“I mean, he’s not a complete weenie yet.He’s only seven, but I can see where he’s headed and I figure it’s up to me to turn him around.”
Ry decided to play devil’s advocate, to make sure Joe was nailed down tight.“But you wouldn’t have to buy the place.You could just pay for a week or two as a guest.”
“It wouldn’t be the same.If Kyle thinks of me as part owner of the spread, I think I have a better chance.”
The spread.Ry loved it.Joe was nailed down, all right.Welcome to the Ponderosa, Joe Gilardini.“You may have a point.”
“And it’s a good investment, right?We’ll make a lot of money when we sell it?”
“I don’t see how we can lose, Joe.”
ChapterTen
After Ry finished his phone call, he felt restless.He couldn’t start negotiating with the bankers until morning, although he itched to start putting the deal together.He called his lawyer about drawing up a partnership agreement, but he’d left the office and Ry decided not to bother him at home.
By consulting an activities schedule left on his pine dresser, he discovered dinner didn’t begin until six.He had a couple of hours to kill.He walked back into the main room of the ranch house, which was deserted, and surveyed the pool and Jacuzzi.Both were busy.He decided to postpone his soak until evening, when it was more likely nobody would be around.
Then he headed for the front porch, thinking he might take a walk down to the stables and check on Mikey.Everyone else around here drove between the house and the stables, but the distance wasn’t any longer than between his office on Wall Street and Battery Park, where he sometimes walked on his lunch break to enjoy the sweep of the harbor and a view of the Statue of Liberty.
“Mr.McGuinnes,” a woman called.
He turned.
Leigh Singleton still sat on the far end of the porch.Dexter and his walker were gone, but the dog remained, curled across her feet.“Need a lift somewhere?”she asked.
He walked back in her direction.“Not really.I was headed down to the corrals.I can walk that.”
“I’m sure you can,” she said with an easy smile.She wore her honey-colored hair caught back in a clip, as Freddy did.Her faded jeans and work shirt spoke of practicality, but she wore silver hoop earrings decorated with an intricate design.A small turquoise feather dangled from each hoop.And her eyes, golden brown and almond-shaped, seemed exceedingly wise for a woman as young as Leigh.“I would have thought you’d had enough exercise for a while, “ she added.
He flushed.“I’m a little tougher than you and your sister give me credit for.”
“Apparently.But if you were hoping to see Freddy down at the corrals, she’s not there.After she doctored Mikey, she rode out to check on one of the stock tanks which seems to be leaking.”
Of course he’d hoped to see Freddy, he admitted to himself.“I wasn’t going down to see her, specifically.”
Leigh waved a hand, cutting off his protest.“Any man who spent twenty-four hours with my sister and wasn’t interested in her would have something wrong with him, don’t you think?”
“Depends on whether he’s a masochist.”
She chuckled.“Freddy’s not usually like that.You’ve threatened her very existence.Our very existence, to be exact.Do you blame her for fighting back?”
“I’ll probably feel a lot more charitable when my backside returns to normal.”
“Yet you were headed down to the corrals because you thought she might be there, doctoring Mikey.”
He opened his mouth to deny it, but the all-knowing look in Leigh’s eyes made him close it again.
“Care to sit a spell, Mr.McGuinnes?”
“Ry,” he said, stepping up on the wooden porch and crossing to the chair next to her.
The dog raised his head, but at a word from Leigh he settled back down.“Ry?”Leigh asked, frowning.“I thought you went by initials.J.R., or TWA, or something.”
“Cute.It’s T.R.”
“I was close.So why the change?”
Then Freddy hadn’t told her everything, he thought, gratified.Of course, Freddy might not want anyone to know all the intimate details of their outing.Unless she was a liar, which he sensed she wasn’t, she’d have to admit he’d kissed her.Brutal honesty would have required her to add that she’d enjoyed it.“Your sister suggested calling me Ry,” he said.“She thought T.R.sounded stuffy.”
