Page 69 of The Guy Who Stole My Ranch

“Sorry about that,” I said as I threw one leg over the four-wheeler.

“It’s not your fault our father is an idiot.”

“Thank you for dealing with it. If it gets to be too much, please let me know and I’ll step in.”

“Whoa.” I pictured Courtney holding up her hand and glaring at me. “What was that?”

“An offer to help.”

“Why so formal?” she asked.

I silently berated myself. I’d fallen back on my business training after the chaff incident. The urge to wrap myself in a protective barrier of buzz words and company lingo had overpowered the chinks I’d let form in my armor. “I’m distracted,” I said, hoping it would be enough.

It wasn’t.

“What did you do?” Courtney asked.

“You’re going to have to be more specific.”

“To the girl.”

“There is no girl.”

“Woman then.”

I resisted the urge to look at the sky?which incidentally, was a beautiful shade of blue, dotted only by a few puffy white clouds?and took a deep breath. “How did California go?”

“They now understand the importance of updating corporate regularly and correctly. We won’t have any more problems with them.”

“Am I going to have to field any complaints from HR?” Once in a while, Courtney could be too aggressive. She was usually right when it came to business, but she’d somehow missed the part where she needed to be nice to people.

“Not this time. You would have been proud; I didn’t yell or demean anyone in front of anyone else.”

“It’s a start,” I said.

For a moment, silence hung between us. Was she finished, or had she gotten distracted? I checked my phone and found that I only had five minutes before I was supposed to meet Brooke at the horse barn.

“That’s the first non-serious thing you’ve said today.” Courtney’s voice was soft.

“I usually say serious things.”

“William, what happened?”

To the world, Courtney was a man-eater both in and out of the office. To me, she was the only person I had ever trusted with my innermost thoughts. She’d never betrayed my confidence, and I’d never betrayed hers. I didn’t always approve of the way she treated others, especially in her romantic relationships, but she’d always had my back.

“I can tell there’s something wrong,” she said.

I closed my eyes and took a breath. “I was reminded of why I need to remain a bachelor.”

“And why is that?”

“Because I’m too much like our father.”

“You’re nothing like Dad.”

“I disagree.”

“And I disagree with your disagreement.”

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