She needed to make a decision, then get back to New York to handle the fallout herself, whether she chose to stay open and fight, as Tony and Rafe expected her to do, or to disappoint them both, sell or close the restaurant and pay off everyone she could.
Even though she hated involving her friends in what was happening, she knew that there wasn’t a better lawyer—a better advocate—around than Emma. Fortunately, Emma was scheduled to drive up from Denver on Friday morning. Gina resolved to be waiting for her.
She knocked on the front door at the ranch at ten, knowing that Emma would have gotten an early start. Mrs. Clayton greeted her with a smile and a glass of lemonade, just as she had countless times when she and Emma had been teenagers. There was something comforting about it. In many ways so little had changed in the past ten years. The bonds she had formed back then were still strong.
“Emma should be here soon. Are you sure you don’t want to wait inside?” she asked when Gina moved to sit in one of the rockers. “It’s a scorcher out there today.”
“Thanks. I’ll be fine on the porch, if you don’t mind. I need to have a few words in private with Emma.”
“Then I’ll get Caitlyn out of your hair as soon as they get here,” Mrs. Clayton promised, wiping her hands on her apron and taking a seat beside Gina. “Caitlyn’s going to want to get out to the barn to see her pony, anyway.”
Gina grinned. “I don’t suppose that pony is a bribe from her grandfather to keep her coming up here.”
“Of course it is,” Mrs. Clayton said unrepentantly. “Now that Emma’s divorced, her father and I would give anything to have the two of them here all the time. I know Emma is very successful in Denver, but she hasn’t been truly happy there for a long time. She just refuses to admit it. And Caitlyn loves it here.”
“No doubt about that,” Gina agreed. “And I think a certain newspaper editor might be pleased to have them nearby, too.”
The suggestion brought a wistful expression to Mrs. Clayton’s face. “Ford seems to be a fine young man. Emma could do worse. Of course, every time they’re together for five minutes, they seem to end up in an argument.”
“I’ve noticed,” Gina said with amusement. “Don’t you think all of that explosive chemistry is a good thing?”
“I don’t know,” Mrs. Clayton said skeptically. “I haven’t seen any evidence that they have a meeting of the minds about anything at all. If Ford said the grass was green, I think Emma would contradict him and point out every single brown patch in the lawn. I listen to the two of them and shake my head. Whatever happened to that agreeable girl we raised?”
“She grew up and became an outstanding lawyer with a passion for defending the little guy. Arguing is second nature to her. If she’d been on the debate team in high school, they would have been national champions, but back then she hated confrontation.”
“Well, that’s certainly changed, hasn’t it?” Mrs. Clayton said. “And I’m proud of all she’s accomplished, I really am. I just wish she’d give poor Ford a break every once in a while.”
Gina patted Mrs. Clayton’s hand. “She will. I predict that watching them will give Winding River more entertainment than any other courtship to come along in years.”
“I don’t know about that,” Emma’s mother said, grinning at her. “They’ll have to work for that honor. I’ve heard some absolutely fascinating things about you and that young man who followed you here from back East.”
Gina blushed, even as she insisted that she and Rafe were just friends.
“Maybe so, but if Emma and Ford were half as friendly, I’d be a happy woman,” Mrs. Clayton said, then glanced at the driveway. “There’s my wayward daughter now.”
Practically before Emma pulled to a stop in front of the house, Caitlyn tumbled out of the car. “Grandma, Grandma, how’s my pony? I gotta see him right now. I missed him soooo much. Do you think he missed me?”
Mrs. Clayton winked at Gina, then reached for Caitlyn’s hand. “Of course I do. Let’s go to the barn. I think your grandpa’s down there with him right now. He probably already has the saddle on, so you can go for a ride.”
Caitlyn’s smile spread. “Really? Hurry, Grandma.”
Emma emerged from the car, shaking her head as the two of them went off toward the barn. “I swear that pony is all Caitlyn talked about all week. Now she’s begging me to let her stay here when I go back to Denver.”
“Why don’t you?” Gina asked. “In fact, why don’t you just pack up and move here?”
Emma’s gaze narrowed. “Okay, what has Mom been telling you? Did she put you up to this?”
“No. This is my own idea, I swear it,” Gina insisted.
“Yeah, right.” Emma sat in the rocker next to Gina’s and sighed. “That breeze feels good.” She gazed enviously at the glass of lemonade Gina was holding. “And that looks wonderful.”
Gina grinned. “If I hand it over, will you give me some free legal advice?”
“Absolutely,” Emma said, reaching eagerly for the glass. “Talk to me. What’s going on?”
“This is confidential, right?”
“You’re asking as a client, then, not as a friend?”
Gina nodded.
“I don’t think a glass of lemonade would qualify as a retainer. Give me a buck. That’ll make it nice and legal.”
Gina pulled the dollar out of her pocket and gave it to her friend. Emma tucked it in her purse and grabbed a legal pad from her briefcase. “Tell me,” she said when she was ready.
“I’m in trouble,” Gina told Emma then. “I just don’t know for sure how much.”
“Start at the beginning and let’s see if we can’t get you out of trouble, then,” Emma said briskly.
As Emma took copious notes, Gina outlined the mess Bobby had created, the financial disaster he’d
