“I didn’t,” Jessy insisted. Chase had made the decision, yet she was honor bound to keep that a secret.
“You certainly had no right to do it without Cat’s permission,” Tara inserted.
Jessy turned to her. “You’re wrong. I had every right. Chase named me to take over the ranch in the event anything happened to him. He made it clear that Cat was to have no say in the running of the Triple C. The decisions are mine to make, not hers.”
“As long as you make the right ones,” Tara added with false sweetness. “Otherwise there is such a thing as malfeasance. If the actions you take are deemed not to be in the best interests of the ranch, as owner, Cathleen has a legal right to step in and take over.”
“None of this is really any of your business, Tara,” Jes
sy snapped, her patience exhausted. “Why don’t you just stay out of it?”
“You would like that, wouldn’t you,” Tara countered smoothly. “Without me around, you think you have a better chance of talking Cat into accepting your decision.”
“Cat knows I would never do anything to jeopardize the Triple C. It represents my children’s future. I would do whatever it takes to protect both.”
“I always thought you would,” Cat said. “But I also thought I knew you, Jessy. Now I wonder if I ever did at all.”
Fighting back tears, Cat whipped around and headed for the door. Tara lingered a moment, a pleased look in her eyes. Then she hurried after Cat. Jessy’s first impulse was to go after Cat, but she sensed she would just be giving Tara another chance to fan Cat’s distrust.
Chapter Eleven
In the den, Jessy went through the motions of comparing the invoice total against the check amount before adding her signature, but the numbers didn’t register. Just outside the window, Cat and Tara had their heads together. Jessy could imagine the sympathetic noises Tara was making while adding a few sly insinuations.
As if the present situation wasn’t complicated enough, now Cat had put this new twist on it. Something had to be done before this rift between them became any wider. But what that could be Jessy didn’t know.
Not until both women had climbed into their cars and left did Jessy lay the pen aside and reach for the ranch phone directory. With a finger on the number for the feedlot, she dialed it and waited. After a dozen rings, Laredo answered.
“It’s Jessy. We have trouble.”
“I thought we might. She was in a temper when she came by here.” He didn’t bother to refer to Cat by name, confident she was the source. “I figured she would unload on somebody, and it seemed very likely you would be that person. What’s the problem?”
On the off chance someone might walk in, Jessy kept her voice pitched low and gave him a bare-bones answer. When she mentioned Tara’s role, Laredo responded with a soft whistle.
“I didn’t figure on the ex sticking her nose in,” he admitted thoughtfully. “She doesn’t like you, you know.”
“It’s mutual,” Jessy replied grimly, then suddenly wondered, “How do you know that?”
“I talked to her once.”
“When?” She felt more uneasy than before.
“Down south.”
She heard the front door open, followed by the sound of boots. Speaking at a normal level, Jessy said, “It’s impossible for me to get away right now. Explain it to Duke for me,” she added, using Hattie’s name for Chase. “Let me know what he says.”
“Got company, do you?” Laredo guessed. “In that case, why don’t we meet tonight at the old barn. Is ten o’clock too early?”
“That will be fine.” She looked up as Jobe Garvey walked into the den. “I’ll talk to you then.”
All the windows at the Boar’s Nest were propped open, allowing a welcome breeze to flow through the interior. Chase sat in a wooden chair, a towel draped around his shoulders, his fingers clutching it tightly together at his throat. Hattie stood behind him, a pair of scissors in one hand and a comb in the other.
“I can’t believe how fast your hair has grown.” She ran the comb down the back of it and held the ends flat with its teeth. “Do you know it’s almost long enough to cover your scar? Which, by the way, is healing nicely.”
When she made the first snip, Chase asked warily, “Are you sure you know how to cut hair?”
“I did my husband’s for years.”
“I saw a picture of him at your place. He was bald.”