They’d made a few announcements, put out feelers to contacts Ricky still had in the rodeo world, but no one knew what happened to Cinco’s widow or unborn child.
Since then, it seemed like every other day, someone out there claimed to be Cinco’s child, breaking the old man’s heart just a little bit more. People heard the Double R name and saw a giant paycheck. The joke was on them. Before Ricky had decided to search for Cinco’s child, he’d put everything into a trust, preserving the ranch so that future generations could learn the ranching way of life that was slowly dying out.
Ty was proud to be part of this tradition. Having grown up in Columbine Springs, the Double R had always been a part of his life. He’d been too young when Cinco died to remember Ricky’s son, but it didn’t mean he didn’t love the Double R.
As a boy, he and his youth group would come up for campouts in the summer and various activities in the winter, and when Ty was older, he’d spent every summer working as a hand on this very ranch.
It had been an honor when Ricky had asked him to be the ranch’s attorney. Originally, he’d come to the ranch to sort out water rights and protect the watershed from encroaching developments of nearby ski areas. Ty had won that fight. And he’d won several others protecting the people and place he loved so much. While Ricky had always been a fixture in Ty’s life, working together had brought them closer. Ty and his family considered Ricky an extension of their family, as did many members of the community. Ricky might not have blood relations left, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t loved.
While Ty fully supported Ricky’s dream of finding his long-lost grandchild, he was also going to do everything in his power to keep the old man from being hurt.
As Ty pulled into his usual parking spot by the main house, Ricky stepped onto the porch.
Even though this woman hadn’t made the claim of being related to Ricky, she also wasn’t the first to visit the ranch under the pretext of one thing, try to ingratiate herself with Ricky and then drop the bombshell that it was all because they were truly family.
Maybe Ty was cynical. But he had good reason to be.
Something in his gut told him that Rachel wasn’t telling the truth. She had an agenda, and the way she stammered over working for an ad agency told him that she wasn’t being honest with him. He had that same feeling with every other charlatan who’d come to Double R. Not just with the Cinco business. Over the years, dozens of people had tried to cheat Ricky.
And Ty had sniffed out every single one of them.
Ricky had such a heart of gold that if it wasn’t for people like Ty who protected him, he probably would’ve lost everything by now.
No, that didn’t give Ricky enough credit.
Ricky was a smart man. A good businessman. An even better rancher.
But he always had a soft spot in his heart for people he thought needed him.
Rachel got out of her car, looking frazzled. With the bridge out, the back road into the ranch was tricky. In certain times of the year, it was completely impassable unless you had a four-wheel drive. But the bridge needed repairs, and the ranch was closed to visitors right now.
That was the other reason he didn’t trust Rachel. What kind of fool would show up to someone’s ranch, unannounced, without knowing whether or not you were welcome?
He waited for Rachel to get her daughter out of the car, and judging by the way Rachel lifted the little girl, he could tell she’d fallen asleep on the drive. How, Ty didn’t know, considering it was a rough drive, but he had to admit that something about the way the little girl rested her head on her mother’s shoulder made Ty’s heart skip a beat.
Ricky wasn’t the only one with a soft spot in his heart for children. Ty had to admit that none of the people coming here to take advantage of Ricky had tried using a child before. But it also didn’t surprise him. If you’d spent much time watching Ricky in town, or even as he interacted with the guests on his ranch, you’d know how much he loved children.
If Rachel had thought to use her child as a way of earning Ricky’s trust, she was a lot smarter than all the others who had come before her. He’d pay closer attention to her and dig a little deeper because she was obviously wilier than the others.
When she looked like she was settled, Ty smiled at her and gestured toward the porch. “Come meet Ricky. I told him to expect us.”
Instead of looking excited, she looked scared. Worried. Her brow creased in a way that made him wonder if she was rethinking her plot to take advantage of an old man. Good. It would be easier on all of them if she decided not to go through with whatever she was planning. He sent a quick prayer to God for protection, wisdom and the right way to handle whatever Rachel was bringing upon them.
He escorted Rachel onto the porch and made introductions. As suspected, when Ricky turned his gaze on the little girl, he immediately began trying to coax a smile out of her.
“What’s your name?” Ricky asked.
The little girl didn’t answer. Rachel patted her daughter’s back and said, “This is Katie. It takes her a while to warm up to new people. Give her time to figure you out, and then you’ll be sorry you befriended her. She’s usually quite the
