He paused for a moment while Katie stopped to look at more rocks. “Protecting the ones I love is my passion. I’m a good lawyer, and the ranch needs someone like me to make sure it’s not taken advantage of. I can’t rope a cow, and that’s okay. Wanda can’t, either, but she sure cooks up nice meals to feed the guys who do.”
Teamwork. That was what he was getting at. But where Rachel came from, that kind of rhetoric only went so far. People worked together, sure, but only as far as they could to get ahead.
So what was Ty after with all his rah-rah talk?
As the path meandered through the forest, Rachel found herself relaxing even more. Ty and Katie were chattering like old friends, and while Rachel still wasn’t sure she liked the idea of her daughter warming up to him so quickly, she did like how he’d point things out to Katie and patiently explain to her what they were.
More complications she didn’t need in her life.
All she’d wanted to do was show up, spend a nice weekend with her daughter, talk to Ricky and find a family member who might be willing to donate a kidney. Was that so much to ask for?
Okay, fine. It was a big ask. You didn’t just go up to strangers asking for kidneys. But what else was she supposed to do?
The familiar fatigue started to hit, as if her body was reminding her that she was on borrowed time. Her doctor had told her to take it easy, and she mostly tried, which was why this hike was a pleasant change. She hadn’t done much of anything lately, and it was killing her. But as they rounded a corner, she could see the lake, and it would be a shame to stop now. She’d find a nice rock to sit on, and she’d feel better in no time.
Ty seemed to notice her slowing down.
“Am I going too fast for you? I got caught up chatting with Katie about the rocks and I wasn’t paying attention to you. I’m sorry.”
She hated the sincere expression on his face. Because that made it harder to maintain her resolve to keep her distance. Why did he have to seem like a genuinely nice guy?
“It’s okay. I’d forgotten how much higher the elevation is here.” Rachel gave him a small smile and paused to take a sip of her water.
“At least you’re focusing on your water intake. We get a lot of visitors who don’t heed our warnings about drinking enough, and they end up with altitude sickness.”
If she’d trusted Ty, this would have been the perfect opportunity to explain about her kidneys and how it was crucial for her to monitor her water intake. But that would have opened her up to more questions. And revealing her real reason for meeting Ricky.
Which she wasn’t ready to do.
Once again she wondered if Ty was genuinely this nice, or if he was trying to break her.
“Even in Denver, altitude sickness is a danger,” Rachel said, recapping her water bottle then turning to Katie. “You should have a drink, too.”
Katie took her bottle out of her backpack and did as she was told. Rachel hadn’t explained the extent of her illness to her daughter, because how was someone so young supposed to understand? But sometimes she wondered if it was a mistake. What if Rachel was gone sooner than she thought?
They continued their hike, heading toward the lake spread out before them, complete with a dock. She imagined that later in the season there would be some boats there, as well.
“It’s something, isn’t it?” Ty asked, looking even more relaxed than he’d been when they’d started their hike. “Best view in Colorado, as far as I’m concerned.”
He held his hand out to Katie. “Let’s see what kind of fishing pole we can find for you.”
A small shed stood off to the side of the lake, and Ty pulled a set of keys out of his pocket as he approached. The more Rachel saw of the setup here, the more she could understand why Ty had been so taken aback at her showing up unannounced. Not only did the ranch have this lake but she’d also seen the stables and riding arenas. Based on what she’d seen on the website, they had winter sports, including sleigh rides and snowmobiling. All of this must take a great deal of effort from the staff.
“The website doesn’t do this place justice. This shack’s a bit worn, but it’s quaint,” Rachel said, turning her attention to Ty. He’d wanted to discuss the advertising plan, so she might as well bring that back into focus, as opposed to the fact that she was starting to like him.
Ty opened the shed door. “Ricky had some of the kids from the youth group build it as a school project. A few of us have told him he should update it, but he’s sentimental since the kids did it.”
His quick admission of it not being perfect surprised her. He’d been so defensive in the café.
“And the bounced emails and unanswered phone calls? The ranch seems like a large operation, and you say you’re doing just fine, but it seems like there are some things you can do to improve it.”
It wasn’t her job to tell him what needed fixing, especially since she was trying to drive more business to the ranch. But it seemed like a waste of a good ad campaign if they didn’t also address some of the functional issues.
“You have a point,” Ty said. “I did leave a note to check on the email issue. I’ll find out what’s going on with the phone, as well. Our office manager quit a week ago, and we haven’t found a replacement yet. We have college students who work with us over the summer and handle a lot of that stuff, and they aren’t due until
