Here Comes Trouble (30 page)

Dressed in cowboy boots, faded jeans and a
pink cowgirl shirt, she walked out of his office and squealed,
"Joel! You're back! Why the hell didn't you call and tell us you
were out, honey?"

"My lawyer just dropped me off a few minutes
ago, I just wanted to get home," he told her and stood stiffly as
she threw her arms around him. After a second he melted and hugged
her back, because her hug was like salve to his soul. He felt the
love flowing from her and into him and it thawed his insides. The
coldness that he'd felt since he'd been arrested finally left him
and he hugged her tightly.

"God, boy you smell like a polecat," she said
and stepped back to look him over. "You need a shower...and oh
Lord, you look like a mountain man, go shave."

The side of his mouth kicked up. "Glad to see
you too, mama. Call Chase, we need to talk, and I'll go get cleaned
up."

"Did you see Terri out by the barn? I need to
talk to her," she said.

"Yeah, I saw her," Joel replied
darkly.

When his mother's eyebrow lifted and her lips
pinched, Joel knew she was winding up, and he was going to be in
deep trouble in less than thirty seconds.

"What the hell is that attitude supposed to
mean? That girl has worked her ass off while you were sitting on
yours in jail, we all have. She's in love with you idiot, and she
stayed here even though before you left you treated her like dog
shit."

"I treated
her
like dog shit?" he
yelped incredulously and put his hands on his hips. "She was the
reason I was in jail to begin with, her and her big
mouth!"

"She didn't tell that jackass Ranger anything
but the truth, boy. She's a good girl, and you could do a lot
worse--
trust me you have
!"

"I don't need a woman in my life, mama,
especially
that
one. What I need is to know what the hell
ya'll have done to my ranch in five days? She's out there
distracting my ranch hands, they're being lazy and sitting on their
thumbs, and there's all kind of equipment installed that I didn't
order or authorize. Am I bankrupt yet? Because it sure as hell
looks that way!" Joel ran a frustrated hand through his hair then
wiped it on his pant leg. He really did need a shower,
bad.

His mama's eyebrow lifted and her chin jutted
upward. "The spa is booked solid for next week, there's a group of
ten coming today who have paid for the rodeo package thanks to
that
woman, the FBI people are raving about the training
they've received so far thanks to your
lazy ranch hands
,
your regular packages are booked up through the end of the year
thanks to me and Trish, and the goddamn reception pavilion will be
finished by November, and we already have five pre-bookings for
March. So that's what we've done to
your
ranch in five days.
Something you couldn't manage in five months!"

Joel didn't need her to remind him what a
failure he'd been the last five months. He should have just stuck
with practicing law. What the hell did he know about running a dude
ranch? But he was knee deep in it now, and couldn't turn back. He
might have to though, because all the things they'd done cost
money, and he didn't have any.

All the money he had was tied up in a mess
with his ex...
dead
wife, and his ex-business partner, and
probably would be for a long time now.

With a groan he told her, "But mama, I didn't
have the money to do all that...even with the bookings, that's not
money in the bank, and we'll still be in the red."

"I gave you the money idiot, I'm a partner
now. You should have asked me in the first place. You know I was
raised on a ranch, and my daddy would have been proud for me to
invest the money he left me in another ranch...he'd be proud of
you
!"

Joel's eyes burned and he swallowed down the
emotion in his throat. "You did
what
?"

"I gave you the money for the extra
improvements, and I paid off the balance on the construction and
equipment for the spa. I put the rest of the money in the business
account for operating expenses and salaries, to keep us going until
the packages start paying off."

"Oh, God mama..." he said and grabbed her to
him. "I love you...thank you."

"There's a lot of people you should be
thanking other than me," she mumbled into his chest. "Terri is the
first, she has coordinated all of this, and her brother is coming
this evening with a group of his friends for the rodeo adventure.
You make sure they're taken care of, and you'll have a lot more
bookings for the rodeo adventure."

Joel's throat worked and regret filled
him.

"I just reamed her out," he admitted ruefully
and a pain shot through his chest. He'd done more than ream her
out. Joel was afraid he'd pissed her off for good. She was leaving
the ranch on Friday, leaving him. The thought made his stomach
roll.

Curly pushed back from him and looked up at
him angrily. "What the hell for?"

"I came home and saw the pavilion construction
going on, the bulls and new fencing, and all the hands out there
messing around, and I thought..." I thought she was messing with
Dylan, thought they had taken up as soon as he left the ranch. As
soon as he was carted off to jail.

Joel needed to get a grip on his jealousy, he
knew it was a result of being cheated on during his marriage, but
it was no excuse for the way he was acting.

Terri was not Karen, he needed to remember
that. She was a loving, caring and faithful woman. Like him, she'd
been through the hell of being married to someone who cheated. If
she was his, Joel would never do that to her. It was hard to fathom
that her husband hadn't realized what a good woman he
had.

Joel also needed to remember that she
wasn't
his, so whatever she did with someone else wasn't
cheating. That fact drove a knife into his chest. That was the
whole problem, she could do what she pleased, take up with whoever
she wanted, and there wasn't a damned thing he could do about it,
because he was too damned scared to claim her.

It frustrated the shit out of him, but the
situation was entirely his fault.

They weren't committed, they'd had sex. Joel
didn't want a commitment did he? He'd told her as much. The
feelings he had for her were a hell of a lot like love he knew, but
that did not a commitment make, especially when he hadn't ever
told
her how he felt.

Joel knew it was time for him to fish or cut
bait. He had a decision to make, if it was even his to make now. So
far in their association, he'd done everything he could to back
Terri into a corner. At every opportunity, he sent her mixed
signals. He pulled her to him, because he couldn't resist her, then
he pushed her away, because he was afraid.

From their argument earlier, it looked like
he'd succeeded in pushing her away. She was leaving the ranch
Friday, leaving him. Joel couldn't let that happen, because he knew
if she left, she'd be taking a piece of him with her, and he'd
never be the same.

After Karen, he thought he was toast
emotionally, he was wrong, he survived. If Terri left, it would be
a different story. Just the time he'd spent in jail away from her
told him that. Even though he was mad at her, he had missed her
terribly, something he wouldn't admit until now. Joel needed her in
his life, it wouldn't be worth crap without her.

He needed her assurances that things would get
better, her smart mouth telling him to quit feeling sorry for
himself and do something about his situation. While he was sitting
in that jail cell, in the back of his mind, he'd heard her telling
him that, even though she wasn't there with him. Because Terri
Cassidy was not only in his head, she was in his heart.

"You thought she was responsible for it? And
that she'd wasted your money? That your employees were taking
advantage of you? Let me tell you something...
everyone
here
pulled together when you were arrested, and they've worked like a
team since to make sure the damned ranch was successful. You've got
some good people, don't run them off."

"I am an idiot, mama...I owe some people an
apology."

"You owe them a thank you--that's what you owe
them. Your brother especially. Chase really stepped up and made
things happen."

"I'll call him," Joel promised, then told her,
"I'm sorry for being an ass, mama."

Joel really was sorry, a sorry sonofabitch,
and he needed to get busy on making amends, or he really would be
bankrupt...emotionally.

"I'm going to get cleaned up, and I'll get
busy," he told her then leaned down and kissed her cheek. "I love
you, mama...thank you for loving me."

Her face softened and she told him, "I love
you too, even when you're an idiot--now go take care of your
business."

"Yes ma'am," Joel told her with a grin, then
sucked it up and went into his bedroom, murder scene or
not.

He felt a million times better an hour later,
when he walked back out of his bedroom. It was like he washed his
bad mood away along with the jail funk. Rubbing his hand over his
now smooth face, he smiled, a real smile, then headed to do what he
needed to do to make things right.

He caught Trish outside on the porch, and had
a long conversation with her. When she explained all she'd been
doing since he'd been gone, calling offices non-stop to increase
their bookings, he felt humbled and knew his mama had been right.
These people were good people and they wanted the ranch to be
successful.

He needed them on his team, hell he needed to
act like a team leader instead of a one-man show, a dictator.
That's where he'd been going wrong, he now realized. He wasn't in
this alone, he had help. He just had to let them in to help him,
respect their ideas and input more. After he thanked his
fresh-faced guest services coordinator profusely for her hard work,
he took the golf cart to the bunkhouse.

Joel thought maybe he could catch a few of the
ranch hands out there, but Sheedy was the only one at the
bunkhouse. He informed him that Rocky had finished with the FBI
group's riding instruction and they were working out in the field
now learning how to cut and herd cattle.

They didn't take the agents on a cattle drive,
because they were leaving as soon as they got back to the barn. The
main goal of them being here was to learn how to work on a ranch.
So far it looked like his cowboys were taking them through the
paces.

According to the tough-sounding woman he'd
talked to when he booked the group, Susan Whitmore, the agents
needed this training for a covert assignment they were planning.
This was only half the group, the rest would come at a later date,
including her.

Joel hoped the ranch would get more business
from the agency, because of the success of this group's training.
Maybe he'd ask Susan Whitmore about allowing him to pitch the ranch
to the psychologist at the FBI as the perfect place for burned out
agents to find some rest and relaxation.

Thunder rumbled overhead and Joel leaned out
of the golf cart and looked up at the sky. Black clouds were
rolling in and the air had taken on the texture of a wet blanket.
They were about to get a gully washer, and damned if they couldn't
use it. It had been a long dry summer, a long time since it had
rained. The pastures were brown, the dirt dry and cracked, which
meant a higher possibility of a fire from a lightning strike. He
hoped this storm would just be much needed rain, and not too much
lightning. All he needed was burned out acreage, and flames coming
close to the ranch.

The first fat raindrop hit him right in the
forehead and he wiped it off with his forearm then turned the cart
toward the barn. He was sure the group out in the pasture would be
headed back in at the first sign of bad weather, so he'd go wait
for them in the barn.

Lightning broke across the sky in a brilliant
light display and Joel felt the electricity from it skitter over
his skin. He leaned lower in the cart and pressed harder on the
pedal. Being out in a rainstorm was not a problem, being out in the
open in an electrical storm was a big problem. He hoped the hands
would get the guests back to the barn as soon as
possible.

By the time he reached the barn the bottom
fell out and rain fell in sheets from the sky. The wind kicked up
and blew the rain sideways hitting him in the face, as he slid out
of the cart and ran inside the barn. Steam rose from the ground and
he felt it under the hem of his wet jeans.

Once inside, Joel took off his hat and shook
the water off, then put it back on his head and brushed what
moisture he could off of his shirt and jeans. His brown boots, were
black and soaked now, caked at the toes with mud, so he walked
through the barn and found a towel to wipe them off. Down the far
aisle, he saw Dylan saddling a horse, and walked down
there.

"Hey, man where you headed?" Joel asked,
because in this weather, he shouldn't be headed
anywhere.

"Going to find Terri," he said and the dark
scowl on his face told him he wasn't happy about it.

"Where is she?" Joel asked and frowned
himself, as worry punched him in the gut. Surely she was smart
enough not to be out in this weather. A warning it was coming had
been broadcast by the dark overcast sky all day.