“How’d the meeting with those investors go?” she asked, breaking the long, awkward silence.
Dex jerked back to attention. “Excuse me?”
“Are you sure you’re feeling all right?” She looked at him with that genuine concern again.
“Yes, yes,” he assured her. “I’m fine. The meeting went…was okay…I guess.” He’d forgotten to ask Ty why he was in Chicago. She’d said investors. “I won’t know anything for a few days,” he added for good measure. That was typical. Investors made lots of promises, but the real story was revealed much more slowly. If Ty had begun some sort of deal, only time would tell if it was a good one or not.
Leanne sighed. “That’s too bad. I know you were hoping to have news when you got back.”
“Yes.” He cleared his throat. “Yeah. I was.”
He glanced at the young woman behind the wheel. What was she thinking? Had she seen through him already? Worry twisted inside him. If he couldn’t get through a few simple questions from a neighbor without making her suspicious, how on earth would he fool the Coopers?
“I know how much this deal means to you, Ty,” she went on, worry weighting her voice. “But maybe it’s like your pa said. Maybe you’ll just have to be happy with things the way they are. It’s not like you don’t have enough buyers to keep your ranch going. The Circle C has provided high-quality beef to its customers for three generations now.”
The cattle market. So that was the kind of investors Ty had gone to the city to meet. Dex was somewhat familiar with the distressed American market. Foreign beef had made a big comeback in the United States recently, a huge surge from the past couple of years when disease had wrought such devastation for European countries. Was Ty trying to increase the reach of his own ranch’s production? That sounded reasonable to Dex. He’d have to ask Ty about that or risk making a wrong step.
“I’d like to go to Chicago sometime,” Leanne said wistfully, drawing Dex’s attention in her direction. She huffed, her gaze steady on the endless ribbon of blacktop that lay before them. “I’ve never even been out of the state. I don’t know why I’m fretting over Chicago. I doubt I’ll ever be going there.”
Dex looked at her then, really looked at her. She was quite attractive. She wore no makeup as far as he could tell, but she didn’t need any. She looked vibrant, healthy. That notion sent the corners of his mouth tilting upward for some reason he couldn’t understand. She was nothing like the women he knew. Oh, and young. He almost asked her age, but caught himself just in time. Ty would know how old she was. Young, that was certain. Too damned young.
“You should go sometime,” he suggested. “Life is short, make the most of it.”
“I don’t see that happening,” she said regretfully. Her gaze locked onto his as she slowed to make a right turn onto a gravel road. In that infinitesimal moment something electric passed between them. Startled, she looked away.
Startled himself, Dex gave his head a little shake. What the hell was that? He was disoriented, that’s all. He’d be fine as soon as he—
As soon as he what? There was no way he was going to be fine. He was in the middle of nowhere with strangers. Worst of all he was pretending to be someone he’d only just met.
This whole idea had sounded much more doable before he’d sobered up.
Miles of nothing stretched before him as well as behind him. In the time since they’d left the city of Bozeman, they had encountered highway and mountains, nothing more.
A blue sky, fading slowly into dusk, looked almost low enough to touch. Dex couldn’t recall ever feeling this close to the heavens before. He scrubbed a hand over his face. The disorientation was clearly turning to delusions. This was bad. Very bad.
She turned right again, this time onto a long winding dirt road. The sun barely hovered above the mountaintops in the distance. Acres and acres of fenced pasture yawned on either side of the rough road. Cattle grazed serenely on the lush carpet of green grass.
Around the next bend in the road, a sight that Dex would not soon forget appeared before him. A two-story sprawling ranch house stood against the breathtaking backdrop of majestic mountain ranges. A barn right off the pages of a New England calendar lay in the distance, as did other not-readily-identifiable structures. A corral he recognized from its circular design encompassed a large area near the barn. His gaze shifted back to the house. It was the house that held the place of honor among nature’s and man’s embellishments. With the authenticity of a perfect reproduction from the set of an old black-and-white Western movie, the house looked homey, inviting.
“Home sweet home,” he murmured as his heart rate increased, sending adrenaline surging through his veins.
“Yessiree Bob,” Leanne agreed.
She smiled, a gesture that sent a spear of heat straight through him. Were all the women out here so innocent-looking and apparently sweet?
“Come on, they’ll be waiting.”
She got out, skirted the hood and reached in back for his bag before he had the presence of mind to react.
Dex wrenched the door open and all but fell out of the truck. “I’ll get that,” he insisted, grappling for his equilibrium and at the same time reaching for the heavy duffel. She was certainly stronger than she looked.
“Gran fixed your favorite for supper,” she told him with another of those wide, sincere smiles.
He nodded, but hoped to God he could bow out of dinner, er, supper. He wasn’t ready to play Ty Cooper to a larger audience just yet. And he didn’t have a clue what Ty’s favorite meal was supposed to be. Surely the Coopers would understand that he was exhausted after his trip and required an early retirement this evening.
Dex followed Leanne up the steps to the wooden porch that spanned the front of the house. A low growl froze him in his tracks. His eyes widened when his gaze sought and found the source of the sound. A dog. A large, rather fierce-looking animal that appeared poised to lunge at him. Dex had no experience with dogs to call upon. Grandmother Montgomery had allergies. Pets had never been allowed in the Montgomery residence.
“Lady,” Leanne scolded. “Why would you growl at Ty? Just because he took a trip without you?” she said in that child-like tone adults took when speaking affectionately to children or animals. “He’s only been gone a week. Now you be a good girl. You know better than to misbehave.” She scratched the big animal, which Dex now recognized as a golden retriever, behind the ears.
“You should recognize me, Lady,” he put in when Leanne looked up at him as if she expected some sort of reaction. He certainly wasn’t about to reach down and touch the animal.
Leanne gave Lady’s head one final pat. The dog lumbered away, then dropped onto the porch as if too tired or disgusted to pursue the situation further.
“Looks like you’re not the only one feeling out of sorts this evening.”
Dex feigned a laugh. “Jet lag,” he repeated.
Leanne stared at him for one long moment. “Yeah. Maybe I don’t want to go to Chicago if flying is that tough on you.” She opened the front door and entered the house as if
