“She thinks those three blackmailed her?” Gabe glanced at Shane. “Did you know she was planning to resign from the TCC?”
“I don’t know why she needed to. I signed her damned document giving up my right to the ranch.” Yet, when Brandee had come to his house to apologize, he had refused her attempt to make amends.
“You said she tore it up.”
“Well, yeah.” Guilt flared. But Shane refused to accept blame for Brandee’s overwrought state. “None of that had anything to do with me.”
“That—” Gabe gestured at the departing women “—has everything to do with you.” His features settled into grim lines. “Of all the times you should have come through and helped someone.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Gabe looked unfazed by Shane’s belligerent tone. “Everybody thinks you’re a great guy. You make sure of that. You’ve always been the life of the party. But when it comes to helping out...” The former Texas Ranger shook his head.
Shane heard the echoes of his father’s criticism in Gabe’s words and bristled. “Why don’t you come right out and say it? No one can count on me when it comes to things that need doing.”
“Mostly you’re good at getting other people to do stuff.”
Shane recalled the expression on Megan Maguire’s face when she’d spotted him helping out with Brandee’s teen day. She’d been surprised.
And if he was honest with himself, Brandee’s tactics to hold on to her land weren’t all that different from his own way of doing things. He’d held back important information a time or two. And what Gabe had said about his getting other people to volunteer when there was work to be done...
Growing up, his father had accused him of being lazy and Shane had resented it, despite knowing there was a bit of truth to it. So, what was he supposed to do? Change who he was? He was thirty-five years old and far too accustomed to doing things his way.
“How is it I’m the bad guy all of a sudden?” Shane demanded. “And where do you get off making judgments about me?”
“I just want to point out that while Brandee may have manipulated you, it’s not like you haven’t done the same to others. She’s not perfect. You’re not perfect. But from watching you both, you might be perfect together.”
And with that, Gabe pushed away from the bar and headed out, abandoning Shane to a head filled with recriminations and a hollow feeling in his gut.
* * *
It took until Brandee was seated in Chelsea’s car before the full import of what she’d just done hit her. By the time Chelsea slid behind the wheel, Brandee had planted her face in her hands and was muttering incoherent curses.
As she felt the car begin to move forward, Brandee lifted her head and glared at her best friend. “Why didn’t you stop me?”
“Are you kidding?” Chelsea smirked. “You said what half the membership has been dying to. Did you see the look on their faces?”
The brisk walk across the chilly parking lot had done much to clear Brandee’s head, but she was still pretty foggy. When was the last time she’d had this much to drink? She didn’t even know how many she’d had.
“All I saw was red.” Brandee groaned and set her head against the cool window. “Take me to the airport. I’m going to get on a plane and fly to someplace no one has ever heard of.”
Chelsea chuckled. “Are you kidding? You’re going to be a hero.”
“No, I’m not. No one deserves to be talked to like that. I run...” She gulped. Hope Springs Camp was an impossibility now that Shane knew he owned her ranch. “I had hoped to run a camp that gave teenagers the skills to cope with their problems in a sensible, positive way. And what do I do? I stand in the middle of the Texas Cattleman’s Club and shriek at those three like a drunken fishwife.” The sounds coming from the seat beside her did not improve Brandee’s mood. “Stop laughing.”
“I’m sorry, but they deserved it. Especially if any one or all three is Maverick.”
“Do you really think it’s possible they’re behind the blackmail?”
“I think someone needs to look into it.”
“Well, it isn’t going to be me. I’m going to be sitting on a beach, sipping something fruity and strong.”
“You’ll get a new guy? He’ll have it going on?”
Despite her calamitous exit from the TCC clubhouse, Brandee gave a snort of amusement as Chelsea twisted the Dierks Bentley song lyrics from “Somewhere on a Beach” to suit the conversation. Then, despite her dire circumstances and the fact that she’d just humiliated herself,
Brandee picked up the next line and in moments the two girls were singing at the top of their lungs.