Sea Of Grass (32 page)

Jed hesitated for a moment, then took Tom’s hand. “Sorry if I got a little riled.”

Tom chuckled and placed his other hand on Jed’s strong shoulder. “Just one thing?”

“What?”

“Can they get married?”

“Tom, I never thought Emily would die so young. I never thought I’d see the day when cattle ranching would become a thing of the past. I never thought I’d be struggling to keep my family’s ranch. So I have no idea what’s possible anymore.”

As Jed walked out of Tom’s store, he noticed Ethan Drummond getting into his convertible.

“Good evening, Drummond,” Jed called out.

Ethan’s head shot up and he smiled slightly. “Good evening, Mr. Rawlins. How are you?”

Jed watched him for a moment, remembering how he used to come by the house as a kid. He and Stephen were good friends.

“I’m doing just fine. I haven’t seen you in town the last few days. How’s business at the bank?”

Jed noticed his hesitation and placed his hands on the car door. “I hope whatever you’re doing, you know what you’re getting into, son.”

Ethan swallowed and nodded. “I do too, Mr. Rawlins. Just remember…” He stopped and grinned. “You take care. It was good to see you. Say hi to Tess and Claire for me,” he finished and put the car in gear.

Jed nodded and stepped back, allowing Ethan to pull out of the space and head out of town.

Chapter 24

“So what are we going to do?” Ethan asked lazily as he lounged in the chair. Telford regarded him with interest.

“What do you want out of this, Drummond?”

Ethan looked up and sported a thoughtful pose. After a second, he answered. “Money, pure and simple. I don’t want land. I don’t want cattle. I just want money.” He yawned.

“And it doesn’t matter that you’re ruining Mrs. Redmond’s life and that of her son? What about Tess? I thought you…”

Ethan snorted. “We both know what she likes, Mr. Telford.”

Telford watched him, then laughed. “You have a wonderfully twisted sense of having no conscience. I like that. We’ll get along just fine.” He walked over to the window and looked out at the sleepy town. It was well after midnight and not a soul in sight.

“I hate that Rawlins family. They’ve been a thorn in my side for over fifty years. I thought for sure when Stephen Rawlins died and Jed had a heart attack, they’d be through. But no, Tess comes back from her decadent life in California with her ideas from all her queer friends. God, I hate her!”

Ethan watched him carefully. “Did you really have something to do with Stephen’s death?” he asked, completely intrigued.

Telford smiled evilly and liked the look on Drummond’s face. He was eager. “Now that is an ugly rumor, young man.”

“There’s been talk that you had something to do with it, Mr. Telford. I don’t care,” Ethan said with a noncommittal shrug. He watched Telford move about his office as he always did. If there were any documents, he’d have to keep them close by and locked up. It wouldn’t be easy. It took Ethan over a year just to get into Telford’s good graces and into his office.

“Every ranch owner and farmer who didn’t have the guts to make it work needed someone to blame for their failure. Look at this recession, my boy. Those fools kept holding on to the land when money made the difference. When the banks started folding and they all lost their farms and their ranches, who had the money? Not the bank. I did. I was smart and shrewd. They were small and stupid, so naturally, I looked like the bad guy.”

“What did you do?” Ethan watched the egomaniac sit behind his desk. He took out a long key and opened the bottom drawer. Ethan stood and walked over to the window and absently looked out. He glanced down and watched as Telford took a long pouch out of the drawer and unzipped it. He took out a small worn ledger, placed the stack of money into the pouch, replaced the ledger, and zipped it up. He then locked the drawer, placing the key in his vest pocket. Why would he keep money in a drawer and not in the bank vault? Ethan thought.

“I did what any other bank did that owned a mortgage,
 
wasn’t getting paid, and had no hopes of getting paid. I foreclosed and took the property fully within the law,” he said and gave Drummond a challenging look.

“I agree with you. Don’t worry, I admire your business ethic. I’m learning more from you than any college course I took,” Ethan said, which was true. There weren’t many courses on Embezzlement 101, which is what Ethan now was sure Warren Telford was doing. “I would like to know how you got away with Stephen Rawlins, though.”

Telford let out a self-satisfying laugh. “So would everyone else, I’m sure. Let me tell you one major rule, Drummond.”

Ethan leaned in for the words of wisdom that he hoped would hang this old murderer. “I’m all ears, sir.” Ethan leaned against the desk as if settling in for a good story.

“Always have someone in your back pocket,” Telford said as he lit up another cigar. He watched Ethan’s questioning look and puffed at his cigar. He then sat back like a preening cat.

“Sheriff Hayward,” Ethan whispered in astonishment.

“You’re a very clever young man. We’ll get along just fine. And we’ll make millions,” Telford assured him. “I have Pat right where I want him. Back about eight years ago, he got some girl pregnant, a minor. She was fifteen, I think. He needed money for an abortion. I gave it to him, and I’ve had him ever since. The girl died…” he finished with a shrug.

Ethan listened, tasting the bile in the back of his throat. Taking a deep breath, he shrugged, as well, and stood. “That’s unbelievable,” Ethan said evenly.

“That’s enough for one night. Why don’t you go get some sleep? Now Bob Nelson and Gary Whiting are the only ranchers I can get on my side. They’ll be in town later today around four. Be here…” he said, dismissing Ethan, who nodded and walked out.

Chapter 25

Tess, Claire, and Maria were sitting on the back porch. Tess was gazing at the moon as she leaned against the porch railing. “What a handsome moon.”

Claire sat across from her on the top step and nodded. She slowly slid her way across and finally wound up sitting next to Tess.

Maria smiled as she rocked on the porch swing.

“I fell in love—”

With that, they heard the Jeep drive up into the back. The door slammed and all three women jumped.

“That money-grubbing son of a bitch!” Jed roared.

“Oh, boy,” Tess groaned and quickly stood. “Dad, calm down. What happened?”

Maria ran down the three steps to stand beside him. “Jed, please.”

He took a deep breath and retold his conversation with Tom.

Tess’s eyes grew dark as she breathed angrily through her nose. “That money-grubbing son of a bitch!”

Claire placed her hand on Tess’s arm. She looked at Jed. “So what do we do?”

“We do nothing. Telford can say whatever he likes. It’s the
fricking
twenty-first century, and if he doesn’t like it, fuck him,” Tess said.

Claire said softly, “Tess, he can cause trouble—”

Tess whirled around to her. “He can do nothing. We have Claude and his men take the herd. After the sale, he gets his share from his cattle. He pays his mortgage and keeps his ranch. We continue as we planned with our lives.”

Claire bit at her bottom lip and nodded. She glanced at Jed, who frowned, seemingly deep in thought. In the back of her mind, Claire wondered what she would do.

The next morning, Tess woke to find Claire’s side of the bed empty. She stretched and slipped out of bed.

“Claire? I don’t smell coffee,” she called out as she slipped into her jeans and shirt. She padded down the hall, rubbing her head.

Claire was not in the kitchen or anywhere else.

“Tess?”

She heard Jack’s voice from the front door. He poked his head in.

“C’mon in, Jack. Have you seen your mother?”

Jack looked ill as he held up the note for Tess, who took it. “What’s this?”

“Mom went to Helena.”

“What?” Tess was completely confused; she opened the note and read it.

Darling Tess,

Forgive me. I cannot imagine putting your family through this, not after all you have done. I will leave the car at the train station. I have to go back to Helena and see about getting my old job back. It will be better this way.
 

In all my dreams, I never thought I could find such peace.
 

Thank you for loving me.

      
Always,

           
Claire

“Why, Jack?” Tess asked in a dead voice.

“It’s my father. I think if Telford finds out who he is, he’ll cause trouble for you.”

“Is your father that important?”

“I don’t know. I just know he married into a rich family and he works for them. He’s a lawyer. I think Mom figures if she leaves, Telford will back off. Maria found the note.”

“Your mother is a silly woman.”

“She loves us. She told me that. That’s why she’s doing it.”

“I know, but she’s still silly. She’s taking the train. Damn that woman.” She put her hand on Jack’s shoulders. “I love your mother, and I’m bringing her back.”

“She took the Jeep and the wagon won’t start.”

“Will you saddle Stella for me?”

Jack’s grin spread across his face. “She’s outside ready to go.”

Tess laughed and pulled him into a fierce hug. “Don’t worry. Everything will be fine.” She ran to the bedroom and grabbed her boots. She was hopping on one foot as she struggled into them.

They both ran outside. “Go tell Dad, will you? Have him call the station and hold that train at Three Forks.” Tess mounted Stella.

“Sure,” Jack said and climbed up on Zeus.

Claire sat in a dejected heap by the window listening to the tourists. She glanced at her watch, wondering why they were pulling into the station and not going directly to Helena.
 

“This is what it must have been like,” she heard a young woman say.

Claire looked over to see two women probably her age, smiling. Claire raised an eyebrow as she saw one woman reach over and hold the other’s hand. Both smiled, and Claire saw the passion when their gazes met. She smiled sadly as she looked out the window.

“Folks, we’re pulling into Three Forks, another little town from the Old West. Back in 1845…” Rick’s voice called out, and all heads looked out the window. Filled with excitement, the tourists eagerly snapped photos.

“What in the world is that? A real cowboy?” a woman exclaimed.

Claire looked out the window and was shocked to see Tess galloping toward the train.

“Oh, God,” she mumbled and slunk down in her seat.

“Uh, that’s right. What would the Old West be without a real life cowboy?” Rick said and glared out the window.