Chapter Thirteen

H e hadn’t been following Izzy and her mom, Nathan silently swore. He’d just been delivering the bill for the last bit of work he’d done for Elizabeth before breaking his hip. He’d forgotten about the payment before Elizabeth had called and reminded him.

“What’s this?” Blake demanded as he held out a single-page letter and its envelope. Nathan lost his preoccupation with Izzy and Sylvia.

Holding onto a business-looking envelope, Blake dropped the rest of the mail he’d picked up at the Post Office on the table.

Nathan took the letter Blake was waving and quickly scanned the page. It was from an equestrian real estate company. They had a buyer for the Triple L, sight unseen with no financial outlay on the brothers’ part. “It looks like someone wants to buy the ranch. So?”

“So, did you put the place up for sale without talking to us about it first?” Blake stepped closer getting in Nathan’s face after he handed the letter to Jonas.

Nathan curled his hands into fists. Was his brother kidding? “The Triple L is not for sale.”

“You bet your size thirteen boots it isn’t,” Blake growled, then shoved his hands in his pockets and circled the island. When he came back, his lips were pressed into a straight line, but his frustration was under control.

Nathan understood Blake’s sudden temper. If he thought either of his brothers had put the ranch up for sale without consulting him first, Blake wouldn’t be the only one losing it.

“This is from the bank.” Blake handed over the other envelope. It was still sealed. “I had to sign for it when I picked up the mail.”

Just as he turned it over and opened the flap, the sound of the front door closing reached Nathan. Izzy. She was coming for breakfast.

He should have put the letter from the bank aside to read later, but with his brothers hovering to see why the bank had sent him official mail, he didn’t have a choice but to see what the financial institution wanted, especially since they normally emailed notifications.

As he pulled the pages out of the envelope, Jonas leaned over his shoulder. Blake paced a few steps away.

“It’s a late notice for July on your loan,” Jonas said in a low growl.

He was mad. Nathan wouldn’t blame him if it were true. “I’m not behind in my payments, Jonas. I paid on the second like I always do.”

“Then why is the bank sending you a certified letter?” Jonas inserted softly. It took a lot to rile his oldest brother, but he sure seemed on the brink of losing it now.

“I don’t know.” Nathan folded the letter and put it back in the envelope, then tossed it on the table. “The bank opens at nine. I’ll go see them as soon as we’re done with breakfast.”

“We’re going with you,” Jonas said firmly, allowing no argument.

He cast Izzy a look of apology. He’d wanted to give his brothers an update on their progress, not spend the morning fighting over a bank error.

A strained silence filled the kitchen, broken by Izzy, who wiped the worry from her expression. “I don’t mind fixing breakfast if you guys have business to discuss.”

“That’s okay. It’s my turn to make bacon and eggs,” Jonas said stoically, moving to the refrigerator to pull out what he needed.

Blake turned on the stove and said tightly, “I’ll help.”

Nathan swore under his breath. Losing the ranch when they’d tried everything to save it was one thing. Losing it because of a stupid bank mistake was not the way to make his relationship with his brothers any better.

“Did Nathan tell you we passed the flyers for The Wedding Cottage around town yesterday?” She paused briefly, bumping up his pulse when her encouraging gaze settled on him. “The owner of the Rose Tea Emporium even wants to cater the weddings.”

“That’s good news.” Blake’s edge of anger was cooling by the time he faced Nathan, holding out a stack of four plates. “I’ll text Malorie and tell her I’m going to the bank with you.”

Nathan was glad his brothers were going. Not that he couldn’t have gotten the mess straightened out on his own. He nodded. It was just nice to have his brothers circling the wagons after all the times he’d had to carry on alone.

The only important thing was saving the ranch. They’d hired Izzy, an outsider, in the first place to help them get through this disaster. But for the first time in longer than Nathan could remember, he, Jonas, and Blake were in this together. And before they went into town, he had to confess his biggest mistake.

Since Izzy was here too, she may as well hear about the worst thing he’d ever done straight from the horse’s mouth. When his confession was done, he expected she wouldn’t wait to complete her obligation to Triple L before she left.

He took the plates from Blake and took a big breath before blurting, “It’s my fault we’re in this mess.”

“What do you mean?” Jonas put a pan of bacon in the oven, then turned to face Nathan.

How did he put it into words? He’d kept the secret for so long. Finally, he mumbled, “It’s my fault dad died.”

Izzy dropped into one of the chairs at the table, her expression confused.

Jonas and Blake stared at him, boots flat on the floor, their arms crossed over their chests. Jonas was the one who broke the thick silence. “Explain.”

Confessing to his brothers was worse than all the nightmares he’d had over the years. Squaring his shoulders, he angled his chin up. “I fought with Dad the morning he died.”

“About what?” Blake asked his tone dangerously soft.

He wouldn’t make excuses. He’d changed their lives with his childish demand. Now that he looked back, it meant nothing compared to losing his dad and then the rest of his family two years later. “I asked him about my birth mother. If he knew where she was, and could I meet her? I just wanted to find out why she gave me away. He said he would talk to Mom about it, but I could tell he didn’t want to.”

“You think that gave Dad a heart attack?” Jonas took a long step toward Nathan. If Jonas punched him in the face, he would deserve it.

“I know he was under a lot of stress,” Nathan said with a huff of breath. “He’d just sold half the ranch. Then he sold his stud. When he didn’t want to talk about it, I should have just left well enough alone.”

“But you couldn’t,” Blake said quietly.

Nathan stared at his boots. He wasn’t even able to look at Izzy to see how she was taking his confession. “No.”

“Nathan!” Jonas said sharply as he closed the distance between them. He kept his back stiff, waiting for Blake to throw the first punch. Then his brothers were on each side of him. No punches. “It’s not your fault Dad died. I talked to his doctor before the funeral, and he said Dad was one of the unlucky ones. He got a large clot in his heart. It killed him instantly. Your discussion with him had nothing to do with that.”

Nathan was confused.

Blake clapped him on the shoulder. “I wish you’d told Jonas sooner how you felt.”

“Yeah,” Nathan had a hard time getting the words past the lump in his throat. “You were already gone.”

“Because you kicked me off the ranch. I don’t hold that against you guys anymore. Life happens. If I hadn’t left the Triple L, I wouldn’t have met Tina and Timmy. And I wouldn’t have gotten to come back and get a second chance at love with Malorie or to be able to fix Dad’s truck. It’s all good, brother.”

Izzy jumped up. “I’ll scramble eggs.”

Nathen watched her pull the egg carton toward her on the counter. He wished he could share breakfast with Izzy every morning.

He dragged his attention back to his brothers. They all wanted the same thing, didn’t they? Family and the ranch safe and sound. It was time he stopped being a horse’s ass. So far all he’d done was think about making amends, then shrug as if he would get around to it sometime in the future. It wasn’t his brothers’ fault that they’d made lives when he didn’t dare to. That had to change.

Nathan went into the office and grabbed the accounts book from where he, and Blake while he was laid up, kept it on the shelf behind the desk. He flipped to July’s accounting page as he went back to the dining room. “See, here’s July”—he flipped the page—“and here’s August. I make the payments on the second of every month. It’s due on the fifth. Here’s the loan number on the same payment lines.”

Leaning on his shoulders, his brothers followed his finger on the notation.

“We’ll take this with us.” Blake took the ledger. Using the bank’s letter as a placeholder, he snapped it closed.

Izzy put the bacon, eggs, and the toast she’d added to the menu on the table and waved for them to take their seats. She sat across from Nathan, a leather folder next to her plate.

“What do you think about all three of us applying for a new loan and using it to pay off this one? There’s not much left to pay, under fifty thousand—” He wanted the three of them to be part of the solution Izzy was looking for.

“Count me in,” Jonas said.

Blake filled his plate. “Me too.”

“I’ll make the payment since it’s my debt, not yours,” he told them, not expecting Jonas and Blake to step in and clean up where he’d fumbled.

They ignored him.

“It’s the Triple L’s debt,” Jonas said. “We’ll all sign for the loan and together we’ll make the payment.”

Frowning, Nathan glanced at Izzy. She smiled softly at him.

He shook his head. His brothers and this woman... They had more patience than he deserved. He’d wasted too much time being angry. With himself. At losing his parents. With Jonas and Blake.

“Izzy wants to talk about the Triple L sponsoring an event at the rodeo this year,” he said instead of arguing.

Blake looked up from his plate. “That sounds great. Malorie and the kids would love to go.”

“Good because I signed the ranch up to sponsor the barrel-racing event. The only thing is it’ll cost a couple thousand dollars. I’ve got the money tucked away.” But it would empty his savings.

Before Nathan had barely finished speaking, Blake said, “We can cover that, right Jonas?”

“Yup. I’ve set money aside for the ranch from the sale of my law firm in Denver. I just signed the final papers.”

Suddenly, not hungry, Nathan took his plate to the sink. He’d let them get away with splitting Izzy’s fees between them because Jonas and Blake hadn’t included him when they hired an outside fixer. “No. If this is going to work, we have to split expenses three ways.”

“Whatever you say. You’re the boss,” Jonas agreed too easily.

Nathan scowled at his brothers. “We can get a banner for inside the arena fence for about eight hundred.”

“Okay,” Blake said. He took his plate to the sink, nudged Nathan to the side, and rinsed it off. “Anything else?”

Izzy pushed her plate away. “There’s one last thing. I’d like to revisit leasing Duke out for stud services.”

“I’m working on that. Can we talk about it the next time we meet?” Jonas was suddenly in a hurry. Not unusual really, but there was something else buried in the look he gave Izzy. Something was going on with big brother. Getting him to talk about it would be the hard part.

Something sparked in Nathan’s chest at her head-on approach. Imagine how she would champion her kids if she ever had any.

“All right.” She closed her folder. “I want to do some baking with Mom before she takes off. Then I’ll do my chores in the barn.”

Blake wiped his hands on a tea towel. “No need to worry about your chores. The kids are taking care of them.”

“They don’t have to do that.” Her phone rang. She glanced at the caller. “Excuse me. I need to take this.”

“Should we take Dad’s truck, or each take our own vehicle?” Nathan asked, preoccupied with all the things Izzy could pack into a day.

She’d only gone as far as the living room. He tried not to eavesdrop.

Jonas started clearing the table. “I’ll take my own. I’ve got errands to run, and several clients to meet after we’re done at the bank.”

Nathan arched his brows. “Already? I thought you still had renovations to do at the new office.”

“The remodeling’s done, but yeah, they came knocking as soon as I hung my shingle.”

Nathan was still watching Izzy when Blake clapped him on the shoulder. “I know Izzy is pretty as a picture but give the lady some breathing room.” Then he added, “Mal and I have a meeting with an architect.”

The mischief glinting in his brother’s eyes said only one thing. Blake knew he was a bear who had found a stash of honey that was too hard to reach. Heat burned Nathan’s cheeks. “What about the kids?”

“I’ll take them to Malorie on the way to the bank. After we’re finished with business, they can go to Durango with us to see the architect,” Blake explained.

Before hanging up, Izzy said, “Send me all the details.” Was it a job offer?

The disappointment boiling in his gut didn’t make sense. From the moment he met her, he’d known she would move on to the next thing when her time on the ranch was over.

She started to pitch in with cleaning up the kitchen. Nathan took the towel out of her hands. “We’ve got this. You go spend some time with your mom.”

Neither Payton lady was going to be with them long. He didn’t want Izzy to leave, or her mother either. He liked Sylvia and the relationship she had with her daughter. If he could think of a reasonable excuse to keep them both on the ranch, he wouldn’t be opposed to having them stay as long as they wanted.

“Thanks.” Izzy leaned forward a little, then her smile disappeared, and she backed toward the door. “Good luck at the bank. Oh, wait.” She pulled a manila envelope out of her folder. “Here’s the spreadsheet of your intentions for the ranch and projected outcomes for The Wedding Cottage, your barrel-racing training—horse and riders—and Blake’s riding lessons to give to the account manager. Hopefully, it will give you enough clout for a new loan.”

Of course, she’d thought of everything. Thirty minutes later, Nathan followed Jonas and Blake down the road toward Strawberry Ridge. Despite the gravity of their visit to the bank, he couldn’t get Izzy out of his mind.

Their business with the account manager didn’t take nearly as long as he anticipated. The brothers presented a united front and with Izzy’s documentation, it was as easy as watching his mother make apple pie. And they included funds in the loan to cover the rodeo sponsorship and advertisement. He suspected Izzy had used her own money for the wedding flyers since Blake hadn’t mentioned that she’d given him a receipt. He made sure they got enough to cover that expense too. As a temporary fix, it was enough. The note wouldn’t come due for four weeks.

Before leaving the bank, they set up a separate account that they could all three deposit money into and make the ranch payment automatically. When it was all done, he watched his brothers get into their rigs and head out to take care of business that didn’t include him.

That was okay. He felt good. The last time he’d been this happy was when he went fishing with his dad at Andrews Lake. All the chores would be done. Blake would be at one of his track meets. Jonas was most of the time off studying with Sloane.

Nathan missed those days. And then he’d had that fight with his dad. Nothing had been the same since. Until today. He couldn’t wait to tell Izzy that everything had worked out better than they expected at the bank.

Because she must have read his mind, right on cue, his phone rang. “Hi.”

His pulse spiked. Not wanting to interrupt her time with her mom, he decided to keep his good news to himself until he saw her back at the ranch.

“Are you still in town?” she asked.

She was calling him, so she wasn’t hurt. “Yes. Why? What’s wrong?”

“I came into town to buy baking supplies, and my car started making a funny noise—”

He could hear voices in the background. “Where are you?”

“Michaels’ Garage. The mechanic says it will take her two days to fix the Rover. I can rent a car but—”

“Don’t rent a car. We have a spare at the ranch you can use.” Michaels’ was the best repair garage in town. And he’d known Sloane most of his life. If she said it would take her two days to repair Izzy’s car, that’s exactly what it would take. “I’ll be right there.”

He parked in the customer parking lot and went straight to the bay where he knew he would find Sloane. Izzy’s car was on a lift several feet off the ground. Sloane’s head and shoulders were underneath the Rover.

Not wanting to startle her, he waited until she was clear of bumping her head before he spoke. “Hi. I’m here to pick up Izzy. What’s wrong with her car?”

“She has a bad wheel bearing.” Sloane pulled a shop rag out of the back pocket of her coveralls and wiped the grease off her hands. “I haven’t seen you in a long time. What have you been up to? I heard you were laid up for a while.”

Thank you, Jonas, for being such a blabber mouth.

“Yeah, I fell off a horse.” Ironic wasn’t it? Not wanting to get into the details, he asked, “How’s business?”

“Do you know a good mechanic who doesn’t already have a job? I’ve got more work than I can handle.”

“I wish I could say I do, but—” He shrugged.

“Story of my life.” She smiled and headed toward a small office. “Your girl is in the waiting area.”

Too surprised by Sloane’s notion that Izzy was his girl, he was unable to come up with a good reason why she wasn’t. “We’re just friends.”

“Good. Do you want to go on a date?” Sloane faced him as she pushed open the door into the room with a desk dead center. Its metal surface was littered with orders and receipts. “There’s a Friday Night Street Party on Main Street tomorrow night.”

“Sorry, Sloane. I’m not the partying type.” Which was sort of true. He wasn’t, but he also wasn’t looking to date anyone except—Shoving one hand in his jeans pocket, he rubbed his neck with the other. “You should ask Jonas. He’s always up for a good social gathering.”

Or at least he used to be when they were in high school. Nathan had been jealous that his eighteen-year-old brother had been able to do things that, at fourteen, his parents hadn’t allowed.

Sloane’s brows slammed together. “No can do.”

“Are you two fighting again?”

She blinked but didn’t answer the question. Instead, she smirked. “I’ll try to have your friend’s car ready by Saturday.”

“Thanks, Sloane.”

“Any time.” She sat behind the desk and tapped some keys on the keyboard as she studied the scrolling inventory on her monitor.

Wondering what Jonas had done this time, he went looking for Izzy. Not that he knew what went on in a woman’s mind, but where Sloane was concerned, his brother didn’t seem to have a clue. She was his best friend, but he’d been unaware that she’d had a crush on him clear through high school.

He found Izzy in the waiting room. “Ready to go? I’m hungry. Do you want to stop for something to eat before we leave town?”

“I would love that. I still need to get baking supplies too.” She started texting. “I’ll let Mom know it’ll be a little while before we get home.”

Home. It had a nice ring.

“There’s a food cart pavilion, not far from here. They have a pretty good taco cart. We can get your groceries on the way home.”

Looking through the food carts with Izzy made the afternoon special. Like when he sat on a riverbank, fishing, only the birds and rush of water to keep him company. This time he was with his girl , if he dared believe Sloane.

Sitting at a table under a shading umbrella, they talked about everything, including her new job prospects. Those were more words than he’d spoken all at once in a long time. Maybe even his whole life.

As he walked down the aisles of the grocery store beside the woman who made him feel so at ease and shopped for her baking goods, he realized this feeling of belonging was what he’d been missing and what it would be like to have her in his life every day... for the rest of their lives.

Back at the ranch, he parked the truck. Before he lost his nerve, he unbuckled his seat belt and faced Izzy. He took her hand gently, lacing his fingers with hers, their palms touching. “I had a good time today.”

“I did too,” she said on a breathless note.

He angled forward, slowly, so she could object if she wanted to. He hoped she wouldn’t. Drawing her close, he touched his lips to hers. She leaned into the kiss. His heart thumped. With his free hand, he caught her shoulder and lightly tugged Izzy Payton close as he lost himself in the feel of her in his arms.

He had no idea what heaven felt like, but this must be it. He kissed her temple. “Do you have to leave?”

Suddenly, she stiffened and pushed against him. “I’m so sorry. I can’t do this.”

Before he could ask why, or stop her, Izzy grabbed the grocery bag at her feet and escaped into the guesthouse.

As he watched her disappear, his heart sank. He shouldn’t have kissed Izzy. What an idiot.