One of a Kind: Lionhearted / Letters to Kelly

“Yes,” he lied, “but I didn’t hear until today.”

“That’s just great!” she exclaimed.

He gave her a narrow look. “I’m glad you think so. Then you can give up that job and go back to college…”

“No.”

His eyebrows went up. “But, Janie…”

“Dad, even with an investor, we still have the day-to-day operation of the ranch to maintain,” she reminded him gently. “How about groceries? Utilities? How about cattle feed and horse feed and salt blocks and fencing?”

He sighed. “You’re right, of course. I’ll need the investment for the big things.”

“I like my job,” she added. “I really do.”

“It’s a bad place on the weekends,” he worried.

“Tiny likes me,” she assured him. “And Harley comes in at least two or three times a week, mostly on Fridays and Saturdays, to make sure I’m doing all right. I feel as safe at Shea’s as I do right here with you.”

“It’s not that I mind you working,” he said, trying to explain.

“I know that. You’re just worried that I might get in over my head. Tiny doesn’t let anybody have too much to drink before he makes them leave. Mr. Duncan is emphatic about not having drunks on the place.”

Fred sighed. “I know when I’m licked. I may show up for pizza one Saturday night, though.”

She grinned. “You’d be welcome! I could show you off to my customers.”

“Leo wanted to know where you were working,” he said abruptly. “He wanted to come by and see you.”

Her face tautened. “I don’t want to see him.”

“So I heard. He was, uh, pretty vocal about the way you snubbed him.”

She tossed back her hair. “He deserved it. I’m nobody’s doormat. He isn’t going to walk all over me and get away with it!”

“He won’t like you working at Shea’s, no matter what you think.”

“Why do you care?” she asked suspiciously.

He couldn’t tell her that Leo might renege on the loan if he knew Fred was letting her work in such a dive. He felt guilty as sin for not coming clean. But he was so afraid of losing the ranch. It was Janie’s inheritance. He had to do everything he could to keep it solvent.

“He’s my friend,” he said finally.

“I used to think he was mine, too,” she replied. “But friends don’t talk about each other the way he was talking about me. As if I’d ever gossip about him!”

“I think he knows that now, Janie.”

She forced the anger to the back of her mind. “I guess if he knew what I was doing, he’d faint. He doesn’t think I can cook at all.”

“I did tell him you had a cooking job,” he confided.

Her eyes lit up. “You did? What did he say?”

“He was… surprised.”

“He was astonished,” she translated.

“It bothered him that you snubbed him. He said he felt really bad about the things he said, that you overheard. He, uh, told me about the fight you had at the ball, too.”

Her face colored. “What did he tell you?”

“That you’d had a bad argument. Seemed to tickle him that you had a temper,” he added with a chuckle.

“He’ll find out I have a temper if he comes near me again.” She turned. “I’m going to bed, Dad. You sleep good.”

“You, too, sweetheart. Good night.”

He watched her walk away with a silent sigh of relief. So far, he thought, so good.

Chapter Six

The following Wednesday, Leo met with Blake Kemp and Fred Brewster in Kemp’s office, to draw up the instrument of partnership.

“I’ll never be able to thank you enough for this, Leo,” Fred said as they finished a rough draft of the agreement.

“You’d have done it for me,” Leo said simply. “How long will it take until those papers are ready to sign?” he asked Kemp.

“We’ll have them by Monday,” Kemp assured him.

“I’ll make an appointment with your receptionist on the way out,” Leo said, rising. “Thanks, Blake.”

The attorney shook his outstretched hand, and then Fred’s. “All in a day’s work. I wish most of my business was concluded this easily, and amiably,” he added wryly.

Leo checked his watch. “Why don’t we go out to Shea’s and have a beer and some pizza, Fred?” he asked the other man, who, curiously, seemed paler.

Fred was scrambling for a reason that Leo couldn’t go to Shea’s. “Well, because, uh, because Hettie made chili!” he remembered suddenly. “So why don’t you come home and eat with me? We’ve got Mexican corn bread to go with it!”

Leo hesitated. “That does sound pretty good,” he had to admit. Then he remembered. Janie would be there. He was uncomfortable with the idea of rushing in on her unexpectedly, especially in light of recent circumstances. He was still a little embarrassed about his own behavior. He searched for a reason to refuse, and found one. “Oh, for Pete’s sake, I almost forgot!” he added, slapping his forehead. “I’m supposed to have supper with Cag and Tess tonight. We’re going in together on two new Santa Gertrudis bulls. How could I have forgotten… got to run, Fred, or I’ll never make it on time!”

“Sure, of course,” Fred said, and looked relieved. “Have a good time!”

Leo chuckled. “I get to play with my nephew. That’s fun, all right. I like kids.”

“You never seemed the type,” Fred had to admit.

“I’m not talking about having any of my own right away,” Leo assured him. “I don’t want to get married. But I like all my nephews, not to mention my niece.”

Fred only smiled.