Winning Over the Rancher, page 2
His heart racing, he rounded the largest barn to get to the entrance into the apple orchard. How bad would it be? The force of nature was awesome. Just a few years ago a strong November frost had killed one third of all their trees. Cade had been glad his father was no longer alive to see it. The family legacy had meant so much to him, protecting what his ancestors had built here, gradually expanding the orchards and adding flowers to their offer. The losses because of the cold had made Cade even more aware this was all his responsibility now. The farm, the family.
What if he couldn’t protect it?
The orange early morning light was kinder than the sharp midday glare would have been, but still he could see the damage clearly. His boots caught behind torn-off branches and slipped on wet clumps of moss. There were scattered leaves everywhere, loose ones and those still clinging to twigs. Immature apples littered the ground. A young tree had been uprooted, falling over and attaching itself to its neighbor as if desperately trying to stay upright. Its roots reached into the air like tentacles searching for a hold.
Cade sat on his haunches a moment, patting a root as if to reassure the tree. If the roots hadn’t been broken, he might try and put it back. “It will be alright,” he said in a low voice. “It will be alright.” But he knew that even if he did replant the tree, the chances were slim it would survive. Trees weren’t made to be broken.
Tears stung his eyes but he forced himself to his feet again and walked on. His heart hammered as he stepped over shattered branches, mini apples skidding away under his soles. If only their most precious tree was still standing... The oldest they had. It didn’t bear much fruit anymore. But it was a living memory of the way this ranch had started with his great-grandfather. It was the heart of the farm, of their family traditions. It stood for the past generations of Williamses, their resilience and their hope. If it had been destroyed...
There! Cade saw the tree in the warm morning light. It was still upright.
He exhaled with relief, his fists relaxing by his side.
But this breather lasted but a heartbeat. Something about the tree’s silhouette was off. Half of its left side had been torn away. The tree was unbalanced now. Come another storm, it would probably fall over anyway. Because it was no longer able to fight back.
Cade’s eyes burned as he stopped beneath it and looked up. This was the very spot where his father had died of a heart attack while working in the orchard. Death had swept him away, quickly. Doc Martins had said that he had probably not realized a thing, had died before his body had even hit the ground. It had been a small consolation. To think his father had at least not suffered.
But now Cade wondered if this was the place where their family hopes and dreams would die as well. There was so much damage, so much of their future harvest lost. How would they survive this year? How would they make money? It wasn’t just him and Ma having to live off the ranch. Gina too, and her twins.
And the unborn baby. Just three months and it would be born. The son Barry had longed to have. The child he’d never carry in his arms.
“Cade...”
He turned round in a jerk to see Gina standing in the wreckage. Her eyes were red rimmed, her cheeks blotched. She pulled the yellow raincoat she had hurriedly donned over her nightwear tighter around her. He had hoped she would stay inside to make breakfast for the girls. But here she was, seeing everything he hadn’t wanted her to see. She bit her lip before she spoke again. “It’s bad, isn’t it?”
Despite her realistic assessment, he saw in her eyes that she craved his denial more than oxygen. His reassurance that it wasn’t over for them, in this place. After everything she had lost already—her husband, her home—she had to be terrified.
“No.” He said it through gritted teeth. “It just looks bad. Wait until I’ve cleared this mess away. The broken branches, the apples that didn’t...” Make it.
“Don’t fool me, Cade.” A tear ran down Gina’s cheek and hung on her chin, before dripping to the lapel of her raincoat. “This...” She gestured around them. “Means we have almost no harvest this year. The early and late varieties, all lost. Ma will say we’ll just have to be frugal. That we can economize. But how can we ever save money with those debts to pay off? The debts I brought along.” Her voice quivered.
Cade stood with his feet planted apart, his hands balled into fists. Gina had lost everything she had, her home, furniture, car, savings. All because Barry’s sudden death had revealed how much debt he had incurred to offer his family a good life. Several maxed out credit cards, loans... Not to mention the mortgage on their dream house.
The forced sale of the house and possessions had paid off most of the debts, but not all. Gina had to pay those soon or get into legal trouble. He had told her he’d help her deal with the debts this very summer as it made no sense letting them collect interest. But right now he had no idea how to make good on that promise. Their livelihood was about gone.
Gina stood shivering, her hands on her stomach in a protective gesture. “I can’t see how we can do this. If Pa was still alive...”
“If Pa was still alive,” Cade said with difficulty, “he would tell us that life goes on. And that if we just do what we always do—pick up the pieces and stand side by side. We’ll make it.”
He heard his father’s voice in his head as he spoke the words, saw that weathered face smile at him. For you, Pa. “Like we always have.”
“Oh, Cade...” Gina hugged his neck. He put his arms around her narrow shoulders and felt how they shook as she sobbed.
Every day she tried to put on a brave face for her children. She played games with them and baked cookies and told bedtime stories. He rarely saw her shed a tear. But now as he held her, and felt how the sighs racked her slender body, he knew she had been hiding her pain inside, fighting the battle by herself. Not to burden them. To be strong for them.
He knew what that was like.
“Hey, sis...” He hugged her tighter, leaned his cheek against hers. “We’ll make it. We always have. The twins and the baby need us.”
“That’s just it.” She swallowed hard. “It’s harder now for Ma and you because we’re here.”
“No.” He shook his head quickly. Gina should never feel like she made life difficult for them. As if her arrival was the final straw that would break them. Sure, it would be a challenge to get things organized financially, but he was up to it. “We love having you here. Please believe that.”
“But the debts...” Her voice broke on the final word. Owing people sizeable amounts of money represented a huge threat to her. Every morning when she woke up she had to feel that darkness hovering at the corners of her existence, waiting to close in.
“Listen to me now.” He took her gently by the shoulders and held her away from him, locking gazes. The tears in her eyes broke his heart but he wanted her to see the determination in his face as he renewed his promise to her. Here and now. “We’ll find a solution for the remaining debts somehow. You’ve already come so far. I won’t let you fall on the last hurdle, okay?”
Her lips wobbled but she nodded.
“You’re safe here.” He squeezed her shoulders. “I’ll never let you and the girls get uprooted again.”
Her phone rang. It had a Sesame Street ringtone the kids adored. Gina pulled it up and checked the screen. “It’s Lily.” Her blotched features lit in a smile. “When she said we’d stay in touch, I thought that it would be hard because she’s so busy with work. And you know how those things go when there are a lot of miles between you. Besides, she did so much after Barry died. She’s been amazing while she’s also grieving. Her brother gone, the pizzeria sold off...” Gina’s features tightened as she seemed to fight new tears.
When Barry and Gina had married, they had taken over the pizzeria owned by Barry’s parents. On the list of best restaurants in Saint Paul, Minnesota, it had been a very profitable business and soon Gina, who had been used to rather modest means on the ranch, had been living in grand style: surprise trips, her own brand-new car. She had helped in the restaurant and suggested many small changes to the interior decor. It had been a real communal undertaking for them. And after Gina had become pregnant with the twins and could do less work there, Lily had been asked to step in, temporarily. She had put her college education on hold to do it. Barry’s sister had been helping out with the restaurant since her teens. And she and Gina had soon become best of friends.
Cade shook off the annoyance that itched at the back of his brain whenever Barry’s family came up. It wasn’t that he didn’t like them, but they were just...so different. Big-city people who valued outward appearance, prestige. How else could they explain the fact that Barry had spent so much money that he didn’t actually have? He had borrowed it to finance the grand lifestyle, not thinking of the consequences. Someday this whole construction of loans and debts had been bound to come crashing down around his ears, burying his family in the rubble. How could he have ignored the danger, put them at risk?
It had been heartbreaking for Gina to learn in the weeks after her husband’s death how huge the financial problems truly were, and that Barry had kept it all from her. With the best intentions maybe, not to worry her, but Cade had also wondered if Barry had wanted to avoid being judged for his bad decisions. After all, as someone raised to be frugal and save before you spent money, Cade hadn’t really been able to understand why his brother-in-law had borrowed money in the first place.
Lily’s call revived the pain and the unanswered questions. With them came a sense of uneasiness, even potential...danger? Because he didn’t want Gina sucked back into the lifestyle she had been torn away from. She had to have a stable home now, she and the children.
Gina answered the call. “Lily! I’m so glad to hear your voice. I emailed you last week about meeting sometime but I hadn’t heard back so... Oh. How exciting... I’m fine and so are the girls. We just had a touch of bad weather last night... Oh, you know? Has it made the news in Denver?”
He heard a cheerful female voice chirp on the other end of the line. When Gina had moved in to the guest room and Cade had helped her unpack since she was bone weary from the trip, he had put her photos on the nightstand: four shots in a single silver frame. Barry and Gina’s big white wedding, the newborn twins in their crib, a picture of all four of them on the beach in Florida and a shot of Gina with her sister-in-law. It had taken him some time to register it was actually Lily. He remembered her as the wedding planner in the expensive dress who had made sure everything went down without a glitch. The venue had been top-notch; the flowers came from a prizewinning boutique. It had been way too much to his mind, but Gina had been over the moon with it all. Still, all Cade recalled from the day was how uncomfortable he had felt in his suit and tie and how Lily had directed everyone where to stand and how to carry themselves for the wedding photos. One remark she had made had inserted itself into his brain like a sliver of wood under skin: “It has to look just perfect.”
Yes, she probably had a life where everything had to be perfect, flawless, from her appearance to her social media pages. It was something he couldn’t relate to, at all.
But in this photo Lily was wearing torn overalls and her dirty hands suggested she wasn’t afraid to dig in. At his surprised question Gina had mentioned something about Lily having been a member of the volunteer squad that tended the communal garden. It had been Gina’s pet project: a freely accessible garden full of flowers and vegetables for the neighborhood to enjoy. A green haven in the concrete jungle of the city, for people to come and unwind, learn about growing your own food. The rescue pets had also found a loving home there. “I did tell you before about Lily’s help with the garden,” she had said with an exaggerated eye roll. “You never listen, do you? When it’s not about apples or dahlias, you just don’t care.”
It had been a playful remark, but it still stung. He realized as he stood here that he knew next to nothing about Lily. Had someone ever told him what she had majored in at college? What hobbies she had besides gardening? In his mind she had always remained the superstar wedding planner with demands on everyone for the sake of her social media likes, but perhaps he had misjudged her?
The wedding was seven years ago and people did change. After all, Lily had graciously taken time away from her own life to help out at the pizzeria, the very business that had recently been sold because of her brother’s irresponsible spending. Had she also discovered with a shock that Barry had risked everything? And how had she coped with suddenly being cut loose, free to start her life anew? She had only been supposed to help out at the pizzeria for a few months, but it had turned into almost six years. Conveniently sucked into the family business with no room for her own wishes? He had no idea. He simply didn’t know Lily at all.
Cade caught himself trying to hear what Lily was telling Gina. But it was impossible to make out much. Gina looked deep in conversation as they kept walking. “Of course you can come and visit,” she said. “Nothing changed about that.”
What? Cade’s mouth fell open. He had just heard Gina mention “meeting sometime” but he had no idea she had actually invited her sister-in-law for a visit to the ranch. Why would Lily want to come here? City people might idolize country life, the slower pace of things, and how authentic it all was, but in his experience they often had better things to do in their spare time than drive for hours into a remote area that was beautiful but wild. Although his ranch was situated on the way to the Rockies, there wasn’t a lot to do for tourists in this part of Boulder County and they only breezed by.
“Later today?” Gina asked.
Uh-oh. No way. He shook his head and made a cutoff gesture to indicate Gina had to think up an excuse to tell Lily no. It wasn’t possible to receive visitors now. Some other time.
Gina said, “I’d love to see you. But I have no idea if you can even get here with all the storm damage. There must be trees blocking roads and... Oh, really? You can see all that live online? I had no idea. I never check such things. Fine then. Around ten? Perfect. I can’t wait. Bye.” She disconnected and lowered the phone. Her red-rimmed eyes glowed with warmth. “Lily is already in the region. She wanted to surprise me by showing up today, but because she read about the storm online, she wanted to check in and make sure it was okay to come today.”
It isn’t.
“I had no idea you could follow traffic updates online. But Lily knows all those things. She’s so digitally savvy. She should be, it’s her job now.”
Aha. “What does she do then?”
“Marketing. I don’t know all the details, but she once told me it’s like when people want to launch a new product or give a business a boost, she helps them devise a campaign to convince customers to buy. She presents the perfect picture to get sales.”
Perfect picture, huh?
Gina was already rushing on. “Stacey and Ann will be so excited about this visit. They miss Lily so much. We did so many things together back in the city—baking cookies, tending to the communal garden, caring for the rescue pets. Lily also babysat the girls when Barry and I had a date night. They even asked when we were going out again so Auntie Lily could look after them.” She smiled, but her eyes also betrayed hurt at the bittersweet memories. “I know today isn’t the best time, but Lily’s visit will cheer up the girls after they’ve been so afraid of the storm. I just couldn’t tell her no. You do understand, don’t you?”
Cade sucked in air to give all the reasons why this was a bad idea. Not just because of the storm damage, but also because he didn’t want Lily near the girls. They were just settling in nicely, weren’t constantly asking about their old home or their friends anymore. He didn’t want Lily coming in for a day or two to rock the boat.
But he didn’t speak up. He couldn’t say anything about the girls missing their old life to Gina or she’d start crying again. The brief phone call had brought a positive change. She was suddenly smiling and looking forward to something. How could he not be happy when this unexpected visitor had the power to cheer up Gina and the twins? He’d keep a close eye on Lily to ensure she didn’t upset the girls with stories about the city and he could always take her aside and explain that they were trying to get the kids grounded again and she shouldn’t ruin it for them.
And the mess on the ranch? a small voice in the back of his head questioned.
Well, Lily would be driving out here through an area also affected by the storm so she’d be prepared to see damage.
Still, it hurt his pride a bit that he couldn’t show her the ranch at its best now that she had finally decided to visit. After Barry and Gina were married, they had barely come here for holidays. Barry had always had plans to take Gina away somewhere—skiing or yachting—or to go visit his parents who, after handing over the pizzeria, had invested in running a luxury holiday resort in the Florida Keys. He had been happy for Gina that she had such a wonderful life, but he had also secretly wondered if Thanksgiving or Christmas on the ranch had been too simple for Barry and his family. Lily had certainly never shown any interest. Not that she had to but... Now that she was coming, he felt sour that the ranch was in this state of disarray. It felt like he had to show off to impress her and how could he when a derecho had just swept over the land?
His boots were still caked in his ruined apples. There was a mile-long to-do list waiting for him. And most of all, he had poured everything he had into the ranch, everything he was. The damage to it felt like cracks in his own heart. He didn’t want anyone to see it this way. Let alone someone who was always hunting for picture-perfect.
