Patricia Thayer - The Cowboy She Couldn't Forget

Vittoria Slater had dark hair, the same pretty smile as her older sister. “Ana? What are you doing here?”

“Tori?” Ana rushed to her and they hugged tightly. “I think you know my reason for coming to L.A. But what are you doing at Josie’s office?”

“Well, as of a few months ago, it’s my office, too. I quit my job and decided it was time I went out on my own.” She nodded. “Josie offered me office space here. I decided to give my own web-design company a chance.”

Tori had their mother’s coloring, the olive skin, midnight-dark eyes and ebony hair. Her hair was shorter now, cut just below her chin.

Ana was excited for her sister, knowing how unhappy she’d been with her previous company. But Ana was a little sad that she hadn’t shared this with her.

“That’s great. So how is business?”

“Good. Several of my old clients came with me, and I like being my own boss.” Tori finally noticed Vance across the room and she blinked in surprise. “Vance, good to see you.” Her smile faded. “Wait a minute, has something more happened to Colt?”

“No, your dad is still the same,” Vance told her. “I’ll let your sister explain the rest.”

“We need to talk about what to do,” Ana stated. “Dad isn’t going to get better right away, so we’ve got to discuss...some things. The ranch, mainly.”

The anger was evident in Tori’s eyes. “It can dry up and blow away for all I care. I hate that place.”

Ana wasn’t surprised by her sister’s reaction. “Tori, you can’t mean that. It’s our home.”

The younger twin shook her head. “It was just a big, old house to me. Dad was happier when we finally all left.”

Ana wasn’t surprised by the animosity toward their father. “I understand your feelings, but right now, Colt can’t speak, or make decisions for the Lazy S. I’m going to remind you that the ranch has been in our family for three generations.”

Tori began to speak when the office door opened and another sister walked in.

“Hey, Tori, it’s about time—” Josefina Slater stopped and stared. “Ana! What are you doing here?”

“Is there an echo in here?” Ana hugged the other twin. Josie had fair skin with long, golden-brown hair and the Slater blue eyes. Except for the shape of their faces and their smiles, the two twins couldn’t look less alike.

“To answer your question, since you didn’t come home, I thought I’d come here.”

Josie’s gaze went to Vance as he nodded in greeting. “And you felt the need to bring reinforcements? Hi, Vance. It’s been a long time.”

He smiled. “Good to see you again, Josie.”

Ana turned back to her sisters. “Vance is here to help convince you both of the seriousness of the situation.” She wasn’t foolish enough to think this would be easy.

Josie’s frown told her that she wasn’t going to be easily swayed. “Like I told you when you called last week, I have a big event coming up. I can’t leave right now.”

Ana was sad that they wouldn’t come back home for their father. “I understand that, being an event planner, you need to be here, but I’m talking about our father. We’re a family.”

Josie shared a glance with her twin, then said, “It seems you and Vance have it under control. You two seem to make a pretty good team. We’ll give you permission to make any decisions. So there’s no reason you had to come here and try and rope us into going back home.”

And it wasn’t getting any easier, Ana thought. “We came here because we need to make some decisions about Dad.”

“Has something else happened?” Josie asked.

Ana saw the flash of concern and was encouraged. “No, he’s the same, and he’ll start physical therapy soon.”

“That’s good, isn’t it?” Tori asked.

Good, there was more concern. “The reason we’re here isn’t so much about Dad as it is about the ranch.”

“What do you mean?” Josie asked. “Can’t Vance handle things while Colt recovers?”

He gave a nod, but didn’t say anything.

“It’s more than running the ranch.” Ana started to explain, then said, “I wish Marissa was here, too. She should be in on this.”

“Maybe I can make it happen,” Tori said, and motioned them into her office. Vance, Ana noticed, sat down in the reception area.

Her sister went behind the desk and opened the laptop. “If she’s not out on a location, Marissa should be home.” After several keystrokes on the computer, a picture came up, then the real thing.

“Hey, Tori.”

“Hi, Marissa.”

“What’s going on?”

“Quite a bit, actually. Got someone here who wants to talk you.”

Ana stepped in front of the monitor. She felt tears burning her eyes as her baby sister appeared on the screen, sitting at a desk. “Hi, Marissa.”

“Oh, Ana,” she sighed. “You’re in California?”

She nodded. “I only wish I could see you in person, too. How about I come down to San Diego? If you’ll be around.”

She saw the panic in her youngest sister’s eyes. “Well...maybe, but it’s not a good idea right now. I’m going to be out on a shoot all this week. How long are you planning to be here?”

“I need to get back soon to take care of Dad.”

Marissa hesitated, then asked, “How is he?”

Ana glanced across the office at Vance, happy for his support. “He’s holding his own. That’s why I’m here. Uncle Wade came to see me a few days ago. Since Dad is temporarily incapacitated, there needs to be an executor to take over.”

“So Uncle Wade is the boss now?”

“No, he isn’t. Dad named Vance and me.”

The twins shot a look across the office at him. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Josie said. “He’s always treated Vance like family.”

Vance didn’t say a word for a moment. It was true, Colt had always treated him fairly. Although he wasn’t happy about the man’s treatment of his daughters.

“Seems I’m the only one who knows about running a ranch,” he said eventually.

“That’s not our fault,” Tori retorted, then all the girls began to argue. That was when Vance put his fingers in his mouth and let go with a loud whistle. It got their attention.

“I didn’t ask for the job,” he told them. “But since I have it, I’m going to do everything possible to keep the ranch.”

Josie looked at Ana. “What does he mean?”

“It means the ranch is in financial trouble. Big trouble.” Ana told them about the amount of money owed for the lease, and their six-month extension. “So we need to come up with some ideas.”

“Dad doesn’t have the money?” Marissa asked.

Ana shook her head, knowing this wasn’t going as well as she’d hoped.

“Well, we don’t, either,” Tori stated. “Everything we have is tied up in the business here.”

“It’s not only money we want,” Vance said. “We need some ideas to add income to the ranch so this doesn’t happen again. So tell me, is the Lazy S important enough to you sisters to help save it? Can we count on your support?” After giving them his two cents’ worth, Vance turned and walked out of the office.

Tori sighed. “I have to say that cowboy of yours sure knows how to get a woman’s attention.”

“He’s not my cowboy or anything else.”

Josie looked at her twin and they both grinned. Then their baby sister’s voice said via the computer, “If you say so, sis.”

Ana was frustrated, having to defend herself. “I do say so. Vance and I have to work together.”

Tori shook her head. “Too bad. You’ve had that guy tied into knots since you grew breasts.”

What? Ana opened her mouth to deny it, but refused to add fuel to the fire. They had other problems. “We need to direct our attention to the ranch.”