“We must be doing something right. You found it,” Ty said.
Rachel sighed. “Only after looking through three pages of search results. If you want to get your business going, you need to have it ranking higher in the search engines. Add some advertising, follow the suggestions I have, and your business will explode.”
Ty took a sip of his coffee. “We do all right.”
“But you could do better,” Rachel said, leaning forward. She’d gone up against tougher customers than Ty, and while this wasn’t her primary objective, it would help them both. “I would love to put together a proposal for you. Present it to Ricky and see what he thinks. But as I told you, that’s not the only reason I’m here. I do want to take Katie to the ranch. To be around animals and in nature.”
“Like I said, we’re closed for cleaning.”
Della set a plate in front of him with a thud. “That’s not the kind of hospitality Ricky believes in, and you know it,” she said. “He’d tan your hide if he knew you were refusing a little girl the chance to experience the ranch.”
Ty took his hat off and ran his hand through his dark hair. “Ricky isn’t the one who’s going to have to deal with a lawsuit over someone not finding the ranch up to their expectations. He’ll hand it all to me and make me deal with it.”
Without his hat, Ty looked younger, more vulnerable. And while she’d initially thought that his objection to her coming out to the ranch was pure mean-spiritedness, the lines in his brow spoke of exhaustion.
What would he say when he realized her real intention in coming? Would her need for a kidney also create a legal hassle for him?
Ty was an attorney. He didn’t have a heart. He just wanted the facts and figures, and even when he got them, he’d twist them to suit his needs.
So where did Rachel’s situation fit into that picture?
Della, though, seemed more sympathetic. “You’ve certainly had your hands full lately. But you know how Ricky loves those little ones.”
Rachel glanced over at Katie, who’d only taken a few bites of her sandwich, declared herself full, then gone back over to the children’s area.
Maybe playing on Ricky’s love for children was the angle she should work, instead of trying to use her professional skills.
Ty nodded. “I know, but ever since word got out that he was looking for Cinco’s kid, we’ve had all kinds of crazies come out to the ranch, trying to take advantage of an old man in hopes they’d inherit.”
He turned his attention back to Rachel, giving her such an intense glare that she was almost afraid of making her request. She would definitely do so without Ty present. From the way he looked at her, he was clearly a very good lawyer who made his opponents cower in their loafers in the courtroom.
She had no idea what he was even talking about, and she was scared. But she had no time for fear.
“You’d better be who you say you are,” Ty said. “Ricky might be an old man, but he’s not stupid. And I promise, if you so much as think about taking advantage of him, I will go after you with everything I have.”
A lump caught in her throat. Would she be perceived as trying to take advantage of Ricky? That wasn’t her intention. Based on his age, he wouldn’t be a good candidate for transplant anyway. But she had to hope that Ricky could put her in contact with other relatives who might be. Surely Ty could understand a matter of life and death.
Then again, if Ty was as heartless as all the other attorneys she’d known, he might not be so understanding. And if he went after her with everything he had...
She nearly hadn’t survived when Katie’s father had done the same.
“I told you,” Rachel said. “I’m just looking to teach my daughter about the great outdoors, and maybe, if I get the chance to pitch to Ricky, I could also land a new advertising account. I know you say you’re doing just fine, but surely it doesn’t hurt to look at what I can offer.”
Della squeezed Ty’s shoulders like she was giving him encouragement before walking away to greet new customers who had just entered the café.
“I don’t suppose it would do any harm,” Ty finally conceded. “But I’ll be keeping my eye on you. I’ll do whatever it takes to protect Ricky’s interests.”
Though she liked her job and her boss, Rachel couldn’t see herself ever being that protective of Dan. “It sounds like Ricky is a lot more than your employer,” she said.
Ty nodded. “Ricky has done a lot for me and my family. And for this community. Most of us see him as an extension of our own families. People think that because he’s old and alone, he’s an easy mark. My grandparents were bilked out of their savings by a con man when I was in high school. It drove me to become a lawyer. So be warned. When it comes to protecting others, I take no prisoners.”
More threats. If her life didn’t literally depend on it, she might have been tempted to walk away. Because somehow, she was pretty sure that if you looked at Ty the wrong way, you’d end up in court. That seemed to be her experience with all the lawyers she’d ever known. Or maybe it was her past talking—all the years spent in the foster care system with caseworkers and lawyers galore, and always feeling like no matter what they said to the contrary, none of them were really looking out for her.
Which was why Ty’s loyalty to Ricky seemed so strange. None of the people who were supposed to protect her actually did, and then, of course, there’d been
