she was second-guessing her decision to come here. But for months, Coralee had begged her, cried about her other daughter, Laurel. The baby she gave away. What if Rory Quinn didn’t care and he threw her off the property?
Brooke stiffened, feeling Trent’s hand against her spine.
“Let’s sit over here.”
He directed her to an oval table in front of a picture window overlooking the pasture of grazing cattle.
She just realized she didn’t know much about this family. Only what was on the website for Bucking Q Cattle Company. “How many Quinns live here?”
“There’s just the three of them. Rory, Diane, his wife, and the one daughter, Laurel.”
Just one daughter that he knows about, she thought, looking out at the incredible mountains through the glass. “It must have been fun to grow up on a ranch.” She turned around to see Trent’s curious look.
“Yeah, it is, but there’s a lot of work, too.” He went to the refrigerator and took out a pitcher of iced tea. “Looks like Bill left some food here, too.”
Brooke wasn’t surprised. “I hope you don’t mind, but I also asked him to leave some of the food in the bunkhouse for the men.”
He stopped pouring the tea and stared at her.
Was he upset?
“I mean, they’ve worked hard today. It’s nice that they can have a good meal tonight. Chet talked very highly of Laurel.”
“They all think highly of Laurel, and yeah, the men were all invited to the wedding.”
“That’s nice.”
“You won’t find nicer people than Rory and Diane.”
She hoped she got a chance to find that out. “You’ve known them for a long time.”
He nodded. “Years ago, my dad, Wade, and Rory rode the rodeo circuit together. Then when they retired, Rory bought the Bucking Q and Dad came a few years later and bought the ranch next door, the Lucky Bar L. So you can say Rory’s known me since I was born.”
“If they’d been friends all these years, I bet your dad would know about Coralee.”
A distant look appeared on Trent’s face. “He might, but he died almost two years ago.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, hating that she was bringing up sad memories.
He nodded. “So am I. Since I’m only four years older than Laurel, I can’t remember something like that. When my folks settled here, Rory was married and had baby Laurel.”
“I guess I’m just going to have to get answers from Mr. Quinn.”
Trent brought the glasses to the table, then turned the chair around and straddled it. He took a long drink. “I never asked where you’re from.”
“Nevada. Las Vegas.”
“Are you older or younger than Laurel?”
Brooke froze a second. “Younger.” That wasn’t a lie.
He studied her closely, then asked, “What do you do in Las Vegas?”
“Right now, I’m a card dealer, but I just graduated college and I’m hoping to hear soon about a hotel-management position. That’s the reason I can’t stay long. It a great opportunity, especially with the added expense of my mother’s long-term care...”
Trent arched an eyebrow. “Are you thinking about asking for help from the Quinns?”
She reared back. “Of course not. Believe me, Mr. Landry, I know very well that Rory Quinn doesn’t owe my mother a thing.”
She started to stand, but Trent placed his hand on her arm to prevent her leaving.
“I apologize,” he said. “I’m protective of my friends, and today had to be the worst day to show up here.”
“I don’t doubt that, and I’m sorry for all your troubles. But I’m here now,” she countered. “And if Mr. Quinn calls you, you can let him handle it.”
“It’s Rory. Everyone calls him Rory.”
An ache touched deep in her chest. She would have liked to call the man Dad, but her mother had taken that choice away from both of them.
* * *
TWO HOURS LATER, Trent had finished canceling the rest of the wedding services, wishing he could cancel all the curious phone calls from guests, too. He finally turned off the ringer on the house phone, but watched to see if Rory called. Everything else he let go to the answering machine.
When Brooke went into the bathroom, Trent punched in Rory’s number again. He listened to the ringing until it went to voice mail.
“Rory, it’s Trent again. Please call me as soon as you can.” He ended the call as Brooke walked back into the kitchen.
“Did you call Rory again?”
“Yeah, but he’s still not answering,” he told her.
“Are you worried about him?”
Trent shook his head, but he was concerned. What if they’d found Aldrich? The man on the run could be dangerous. “Not the way you think. Rory’s easygoing, but Laurel can get pretty hot when she’s crossed. I wouldn’t want to be Jack Aldrich if she catches up to him. Which I hope she doesn’t since he’s broken the law and might not care how he gets away.”
“Broke the law?”
“Jack didn’t just run out on his wedding, he stole from us. He cleared all the money out of our escrow account.”
She gasped. “Oh, no. He worked for you?”
“The man was the general contractor hired to build several rental cabins for us. Laurel got involved with him. Jack fed her a bunch of romantic rubbish and the next thing we knew, the whirlwind romance turned into a quick wedding—” he checked his watch “—that should have taken place about an hour ago. The one good thing is that the wedding didn’t happen.”
Trent stood and walked to the window. He’d already said more than he intended, but soon the news would be all over town. He sighed and looked out, seeing the last of the sun going behind the mountains. Time was running out on what to do about Brooke Harper.
He turned around and she looked up at him with those wide eyes, as if she expected him to tell her something bad.
“Where are you staying in town?”
She looked up at him. “I don’t have a place yet. I drove straight here. Can you recommend a hotel?”
He’d seen her old car and knew she probably didn’t have much money to waste. Even knowing Brooke’s news could change the Quinn family forever he couldn’t send her away. Besides,
