“I know you did, and that’s exactly why I need to do this. I want to make it up to you, to make things right again.”
“What’s done can’t be undone, Aiwattsi.”
“Please trust me in this, Keith. I know this could turn things around for you if you would only narrate it for me.”
“You want me to narrate it?” He shook his head. “Why?”
“Yes. I want to tell the mustang story through your eyes. You understand them better than anyone. It’s almost magical the way you connect with those horses. There’s no one else I want. No one else who could bring the same passion and poignancy to this project. Please, Keith,” she pleaded. “This means everything to me.”
He cupped her chin and gazed into her eyes. “There’s no one else I would even consider doing it for. Just let me think about it, okay?”
“Okay,” she said softly. “There’s something else I’ve been wanting to talk to you about, but I didn’t know how to bring it up.”
“What is it, Aiwattsi?”
She took a deep breath. “Keith… I’ve been giving this a lot of thought. Do you think once everything is set straight again, that maybe we could talk a little bit more about that nonfake engagement?”
“I’d like very much to talk about a nonfake engagement. Maybe even with a nonfake ring wrapped around that skinny little finger”—he reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze—“but we can’t have a future together until I have something more to offer you than just my name.”
“What if we took you on as a partner? If we let you buy a stake in the ranch, would that ease your mind? I figure you’d then have a vested interest in this place and a reason stay.”
“I already have a reason to stay,” he said, stroking her cheek with the pad of his callused thumb. “My vested interest is in you, but you need to understand something, Miranda. I don’t believe in free rides. I pay my own way.”
“If it’s the same concerns you voiced before, I might have an answer. What if Jo-Jo were to sell you a few acres? Maybe enough to set up your own independent training facility? Would that work for you?”
Keith drew back with a surprised look. “I don’t know. Do you think your grandmother would go for that?”
“Are you kidding? It was Jo-Jo’s idea. She’s come to think a lot of you, Keith, and wants you to stay here almost as much as I do. I’m sure she’d give you a real fair price and even hold a mortgage if that made it easier for you. It’s worth exploring, isn’t it?” She regarded him with hope-filled eyes. “If you wanted to, you could even start an internship program for fledgling horse trainers. Interns are really cheap labor. I know this from personal experience.”
“If Jo-Jo agreed to do this, I’d pay her fair market value for her land and nothing less.”
“But that could be tens of thousands,” Miranda said.
“Which would still leave me enough to build an indoor arena,” he replied. “If I’m going to do this, it can’t be half-assed. I’d need a year-round training facility.”
“But, Keith, how could you afford it?”
He gave her a rueful smile. “Maybe you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. I’m not rich, but I’m not poor either, or stupid. I invested a good bit over the years. I’ve got a decent nest egg. I live simply by choice, Aiwattsi, not by necessity, and I have no wish to change that.”
“Me either,” she said. “I’ve come to appreciate the simple life. My needs are pretty minimal too. Will you do it? Can we talk to Jo-Jo?”
“Only if we also talk to a lawyer about a prenup.”
She blinked. “A what?”
“A prenuptial agreement. I’d want you to consent to one.”
“I don’t understand. Why?”
“Because I don’t want anyone, especially your aunt and uncle, to have any reason to believe I was after you for your grandmother’s ranch.”
“That’s crazy!”
“No, it isn’t,” he said. “If we move forward with this idea, that has to be part of the bargain.”
“I don’t like it,” she said, “but I suppose I can live with it if you can.”
He took her face in his hands and kissed her tenderly. “The only thing I can’t live with, Aiwattsi, is the thought of being without you.”
Chapter 30
Keith drove through the gates of the ranch with a feeling of peace and harmony he’d never experienced before, a change he suspected had everything to do with the woman by his side.
“Nervous?” she asked, catching his gaze.
“Surprisingly, no,” he answered. “What about you?”
“A little,” she replied with a wan smile. “I kind of wish you had warned them first. What if they don’t like the idea? What if they don’t like me?”
He reached out to take her hand. “Don’t worry. They will, Aiwattsi. Just be aware that my people take a little while to warm up to outsiders.”