and I’m willing to help her keep it. Not screwing over my neighbors is good business.” I sat back. “Maybe you should reconsider what your idea of good business is.”
The red blotches crept up Richard’s neck. “I was merely suggesting your options for the inevitable. There’s help and there’s charity. You need to clarify what it is you’re doing for her. That way you’ll know if she’s using you.”
“Using me?” Bristol had spent her life pushing people away. How would she use me?
“Her grandparents thought yours should hand over all their assets. Her daddy thought the town owed him for what his parents drove into the ground. It’s what Cartwrights do.”
“It’s not what she does.” I gathered up the folder. We hadn’t reviewed my accounts like we usually did. After the conversation we’d had, I couldn’t talk business like nothing had happened. “I’ll talk to you later.”
I strode out of his office. He didn’t bother to stop me. He had to know he’d overstepped, had to realize I’d called him out.
On the drive home, I tried to forget my interaction with Richard. One detail that he hadn’t mentioned, because he didn’t know, was that I would be helping Bristol a whole lot more than anyone in town. But to do that, I’d have to hurt her. I’d done that enough when she’d been all by herself and I’d been surrounded by family and town support.
The money in my trust was life changing, but not necessarily for the better. My brothers and I hadn’t doubted that had Danny gotten some of the money, he’d have been like one of those lottery winners that takes the windfall and blows it, ending up more destitute than they were before. The only thing the money had done for them was ruin everything good in their life.
A what-if niggled at the back of my brain. What if he’d done everything we thought he would’ve, but what if he’d given Bristol some, free and clear? He’d known he had issues, yet he’d done what he could in his diseased state of mind, with his meager means, to protect his daughter.
And that daughter was so dedicated to him, she might’ve burned her good fortune to keep her dad going just a little longer.
In the end, it wasn’t for me to say. We’d never know. We’d never given the Cartwrights the opportunity.
I pulled into my drive, my dust cloud dwindling with my speed. I stopped in front of the house. Bristol was laughing with Kiernan by the barn. A kitten squirmed in her arms. She set it down when she spotted me and waved. Kiernan lifted his chin.
I wiped all the disgust from my meeting off my face and hopped out. I was returning their grin by the time I reached them. “How’s it going?”
“Better,” Kiernan replied. His jeans were muddy and he had dirt smeared across his face. “Bristol and Bucket came to the rescue.”
Kiernan looked like a mud-dipped lollipop, but Bristol only had a little dust on her clothing and the comforting smell of horse sweat surrounding her. No wonder the kitten was so cuddly. I’d cuddle them after a ride, and the little critters associated horse sweat with petting and treats.
Kiernan squinted into the sun and wiped off his face, leaving a larger smudge of grit behind. “After last night’s rain, the little water hole in the pasture closest to the river was able to fill and not quite dry.”
I groaned. We’d talked about fencing that portion off, but most of the time it functioned as an extra water source. Other times, it was a death trap. “And after today’s heat, some cow thought it was a great way to cool off.”
He tipped his head toward Bristol. “She spotted the calf this morning, lowing away, up to his rump in muck and tipped sideways.” He held his hands out and looked down at himself. “So, roping him was out.”
So he’d waded in and hooked the rope around the calf and Bristol and Bucket had pulled it out. Not only had they helped rescue the calf, but Bucket was trained. Bristol had probably positioned him between the calf and its worried mama so Kiernan could work safely. User? Fucking Richard. Human safety aside, Bristol had saved me more than a few thousand dollars I would’ve lost if we hadn’t seen the calf in time. “Thanks to both of you.”
Bristol’s grin stretched wide, her emerald eyes glittering under the sun. “It was nice to bail out a