She laughed and rubbed her temple, looking at him with eyes now that said she was still not believing it was really happening. Boy, he liked being able to shock somebody like that, especially after having made them think he was a terrible person the night before.
“Well then, I think we have ourselves a deal. I haven’t even told you what the salary is but I promise you that you’re going to like the pay.”
“As long as it’s fair then I’m good. And something tells me that you’re a very fair man.”
“And I like the sound of that, because I do try. Again, my mom would have my hide if I was anything but honest and fair.” And that was the truth.
Chapter Five
“Yes, Mom. It’s an amazing deal. That’s what I told him. I’m going to take pictures of cattle and then go out to his ranch in Montana with him. So, this will be helpful with Laura wanting to take Toby away from me.”
“I hope you’re right. That woman scares me. After what her son did to you, and now she thinks she can just keep Toby…I’m so scared.”
Her heart ached, listening to her mother. Glinda , who Toby affectionally called Grammy, did not need the stress of worrying about this. “Don’t be worried, Mom. I’m going to get this figured out. She is still mourning the loss of her son and husband and thinks my Toby is the answer. And in a way he is. Just not full-time. I have no problem with him being loved by all of his grandparents, but he belongs with me. And I believe God has given me a way to keep him. Levi has been amazing. So don’t worry. Everything is going to be all right.”
She had to be right. Had to be. If Laura could somehow prove Rita was incompetent and could not care for her Toby, Rita feared Laura could have a case. And she knew all too well that life was not always on her side.
“Levi has so far proved he’s a good guy. So, I have to trust that he is. I have to trust that everything is going to be okay and that Toby will not be stolen away from me.”
She stopped swinging in the porch swing and stood. She looked around the ranch that spread out before her. It was an amazing stone house up the hill from the cabins; the barns and stables were traditional red metal with silver-toned metal roofs. What he’d pointed out as the bunkhouse and the chow hall matched the barns. And then there were the round pens and the roping pens and the beautiful pastures that spread out around it all. And here, from the porch of this amazing cottage—or cabin, as he called it—the view was outstanding.
It was an unbelievably beautiful place. She couldn’t believe she was here. He’d called the rental car company and settled up with them since he’d said she ran in the water because of him. She’d told him she could take care of it but he’d insisted and told her he had plenty of ranch trucks that she could use while she was here and didn’t need to bring her own car in from Amarillo or rent another car. He’d been so generous and here she was. Still not believing her good luck being on this beautiful ranch. Levi had told her that this was the ranch he managed. The family owned several ranches; down the way was the ranch his brother Cole ran that had been the original ranch, and his brother Jake ran another ranch down the road a ways. And now they had bought the ranch in Montana and expanding. It was clear they had the money to do whatever they wanted but he’d said it was because they loved ranching; it was in their blood.
She believed him. The funny thing was, he mentioned the money very little.
She knew from Googling him that ranching was a tradition in their family and that the ranch that they had struck oil on had been in their family for decades. Obviously, the oil that had sat beneath that ground had been unattainable until the extracting technology had developed that could get to it. And when it had struck, it had struck in a monstrous way, completely taking the family by surprise. She liked that Levi didn’t like to talk about it because it made him seem more like a regular cowboy, just working a ranch and trying to make a living.
She realized her mom was still talking and she pulled back her attention. “Yes, Mom, so I’ll come out in a couple of days—maybe three, I’ll let you know. I’ll get Toby and bring him back here. The more time he’s with me, the better at this point. I just need to see what my job will be like and my hours, then I’ll be there. Levi says Toby’s welcome to come. He even suggested it. He’s going to love it here. He’ll be able to go with me while I’m taking pictures.” She laughed. “I need to make sure Levi understands how busy a four-year-old can be.”
Her mother laughed. “That would be good for him to know. I love keeping him, my energy level just doesn’t hold out with all of his energy.”
She knew what her mother said was the truth. Her Lupus caused havoc with her energy and her body hurting, especially her back, and made keeping Toby much more than a week almost impossible. The recovery time for her was getting longer and longer. Chronic illness was a terrible thing and really stressed her out because she wanted to do so much more than she could. “You’ve been a huge help, but I can’t wait to see him. I miss him so bad.”
She had only been away from him for three days and hoped to pick him up within the next two. She’d been afraid she was going to have to be away from him for long periods of time if she couldn’t figure out a way to make a living. That would have made it hard on her mother and easier for Laura to claim she should have custody of him. Levi caused hope to bloom in her chest. She’d felt that way since their breakfast, and that hope was so much sweeter and fulfilling than even Dixie’s amazing pancakes.
“Thank you so much for watching him, Mom. And if you need me, call, okay? I’m just so full of excitement right now, thinking about how at the end of this month I’ll be able to open my own business on the strip in Fredericksburg. It’s such a beautiful place. And after I get there, I’ll bring you out and you’ll be able to see. And who knows? You may decide you want to move in this direction.”
Her mother made excuses and said she had all of her friends out there in Amarillo. It would be hard to get her mom to move but a grandson was a good incentive. And Rita held out hope she could change her mother’s mind when the time came. If the time came.
Her heart clenched tight; she closed her eyes and said a prayer that everything would turn out all right. That her child would not be taken away from her.
This ranch was perfect. A lot of cowboys moved about; some were with horses in arenas, and some walked around, leading horses. It was obvious to see that though it was called a cattle ranch, Levi’s ranch did a lot of stuff with horses. It was a busy place. But over here, where her little cabin sat, it was quiet. There were other cabins, but they were all spaced out fairly decent width from each other, and it didn’t look as though anybody else was living in the other cabins. Levi said they didn’t have any special guests right now, so she had this area all to herself. She was a little relieved by that. She didn’t want to be all the way over here with some strangers she really didn’t know, living within a few feet of her.
The cabin was adorable. It was yellow with a porch and a swing, and there was even a back patio with a little table that overlooked a pasture that was down below the hillside. She had a great view in the back of the cabin, but she found that she was enjoying the view of all the business going on with the ranch right now. It was just her curiosity. Then again, there was the fact that from where she stood, she could see Levi moving around. He talked to all the cowboys, directing them in what he wanted to do, and she could see that he was busy and that he was in control. She figured that Levi Tanner might seem like a happy-go-lucky young cowboy, when he wasn’t fiercely fighting off people taking photos of his family, but that guy was serious about his ranching.