eling his gaze on Brandee. “You called my mother to intervene on your behalf?”
“She did no such thing.”
“It was Gabe’s idea,” Brandee said, a touch defensive. “He said you’d listen to her.”
It was all too much. First Gabe, now his mother. Shane crossed to the bar and poured himself a shot of scotch. As soon as he lifted it to his lips, he recognized his mistake and set it back down.
“I don’t know what you want,” he said, dropping two ice cubes into a fresh glass and adding a splash of vodka.
“I brought this as a thank-you for helping out at the ranch the other night.” While he’d had his back turned, she’d approached and set a bottle on the bar beside him.
“I don’t want your thanks.” Mouth watering, he eyed the rare vintage. “Besides, you’ve ruined scotch for me.” He lifted his glass of vodka and took a sip. It took all his willpower not to wince at the taste.
Her lips curved enticingly. “It’s a thirty-five-year-old Glengoyne. Only five hundred were released for sale.”
“You can’t bribe me to like you.”
At his aggressive tone, all the light went out of her eyes. Once again she became the pale version of herself, the disheartened woman hunched over an empty glass in the TCC clubhouse.
“Shane Robert Delgado, you come with me this instant.” Elyse didn’t bother glancing over her shoulder to see if her son followed her toward the French doors leading out to the pool deck. She barely waited until the door had shut behind him before speaking. “How dare you speak to Brandee like that. She’s in love with you.”
“She tried to cheat us out of our family’s land.” He tried for righteous anger but couldn’t summon the energy. The accusation had lost its impact.
“I don’t care. We have more than enough wealth and Bullseye is one of the largest ranches around Royal. Besides, that land was unclaimed for over a hundred years and she paid for it fair and square. If anyone cheated us, it was the person who claimed the land without doing due diligence on the property’s heirs.”
“So, what do you want me to do? Be friends with her again?”
“I’d like for you to give up feeling sorry for yourself and tell that girl how much she means to you.”
“What makes you think she means anything to me?”
“From what I hear, you’ve been an ornery, unlikable jerk this last week and I think it’s because you love that girl and she hurt you.”
Shane stood with his hands on his hips, glaring at his mother, while in his chest a storm raged. He did love Brandee, but the emotion he felt wasn’t wondrous and happy. It was raw and painful and terrifying.
“Now,” his mother continued, her tone calm and practical. “I’m going to go home and you are going to tell that girl that you love her. After which the two of you are going to sit down and figure out a way to get past this whole ‘her ranch, our land’ thing. Because if you can’t, she told me she’s going to sell everything and leave Royal. You’ll never see her again and I don’t think that’s what you want.”
Shane stared out at the vista behind the ranch house long after the French door closed behind his mother.
When he reentered the house, Brandee was still standing by the bar where he’d left her. “You’re still here.”
“I came with your mother and she refused to give me a ride back to her house, where my truck is parked.” She took a step in his direction and stopped. After surveying his expression for several seconds, her gaze fell to his feet. “Look, I’m sorry about what I did. Whatever you want me to do about the land, I will.”
“I don’t give a damn about the land and I’m certainly not going to kick you off and take away everything you worked so hard to build.” He sucked in a shaky breath.
This was his chance to push aside bitterness and be happy. He’d lost his father before making peace with him and was haunted by that. Losing Brandee would make his life hell.
“What I want more than anything is...” He dug the heels of both hands into his eyes. Deep inside he recognized that everything would be better if he just spoke what was in his heart. Shane let his hands fall to his sides and regarded her with naked longing. “You.”
Her head came up. Tears shone in her eyes as she scanned his expression. “Are you sure?” she whispered, covering her mouth and staring at him with a look of heartbreaking hope.
“I am.” Shane crossed the distance between them and put his arms around her. For the first time in a week, everything was perfect in his world. “I love you and I can’t bear to spend another second apart.”
His lips claimed hers, drinking in her half sob and turning it into a happy sigh.
When he finally let her come up for air, she framed his face with her fingers and gazed into his eyes. “Then you’re not mad at me anymore?”
“For what? Trying to save your ranch and your dreams?” He shook his head. “I don’t think I was ever really angry with you for that. I fell in love with you and when I found the documents I thought you’d been playing me the whole time.”