began pacing the wooden floor, each step echoing throughout the lobby. She walked over to the baby grand piano in the corner, then back again. There had to be a solution to this dilemma. She refused to stay in this town one more minute than she had to. Already she could feel her resolve waning, especially after her encounter with Travis. His very presence had tugged on her heart.

The front door opened and a young couple walked in, smiling and nodding their greeting as they headed up the stairway at the back of the lobby, the old wooden stairs creaking as they climbed.

Bella waited to reply to her dad until the guests were far enough away. Then she said, “Pay them time and a half for a couple days.”

“I won’t be solving this by throwing money around. Besides, what’s the hurry? I might be able to get someone to take charge in a couple days at their normal pay once that person prepares for it, but not today. And didn’t you tell me this would be a smooth transition and my guests would never know the difference? Throwing them out only days before Christmas isn’t exactly a ‘smooth transition.’”

She’d been having some emotional trouble with that aspect, as well. TransGlobal had decided to gut each inn in order to give them their own unique look. That would require shutting down Dream Weaver Inn during the renovations, something she wasn’t exactly ready to spring on her dad just yet. She had envisioned never telling him the details of the sale, figuring once he was settled in his fabulous new condo, enjoying the warm weather and the sandy beaches he’d never think about this silly inn again.

She was counting on it.

“Dad, this wouldn’t be a problem if you had cancelled all the reservations and told your guests the truth. TransGlobal is a customer-satisfaction company, meaning the customer always comes first. They pride themselves with five-star service and ambiance.” She hoped her logic and calmer disposition would have the effect she needed.

“Well, then, taking their lead, there’s no rush to boot everyone out of here and make them uncomfortable.” He picked up the paperwork. “I’ll just take these here documents up to my room and start reading. We can meet tonight at Belly Up for a steak and I’ll hand over the signed docs. But first we should apologize to Travis. He put a lot of work into this place. TransGlobal’s getting a nice piece of property.”

She wasn’t liking any of this, especially the part about kowtowing to Travis Granger. She didn’t want to see him again, much less tell him she was sorry for anything.

“If you want to apologize, go right ahead. I still contend this is none of his business. And as far as my staying, that’s out of the question.”

“You can go on ahead and leave if you want to. But you’ll be leaving without me or this deal.”

She watched as he walked to the front door, slid his coat off one of the brass hooks and slipped it on completely ignoring her, and trumping her ultimatum.

She let out a frustrated sigh. “Fine! I’ll change our flight, but it’s only for one more night as long as you can promise me I won’t have to see Travis again.”

“That boy’s been a part of this family since he was a kid and I don’t want him feeling as if that’s changed none. Whether you see him again or not isn’t something I can control. It’s a small town.”

She pulled in a deep breath and slowly let it out trying with everything that was in her not to simply walk out to her truck, start it up and never look back. She should get someone else to handle her dad. That would be the smart thing to do...the prudent thing...the best thing for everyone concerned.

But she knew she couldn’t do that.

“All right! Have it your way. I’ll stay overnight. In the meantime, I have no idea if we can get on another flight out of here tomorrow, but I’ll try.”

“I’m sure you will. And if you can’t, we’ll fly out the next day or the next. I’m in no hurry.”

“I have to meet with TransGlobal on Christmas Eve at my office in Chicago with all the paperwork signed. Nothing can get in the way of that.”

He gave her a dismissive hand wave. “Not a problem. We have an entire week. Seven full days.” And he walked out the door leaving her to doubt herself for agreeing to spend the night in Briggs...where just about anything could happen.

* * *

TRAVIS BUSIED HIMSELF with securing a life-size reindeer to the bed of his pickup as Nick approached. He had hoped to get out of there without having to speak to Nick again, fearing he might say something to him he’d regret later. If only that darn reindeer had cooperated and Colt hadn’t partially secured it to the front lawn. When Colt did something, he made sure it was done right the first time.

Dang him!

“I’ve got nothing to say to you, Nick. So you might as well turn right around and head back inside and pack.”

“Now hold on there, son. It’s not how you think.”

Travis stopped pulling on the rope he was using to secure the reindeer and looked across the truck bed at Nick. “No matter what I think, it’s none of my business. Bella made that crystal clear.”

“You can’t take what that girl says to heart.”

“All I can go on is what she says, and so far it’s been nothing but grief.”

“We need to give her time to readjust to Briggs, to me and to you. Right now she’s still running on big-city time. It’s all she’s known for the past fifteen years. It’s going to take a few days for all that citified haughtiness to disappear.”

“And how does that work if you two are leaving today?”

Nick smirked, and shoved his hands in his jacket pockets. “That’s been put off.”

Travis picked up his toolbox from the snowy ground and placed it inside the truck bed next to the reindeer’s head along with the now coiled rope and harness from the roof. He was ready to leave, but he knew Nick had other plans for him, plans he didn’t want anything to do with.