Della smiled at her warmly. “You’ve got it. What brings you to Columbine Springs? If you’re looking for activities, we’ve got some maps from the Chamber of Commerce on the other side of the counter. Most people just pass through on their way to ski resorts or the other side of the state, but you’re missing out on one of the gems of Colorado if you do that.”
The older woman’s enthusiastic sales pitch about the town gave Rachel hope. If anyone could tell her how to get to the Double R, this woman could.
“I came to visit the Double R Ranch. But I got almost there and found that the bridge was out. My GPS couldn’t give me an alternate route. I was hoping someone could give me directions.”
Della looked thoughtful. “The Double R? That’s funny. I thought they were closed for their annual cleaning week.”
“We are,” the cowboy said, coming to stand beside Rachel. “Cleaning week is the only way we can get Ricky to take time off.”
He looked her up and down, like she was an intruder. Which was crazy, considering the Double R was a guest ranch. Surely they would be excited about having guests.
“The website didn’t say anything about being closed for cleaning,” she said. “When I emailed to make reservations, the email bounced.”
“So you thought you’d just show up?” the man asked, sounding grumpy. “That’s a huge risk to take, considering there aren’t any hotels for about forty-five miles in any direction.”
It hadn’t occurred to Rachel that she wouldn’t be welcome. Granted, she wasn’t sure how she was going to broach the real reason for her visit. But she thought that somehow, being there and talking to Ricky, she’d find a way to bring it up.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think about that. I just wanted to take my daughter away for the weekend to enjoy the outdoors. And I work for an ad agency, so I was hoping while we were there, I could talk to the owner about doing some ads.”
Rachel knew she sounded like a bumbling idiot as she pulled her business card out of her purse and handed it to him. As it was, she still had no idea how to tell Ricky. After all, how did one ask a complete stranger to help her find a kidney donor?
But time was running out.
Ricky Ruiz was the only relative she could find, so she hoped he could connect her with other relatives who might be willing to donate a kidney to her.
She’d been on the transplant waiting list for so long, too far down to be considered a priority unless she found her own donor. Which was why she put her information into the DNA website, hoping to find someone related to her. Her mom had died when she was ten, she never knew her father and she’d spent the years after that bouncing between foster homes. Not a life story she wanted to tell anyone, least of all these strangers. She’d eventually have to tell Ricky, but she’d been hoping to break the ice first.
The cowboy looked at her suspiciously. “So it’s really a sales call,” he said.
Della had been preparing their food and drinks while she and the cowboy talked. Della slid the food across the counter toward her. “Why don’t you guys go over to your table and enjoy your lunch? Ty, I’ll get the special up for you in a jiffy.”
Ty. The perfect cowboy name. He turned his attention to Della. “How do you know I’m getting the special? Maybe I wanted a roast beef sandwich today.”
Della made a noise. “You always get the special. You might be some big-shot lawyer, but you’re still a Warner, which means you still pinch a penny so hard it cries out in pain. You wouldn’t pay an extra dollar to get the roast beef instead of the special if your life depended on it.”
Rachel couldn’t believe Della was being so forward with the man, but he laughed her off. “Yes, but those dollars saved add up, and it feels good knowing I’ve got something put aside for a rainy day.”
Ty looked over at Rachel. “Let’s sit. I’m the attorney for the Double R. I protect Ricky’s interests. Give me your pitch, and if I like it, I’ll make sure you get out there.”
An attorney. She should have known that the cute cowboy in the café would have some fatal flaw. At least now she wouldn’t be tempted to think about him in any quasi-romantic way. Katie’s father had been an attorney, and it had nearly ruined Rachel’s life.
The stubborn look Ty gave Rachel told her that he meant business. Knowing he was an attorney made her even more certain that convincing him to let her go to the ranch wasn’t going to be an easy task.
Katie had scampered off to a corner of the café labeled the Kiddie Corral that had various games and activities for children. This must be a center of community activity. Rachel called Katie over and they all sat at a nearby table.
Once she got Katie settled with her lunch, Rachel turned her attention to Ty.
“I meant what I said about wanting to get Katie out in nature. That’s the appeal of the Double R to me,” Rachel said. “Regardless of whether or not you let me pitch my ideas to Ricky, I still want to visit. When I was searching online for ranches and places I could take Katie, I liked the idea of keeping the cowboy tradition alive. It seems like a waste for people to not know about it.”
That, and if she couldn’t convince Ty to show her how to get to the ranch, she wasn’t sure how she was going to talk to Ricky and ask him about other relatives. The email had bounced, and no one had answered the phone when she’d tried to call. She had no idea how they stayed in business with such
