"I'm friends with him, but nothing else, I swear. I did a dumb thing too." Sierra told her what had happened at the party and how Boone had rescued her. "So we decided we had to pretend to be together for a little while, but I'm not sure if we're still doing that. I'll have to ask him when he comes over tomorrow."

"Your dad lets him in the house? I heard he punched Boone in the face and knocked him out cold at the hospital."

"Puh-lease. I love my dad, but Boone? He's like don't-f.u.c.k-with-me tough. Know what I mean?"

Marin sighed. "Yes. And that is so totally hot in a guy."

"No lie."

"So you and Boone didn't even...?"

"Kiss? Nope. But I have to ask..." Sierra fought a blush. "What was it really like? With you and Mitch?"

"It hurt the first time. Then the next time it didn't hurt, but it didn't feel that great either. I kept hoping it would get better, but honestly, I don't get what the big deal is." She grinned. "But I bet it would be awesome with Boone."

"Marin!"

"Oh, don't tell me you haven't thought about it."

Her dad walked into the room and she was happy for the interruption.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

Sierra looked at Marin. "Much better now."

"Glad to hear it. Good to see you again, Marin."

"You too, Mr. Daniels."

"Please, call me Gavin. You girls need anything? Drinks? Snacks?"

"Can you stay a little longer?" Sierra asked Marin.

"Sure. It's not like I'd rather be doing homework."

"Thanks, Dad, pizza rolls would be good."

"I'm on it." He cut to the back staircase.

"You know, Arizona, your dad is kinda hot."

"Eww!"

A beat pa.s.sed. "Know who else is hot?"

"Who?"

"Boone West."

Sierra sighed. "I'm never gonna live this down, am I?"

"Nope." Marin smiled. "Because you'll have me around every day to remind you."

"Awesome."

"Admit it. You missed me."

"I really did."

Chapter Thirty-Two

Late February...

Gavin scanned the crowd at Ziggy's. With more than half the d.a.m.n men wearing black cowboy hats, he wandered through the entire bar before he saw Dalton, sitting at a table in the corner, far from the action. He took the chair opposite him. "Hey, Dalton."

"Gavin. Glad you could make it."

"I was surprised by the invite."

"Well, we haven't had a chance to catch up..." Dalton sent him a sheepish smile. "I'm fresh outta drinking buddies, now that Tell and Georgia got hitched, so since you ain't hitched either, you were selected."

Gavin grinned. No bulls.h.i.t. He liked that. He ordered Crown and water from the c.o.c.ktail waitress after she finished flirting shamelessly with Tell. "Vi told me Tell and Georgia flew to Vegas. Did you go?"

"I stood up for Tell. I never turn down a chance to go to Vegas. That said, I wouldn't get married in Sin City on Valentine's Day, but that's what they wanted. From there they flew to Acapulco. I hung around a couple days after, played some cards."

"Did you win?"

"I won big enough one night they upgraded my room at the Hard Rock to the high roller's suite. Immediately all sorts of lovely ladies volunteered to help me celebrate."

Gavin laughed. Dalton, like the rest of the McKays, had the rugged good looks women seemed to go for. He was a strapping guy, easily several inches taller than either of his brothers. Broader too. That baby-face was deceiving, according to Vi. Dalton McKay liked to fight. And he liked to win.

Once the drinks were on the table, Dalton lifted his gla.s.s for a toast. "To the last two single McKays standing."

After Gavin drank, he felt the need to point out, "Since Rielle and I are in a relationship, technically I'm not single."

"Technically you're not a McKay either." Dalton laughed. "Sorry. Couldn't resist. So it's serious with you and Rielle?"

"Wasn't something either of us expected, but it's..." He wanted to say she's the best thing that's ever happened to me she's the best thing that's ever happened to me, but that sounded sappy, so he said, "Good. We're taking it day by day."

"Sierra is cool with it?"

"She seems to be. Sierra's been a bit of a humble Tigger since the accident, if you know what I mean."

"I've been there, as you well know."

He looked Dalton in the eye. "I don't hold that intervention with Ben against you, Dalton. You did what you thought was right. You were looking out for someone you cared about."

Dalton turned his lowball gla.s.s on the c.o.c.ktail napkin. "It sure opened my eyes about a lot of things."

"Mine too, to be honest. Anyway, Sierra and Rielle get along well. They like each other and spend time together, but I don't force the issue. Might sound obvious, but I'm Sierra's parent, Ree is not. It'd be easy to put expectations on her since we're living together and because she's a woman who's been a single parent. We're still figuring out boundaries."

"How did Rory react to Rielle being in a relationship with you?"

"Not so well. Why?"

Dalton shrugged. "I ain't surprised. Bein' an only child, she's always been spoiled by havin' all her mom's attention. She ain't gonna be happy sharing it, even when she's old enough to know better."

That just reminded Gavin of how big a step it'd been for Rielle to keep her daughter out of the intimate relationship in her life.

"Plus, it's gotta p.i.s.s Rory off that Rielle is involved with a McKay."

"Why's that?"

"Oh, I suspect the McKays offering to buy the Wetzler's land over the years had some to do with it." Dalton sipped his drink. "I suspect I had a lot more to do with it."

"Yeah? What makes you say that?"

"It's...complicated. I've always considered Rory a friend. But after that night in Laramie, she'd rather punch me-and she usually does-than look at me." He paused. "Me'n Rory got into it the night she was at the Golden Boot with Sierra."

"Sierra didn't mention it."

Dalton laughed. "That surprises me since your girl had to put Rory in a headlock to keep her from goin' after me."

Gavin decided he'd be better off not knowing what else had gone down that night. "So you really called me up because you're looking for a drinking buddy?"

"Partially. Feelin' sorry for myself. The other part is to ask if you've got any plans for the land you own that abuts your brother's section?"

"I'll be honest, Dalton, after what happened before, I suspect it's in my best interest to keep the family peace, to change the subject now, before you ask me something or tell me something I don't want to know."

"How about if I share what's on my mind but we'll keep this discussion between us for the time being. That way, both our a.s.ses are covered."

"Deal." Gavin leaned back in his chair. "So what's going on?"

"This fall we agreed to lease Charlene Fox's place for two years, and at the end of those two years, we have first purchase option. Do you know what piece of land I'm talking about?"

"Does it make me a greenhorn if I say no?"

Dalton offered a wide smile. "Nope. The land is adjacent to your creek access."

Gavin frowned. "My creek frontage is only about thirty yards. Rielle's section has most the creek frontage."

"Yeah, I know. But she's-or rather Rory has-made it plain she doesn't want cattle close by. But with your section adjoining Ben's, there's a chance Ben and Quinn will address leasing grazing rights from you."

"Leasing?"

"Yes. Ben and Quinn are your brothers, and they wouldn't expect to get the rights for free-but bein's you are a greenhorn, their brother and rich in your own right, they'd try to get a deal and tie up the lease rights for years. The chunk you own isn't the ideal piece of dirt, and it's undeveloped, which means it'd be a lot of work on their part to get it cleared. So I'm wondering if that work load is beyond your brothers' capabilities, since it's just the two of them running things and they don't have extra time or hands."

"But it's not beyond your capabilities?"

Dalton leaned forward. "No. We've got two extra set of working hands in Jessie and Georgia. Libby don't help Quinn out as much as she used to on the ranch after their kids were born, and Ainsley ain't the type to devote a month to clearing brush.

"What I'm asking is to keep in mind we're interested in leasing that land. We're willing to do improvements on it-on our dime. We're not at that point yet where we can consider signin' a lease with you. But we will be in the next year. So it'd be a serious blow to us if you'd already signed a long term lease with Ben and Quinn. Me, Tell and Brandt will pay the highest going rate. I know your brothers won't offer you that, so I'm pointing out ahead of time that doin' business with us will be the better deal for you. And since it appears you're in Wyoming for the long haul, we wanted to state our...offer-for lack of a better term-up front."

He allowed a moment to digest the information. But he had to admit Dalton impressed the h.e.l.l out of him. Not playing on any type of family connection, laying out the facts. Appealing to Gavin's practical side. "Out of the original 140 acres Rielle owned, she has forty. One hundred acres is a p.i.s.s-ant amount in the scheme of McKay Ranches."

"Maybe, but the right hundred acres, adjacent to our four thousand acres, with creek frontage ain't nothin' to sneeze at."

"How many people underestimate you?"

Dalton grinned. "A lot. Especially when I'm playin' cards. They see my baby-face and a.s.sume...well, not many of them a.s.sume I'm a rookie anymore."

"Is that how you funded your land purchases? Through gambling?"

Dalton hung his head. "Yes sir."

"Don't even try to pull off contrite, Dalton."

He laughed. "Sorry. So as long as we're swapping stories about how we made our millions-ha ha-I gotta know if all of yours was inherited."

Strange to think his brothers hadn't asked him this question. But since Dalton had been honest with him, he owed his cousin the same courtesy. "My dad started a real estate development company in the 1960s. He did very well in the 70s, 80s and lost more than half when the credit market collapsed. He recovered, but never like during the heyday. He died when I was twenty-eight and I was already VP of the company, so I took over." Gavin sipped his drink. "My father was a great guy, but I found out a few things he'd done that were shady and I worried his mistakes would come back and bite me in the a.s.s.

"So a few years after his death, I started buying cheap properties. Rentals in decent areas that didn't require more than basic updates. Two properties turned into four, four turned into eight...and so on. Around that time, I'd had enough of my cheating wife and filed for divorce. Instead of letting that bitterness eat away at me more than it already had, I become more hands on, buying government foreclosures, houses auctioned by banks, any little gem I could turn fast. I'd go in and gut the place. There's nothing more cathartic than beating the f.u.c.k out of stuff with a sledgehammer."

"Are you kiddin' me?"

"No. I worked out my aggression toward my ex-wife and started flipping houses at exactly the right time in the market. I made a killing. I reinvested it in rental properties. Daniels Development Group is still in business, I'm still a figurehead CEO, but with the spectacular crash of the housing market, the bulk of my business focus is Daniels Property Management. Since I'm not hands-on, ripping places apart, I can work from anywhere. Made it easy to move here."

"I had no idea. I gotta say. That's impressive." Dalton gave him a self-satisfied smile. "Everyone else in the family sees you as a suit, making real estate deals. From this point on, I'll see you busting s.h.i.t up with a chainsaw."

Gavin laughed.

"So we have a deal?"

"All right."

"This stays between us," Dalton cautioned. "If anything changes on your end or my end, we'll agree to meet to discuss it before making a decision?"

"Sounds good."