He loomed menacingly for several heartbeats, taking in each startled expression in turn. Instinctively, they’d leaned back in their chairs as if gaining even a small amount of distance would keep them safe. At long last, satisfied they’d received his message, he pushed upright, jostling the table just enough to set their cutlery tingling and their drinks sloshing.
“Ladies.” With a nod, he headed for the exit.
Icy gusts blew across the parking lot as Shane emerged from the clubhouse. He faced the north wind and lifted his hat, not realizing how angry he’d been until he dashed sweat from his brow. Damn Brandee for making him rush to defend her. He should’ve left well enough alone.
The cold reduced his body temperature to normal as he headed toward his truck. A row back and a few spaces over, he caught sight of her vehicle.
“Great.”
Now he’d have to make sure she wasn’t driving in her condition. But the truck was empty. Brandee was long gone. Shane headed to his own truck.
As he drove the familiar roads on his way to The Bellamy, he tried to put Brandee out of his thoughts, but couldn’t shake the image of her going after Cecelia, Simone and Naomi. The outburst had shocked more than a few people.
Brandee’s public face was vastly different from the one she showed in private. Not once in all the years that he’d pursued her to sell the ranch had she ever cracked and lost her temper with him. Because of her cool, composed manner, he’d worked extra hard to get beneath her skin. From getting to know her these last two weeks, he recognized that she put a lot of energy into maintaining a professional image. It was why she was so well respected at the male-dominated Texas Cattleman’s Club.
Today, she’d blown that. Her words came back to him. Why had she quit the TCC? Did she really think he had any intention of taking her ranch? Then he thought about how she’d torn up the document he’d signed, relinquishing his claim. The damned woman was so stubborn she probably figured she’d turn the place over to him regardless of what he wanted.
And if she did? What would she do? Where would she go? The ranch was everything to her. With her capital tied up in her land and her cows, she probably figured she’d have to downsize her herd in order to start over.
After checking to make sure everything was on track at The Bellamy, he headed home and was surprised to see his mother’s car as well as a catering van in the driveway. Shane parked his truck, drawing a blank. He was pretty sure he’d remember if there was a party scheduled.
When it hit him, he cursed, belatedly remembering he’d promised his mother to help her make catering decisions this afternoon for the party being held in four weeks to celebrate Bullseye’s hundred-year anniversary. He’d neglected to add the appointment to his calendar any of the four times she’d reminded him of the event.
He rushed into the house and found everything set up in the dining room. “Hello, Mother.” He circled the table to kiss the cheek she offered him.
“You’re late,” she scolded, more annoyed than she sounded.
The way she looked, he was going to need a drink. “I’m sorry.”
“Well, at least you’re here now, so we can begin.”
Until that second, Shane had been hoping that his mother had already sampled everything and made her decisions. Now he regarded the food spread over every available inch of table and groaned. The appetizers ran the gamut from individual ribs glazed in sweet-smelling barbecue sauce to ornate pastries begging to be tasted. Three champagne flutes sat before Elyse. She gestured toward the dining chair nearest her with a fourth gl
ass.
“Vincent, please pour my son some champagne so he can give his opinion on the two I’m deciding between.”
“I’m sure whatever you decide is fine,” Shane said, edging backward. He was in no mood to sit through an elaborate tasting.
“You will sit down and you will help me decide what we are going to serve at your party.”
If her tone hadn’t been so severe, he might have protested that the party hadn’t been his idea and he couldn’t care less what they served. But since he’d already alienated Gabe today and ruined any hope of future happiness with the woman he loved several days earlier, Shane decided he needed at least one person in his corner.
It took a half an hour to taste everything and another fifteen minutes for them to narrow it down to ten items. Elyse generously included several selections Shane preferred that she’d described as too basic. He wondered if she gave him his way in appreciation of his help tonight or if it was a ploy to make him more pliable the next time she asked for his assistance.
And then he wondered why he was questioning his mother’s motives. Was this what playing games had turned him into? Had he become suspicious of his own mother?
And what about Brandee? Was she solely to blame for the way she’d tried to trick him? If he’d been more like Gabe, honest and aboveboard, might she have come to him and negotiated a settlement that would have benefited both of them? Instead, because he liked to play games, she’d played one on him.
“I’m sorry I forgot about today,” he told his mother as Vincent packed up his edibles and returned the kitchen to its usual pristine state.
She sipped champagne and sighed. “I should be used to it by now.”
Shane winced. With Gabe’s lecture foremost in his thoughts, he asked, “Am I really that bad when it comes to getting out of doing things?”
“You’re my son. And I love you.” She reached out and patted his hand. “But when it comes to doing something you’d rather avoid, you’re not very reliable.”
It hurt more than he imagined it would to hear his mother say those words. Realizing he wasn’t his mother’s golden child humbled Shane. “Dad yelled at me about that all the time, but you never said a word.”