driven in from the ranch to attend to some business, so I’m in town right now.”
“Then why not tonight?” Shae said. Because she wasn’t going to sleep until she knew what the deal was...although she probably wasn’t going to sleep afterward, either. “Would you like to come here?” Home territory. That way she wouldn’t have to drive home while upset. She’d done enough of that recently.
“That would be fine.”
Shae gave Miranda the address, hung up and then collapsed on her sofa, letting her head fall back against the cushions. The phone rang in her hand and Shae raised it to see the caller. Mel.
“How was your first day on the job?” Mel asked cheerfully.
“Not what I expected,” Shae said flatly. “Jordan Bryan showed up.”
“Jordan!”
“Funny thing. Miranda had the same reaction.”
“The last I heard from the grapevine—” meaning her sister, Dani, who kept close tabs on everyone they went to high school with “—he was recovering from his accident in some kind of special care facility.”
“He’s out. He’s back. And he thinks he owns the property I’m working on.” Shae took a couple agitated paces toward the darkened window. “Why didn’t you tell me how seriously he’d been hurt?” She vaguely recalled hearing that Jordan Bryan had been injured in a military accident. Injured. That had been the description, which in her mind had meant broken bones or injuries one healed from. No one had said, “seriously injured” or “heinously injured.” In fact, no one had ever brought the matter up again, that she could recall.
“Honestly, Shae, I thought I had. But you were pretty immersed in other things when it happened, so maybe I didn’t.”
Other things. The wedding, of course.
“How bad is it?” Mel asked softly. “I know that Cole flew back east to see him, but the visit didn’t go well.”
“It’s bad.” She described what she’d seen—his hand, his face. “I don’t know what the rest of him looks like and I don’t know that he’s all there, Mel. Mentally, I mean. He looked pretty out of it.” Which concerned her if she was returning to the property.
“So what happens now?”
“It’s complicated. Miranda’s on her way over to explain it to me now.” And probably to fire me. But if she did, Shae was going to do her best to finagle another shot at her old job.
“Miranda’s coming to your place at this time of night?”
“Yeah. I know. Doesn’t sound good, does it?”
She heard Mel blow out a breath. Answer enough. “Let me know what happens,” Mel said.
“Will you pick up?”
“Yeah. I’ll pick up.”
A soft knock on the door made Shae jump. “Miranda’s here. I’ll talk to you later.” She set the phone on the glass coffee table and crossed the room, heart pounding.
She pasted a smile on her face as she swung the door open. “Miranda. Hi.”
“Shae. Thanks for allowing me to come over.”
Oh, yeah. As if she wouldn’t.
Miranda walked inside, glanced around and gave an approving nod before moving over to the table where Shae had spread the aerial photos.
“Will I need those?” Shae asked, deciding they might as well get to the crux of the matter.
Miranda traced her finger over the photo with the ranch buildings before looking up. “I certainly hope so,” she said and Shae felt a swell of optimism. “But there are issues. That’s why I need to make certain you know exactly what’s going on, so that you can tell me whether or not you want to continue.”
“I signed a contract.”
“And I’ll release you. If you want, that is.”
“Does Jordan own the property?” Shae asked.
“He does.” Miranda met her gaze square on, a touch of challenge in her pale green eyes. “Hank held the land in common tenancy with Jordan, who inherited Hank’s part of the tenancy, meaning the actual land, upon his death. However—” Shae found herself holding her breath, sensing this was a big however “—I inherited Hank’s lease on the property, which allows me to conduct business operations. The guest ranch is a business operation and I plan to proceed with the proposal.”
“Does Jordan know this?”
“He does now.”
“And he’s okay with it?” Which she was going to have one hell of a time believing.
“He doesn’t have much choice.”
Shae exhaled, focusing on the photos. Nothing was ever easy. “Is he leaving, then?”
Miranda slowly shook her head. “Probably not until he understands that I’m serious about developing this property.”
“He can live there.”
“Yes.”
Shae set down the photo, wanting more than anything to reach for her wine and empty the glass.
“Would you like some wine?” she asked, realizing she hadn’t been at the top of her hostess game.
“Please,” Miranda replied, sounding as though she needed it as much as Shae. “Then let’s sit and talk about this...situation.”
“Yes,” Shae said on a drier note than she’d intended as she walked the few feet to the kitchen to pull the chardonnay from the fridge. “Let’s.”
Miranda leveled a candid look at Shae when she returned to the living room. “I know at first glance this situation doesn’t cast me in a positive light, what with Jordan having suffered his accident and all, but trust me—there’s more to this than meets the eye. He would have done this regardless. It isn’t like he’s here to recuperate.”
“I see,” Shae said as she handed off the glass of wine.
Miranda took a quick sip. “I know what I’m about to say will not go farther than this room.”
“Of course not.”
“If Jordan stays it’s for one reason only—to cause me trouble. It’s always been like that between us.” Miranda gestured with the glass. “There was a reason Hank wanted me to have the rights of operation on all of his property. Even he saw that Jordan’s hatred of me was way out of proportion. We thought he’d outgrow it, but he never did.
“The years while he was home were hell on Hank.” Miranda bit her lip, studying her glass. “More painful than you can imagine. Finally they had it out and Jordan made it very clear when he left this ranch that he was never coming back. Now he’s returned and it’s not because he wants to live at the High Camp. This is the only way he has now to get back at me for what he perceives as the many wrongs I did him.” Miranda let out a small huff of air. “He thinks I stole his father from him. If I walk away now, who knows what his next step will be? He won’t leave me alone. I promise you that. He never has.”
Shae didn’t know what to say. What did one say when her boss poured out family secrets? Nothing.
Miranda gave her head a disgusted shake. “I wish I hadn’t backed down so many times in the past. Let him have his way in the name of peace. Because it was never enough. It only encouraged him to push harder. Maybe this time, when he sees that I’m not backing down, he’ll move on.”
“So...he’s going to be there and we’re going to work around him.” It sounded as if she definitely had a job—if she was willing to become embroiled in a family drama.
“Essentially,