Frigid temps outside cancelled my plans today, but on the plus side I finally had time to complete this chapter. Thanks for continuing to read and review this story.
Standing in front of his desk, Walt looked out the cabin window at the very spot he and Tucker Baggett had stood.
"So, you think this whole thing was a set-up? Just Barlow trying to take one last swipe at you from beyond the grave?"
"Yep."
"Damn, Walt. I believe you. Barlow Connally was a son-of-a-bitch. But...that son-of-a-bitch happened to be my best friend. And do you know what he did the day before he died? He had some papers drawn up making me, Tucker Baggett, CEO of Connally Enterprises, should anything ever happen to him. That is a true friend. And now you're standing right in the way of our big plan."
"What plan?"
"A world class golf resort and residential community. In the most pristine place in God's green earth." He spread his arms wide as he looked out at the land before them. "Right here!"
Walt stared at Tucker as he chuckled. His brow furrowed as he pointed down at the ground. "Here?"
Tucker continued to laugh.
Walt gritted his teeth. "That's never going to happen. You get this land over my dead body."
"Nah. I'll get it over cocktails with the realtor. You see Walt, I know how much money you have. And if the judge gives me half of what I'm askin', you're going to have to sell this whole property just to cover the judgment. Just think about it, Walt. Thirty-six holes of championship golf. Two hundred single-family parcels, each with over an acre of their own land. And a blue river trout stream running right through the middle of it. Why hell Walt, it's the stuff dreams are made of."
Walt winced, his head hanging as he gripped the edge of the desktop.
He could lose all this. What he and Martha had worked so hard for. Scrimping and sacrificing so they could save up for their dream. The dream she'd been shortchanged on. The dream he'd never expected he be shortchanged on as well. He'd never expected to find himself in this position.
"We will work hard to win, but...we have to plan to lose."
Walt stared back at his lawyer in disbelief. "So, plan B is truth, and plan C is we lose?"
Dave's eyebrows arched in sympathy. "We might. And there's a lot at stake, so I want to talk about protecting your assets."
A beat, and then another. "How do I do that?"
"Basically hide your money. Give it to other people...like your daughter."
His daughter. Walt has never expected to be in this place with Cady either. He wouldn't be surprised if she wanted nothing to do with him, or his assets.
With an exhale, he wiped the beads of sweat still pooling on his brow since his early morning run.
Everything was off. Turned upside down in a matter of weeks. In moments like these, when he let the possibilities sink in, he felt the panic take grip.
He picked up the phone from the desk and punched the numbers his fingers had years of practice dialing.
"It is a beautiful day at the Red Pony and continual soirée."
Walt paused. He'd dialed Henry's number out of habit. The person he reached out to in times like these. The voice of reason when the demons within him rose to a level he couldn't squash down on his own.
With a click he ended the call. He wasn't ready. Henry probably wasn't ready either. He didn't know if time was enough to mend the rift between them, but it was certainly an element, and not enough time had passed since their fight.
His shoulders sagged as the anxious swirl in his gut gained momentum. Without Henry in his corner, without Cady, he ached.
The phone in his hand suddenly rang. Looking down at the call display, he half-expected to see that it was Henry calling him back after his abrupt hang-up, but instead it was a number he didn't recognize.
Walt lifted the handset to his ear. "Hello?"
"Hey. It's Vic."
The tightness in his stomach lessened slightly hearing her voice. "Hey."
He could see her ponytail swishing, and her arms pumping, and her toned calves as he'd followed her down the trail earlier that morning.
"Wondering whose number this is?"
"Yep."
"It's my mother's mobile. Mine's charging."
He nodded in to the phone as he ran his finger along the edge of the desk.
"What are you up to?"
He paused. For a moment he considered opening up to her. But she had other things she was dealing with. He didn't want to add to her burdens. "Nothing much."
"You weren't taking a nap, were you? Recovering from our run?"
He grinned. He'd thought about taking a nap after her truck pulled away, leaving him with an empty house, and a couch still made up as a bed. "Nope."
"Glad to hear you're not totally wiped. I've been instructed to call you. Today's plans have been finalized. We have reservations at the South Fork Lodge. Our ride starts at 3:00, and we need to be there by 2:30."
"Ok."
"You know where it is?"
"Yep."
They both fell silent, and Walt closed his eyes, picturing her on the other end of the line.
"My mother wants me to ask you what we should wear."
He chuckled. "Is she standing next to you?"
"Actually, no. I'm in my truck, parked outside. The RV was a little cramped."
He laughed again. "I'm glad I could serve as an excuse for you to get out."
"Me too."
Again there was silence. Now he was picturing her in her truck.
"So what should we wear for our ride?"
"Oh...uh...even though it's still pretty warm, no shorts, and no open-toed shoes. No slip-on shoes either. And ideally something with a slight heal so your foot doesn't slip through the stirrup. Dressing for horseback riding is not about fashion. It's about comfort and safety."
"Is that your motto when you get dressed each morning?"
The corners of his mouth turned upwards. He could picture her smiling into her phone, a glint in her eyes. "Pretty much."
"Ok. Jeans and boots. Or at least shoes with laces."
"And don't forget sunscreen. And water. There's a lot of open, cloudless sky to contend with, as well as the heat."
"Jeans. Boots. Sunscreen. Water. Got it."
Silence.
When she'd paused under the shade of a tree half-way through their run, her hand resting on the trunk as she looked out into the distance, he'd stood a few feet back, pretending he was also appreciating the view. But instead he'd let his gaze linger on the side of her face, remembering their kiss in Vic's kitchen the previous night. And now, as he stood in front of his desk, phone at his ear, he recalled the kiss again.
"You know, you don't need to do this, Walt."
He shook his head to get his focus back to the present while she continued.
"I know you are all about honoring your commitments, but in the grand scheme of things, the ramifications of backing out are pretty minimal in this case. You don't need to give up your afternoon for us."
"I told you, Vic, it's ok."
"And I know you might have been caught up in trying to impress my mother last night, with your crisp new shirt, and your freshly shaven jaw. And that probably made you all sorts of agreeable to her requests, but you don't need to keep trying to impress her—"
"I'm not trying to impress her."
"Uh, huh."
"Are you trying to get me to back out of going, or do you not want to go?"
"What?...no...that's not..."
"Are you nervous about going horseback riding?"
"Nervous?"
"They'll walk through the basics with you before we head out on the trail."
"I know. They told us that when we made the reservation."
"There's nothing to be worried about. They've been doing these rides for years, with people of all different skill levels. You'll be fine. They'll select a horse that's the right fit for you."
"The right fit?"
"Based on your skill-level, and size, and temperament."
"My temperament?"
"The horse's. They'll match you up with a horse with the right personality."
"I...um...ok."
There was another beat of silence between them.
"Walt, I...uh—"
Whatever she was about to say was suddenly cut off.
"Holy shit!"
He straightened. "What?"
"My mother just knocked on my window and scared the crap out of me."
Her voice became a little muffled, as if she was now covering the phone. "What?"
Walt couldn't make out Lena's words.
He heard what he assumed was the driver-side door opening.
"Are you still on the phone with Walt?"
"No, I'm talking to myself."
Vic's sarcasm was evident even in its slightly muted delivery.
"Did you tell him our reservation time?" He could picture Lena Moretti looking down at her still seated daughter as she asked her question.
"Yes."
"And did you tell him we need to be there early?"
"I did."
"And did you ask him what we should wear?"
"You know what Walt..." It was Vic, speaking to him. "I don't want to take up any more of your time. I'll call you if we have any new questions. Otherwise I'll see you around 2:30, up at the lodge."
"Sure."
Before he could say goodbye, she ended the call.
XX
Her knuckles white against the steering wheel, she tried to focus on the road ahead. She'd been unable to pay attention to much of the conversation happening beside and behind her during the drive.
What had she gotten herself into?
She swayed as her truck bounced up along the unpaved road leading to the ranch.
When she arrived at the lot, she recognized the green truck already parked at the far end of the first row, and waved at its owner as she slid into the spot next to it.
Once she cut her engine, she stayed in her seat and watched her family extract themselves from the vehicle and congregate on the sidewalk near Henry, stretching their limbs after the ride. Although she could not hear their words of greeting to each other, she saw both Henry and her mother turn her way and knew they were talking about her.
Henry stepped forward, and pulled open her door.
She put on a smile as she looked up at him. "Hey, Henry."
He nodded. "Vic." He leaned back against his truck, his arms crossed casually in front of his chest. "New SUV?"
"It's the rental my family got. I was voluntold to do the driving."
"Voluntold?"
"Kind of the opposite of volunteering."
He eyes crinkled in mirth as he nodded in understanding. Vic looked through her windshield at her mother, who was conversing animatedly with Michael, before placing her left boot on the gravel and then pulling herself out. "Thanks for helping us pick a place for this. And for joining us. Another selfless act. Hope you don't feel like you were voluntold as well."
Henry's eyebrow lifted. "Another?"
They both turned as a vehicle bearing the unmistakable Absaroka County Sheriff's Department decal entered the parking lot.
"My mother also convinced Walt to come."
She expected a smile or even a laugh, but the amusement in Henry's eyes faded as he watched the Bronco pull up to the other side of her vehicle.
Her eyes stayed on Henry as she rounded the front end of the SUV. When she turned to face the Bronco, she found Walt still in the cab, staring in front of him.
She looked over at Henry and then back at Walt. What was going on between these two?
But before she could ponder the question further, her mother stepped past her, catching Walt's attention as she neared his driver-side door. His eyes flashed to Henry, who now stood to Vic's side, and then to Vic, who tried to give him an apologetic grin. He looked back toward her mother without a reaction.
Seriously, what was going on?
XX
Vic walked up to the counter.
"I'm not sure if this where I need to go to check in, but we have a reservation to go horseback riding at three pm. Moretti."
The man behind the counter gave her a wide smile. "You're in the right place." He looked down at his computer screen. "And I see your reservation here." He glanced back up at her. "Do you want us to charge it to the credit card on file?"
"The one I made the reservation with? Yes."
"Ok. Great. I'm also going to need each of you to sign a waiver." He pulled some sheets of paper off the shelf behind him and began to flip through them. "Looks like I'm short by two. Let me go to the office and print out some copies. I'll be back."
He placed the forms in his hands down on the counter as a woman walked up beside her. "Hey Chip, looks like both of my daughters want to go out riding with me this afternoon. Can you add Samantha to the list?"
"Sure."
Vic swiveled one of the forms around and began to read it while the two conversed. She lifted her head as Chip disappeared through the doorway into the back office. As the woman turned to leave, Vic reached out and placed her hand on her elbow.
"Can I...uh...can I ask you a question?"
The woman looked over at her. "Sure."
"Have you been riding long?"
"My whole life."
"If...if a member of my party is pregnant, is it ok to go horseback riding. Is it safe?"
"How pregnant is she?"
"Uh...100% pregnant."
The woman laughed lightly. "I mean, is she more than twelve weeks pregnant?"
"Oh...uh...no. Less than that."
"If she is more than twelve weeks pregnant, she shouldn't go at all. If she's less than twelve weeks along, there's some risk, but it comes down to a personal choice."
"What are the risks?"
"Well, beside potential discomfort of sitting on a horse while pregnant, there's a risk of falling off the horse, or getting kicked. How skilled of a rider is she?"
Vic pulled on her lower lip with her teeth. "Not very."
"Horses can be unpredictable no matter how good of a rider she is, but the risk goes up if she's not as skilled at handling the horse. In addition, there's the up and down jostling motion of riding that can lead to complications."
Vic nodded, taking in her words.
"Both times I was pregnant, my doctor told me I could go out during the first twelve weeks, but only walking. No trotting. No cantering. Some doctors believe the risk to be low during the first trimester, while others advise against horseback riding at any stage of pregnancy."
The woman paused. "I take it you didn't talk to your doctor about this?"
Vic looked up at her startled that she'd been found out and then shook her head.
"It's a personal decision. What's your gut telling you?"
Again Vic chewed on her lower lip. "It's telling me I shouldn't go. But...then I'm going to have to explain to everyone why I'm not going."
"You haven't told them you're pregnant yet?"
Vic shook her head.
The woman looked at her sympathetically. "Maybe just tell them you're not feeling well due to the heat."
"Yeah. Maybe."
The woman placed her hand briefly on Vic's arm. "Well, good luck."
"Thanks. I need it."
"With the pregnancy as well."
"Yeah, I need it for that too."
The woman smiled and walked away, leaving Vic to stare at the waiver form in her hands.
"Alright, Ms. Moretti. I've got some more copies."
Vic looked up as Chip returned to the counter and handed her two more of the forms.
She handed one of them back to him. "I, uh...I need to change the reservation from seven to six."
He blinked. "Oh. Ok."
She held up the papers. "And once everyone has signed these, do I bring them back here?"
"Yes. And then I'll direct you to where you need to go."
"Ok. I'll be right back with these."
With the waivers in hand, she turned around and crossed the room. At the door, she lifted her hand to push it open, but paused when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned, finding Henry standing there.
Their eyes connected, and in that moment she knew that he'd heard enough of her conversation with the woman to know the truth.
She wanted to look away, but held his gaze. "Please don't say anything to the others, Henry."
He silently looked back at her for a moment. "That is a big secret to keep."
Her chin dropped slightly, her eyes falling to her feet.
"But it is not my secret to share."
Her eyes flew back up to his. "Thanks."
He nodded and then stepped forward and held open the door.
At the top of the steps they both paused. She was thinking about what she was going to say to explain why she wouldn't be joining them. When she glanced over at Henry, she found him lost in thought as well.
"Is something going on between you and Walt?"
Henry blinked, but didn't turn his head. "That is also not mine to share."
Again she looked over at the group, her focus settling on Walt. Once she got through this afternoon she needed to get to the bottom of what was going on between the two lifelong friends.
Henry walked to the bottom of the three steps and looked up at her. "I will help you talk your way out of this." He gestured for her to join him. "Follow my lead."
XX
Vic tossed the paper towel in the nearby bin, pushed open the door and found Walt standing in the hallway outside the men's bathroom.
"Hey."
His head lifted, a slight look of surprise on his face. "Hey."
"You're here?"
"Just got here."
"I didn't know if you were coming."
"Yep."
"I thought, after the horseback riding, you might finally have had enough of the Moretti clan."
The corners of his mouth lifted. "Apparently not."
"And I didn't know if you were coming because we were having dinner...here."
"Here?"
"At the Red Pony. Something is clearly going on between you two."
He glanced down the hallway toward the door leading back into the main room of the bar.
"Come on Walt. What's going on?"
He still wouldn't look at her. "Henry and I are not seeing eye-to-eye about something."
"You don't always see eye-to-eye on things."
"This is different. It's...bigger."
She placed her hand on his arm and gave a small tug. He finally turned toward her, and she gave him a look, pleading for him to continue.
"Something came to light and I...I'm not sure we can get past it."
"What came to light?"
Again he looked at the door at the end of the hallway. "This isn't the time, Vic."
"It's never the time."
"I'll...I'll tell you, but not now. I don't want to ruin...you're here with your family, and you have enough going on."
"Ok. I'll drop it. For now. But I'm holding you to it."
He nodded, and when he looked at her, she remembered something. She lifted her hand to the side of his face. "Is Henry the reason your lip was split a couple weeks ago? And your cheek?
He didn't pull away. "I thought you were dropping it."
She shrugged.
When she pulled her hand back, his eyes stayed on hers.
"Was it nerves?"
She knit her eyebrows together. "Was what nerves?"
"The real reason for not going horseback riding today?"
She blinked as she looked up at him. It had been nerves, but not in the way he was thinking.
"I think you could have told them that you were nervous about going riding. They would have been understanding."
She arched an eyebrow. "Have you met my family? We don't admit weakness."
"It's not a sign of weakness—"
She dropped her eyes. "That's not how they would have seen it. They would have torn me apart."
"I wouldn't have let them."
She raised her eyes back up to his, and when she saw his warm gaze directed at her, she took a step forward, lifted up on her toes and pressed her lips to his. Her touch was tentative, but lingering, and she slowly felt him respond. When she felt one of his hands cover her hip, she slid her right arm around his waist and tugged him closer. His hand slid to her lower back, and then he turned them, backing her up against the wall. When she started to slide her hand inside the collar of his shirt, he pulled back.
"We shouldn't do this..."
Her eyes widened, and if she hadn't been against the wall she would have pulled further away.
His hand went to the hair at the back of his neck. "I mean here. Now. With your family on the other side of that wall. Anyone could walk into this hallway at any moment."
She ran her hand along her ponytail, her eyes locked on his.
He rested his right hand on the wall near her shoulder. "We can talk about this. Later tonight. When we're back at the cabin."
She arched an eyebrow. "Just talk?" Her thoughts were already going to things other than just talking.
A slow smile spread on his face in response.
They stood for a few moments, not talking, eyes still connected.
She swallowed. "I should go back to the table."
"Yep." He didn't take a step back.
"Did you see where my family was sitting?"
He nodded, his gaze dropping to her lips, before shifting back up to her eyes. After another few moments passed he stepped back.
She walked to the end of the hallway, and then with a quick glance in his direction, pushed open the swinging door. But before she stepped out, her mouth opened slightly in surprise.
"Holy shit!"
He took a few steps toward her. "What?"
She blinked. "Cady's here." She watched as Cady and Henry talked at the bar.
"Are you and Cady having problems?"
Knitting her brows together, she looked over at him. "What? No." She looked back out into the room. "I told my parents I was staying with Cady, not with you...and Cady has no idea." She saw Henry point in the direction of her family's table. "And now Henry's pointed out that my family is here...and...yep, she's headed in that direction."
