Page 173 of Knot Your Problem, Cowboy
“Is he dead?” Meredith asks hopefully.
“Meredith!” I say.
“What? He’s terrible.”
“Not dead,” Walker continues, fighting a smile. “But possibly wishing he was. Remember how he claimed to have no assets to avoid the bank?”
“Yeah?” I ask.
“Well, he had a girlfriend, the one whose name he put everything in a few months before he took the loan out, so he could then get it all back once he got the ranch? Turns out, she’s disappeared. Took everything and ditched him. The house, the trucks, the investment properties, all of it.”
“Holy shit!” I gasp.
“That’s the beautiful part,” Ridge states, and I’ve never heard him sound so satisfied. “He can’t report her for stealing because he legally transferred everything to her. If he admits it was to avoid the bank, he’s admitting to fraud.”
“So he’s screwed either way,” Cash adds proudly.
“Still, the bank has already filed charges for fraudulent transfer of assets,” Walker continues. “He’s looking at serious legal trouble.”
“Karma really said,Hold my beer and watch this,” Meredith says appreciatively, and we’re all laughing.
“What about the money we paid the bank?” I finally ask. “The donations everyone gave?”
It still feels surreal, even now. A week after the rodeo, we paid the bank the money and were given official documents that said, in black and white,that the ranch was mine. No debt. No threats. No more countdown. Just…mine.
I still haven’t figured out how to hold that kind of relief in my chest.
“Money stays with the bank. The debt against the ranch is satisfied unless they can somehow get money out of him, but I doubt it.”
“So he loses everything and hopefully goes to jail?” June asks.
“Potentially,” Walker confirms. “Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.”
“This calls for celebration drinks,” Meredith declares. “Please tell me you have wine.”
“We have beer, juice, and milk,” Ridge offers.
“Beer works,” Meredith agrees. “June, Sophia, you in?”
“Always,” we answer at the same time and break into giggles.
We all head into the kitchen, and Meredith’s shoulder nudges me. “Girl, you are so lucky. You’ve found the perfect family here for yourself.”
I gush, smiling. “I know. My cowboys mean the world to me.”
“Speaking of family,” Walker says with that dangerous grin. “We should probably start working on expanding it.”
“Not this again,” I groan.
“What again?” Meredith perks up.
“We want babies,” Cash says gleefully, like he’s announcing that we won a raffle.
I nearly choke on my drink.
“Babies, plural?” June says. “Ambitious.”
I laughtooquickly and take the beer she hands me, mostly so I have something to hold. Something to do.
