“Yes, he’s got his mind,” Shay said bitterly, the corners of her mouth pulling inward. “He’s legally competent.”
“Good,” Reese said, gathering up the papers. Taking a sip of his coffee, he rose and said, “I’ll get the document drawn up so you and he can sign it. I’ll take it to Eddy tomorrow and he’ll do his legal magic on it. Then, your father’s money is protected from the bank should we default on a payment.”
The look in her eyes ripped his heart up. Reese saw uncertainty, anxiety, and fear. Would Ray Crawford savage him as he did Shay? Shay was struggling to hold her feelings and words within her. “You okay with me going with you this afternoon?”
“Yes . . . but it’s not going to be easy,” Shay warned him in a low voice.
“Nothing ever is. We’ll get through this together.” Reese saw some of her anxiety recede. “I’ve got to think that even if your father is cranky, he’ll see the logic in my request. We’re there to protect his money.”
“I think he will, too,” Shay said, sipping her coffee. “But he’s cranky all the time.”
“Duly noted,” Reese said, giving her a warm look. Was she ever going to bring up that kiss? Or would she continue to pretend it didn’t happen? Reese wished life wasn’t so pressured for Shay. For him to broach the topic would most likely be seen as one more brick in her load.
*
Shay tried to prepare herself as she walked into her father’s room. Wisely, she had called ahead to warn him that Reese was coming along with her, saying that he had a degree in business and was helping her out with the accounting at the ranch. She omitted the fact that Reese was a vet, staying at the Bar C. She knew her father might remember her bringing up his name in a previous conversation. With his stroke, he often forgot what she’d said, and she hoped he had forgotten that. She prayed that her father wouldn’t grill Reese or refuse to talk to him. Wiping her damp hands on her jeans, she knocked lightly on the open door.
“Come in,” Ray called.
She smiled hello to her father, who was sitting up in bed. The lunch tray was pushed away, his meal partly eaten. “Hi, Father. I’ve brought Reese Lockhart, the accountant I called you about, with me.” She stood aside as Reese entered.
“Mr. Crawford, I’m Reese Lockhart,” he said, extending his hand to the man in the bed.
Ray sized him up. He raised his hand and shook it. “What’s this about my savings being in trouble?”
Reese pulled up a chair and sat down next to Crawford’s bed. He handed some documents to the rancher. In as few words as possible, he explained the situation. Glancing up, he saw Shay standing on the other side of the bed, hands clasped in front of her, tense and pale.
Ray’s left hand shook as he scrutinized the papers and then intently studied the document he had to sign. “So,” he said in a growly tone, “this will keep my money safe? Right, Mr. Lockhart?”
“Yes, sir, according to Eddy, who is your lawyer, it will.” Reese handed him the document to sign after placing it on a clipboard. He handed him an ink pen.
“Well,” Crawford said, giving Shay a hard look, “under the circumstances it was a good thing you found this. My daughter is not good with math.”
Reese felt Shay’s reaction. Her lips compressed. He saw shame in her eyes. After Crawford scrawled his nearly illegible signature with his left hand, Reese took the proffered clipboard and pen. “Your daughter, Mr. Crawford, has done a near miraculous job of meeting the bank’s mortgage payment every month since she arrived home.” He nailed Crawford with a chastising look. “Her math is just fine.”
Crawford snorted, moving his hands restlessly across the white blankets on his bed. “It’s not one of her strong points.”
Shay signed the document next and handed it back to Reese. She tried to quell her nervousness and asked, “Do you need anything while we’re here, Father?”
He glared over at her. “Yes. Don’t lose my ranch.”
Reese saw how her father’s angry words struck her. She blanched. He slid the signed document into his briefcase and closed it. Rising, he held the man’s gaze and said, “She has been saving that ranch one day at a time, Mr. Crawford. She came home with nothing in the bank account and made the payments you had neglected to send into the bank for nearly six months before that. She’s the reason the Bar C exists right now, and I think you know that.”
Reese glanced at Shay. Her lips parted briefly as he stood up for her. Obviously, Crawford’s stroke made him forget it was he who had put the ranch into its present state. However, Crawford struck him as a manipulator who’d lie if it suited his purpose. Reese wasn’t going to let him get away with blaming the ranch’s condition on Shay.