“Yeah, Ed did.”
“Great. There’s a clause here,” she turned the paper around to show him, “which means if they go out of business, their parent company is liable for their debts, which includes the delivery of your cattle.”
His head spun. “We can still get them?”
She nodded. “Or your money back, but it won’t be easy. If you can send me all the information you have, I’ll go through it and prepare a statement for you to send to them.”
He suppressed a grimace. “How much will it cost?”
She sipped her wine. “It’s on the house. I haven’t worked on anything like this in months. It will be a nice change.”
Darcy hesitated. He didn’t want to take advantage of her.
“Besides, I intend to take you up on your offer to ride on your property and that’s priceless.”
It didn’t seem like a fair swap, but he wasn’t in a financial position to argue. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Does that mean the Ridge is going to be OK?” Lara asked.
He hated that she realised anything was wrong.
“We’ll do everything we can to ensure it is,” Faith assured her.
Not a promise it would be OK, but a promise to fight for it. It would have to be enough, and he was grateful for Faith’s conviction. It made him hope as well.
Lara perked up and when the food arrived, she smothered her chips with tomato sauce before eating them. In between mouthfuls, she peppered Faith with questions about her childhood on the farm. “Do you have any brothers or sisters?” Lara asked.
“I have two brothers, but they’re both much older than me. They’d left home by the time we lived on the farm.”
“Did you have anyone to play with?”
Darcy’s heart clenched. He did his best to keep her company, but he wasn’t a replacement for a child her own age.
“I had the horses, and when the owner’s children were home from boarding school, we’d play together.”
“Why didn’t you go to boarding school?”
Faith hesitated. “The school in town was good enough for me.”
Perhaps her parents couldn’t afford it. He’d chat to Faith later about what living on a farm was like for her and whether she had any recommendations for how he could make life easier for Lara.
He settled back, letting the country music tunes and the sounds of Lara’s chatter wash over him. He had his daughter by his side and a pretty woman to chat to. Right now he could pretend life was great and everything was all right. If only life could be so simple.
He caught sight of another woman across the room watching him. Dark hooded eyes, plump lips he used to dream about, and shoulder-length hair which was far more blond than it used to be. He blinked to rid himself of the mirage, but the woman stood and stalked towards him, those curves swaying in a way that had mesmerised him as a teenager.
She was real. Recognition slugged him like a high-voltage electric fence. Sofia.
What was she doing here? Did she think she could waltz in and surprise Lara like this? Surprise him?
Hell no. Fury shoved aside his shock. “I’m going to the bathroom,” he said to Lara and strode towards the woman who had broken his heart.
“Darcy—”
He took her arm and spun her around, pulling her away from his daughter. “Walk with me.”
He dragged her around the corner, out of sight. “What the hell are you doing?”
