Cowboy Casanova (Rough Riders #12)(64)

An unspoken communication passed between them. Then Dalton said, “Rory.”


“Rory just told you this?”


Dalton pushed his hat up an inch. “Rory didn’t just blurt it out. I went to Laramie

last weekend to hang out with my buddies and I saw Rory in the bar. She’d just

finished her shift and was takin’ advantage of the employee discount by doin’ a shit

ton of shots. Some *s were bothering her so I kept ’em away.” He sighed. “Rory

don’t drink, so the booze hit her like a cattle truck. Then she started cryin’ about

how her mama used every penny they had to put her through college. And she’d wanted to

get a job after she graduated, but Rielle told her it was more important she finish

grad school since it was basically free.”


“Christ.”


“I don’t think Rory knew what the f*ck she was even sayin’. I couldn’t leave her

there, so her boss told me where Rory lived. I took her home.” He scowled. “She

tossed her cookies in my truck and on me.”


“Just like when you used to baby-sit her, huh?” Tell teased.


“Go to hell. I never babysat her.”


“I remember. You ran nekkid through the woods with her playing Tarzan and Jane. Or

Adam and Eve. Or…doctor.”


Dalton ignored him. “So when Rory called me the next day to apologize for barfing on

me, I didn’t mention she’d been a freakin’ blabbermouth. And if she did remember, I

doubt she’s gonna confess to Rielle that she told their financial sob story to a

McKay.”


“While I appreciate you tellin’ me this, I gotta ask…why?”


Tell leaned forward. “The way we see it, Rielle would probably rather sell the land,

or part of it, than lose it entirely when it gets foreclosed on. So we’re thinkin’ we

should approach her with a business proposition. We’ll make the cash payments to catch

her up on the bank loan to stave off the foreclosure—if she’ll divide up the back

half of her land and sell it to us. That way it’d be McKay land, from your place to

ours, as it should’ve been before my dad f*cked it up all those years ago.”


Ben gave them credit for quick thinking. “We’ve always wanted that creek front

section. But they’ve always refused to sell.”


“It don’t look like Rielle’s got an option now. The sale of that acreage will give

her enough money to keep her bed and breakfast open if she wants.”


“Who else have you talked to about this?”


“No one,” Dalton said. “Not even Brandt.”


“Why not?”


“Because as much as we appreciate that Brandt’s a hard worker, he’s a damn do-

gooder. He’ll see even talkin’ to Rielle as takin’ advantage of her. We don’t see

it that way. We figured you wouldn’t either. So, we’d appreciate it if you didn’t

mention this to Quinn.”


It clicked. “Quinn would feel the same as Brandt.”


Tell nodded. “You’re practical, Ben. And to some extent, unsentimental, like us. It’

s just business.”


“Good business,” Dalton inserted. “It has to be just the three of us, if we can