The Maverick Meets His Match (Hearts of Wyoming Book 2)(87)

“Man’s handshake is as good as his word, I expect. Even with you, Martin.” Stan gave him a nod and then ambled out of the room with an uneven gait.

Ty slunk back in his chair and swiveled to look out of the window, across the grounds to the corrals, where Mandy was no doubt checking on the horses for the weekend rodeo.

He could show the offer to Mandy but tell her he was saying no.

That would be the easy way out.

A few more weeks and it wouldn’t even be his decision anymore. He could simply delay Stan until the six months were up and not even bring it up.

But that was a coward’s way, and Ty was not a coward. Besides, Ty felt a fiduciary responsibility to present the offer.

Even knowing that showing Mandy the offer, much less accepting it, would ruin everything.

What exactly was “everything?” His role in her life was nebulous at best. He didn’t know where things stood between them, even though she’d agreed they’d stay married for a while longer. She hadn’t gotten pregnant yet, to his knowledge anyway, and it sure wasn’t for lack of trying. A smile formed on his lips. No, it wasn’t for lack of trying.

Thing was, he wanted to stay married. He wanted to stay with Mandy.

He’d fallen in love with his wife.





*


“It is a good offer,” Brian said as he held the paper in his hand.

Being a lawyer himself and conversant in contract law, Ty had already made that assessment. He hadn’t come to the Prescott family lawyer for legal advice. He needed objectivity. Every fiber in his being said to reject it, while every inch of his brain said to accept it. He’d never had such conflicting feelings about a deal before. He’d always prided himself on making the right decision. That was easy when the only consideration had been to maximize the investment.

Come to find out, that hadn’t been the only consideration his partners had wanted. And he had walked away precisely because he felt his partners had lost their objectivity.

Now he found himself in the same circumstance. He didn’t want a cool, detached, unemotional decision. He wanted one that took into account Mandy’s dreams and hopes and aspirations. One that included him in those dreams of hers. But he was at a loss of how to value that versus the hard, cold facts of a good financial deal.

“That’s the problem.” Ty paced the window-lined office, hoping it would relieve the pressure building in his chest.

Was he being selfish by putting his desire to be part of her life ahead of making her a wealthy woman? One who would never want for anything?

Right now she’d resent him for selling her company. But she would have enough money to start her own enterprise, albeit on a smaller scale, considering she’d have to split the proceeds with her brother, and her mother would be entitled to a stipend. Twenty years from now, when who knew where the rodeo industry and the economy were headed, she might thank him.

“Mandy’s not going to want to sell, regardless of the size of the offer.” Brian laid down the paper on his neat and organized desk and looked at Ty over the rim of his glasses.

“I know. But that’s why JM didn’t leave the decision to her. He asked me to do it. Hell, he made me promise I’d look after the family’s future.”

Brian eased back in his chair. He was without his suit jacket, but with his neatly pressed white shirt and a red tie choking his neck, he didn’t look comfortable.

That used to be me. Trussed up like a Christmas turkey.

Now Ty wore the clothes of a rancher and a cowboy, and few would be able to tell by looking at him if he was the owner or a hand. And in the community he now inhabited, it didn’t matter. What mattered was character, hard work, and grit, and Ty found he enjoyed that yardstick better than the size of his bank account.

“So what have you come to me for, Ty?”

Ty wished he knew. “Support, maybe.”

“You have it.” Removing his glasses, Brian leaned forward. “But it’s not my support you want, is it?”

Ty’s stomach soured. He slumped into the chair in front of Brian’s desk. “So how do I convince Mandy that it is the right thing to do?”

“That is a much harder issue.”

Ty rubbed his hand across his face. “We’re trying to have a baby, you know.”

Brian’s eyebrows arched. “No, I didn’t know. Are you saying that you two are intending to stay married?”

Ty heaved a breath. He wished he could say that. It was what he’d been hoping for, planning on, dreaming about. But this offer would raze that hope like a giant wrecking ball.

“No. I’m just the sperm donor.” That wrecking ball slammed right into his heart.

“Your child would be quite well-off once this deal goes through.”

“I would have made sure of that, regardless.”

Brian nodded. “You planning on resuming your work with the land development company?”

“I left the partnership about a month before JM passed.”

Brian, being the lawyer he was and undoubtedly used to hearing family-type secrets, held his face expressionless except for the arched eyebrows. “I wondered how you could just take a leave of absence like that. So what will you do? This deal will enrich you too, though not to the same degree as Mandy.”

“I don’t know.”