Leaving Liberty, a Western Romance (Book 5) (Texas Hearts) (8 page)

“In the ten years since your mother passed, your father should have been able to bring the ranch back to its potential. But still, the ranch is in full debt. More money is going out than is coming in.”

“I know you’ve done your homework, Jackson. You know my brother was killed in Iraq.”

Jackson’s demeanor changed. “Your father had a lot of grief to deal with. I understand that.” He sighed and she could see the war raging on his face. The man who wanted to be sympathetic still had a job to do. So he pushed on. “Are you telling me your father gave up?”

“No. The man didn’t have quit in his vocabulary. I think there were times he wanted to, but…I think he kept a brave face for me.”

“Does the debt on this ranch have something to do with the fence breaks? Was there someone threatening your father?”

“No.”

“What aren’t you telling me? Why do I feel like I’m pulling teeth to get the most basic information from you?”

“Because I’m a private person. I don’t talk about my private life with just anyone.”

His face registered hurt like she’d never seen. “I didn’t realize I was just anyone.”

She sighed and looked away. “You have to admit that our relationship isn’t exactly normal. You didn’t come here for me, Jackson.”

“I’m staying for you. Talk to me, Libby. Tell me what’s going on. You know I’ll dig into this further and find out myself. But I’d rather it come from you.”

“I can’t.”

Defeated, he said, “You won’t.”

And it was true. The deeper she got into the truth, the harder it was for all of them.

“Is this why Cole left?”

She shook her head.

“Because for the life of me, I can’t wrap my head around why a man who supposedly cares for you would leave you alone.”

“The reason he left no longer matters,” she said.

“Are you sure?”

How could she tell him the truth? Cole had left because he thought he’d hold her back from having a life with someone else. And it wasn’t until that moment that she realized he was right. If Cole had been here on the ranch, she would have never allowed herself to open up to Jackson the way she had. She’d have been too afraid for Cole and what Jackson might find out.

But now she realized none of that mattered. When Jackson found out the truth about where the money had gone and why, he’d be leaving anyway. She was sure of it.

“If you don’t mind, Jackson, I’d like you to leave.”

“The fences aren’t fixed.”

“I’ll take care of it. Please, just go.”

He didn’t argue. “I’m coming back, Libby. One way or the other we’ll have this talk.”

She watched him walk toward his truck, start the engine and then speed down the driveway, leaving a cloud of choking dust in its wake.

And then she was alone again.

# # #

The ranch didn’t look any better than it had yesterday. Libby had been determined to drive him off her property. It was her right. He could only push so far before he overstepped his bounds. He only hoped she didn’t throw him off the ranch today.

She didn’t want to open up to him. He had a job to do. But deep down he didn’t give a rat’s ass about the investigation. He cared about the woman. And that was a shock to his system that he hadn’t expected when he’d arrived in Liberty weeks ago.

Every step he took forward in this never ending investigation took him one step closer to the truth and two steps away from Libby.

“Fourth generation rancher and the place is a mess. What secrets are you keeping here?”

Jackson looked around and knew he couldn’t just walk away. Not only did every bit of training he’d had over the years tell him the story of what happened on this ranch ran deeper than an accidental shooting, but something had a hold on Libby Calvert so strong, it was driving her into the ground.

He heard the sound of water running in the barn. It was probably Libby so he decided to go see her there. As he suspected, Libby was mopping a stall as if she were out for revenge for something. Her hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail but tendrils of hair and pulled away from the elastic band and were now pasted to the sweat around her face.

She didn’t stop what she was doing, even when it was clear she would have heard his approach.

“Libby?”

“I have work to do, Jackson.”

“Slow down. You’re going to burn yourself out.”

“I don’t slow until the work is done.”

“Or you drop?”

“Something like that.”

“If it’s all the same to you, I’d like to avoid that.”

With every push of the mop on the floor, Libby’s breathing was hard and raspy, making him uncomfortable. She was a worker. But something was laboring her breathing. She kept at her task, spraying down the floor as if something was driving her. Then she turned her attention to the wheelbarrow she’d used to clear the stall, pushing it outside the barn.

When Jackson couldn’t watch her anymore, he yanked the wheelbarrow out of her hands, spilling the contents of old hay and manure.

“Look what you did,” she said, her shoulders sagging in defeat.

“Stop it.”

“I can’t.” She grabbed the handle of the wheelbarrow, but he held tight to it.

“Is this about yesterday? About my finding out about the ranch?”

“After you left yesterday I went over the books for the ranch. My father had things under control. But it won’t make a profit this year if I don’t start thinking about selling off some of the herd. We don’t have much of a reserve.”

“I know.”

She glanced up at him, shielding her eyes from the sun.

“You showed up at the police station with petty cash in an envelope to bail out Cole.”

“I’m not going to lose this place, Jackson. It’s all I have.”

“It’s not all you have.”

“I have barely enough money to pay for ranch hands this year. And that’s if I can manage to bring in what my father brought into the ranch last year. I need to get back to work.”

He held her back by holding her shoulders with both hands.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m stopping you from killing yourself. You can’t do all this alone. Even you and I together can’t do it all. I believe you when you say Cole did the work of five men. He’d have to work that hard to get everything needed to be done on this ranch finished. But even he couldn’t, which is why the ranch is underperforming. I’m sure between your father and Cole they managed just fine. But you can’t do it alone. You can’t, Libby. It’s going to kill you.”

Libby swayed in his arms. It was almost as if the sudden stop in movement threw her off balance more than the constant motion.

“Libby?”

“I don’t feel well,” she said in a voice that was small.

The next thing Jackson knew, her body went limp. His heart hammered in his chest as he saw her eyes rolled back. Her face turned ashen. And he was just able to get his arms around her before she fell to the ground.

* * *

Seeing Libby open her eyes did wonders to calm Jackson’s nerves. However, his heart was still beating like a racehorse on a run. If he lived a thousand years he didn’t think he’d ever get over the fear of seeing Libby faint. He knew she’d been pushing herself. When you work on a ranch, large or small, work is just part of life. Animals need to be fed whether or not you were up to the task.

But although Libby’s spirit was up to task, her body clearly wasn’t.

“Hey there, beautiful,” he said as her eyes fluttered open.

She looked around the room, her eyes barely open. “What happened?”

“You fainted in the heat. At least I think it was the heat that did it. Dr. Gordon is going to check you out.”

As if on cue the white curtain slid open. “Well, good of you to wake up, missy,” Dr. Gordon said.

Libby’s eyes filled with tears when she saw Dr. Gordon. “It happened again?”

“You mean this has happened before?” Jackson said.

The doctor checked Libby’s pupils. “A few times. It’s to be expected when you push yourself like this.”

To Jackson, he said. “Why don’t you have a seat in the waiting area. Libby and I are going to have a little chat.”

He looked at Libby. “You sure?”

She nodded with a weak smile that seemed to melt away the fragments of his anxiety.

As he walked out of the room toward the waiting area, the full impact of what had just happened hit him fully. His whole body became cold and shaky. What had happened to her? She’d looked so frail and gray laying there on the ground that he’d thought the worst. And this wasn’t the first time?

Jackson was trained for emergency situations. He’d been a first responder on the scene of many accidents and had witnessed gruesome acts of violence in the years he’d been a Texas Ranger. But in all his years working in law enforcement, he’d never been as terrified as he had been when Libby had collapsed.

* * *

“We’ve talked about this before, Libby,” Dr. Gordon said, leveling her with a stern look.

“I know. But things have changed.”

He gave her a sympathetic smile. “You have to give yourself time to grieve just as much as you need to still give your body time to heal. Your last surgery was less than two months ago. With so much going on, it’s only right that it’s going to take you longer to heal than most women.”

A hot tear trailed down her cool cheek. “I can’t.”

“Cole will take care—“

“No, he won’t. He’s gone.”

The tears she’d held back for so long flowed fully now.

The doctor sighed. “Can you sit for a minute?”

Libby sat up on her gurney. The doctor handed her a tissue box. She pulled out two tissues, blew her nose with one and dried her eyes with the other.

“I’m not selling my ranch,” she told the doctor.

“Did I say you should?”

“No.”

“The other thing you’re not doing is taxing your body like this again. Ever. There is a reason your father wanted you to slow down. He wanted you to be on this earth for a very long time. You took all the steps needed to make sure you were going to be healthy and strong. Don’t undo all that by overloading yourself.”

“But the ranch.”

“Cole is gone, so hire a few ranch hands. There are always strong Texas boys willing to do grunt work around here. Even some of the local teenagers would welcome some extra money after they’re done with their own daily chores. Leave the work for someone else for a while so you can get back on your feet fully. I’m not asking Libby. You need to make this happen.”

“Okay.”

Dr. Gordon listened to her heart and took her pulse. “This does pose a problem though.”

“What’s that?”

“With Cole gone, there is no one at the ranch to check on you to make sure you’re okay. Cole was always good about that.”

“So?”

He shook his head. “I don’t like the idea of sending you home after an episode like this without some supervision.”

“Hiring a nurse to come out again is out of the question. I don’t have the funds.”

“You don’t need nursing. Just someone to make sure you eat and don’t collapse again.”

“Are you serious? Even Jackson said that I was only out for a few seconds. I came to right away and was awake the whole ride to the clinic.”

“And then you fell asleep on the gurney as soon as you got here.”

Uncomfortable, she said, “I haven’t been sleeping very well.”

“That’s understandable.”

“I’ll be fine. I promise to go straight to bed and get some rest.”

“And tomorrow you’ll be right back out in the barn pushing yourself.

Dr. Gordon glanced at the open door leading to the waiting area. He couldn’t see down the hall, but Libby knew what he was thinking.

“Oh, no.”

“He seems like a nice man. I heard he was hanging around down at your place.”

“What? Does the whole town talk about this? Doesn’t anyone have anything better to do?”

The doctor laughed. “Not really. You grew up in this town just like the rest of us did. It shouldn’t surprise you.”

“That doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

Dr. Gordon rested a hand on her shoulder. “Some secrets are kept the way they’re supposed to be, only to be revealed when the time is right.”

“Sounds like something my mother would say.”

“I treated your mother for a long time before she passed. I knew her since she was a young girl. She was a wise woman.”

Libby’s stomach burned.

“Should I talk to him or do you want to?”

“I can call someone else. Karen Bennett offered to come over and check on me.”

“That’s a start. But I’d rather someone be there through the night. At least for tonight. The alternative is you stay under observation at the hospital tonight. I’m not flexible on this, Libby. I knew your father long before I started my practice here. I considered him a friend and as his friend, I won’t allow you to stay alone.”

Libby’s mind raced with possibilities. Karen was out of town at least until tomorrow evening. A few of her friends had already headed up north to the livestock show this weekend. As she flew through the list of possibilities, her mind came up blank.

“Could you send Jackson in?”

* * *

It was going to be a long night, Libby thought as they rolled down the driveway. Jackson had readily agreed to stay at the house with Libby, even before Dr. Gordon had approached her on the subject, making it harder for her to make a case for him not to be there.

In the end, common sense won out. She may be stubborn, but she wasn’t hardheaded. She hadn’t finished feeding the animals when she’d passed out. If she refused Jackson now, she’d only end up calling someone else to come and take care of the animals before she could turn in and rest.

Much as Libby hated to admit it, Jackson had been a big help since Cole had left. She couldn’t have gotten what little she had managed to get done without him.

But the questions in his eyes, questions she couldn’t answer while at the clinic, were still there on the ride home. But he didn’t push. She doubted she’d get through the night without having to confront them. And she didn’t want to see his reaction when he learned the truth.