Forever Cowboy (Montana Brides Book 5) (7 page)

“Is this in addition to your apology or are you heading toward another one?”

If Emily had been more of a drama queen she might have stomped her foot. But she was trying to act like an adult and not get grumpy all over again. “I know you think I’m an idiot for not going into business with you and Sam, but I’ve got my reasons.”

Alex let out a deep breath and rubbed his hand over his face. “We want to go thirds in the building because it’s a good investment. If it helps you and Nicky, then that’s an added bonus. What you do with the boutique after that is your concern.”

“I can’t work you out. I haven’t seen you in two years and all of a sudden you’re offering to buy a building with me. It doesn’t make sense.”

“Tell me about it,” Alex muttered. He stopped walking and turned to her. “I didn’t come to Montana looking for anything other than rest. I thought I’d be back on the circuit by now, but nothings going to plan. If you don’t want my help, that’s fine.”

The growl in Alex’s voice didn’t scare her. But the gray sheen to his skin did. “You need to sit down and rest for a few minutes.” She grabbed his hand, pulling him toward a wooden bench overlooking a neighboring property.
 

Emily ignored the way his fingers curled around hers. Ignored his rough skin sliding against her palm and leaving a ball of warmth deep in her chest. “Did you bring any pain medication with you?”

He shook his head and Emily sighed. He looked as though he was about to throw up.

“Stay here.”
 

“I’ll be okay.” He sat down and swallowed deeply.
 

Emily glanced around for something he could be sick in. She disappeared between two tents and came back with an empty box that someone had left on the ground. “If you’re going to throw up, use this.”

Alex leaned his elbows on his thighs, bending his head forward until all Emily could see was the back of his neck. She put the box between his legs and shoved her hands in her pockets. She wouldn’t give in to temptation and rub his back and tell him it would be okay. She just wouldn’t, no matter how bad he looked.

She sat beside him, waiting until he could lift his head and tell her what was going on. The minutes dragged by. Behind them, people were packing up their tents, putting unsold goods into boxes and carrying them into their trucks.
 

“You don’t need to stay with me.”
 

Alex’s voice startled her. She’d been thinking about the library building. About her step-dad and how different her life had turned out. She shrugged her shoulders and buried her hands deep in her pockets.
 

“I can stay for a few more minutes. How did you get to the festival?”

After the briefest of hesitations, he said, “I brought my truck.”

“Do you think you should be driving?”

“Not at the moment, but I don’t have a better plan. I’ll sit here for a while and make my way home when I’m ready.”

“You could have an accident. Do you want me to find your family?”

“Mom and dad left about half an hour ago.”

“I can drive you to your parents’ place. If one of the ranch hands can’t bring me into town I’ll get a ride to Gracie’s and someone will give me a ride from there.”

“I’m not staying with my parents. I moved to my ranch last week. I was on my horse yesterday and over did things.”

Emily took a few minutes to think about what he’d just said. “You have a ranch?”

Alex slowly nodded. His eyes were guarded. “About thirty minutes east of Bozeman.”
 

“I thought you were...” Emily didn’t finish the sentence. She’d thought he was happy to move around the country, never staying longer in a town than the latest rodeo. It never occurred to her that he might have found somewhere to call his own. Somewhere to call home.

“Do you want me to drive you to your ranch?” she asked.

Alex gazed across the pasture. “I’ll be okay. I just need a few minutes to catch my breath.”

Emily doubted that’s all he needed, but she wasn’t about to argue with him. “When did you buy your ranch?”

“A while ago. I have a Foreman who looks after things while I’m competing.” Color snuck up the edge of Alex’s collar. He was blushing something fierce and Emily didn’t know why.
 

“I heard the library building’s still for sale?” he asked, changing the subject with about as much subtlety as a bull in a china store.

Emily nodded.
 

“The other day you said something about your father. Is he the reason you won’t ask your mom and step-dad to help with the boutique?”

It was Emily’s turn to look away. She was hoping he’d forgotten about her father, just like she’d tried to do.

“You never talked about your dad when we were dating.”

“There isn’t much to say. Mom divorced him when I was eleven and I’ve only seen him a couple of times since then.”
 

“That must be hard.”

“Not really. If you’re feeling better I’ll go.” She felt like a coward, running away from a conversation that she didn’t want to have. “Tess will be waiting for me.”

Alex pushed his hat back. “What about your offer to take me home?”

“That was before you started asking questions about my father.” The smile in his eyes was infectious and Emily felt a heavy weight lift off her shoulders. “You, Alex Green, are a force to be reckoned with, even if you’re not feeling all that great.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment. Are you willing to keep me out of harm’s way and drive me home?”

“Only if you promise not to ask anymore questions about my father.”

“I won’t have to,” Alex said. “Because you’re going to tell me all about him.”

“Not in this lifetime, I’m not.”

“You owe me.” He rubbed his thigh and stretched his leg, clenching his jaw tight. “It took three months to figure out why you left me. And when I found out you wouldn’t speak to me. So I’d say telling me about your father is a small price to pay. Where are you meeting Tess?”

“In the parking lot. You’re crazy.”

“Maybe.” He picked up the box Emily had salvaged from a tent and stood up. “At least after today we’ll both know why you don’t want anyone’s help.” He swore and almost toppled sideways.
 

Emily grabbed his arm to keep him upright. A lot of good that would have done her. If he’d lost his footing she would have ended up on the ground, buried under a mound of cowboy.
 

And that, she decided as they slowly made their way out of the Festival, was the last thing either of them needed.

“Tess seemed shocked that you’re taking me home.”

Emily turned left out of the parking lot and merged with the other vehicles slowly leaving the Festival. “I blame Cody.”

“You do?”

Emily held the steering wheel tight. Even though they weren’t moving fast, Alex’s truck was a big black beast with more horsepower than anything she’d ever driven. “My brother’s favorite place in Bozeman is Tess’ café. He probably told her about your bull riding exploits and she was star struck by your brilliance.”

“Are you trying to puff me up with compliments so that I won’t ask about your father?”

“Is it working?”

Alex gave a dry laugh. “No. Let’s start with something easy. Where’s your dad now?”

“I don’t know.”

“Why don’t you know?”

Emily growled. “I should have limited your questions to the top three. We’re going to be here all day if you keep asking stupid questions.”

“What’s stupid about knowing where your father is?”

“There you go again, assuming that I even care about him.” Emily lifted one of her hands off the steering wheel and waived it in the air. “I haven’t spoken to him in years. I gave up wondering where he was living long before that.”
 

Alex folded his arms across his chest. “Sounds like you’ve got a few issues to sort out.”

“Issues?” Emily scoffed. “My father didn’t stay around long enough to know anything was wrong. Mom spent more time talking to him after they divorced than when they were married.”

“Why did your parents get a divorce?”

Emily’s foot slipped off the accelerator. “Can we stick to easy questions?”

“I’ve only got another twenty minutes of your undivided attention. I want to make the most of it.”

Emily wanted to ignore Alex, but he kept staring at her, waiting for her to sift through all of the things that had led to the end of her parents’ marriage. She tried to find the one defining moment when everything had fallen apart. There were too many, so she picked the one that hurt the least.

“Dad traveled a lot with his business. I guess they grew so far apart that staying together didn’t seem important.”

Emily could feel Alex’s gaze on her face. She stared straight ahead, concentrating on the road as if crawling along at a snail’s pace needed her undivided attention.

For as long as she could remember, her dad had never been at home for more than a few weeks at a time. When her parents’ divorced she didn’t think it would have mattered, but it had. There was a big difference between seeing her dad every few weeks and knowing she might never see him again.

“So why did your mom spend more time with him after they were divorced?”

“You don’t want to know.”

“Try me.”

Emily didn’t dare turn her head to glare at Alex. She needed to concentrate on driving otherwise she’d plough into the back of the truck in front of her. She let the silence inside the cab settle around them like a heavy blanket, hoping it might smother the questions she could feel buzzing inside his brain.
 

Alex stretched his leg out. This was not how she’d imagined spending her Saturday afternoon. By now she usually had her sketch pad in front of her with a big mug of hot chocolate beside her pencils. Saturday afternoon was all about creating ideas for more designs, catching up on the latest trends hitting the catwalks, and if she was lucky, going for a run with Tess.

“My question isn’t going away.”

“Neither is this traffic,” Emily muttered. She took a risk and glanced at Alex. He stared straight back. “Okay, I’ll tell you. But it’s not exactly riveting news. Dad was convicted of fraud a couple of years after his marriage broke up. Mom felt some kind of loyalty toward him and used to visit him in prison.”

Alex stopped rubbing his thigh. “Is that why you won’t let anyone help you buy the library building?”

Emily thought about her answer. “Some of it. I don’t ever want to owe people more money than I can pay back.”

“You know that your business won’t grow unless you invest money into it?”

That’s all Emily had thought about over the last six months. “I know I’m designing clothes that people want. My online sales are ahead of where I thought they’d be and I’ve managed to keep my expenses low by working from home.”

“That’s not going to give you the exposure you need to be more successful. Unless customers search online for you, they won’t know you exist.”

“Which is why I want to open a boutique,” Emily added. “Except I can’t afford any of the buildings I like and the ones I can afford aren’t right.”

“The buildings are only expensive if you do it on your own. How do you think I managed to buy my first investment property?”

“I didn’t know you had any until a few weeks ago.”

Alex shifted in his seat. “I don’t like talking about what I own.”

“Why not?” Alex sat still for so long that Emily didn’t think he was going to answer.
 

“When I started earning big prize money there were a lot of folks hanging around. Pretending to be more than they were. By the time I met you I realized my mistake. So I didn’t tell you what I earned and what I had. It kept things simple.”

Emily thought about the six months she’d dated Alex. It had gone so fast. She’d juggled her assignments at college with weekend rodeos and travel between arenas. There wasn’t a lot of time left to imagine what he owned. Not that it would have mattered anyway.

“I’m going to be honest with you…” Alex cleared his throat.
 

Emily had a feeling that his idea of honesty would come with something she hadn’t been expecting.

“You need Sam and I. There’s no way a bank will lend you money unless you take the help we’re offering.”

“I don’t like asking for help.” Emily’s voice was so quiet that she didn’t think he’d heard her.

“You don’t have to ask. All you have to say is yes.”

She’d said yes to her father four years earlier and regretted it. The money he’d given her was supposed to help her start her own business. The only thing it did was put him in prison for a second time. “What if it doesn’t work out? What if it’s all a mistake and the building’s worse than we think it is? What if no one wants to buy my clothes?”

“There are a lot of
what ifs
in there. What if it
does
work out? What if everyone hears about your boutique and comes from all over the place to buy your clothes?”

“Then it would have been a good business decision. It’s just…” How did she tell Alex that she didn’t know how to trust him? Or how to trust herself. She’d paid back most of the money her father had stolen from his business partner’s family. But the loss of their retirement savings had come at a price that even she couldn’t have imagined.

Emily took a deep breath and tried to focus on the decision she had to make. If she didn’t accept Sam and Alex’s help she wouldn’t be moving into her dream building. If she said yes, she’d have to swallow her pride and believe it would work out for the best.
 

“You’ll need to turn right in about two hundred yards,” Alex said.

Emily slowed down and checked her rear view mirror. “Tell me about your ranch.”

“It’s not on Main Street and doesn’t have more than a dozen books filling its shelves.”

“Very funny,” she muttered.
 

“Not funny enough, it seems.”
 

Alex scowled across the cab and Emily ignored him. “I thought you would have worked on your dad’s ranch, not bought your own.”

“Dad’s doing okay without me. When he’s not running his rodeo weekends he’s raising some of the best bucking bulls in the country. Jacob found the Circle C Ranch when he was looking for land for one of his clients. As soon as I saw it I knew it was for me. Take the first gravel driveway past the red letterbox on the side of the road.”