in the county had histories that weren’t known by all their neighbors.
“You’ve always been a gambler, too, Megan,” Travis said in a tone more gentle than she’d ever heard from him. “Don’t forget that. You’re a fighter. A survivor. You never give up.”
An unexpected lump formed in her throat. “Is that how you see me?”
“Of course. Why are you so surprised?”
“I always thought—” She decided not to tell him what she’d thought his opinion of her was. “Never mind. It doesn’t matter.”
He hitched his chair closer to the table and leaned toward her. “Look, if you don’t want to owe me money, then I have a suggestion on how you could buy yourself some time—so that you could pay this year’s mortgage payment, wait on the market to sell your cattle, maybe investigate other stock you might choose to bring in. It would give you some breathing room.”
She eyed him warily. “What do you suggest I do, win the lottery?”
“Nope. Marry me.”
Megan realized that her jaw must have dropped because she suddenly became aware of the fact that her mouth was dry. She groped for the glass in front of her, draining it while her thoughts raced around in her head like a rioting crowd of protesters.
Travis Kane was suggesting that she marry him? Travis Kane? How could he be sitting there watching her so calmly?
“Marry you?” she finally repeated weakly.
“I know you think I’m crazy,” he replied hurriedly, as though afraid she was going to demand that he leave, “but listen to me for a minute. Just hear me out. It won’t be considered a loan that way. I’ll be making an investment that may or may not work out, but whatever happens, you’ll have the money you need, plus some left over. You’ll have enough to repair that blasted windmill and whatever else’s broken down. You’ll have the money to hire extra help, which I’m sure you could use. We’ll treat it like a business arrangement, like a partnership contract, or something. We’ll set a time limit—say one year. Twelve months. At the end of that time we’ll review the situation, decide if we want to continue the partnership. If we don’t, well—who knows what will have happened by then?” He flashed that smile of his and she could feel herself succumbing. “I mean, the drought can’t last forever. Things are bound to pick up and you won’t have to be worried all the time about—”
“What’s in all of this for you?”
He’d been talking rapidly but he stopped at her question as though a hand had been clamped over his mouth. He swallowed, eyeing her cautiously. “For me?” he repeated, as though puzzled by the question.
“Uh-huh. Why are you willing to be so generous? If you want the ranch, why don’t you just make me an offer on the place and we can talk about it?”
“Megan, there’s no way you’d ever sell this place and we both know it. This is your home. I don’t want it. Ranching doesn’t fit in with my life-style. You know that. Besides, if you sold the place, where would you and the girls live?”
She couldn’t believe she was sitting there at the kitchen table having this conversation, and with Travis Kane, of all people. “If we were to sell the ranch, we would have the money to move anywhere. If the bank forecloses, I’m not sure where we’ll go,” she admitted. “But we’d find a place somewhere. We certainly wouldn’t starve.”
“This way you could stay here and still have the money you need to make repairs and—”
“You didn’t answer my question. Why would you make such an offer? What do you expect to get out of this?”
The look he gave her was definitely wary. “A wife?” he offered a little hesitantly.
“C’mon, Travis. The last thing you could possibly want is to get married. You need a wife like you need another hole in your head. And even if you’ve suddenly decided that marriage appeals to you, you certainly don’t want to be married to me, of all people!”
He fidgeted. There was no other word for it. He pulled his earlobe, scratched his nose, fussed with his collar, then shoved his hair off his forehead. Finally he muttered, “Don’t underestimate yourself, Megan.”
Seeing his nervousness gave her some comfort, but not much. “Are you saying you’re in love with me?”
He straightened in his chair. “Umm—well, would you believe me if I told you I was?”
“Absolutely not,” she immediately responded.
He flexed his shoulders in another restless movement. “Then I’m not in love with you.”
She gave him an approving nod. “Well, at least you’re being honest.”
He cleared his throat and took a long drink from his glass without meeting her gaze.
She studied him for several minutes in silence. “You can’t be serious,” she finally said.
“I am,” he argued. “Try me.”
“Try you?” she repeated suspiciously. “Would you care to explain what you mean by that remark?”
“It’s just a figure of speech and you know it. I’m willing to prove to you that I’m serious, that I’m making an offer in good faith. I want to help you. That’s what friends are for—to help each other.”
“You make it sound like some kind of a game!” She leaned back in her chair and deliberately deepened her voice. “Hey, there’s not much going on in my life these days. Maybe I should get married!” In her normal voice she added, “Life is always a joke to you. Admit it!”
“Well, what about you? You always look at life so blasted seriously all the time. Can’t you lighten up a little, once in a while, have some fun?”
“Of course you would see things that way. Life’s always been easy for you. You’ve never had to be responsible about anything or for anyone. You’ve never been serious about anything in your entire life.”
“A few things,” he murmured.
“Such as?”
“I’ve taken my rodeoing serious. I’ve won some good prize money. I take that serious enough. It’s the money I’m willing to offer to you, money that I’ve worked hard to earn. You don’t hear me joking about that, do you?”
Grudgingly she said, “Okay, I’ll go along with that one.”
“I take my friendships seriously, as well. I know I haven’t been home much these past few years but whenever I’m in town, I’ve always made a point of checking on you, to make sure you and the girls were okay. As I recall, a couple of years ago I actually asked you to go to the movies with me. As also I recall, you were quick enough about turning me down.”
“Going to a movie would
