Ring of Fire Book Two of the McKay's (14 page)

"Wow, you want to marry Hank?" Julie gasped.

"More than anything. But like you say, he may not feel the same, and if he doesn't I have to learn to live with that too."

"But…you hardly know him
," Julie protested. "I mean…"

"Now there is where you are wrong. I do know him. And that's the whole thing that makes this all so hard.
He's a man with principles. And I love that about him. He's a man who doesn't want to take the advantage. I love that too. But the way things are, we'll never date unless I get out of here. He wouldn't consider asking me out. Shoot…he won't even introduce me to his grandmother," Letty cried, flinging her arms in the air.

"Why is that so important?" Julie asked.

"Because he loves and respects her, and he would never bring a girl to meet her unless the girl was very important in his life too. I want to be that important."

Julie shook her head
. "Honey, if you leave, and get a job, and he doesn't date you and introduce you to his grandmother, I'll take you over there myself and introduce you." Julie laughed.

Letty looked at her and laughed. "Promise?"

"Promise!"

Chapter
Nine

But there was one more person that Letty wanted to talk to. She wasn't sure why, but the old man was someone that she had come to respect, and since her father was no longer here, she wanted his opinion: Caleb!

Being a non-emotional kind of worker, Caleb could look at her situation from a different angle and give her some perspective.
She guessed she had gotten so used to talking with her dad about personal things, that she sought an older individual to confide in.

It was raining the day she walked down t
o the barn intent on hearing what Caleb thought. There were no cowboys out and about on this ugly day, but Letty had seen Caleb going into the barn and she thought it the perfect time to talk to him. She didn't expect anyone would intrude.

As she walked inside the barn, she was hit with the pungent odor of wet hay and horseflesh. It was an odor that she had smelled all her life and never paid much attention to, but today it hit her as unusual.

"Good morning, Caleb," Letty called from the doorway as she spotted him bending over a horse in one of the stalls.

The old man barely glanced her
way; he was brushing down one of the horses that had been used this morning before the rain. "Miss Letty, haven't seen you in a few days. How you feeling?"

"I'm on the mend
," she said happily.

"Good, glad to hear it. I guess you won't be riding that Thunder any time soon." He chuckled.

"No, I guess not. Not if Wade has anything to do with it." Letty felt a loss at the thought. She loved that horse and she wasn't even sure why. "But I still would like to make that horse mine one day."

"You're better off not trying to ride that one.
Wade is right. There are some horses that are better free and wild, he's one of them," Caleb informed her when he saw her frowning face.

"I guess."
She watched him work.

Caleb would tell her the truth, no
holds barred.

"So, what brings you out, want me to saddle Whitey?" he asked.
"It's not really a good day for a ride. Unless you like the rain."

"No,
I like to sleep in when it rains. I wanted to talk to you, actually," she said brightly.

"Me?"
He glanced over his shoulder at her once more.

"Well, feel you out about something
, more than anything. You see, since my father died there is no older people to talk to around here. And I grew up thinking that older people had more wisdom than most. Most of the other cowboys are just too young to be sage." Letty almost laughed.

"I guess age has some value
." Caleb nodded. "So what's on your mind?"

"What would you say if I told you I'm thinking of moving into town, getting a job and not taking my father's money?"
she announced.

Caleb stopped what he was doing, and turned the biggest frown on her she had ever seen. The frown made him look mean, almost devilish. "
You are giving up your inheritance?"

Letty flinched from his tone.
"I'm thinking about it."

"Well
, now." Caleb stood up straight, and moved the horse he was working on to his stall. Letty reached to pet the animal on the nose and then looked at Caleb.

He shot her a thunderous look, and shook his head.

"Well….You look like you've got a lot to say." His anger gnawed at her self-confidence.

He put the horse in the stall, wiped his hand on a rag and shook his head
once more. "First, I'd have to ask if you'd lost your mind."

Letty looked down at the floor. Not that it held interest, but she couldn't quite face him.

She laughed nervously. She grabbed a straw and put it between her teeth. She hadn't planned on this shocking Caleb. But of course he wasn't her father, and he wouldn't explode like her father. He could see this from a distance and that's just what she needed.

"As far as I know, I haven't lost my mind, no…"

"Is there a reason for doin' this?" he asked, not looking at her.

Letty paused, not sure she was ready to confess this with a stranger.

"Yeah…there is…"

"And that bein'?"
The old man's voice didn't vary. He thrust no emotions on her and this was the reason she knew she could talk to Caleb. He'd look at this from a distance and be able to make her see all angles.

"If I tell you, you'll think me foolish."

"Probably."

"A man…"

Caleb didn't move for a moment. He didn't stir. But the frown on his face didn't disappear. Did he think her foolish?

He just stood there.

"Well…" she encouraged."What do you think?"

"That's an awful female reaction. Not good thinking." He shook his head and wiped the sweat from his neck with a big bandana.

Letty pulled up a barrel and sat down. The barrels were used to catch rain water but this one was empty. "You don't understand. I can make my own money. I can support myself."

"But…from what I heard, the old man left you quite a bundle…" Caleb stated as he leaned against the barn wall and looked at her from a distance.
"Can you make that much?"

"
I don't think so. Maybe in a lifetime, but I doubt even that. And it's true, but I didn't earn Dad's money. I'm not a man; I haven't done enough around here to earn that kind of money anyway. I don't need as much as some women," Letty said. "I've got a nice wardrobe, a good car that's paid for, and I can live here as long as I need to."

"Have you looked at this from every angle?
I mean, you could get sick, have lots of medical bills. You could have an accident or someone unexpected could happen to wipe you out. You could have all kinds of calamities in your life, ones you aren't expecting. Your old man left you enough to not worry over such things. That gives you a freedom a lot of people would never have," he explained.

Letty glanced at the old man. For just a
n old horse wrangler the man had a lot of sense. But then she respected older people and knew they had seen more of life than she.

"Having someone give me the money, money I didn't earn, felt no pride in, wouldn't make my
life better. I'd never think I earned it. That's a burden in itself."

"But that ain't why you are considerin' this, is it?"
The old man's brow rose in question.

"No…I guess not. You see Caleb, I'm in love. For the first time in my life. And the man I love has high morals, very high morals. He doesn't think he's good enough for me. And it's all because of the money.
So I want to show him I don't want or need the money."

Caleb rubbed his chin. "Does he love you?"

"I think so…"

"You don't know?"

"No…I don't know. I mean, not for sure. We haven't even dated. But I'm willing to gamble on it."

"Then why do something so drastic?
I mean, if you don't know for sure how he feels?"

"Because I want to show him how much I'm willing to give up for a chance with him. I want him to understand that money is not what I'm all about."

Caleb shook his head. "I guess that would do it, alright. Either that or he'd think you crazy."

Letty's laugh was a soft echo in the muggy barn.
Letty's nerves jangled in her laugh, she heard it, and bowed her head again.

Sunlight filtered through the cracks in the wood, and Letty stared at the small particles in the
air. As a child she'd wanted to catch those, but never could.

"To be honest, I guess I am a little crazy. Julie and Wendy think I am."

"Tell me about this man…What's so great about this one?" Caleb sat down on another barrel that he placed a lid on that caught the rain.

"
This one? You sound as though you think I've had many men. I haven't. He's just a regular cowboy. He makes a regular salary. But that isn't all of him, Caleb. He takes care of his grandmother. He has a lot of old world values and morals. He wants me….but he'd never take me without commitment, I know that. And I want the whole thing, Caleb. I want the ring, and the big wedding and the little house on the prairie. You see Caleb, I have decided since I've returned to the ranch that the thing I want most is a family of my own."

"It just
doesn't figure…" Caleb mumbled.

"What?"
Irritation lined her voice now as Caleb seemed to refuse her thinking.

"Ain't you the one that models and is studying law?" Caleb asked
, his brow going up again.

"Yes, I am the one."

"You gonna finish the law school?"

"I may…I'm not sure. But if I do, it won't be because I still have a real passion for it. I have a passion for a family…"

Caleb was quiet again as though thinking about what she said. "You change your 'passions' a lot, don't you? How long you been in love with Hank Silver?"

"How'd you know it was him?
"

"It was a dead give-away when you said grandmother. He's about the only man I know that takes care of his elders."

"Do you approve?"

"Ain't my place to approve or not. That should only depend on whether or not he really loves you, and if he is worth giving up so much for."

"I guess. I know we have a chemistry between us. It would be hard not to notice that. But what I want is so much more. Do you think I'm crazy too?"

"It dawned on me…"

Letty nodded. "When my father was alive he encouraged me to seek my dreams. He encouraged me to go after it. Not settle. If I stay here I'm settling for an easy life. And Caleb, it doesn't matter if it's Hank or someone else. How would I ever know they really loved me and not all that money? If I inherit that money there will be many who will want to marry me. Only it won't be because of me. It will be the money they really want. I know that. I don't want that."

"Good
point; that is a problem. But to give it up…"

"I know that sounds pretty drastic." Letty smiled sadly.

"Maybe you are right. Maybe you should take up law again and have that as a fall back. You could always marry a fellow lawyer."

"I doubt it. Most of them are interested in money. If they found out I gave it all up, they'd swear I was crazy. They wouldn't understand me."

"Then why would you take up law again?"

"Because I could I guess. Because it would make me a good living most of my life and it would be something I could fall back on
if I didn't want to pursue it," Letty explained. "I mean, I don't have to be rich, but I do know how to make a living. It just wouldn't be my passion."

"Then," Caleb scratched his chin and glanced at her
. "I think the best thing would be to get that job, but continue your studies. Finish what you started. That way you would always have a way to support yourself if you wanted it."

Letty nodded. "That makes sense…"

"It would mean a lot of dedication, maybe not much room for romance…" Caleb smiled.

"Yeah, well, I'm
not planning on telling Hank about all of this."

"You ain't?" Caleb frowned again
, studying her. "Why not?"

"Because, I need ti
me to see if I can handle it. I mean, it all sounds good when I say it, but I've got to get back out there and make things work first. And give him time to think about who and what I am. I'm not just a McKay. I'm Letty."

"Well now, that sounds pretty smart. I'd say. Yes ma'am, I think you've thought this through. But I gotta ask…can you give all that money up
…that easy?"

"Yes, I can…" she assured
him. "I loved my dad, Caleb, more than he ever realized, but I didn't want his money then, and I don't want it now. I can make a living on my own. I would like to think I made it without help."