mean the acres reverted back to the government? There had to be a process that went into securing unclaimed land. Something that went beyond simply paying the back taxes. Surely Emmitt had followed every rule and procedure. But what if he hadn’t? What was she going to do? She couldn’t lose Hope Springs Ranch. And especially not to the likes of Shane Delgado.
It took a long time for Brandee’s panic to recede. Half-frozen, she retreated inside and began to plan. First on the agenda was to determine if the document was legitimate. Second, she needed to trace Shane back to Jasper Crowley. Third, she needed to do some research on the process for purchasing land that had returned to the government because of unpaid back taxes.
The blackmailer had given her two weeks. It wasn’t a lot of time, but she was motivated. And if she proved Shane was the owner of her land? She could comply with Maverick’s demands. Fifty thousand wasn’t peanuts, but she had way more than that sitting in her contingency fund. She’d pay three times that to keep Shane Delgado from getting his greedy hands on her land.
And if she absolutely had to, she could resign from the Texas Cattleman’s Club. She’d earned her membership the same way club members of old had: by making Hope Springs a successful ranch and proving herself a true cattleman. It would eat at her to let Cecelia, Simone and Naomi bully her into giving up the club she deserved to be a part of, but she could yield the high ground if it meant her programs for at-risk teenagers would be able to continue.
Bile rose as she imagined herself facing the trio’s triumphant smirks. How many times in school had she stood against the mean girls and kept her pride intact? They’d ridiculed her bohemian style and tormented anyone brave enough to be friends with her. In turn, she’d manipulated their boyfriends into dumping them and exposed their villainous backstabbing to the whole school.
It wasn’t something Brandee was proud of, but to be fair, she’d been dealing with some pretty major ugliness at home and hadn’t been in the best frame of mind to take the high road.
When it came to taking care of herself, Brandee had learned how to fight dirty from her father’s ranch hands. They’d treated her like a little sister and given her tips on how to get the upper hand in any situation. Brandee had found their advice useful after she’d moved in with her mother and had to cope with whatever flavor of the month she’d shacked up with.
Not all her mother’s boyfriends had been creeps, but enough of them had turned their greedy gaze Brandee’s way to give her a crash course in manipulation as a method of self-preservation.
And now those skills were going to pay off in spades. Because she intended to do whatever it took to save her ranch, and heaven help anyone who got in her way.
* * *
Standing in what would eventually become the grotto at Pure, the spa in his luxury resort project, The Bellamy, Shane was in an unhappy frame of mind. He surveyed the half-finished stacked stone pillars and the coffered ceiling above the narrow hot tub. In several months, Pure would be the most amazing spa Royal had ever seen, offering a modern take on a traditional Roman bath with a series of soothing, luxurious chambers in which guests could relax and revive.
Right now, the place was a disaster.
“I’m offering people the experience of recharging in an expensive, perfectly designed space,” Shane reminded his project manager. “What about this particular stone says expensive or perfect?” He held up a sample of the stacked stone. “This is not what I ordered.”
“Let me check on it.”
“And then there’s that.” Shane pointed to the coffered ceiling above the hot tub. “That is not the design I approved.”
“Let me check on that, as well.”
Shane’s phone buzzed, reminding him of his next appointment.
“We’ll have to pick this up first thing tomorrow.” Even though he was reluctant to stop when he had about fifty more details that needed to be discussed, Shane only had fifteen minutes until he was supposed to be at his mother’s home for their weekly dinner, and it was a twenty-minute drive to her house.
Shane wound his way through The Bellamy’s construction site, seeing something that needed his attention at every turn. He’d teamed with hotelier Deacon Chase to create the architectural masterpiece, and the scope of the project—and the investment—was enormous.
Sitting on fifty-plus acres of lavish gardens, the resort consisted of two hundred and fifty luxury suites, tricked out with cutting-edge technology. The complex also contained fine farm-to-table dining and other amenities. Every single detail had to be perfect.
He texted his mother before he started his truck, letting her know he was going to be delayed, and her snarky response made him smile. Born Elyse Flynn, Shane’s mother had left her hometown of Boston at twenty-two with a degree in geoscience, contracted to do a field study of the area near Royal. There, she’d met Shane’s father, Landon, and after a whirlwind six-month romance, married him and settled in at Bullseye, the Delgado family ranch.
After Landon died and Shane took over the ranch, Elyse had moved to a home in Pine Valley, the upscale gated community with a clubhouse, pool and eighteen-hole golf course. Although she seemed content in her six-thousand-square-foot house, when Shane began his housing development near Royal, she’d purchased one of the five-acre lots and begun the process of planning her dream home.
Each week when he visited, she had another architectural design for him to look over. In the last year she’d met with no fewer than a dozen designers. Her wish list grew with each new innovation she saw. There were days when Shane wondered if she’d ever settle on a plan. And part of him dreaded that day because he had a feeling she would then become his worst client ever.
When he entered the house, she was standing in the doorway leading to the library, a glass of red wine in her hand.
“There you are at last,” she said, waving him over for a kiss. “Come see how brilliant Thomas is. His latest plan is fantastic.”
Thomas Kitt was the architect Elyse was currently leaning toward. She hadn’t quite committed to his design, but she’d been speaking of him in glowing terms for the last month.
“He’s bumped out the kitchen wall six inches and that gives me the extra room I need so I can go for the thirty-inch built-in wine storage. Now I just need to decide if I want to do the one with the drawers so I can store cheese and other snacks or go with the full storage unit.”
She handed Shane the glass of wine she’d readied for him and gestured to the plate of appetizers that sat on samples of granite and quartz piled on the coffee table.
Shane crossed to where she’d pinned the latest drawings to a magnetic whiteboard. “I’d go with the full storage. That’ll give you room for an extra sixty bottles.”
“You’re right.” Elyse grinned at her son. “Sounds like a trip to Napa is in my future.”
“Why don’t you wait until we break ground?” At the rate his mother was changing her mind, he couldn’t imagine the project getting started before fall.
“Your father was always the practical one in our family.” Elyse’s smile faded at the memory of her deceased husband. “But you’ve really taken over that role. He’d be very proud of you.”
Landon Delgado had never been proud of his son.
You’ve
