a subpoena and forced to appear in court instead.”
“Wait, what? Hang on a second.” Hadley pushed the hold button. “Your brother is going to take you to court if you don’t take this.” She held the phone out.
Tyler folded his arms across his chest and rolled his eyes like a petulant child. “He’s bluffing. He can’t take me to court because I won’t answer the phone.”
“Please just talk to him. I will help you with anything you need if you answer this call.”
He narrowed his eyes and let out a gruff breath. Refusing to take the phone from her, he pressed the button to put the call on speaker. “What part of I am extremely busy are you three not understanding?”
“You need to come home, Ty. I know you don’t want to. I know you are so busy out there in Portland and your company will probably fold if you aren’t there for one second, but you need to come home.”
“Why? What do you need me to do that I can’t do from here?”
“We want to sell the ranch, but we need your help. We need you here to make it happen.”
Hadley scribbled a note: Perfect vacation! You should go. Tyler could go help his family, Hadley could prove she was worthy of the brand strategist job, and when he returned, he would have to convince Kellen to give it to her.
* * *
TYLER PICKED THE receiver up. He didn’t need Hadley hearing anything else. He definitely didn’t need anyone else trying to encourage him to go to Montana.
“Sell it,” he said. “Send me whatever you need me to sign. I’ll be happy when all my ties to the ranch are cut.”
“Can’t sell it unless it’s a profitable place.”
“I thought Ethan got the guest ranch booked through the summer.”
“Yeah, with Sarah Ashley’s friends. Not real, honest-to-goodness customers. We need your help with marketing. Ethan tried to revamp the website and it’s a disaster.”
“I wouldn’t call it a disaster,” Ethan could be heard saying in the background.
“The sooner you get out here, Ty, the sooner we can get this place for a fair price.”
“Or maybe you’ll realize that this place is worth keeping in the family!” Ethan shouted.
Tyler could picture the glare Ben was most likely giving his twin. “Stop dragging your feet, Ty. Ethan is in over his head. Don’t say anything,” he obviously said in warning to Ethan. “You know it’s true.”
Ethan knew everything there was to know about animals, but marketing and brand management had very little to do with animal biology. If Ethan’s only plan for getting customers in the door was to beg friends for a favor, the ranch was done for.
“You gave up your job in New York, Ben. Use your free time to help Ethan make things work.”
“I have my own ranch to take care of.” Ben had come home to solve the water rights dispute with their neighbors, the Thompsons, and somehow ended up giving them everything they wanted. He even married into their family. The Double T Ranch was Ben and Rachel’s responsibility now. “Get on a plane and come do your part.”
Tyler loosened his tie. His breathing became unsteady. He cleared his throat. “I can’t come back, Ben.”
“You mean you won’t. You could if you really wanted to.”
“I can’t. It’s not only work. I have other things going on, too.”
“Well, Jon and Ethan also have things going on. Both of them are planning weddings. On top of that, Jon has the girls and Ethan has a baby on the way. You, on the other hand, have no one to worry about but yourself.”
Something inside Tyler snapped. If there was one thing he couldn’t stand, it was being the last Blackwell to accomplish something. In the last three months, his three older brothers had fallen in love and gotten either engaged or married. Tyler’s twin, Chance, had been the first to get married years ago when they were only twenty. Jon had married next and divorced a few years later. Of course, Jonathan the overachiever had managed to find someone else before Tyler even met one woman he cared enough about to marry.
“Well, I’m busy...planning a wedding, too.”
Hadley giggled, quickly covering her mouth. He shot her a look that took all the humor out of the situation. The best way to get through to his brothers was to speak their language, and apparently love was the only language they spoke recently.
“Really? Whose wedding are you planning exactly?” Ben’s tone clearly suggested he wasn’t buying it.
Tyler locked eyes with Hadley and put a finger to his lips, hoping she’d stay silent. She tipped her head and her eyes narrowed in curiosity.
“Mine and Hadley’s.”
THERE WAS NO way this was happening. Hadley felt her heart stop for a second. What in the world would make Tyler say such an outrageous lie?
“You guys aren’t the only ones who can fall in love and get married. I’m in the same boat and probably headed down the aisle before Ethan and Jon. I can’t leave now when Hadley and I have so much going on professionally and personally.”
Hadley must have been hallucinating. Why in the world would Tyler be telling his brother they were getting married? How was that the best idea he could come up with to get out of going to Montana to help them out?
Tyler’s face turned red. “Subpoena me for what? I have nothing to do with anything that’s going on out there.”
Hadley underlined the word vacation on the piece of paper she had shown him a minute ago before he had announced to his family that she was his betrothed. The man needed to go. It was the only way she was going to prove her worth around here.
“Hold on, my fiancée needs me for a second.” Tyler put the call on Hold. “Listen, I know this isn’t making any sense.”
“You mean you didn’t just reveal your love for me and propose?”
Tyler sighed and his shoulders slumped. “It’s a long story and I just need them to understand that I can’t come to Montana right now.”
“Why not? Kellen just told you to take a break. I’ve been begging you to get your brothers to stop calling. You taking a vacation to Montana and helping your brothers sell your family’s ranch seems like it solves all of our problems.”
“It won’t work,” Tyler argued. “Even if I went to Falcon Creek for my two-week ‘vacation,’ there’s no way that I could turn things around enough to make a difference.” He paused and stared at her for a second. “Not by myself.”
Hadley felt her face warm. She didn’t like how he was looking at her. Feeding his ego was her only hope. “You’re
