Second Chance Bride and Groom Read online

  “Sounds like you have a definite plan of action and everything is under control. I’ll meet you at the clubhouse Wednesday. Say around two-thirty. That will give me plenty of time to wrap up anything sitting on my desk. I could use the fresh air. There’s not much of that around here these days,” he glanced toward Johnson’s office.

  Jackson shook hands with his longtime friend and sometime golf partner before exiting the bank. He looked back toward where he’d seen Mandy disappear earlier, but the door was still closed. He didn’t like the way old man Johnson had spoken to her earlier. He didn’t like the thought of her having to deal with that man either. He was a world-class jerk and a bloodsucking leech. How he ever became president of the bank, Jackson would never know. He decided to ask Carson a few more causal questions during their round of golf on Wednesday.

  ****

  Mandy looked across the huge desk at the banker in horror. Things were much worse than she’d imagined. She winced at the stress headache she could feel building. She most definitely didn’t have time for a killer headache. “So basically, what you’re telling me is that my time has already run out before I can even get started. And the bank isn’t willing to give me a chance to dig my family out of this hole.”

  “That’s the bottom line, Ms. Tyler. Payments are six months behind, and I already have a party interested in buying out the mortgage. The economy being what it is these days, the bank needs to recoup all that it can. I can’t afford to sit back and let an opportunity like this pass the bank by.”

  The smug look on his face made Mandy’s blood boil and her blood pressure rise. She had to stay calm. Nothing would be gained from a temper tantrum. She was a twenty-four-year-old woman, not a spoiled four-year-old. She needed to retain a professional demeanor, no matter how impossible that seemed at the moment. “What should I do now,” a disheartened Mandy managed to ask.

  “Well, things would have been better for you all the way around if your father hadn’t used the ranch as collateral and taken out a second mortgage on top of everything else.”

  Mandy glared at the banker. “I guess he felt like he didn’t have a choice. He needed the money to pay his medical bills.” She knew her dad didn’t have the best head for business, but she wasn’t going to sit back and let someone with a heart of stone criticize her much-beloved dad.

  She just wished he’d come to her for help. She didn’t make a lot at her job, but she did have some savings. She’d have done anything to help lessen her father’s burden, even sell her car. If only she’d known about this sooner, she sadly thought.

  The man cleared his throat. “Be that as it may, you have until the end of the month to rectify the situation.” He gave her another self-satisfied smile. “That’s three weeks away.”

  Mandy tried to calm down and stay focused. Her nails were biting into the palm of her hand, but the pain was doing its job. It kept her focused on the man in front of her. “I’m sure I can sell my car and a few other things on the ranch to come up with the twenty or so thousand dollars that are owed.” Mandy stood. “I need to get back to work if I’m going to get anything accomplished. I’ll be in touch.” She started out of the office, but the banker’s next words stopped her dead in her tracks.

  “It won’t help, too little too late, as they say. You need the whole one hundred and five thousand dollars.”

  “What,” Mandy practically screamed at the banker. “You can’t do that. I’m only behind by about twenty thousand dollars.”

  The banker shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. The mortgage is in default now, and the bank has the right to demand the full amount owed or foreclose and sell the property in question. Even if you could raise the twenty thousand dollars in three weeks, you might fall behind again.” He had the nerve to smirk at her. “Then where would the bank be?”

  Mandy was too stunned to reply. She stumbled out of the office and somehow made her way back to her car. She thought she heard someone calling her name. It was probably Daisy, but she didn’t look back. Her headache was now full-fledged, and the pressure relentlessly pounded against her temples. She scrunched her eyes together and rubbed her forehead trying to ease some of the pressure.

  When she reached the parking lot adjacent to the bank, her hands were shaking so hard she had trouble using the remote to unlock the car door. After dropping her keys and stooping to pick them up, she was finally seated in the car. She rested her head against the steering wheel for just a second. She took a deep breath and started the drive home. Oh, dear God, she wondered what on Earth she was going to tell her mother. She’d lost the love of her life, and now she was going to lose her home.

  Jackson watched Mandy from the tinted windows of his luxury SUV. The one he drove when he wasn’t working or on call. He was glad he’d followed his gut instinct and waited for Mandy to leave the bank. Something was going on, and whatever it was, it wasn’t good. She had a very expressive face, and her emotions were always close to the surface. And right now, she looked utterly devastated.

  He felt his gut clench. Before he even knew what he was doing, he found himself marching back into the bank. He slipped past the man getting ready to meet with Carson. “I’m sorry. I left something in Mr. Miller’s office. This will only take a second.” Jackson hurried into the room and shut the door.

  Carson looked up with a smile. “How are you today Mr.,” his words and smile froze when he spotted Jackson and the look on his face. His friend was livid. He hadn’t seen his friend this mad since he’d found those three half-starved horses on that abandoned ranch twenty miles outside of town. “I thought you’d left already. What’s the problem, Jackson?”

  “I don’t know, but I need you to find out. Mandy Tyler left here in tears. She was so upset she couldn’t even drive right away. I want to know what’s going on. If it makes you feel better, tell yourself this, we’re neighbors, so if something is going on with her ranch, it might affect me too. I am not asking you to do anything illegal. You work here, just do a little snooping on your computer, and try to find out what is going on, preferably by Wednesday.”

  “You don’t ask much, do you, my friend?” Carson glared at his old high school buddy. “I’ll see what I can do.” The two men shook on it, and Jackson opened the door to leave. He apologized to the man still waiting to see Carson and walked back to his vehicle. He needed to get the supplies back to the clinic. Luckily the clinic was on his ranch property because that put him right next to Mandy Tyler and her ranch. And he decided it was time to pay her a visit.

  ****

  Mandy was just about heartbroken. This was the hardest conversation she’d ever had to have. The stress headache was still going strong. She had furrows in her forehead that threatened to become permanent if she didn’t stop frowning. She also had crescent marks in both palms from squeezing her hands tightly together and digging in with her fingernails. It was meant to help her keep control. She was moments from bursting into tears, and that would only make her mother feel worse.

  “I’m really sorry mom. I just don’t see how I can pull it off, but we’ll be okay. We can pack up our personal belongings and go to San Antonio. My job is being held for me, and there is a second bedroom in my apartment. It’ll be cramped especially since you’re used to the ranch, but we’ll be all right, Mom. We still have each other,” she added.

  “I know you’ll do the best you can, honey.” The doorbell rang. She put her head down and looked at the hands tightly clasped together in her lap. “I don’t feel much like company. I’m going to my bedroom. Would you deal with whoever’s at the door please, sugar?” Barbara Tyler gave her daughter one last pleading look and shuffled down the hall to the master bedroom.

  Mandy reluctantly walked to the door. She didn’t feel like having company either. There was so much she had to do in the coming weeks. She pasted a smile on her face and opened the door. She was really surprised to see Jackson Walker lounging on the front porch. Twice in one day and she hadn’t engineered either
encounter. Fate was a mean old woman laughing herself silly right about now Mandy decided. At least Jackson couldn’t blame this meeting on her. He was the one standing on her porch, and she sure hadn’t issued an invitation.

  She crossed her arms and looked him straight in the eyes. “Jackson, I have a lot to do today. I’m sure this isn’t a social call. You haven’t darkened this doorstep in years. I think you thought I would consider it encouragement and then hound you to your dying days. Isn’t that what you said six years ago?”

  Jackson didn’t wait for an invitation. He walked into the house as if he owned the place. “Cut the crap, Mandy. You know you were too young for me back then. You were only eighteen and fresh out of high school. I was one year shy of finishing my veterinarian training and starting my own practice. We were miles apart regarding age and experience. You know that’s the truth.”

  Mandy let out an inner sigh and absently rubbed her aching temples. “Whatever, I got over you years ago, Jackson. Why are you here? I don’t have time to stand around reminiscing about my stupidity, misguided youth, and misplaced affections.”

  “You aren’t stupid, and your affection wasn’t necessarily misplaced just untimely.” He snapped his mouth shut real fast. He wasn’t entirely sure where that deeply buried confession had come from.

  Mandy didn’t pay any attention to the words he was saying. He was up to something, and she wanted nothing to do with whatever it was. She walked to the door and held it open wide. “I don’t want you here, please leave.” The words felt foreign on her tongue, but she managed to get them out.

  Jackson reached out to touch her shoulder but dropped his hand when he noticed Mandy flinch. “Mandy, I just want to know what’s going on. I saw you leaving the bank. You were obviously very upset, and I want to know why.”

  “I’ve been back in town for almost a month Jackson. You want to know why you didn’t see me before now. It’s because I went out of my way to avoid you.” She was picking up speed now, and the words were tumbling out unheeded. “I’m sorry if I made your life difficult six years ago. It was never my intention. Now that I’m older I can see what a nuisance I was, and I don’t blame you for calling me out in public the way you did.” She shrugged. “Looking back on it now, I’m just surprised you didn’t snap sooner.”

  She wrapped her arms around her middle and let out a strangled sigh. “What’s done is done, Jackson. Please just leave me alone. And if it makes you any happier, I can tell you that my life is falling apart without any help from you.” Mandy tried to stop the tears that were threatening to fall, but they spilled anyway. She was mortified at showing any sign of weakness in front of Jackson. Could this day get any worse she wondered? If so, she surely didn’t know how.

  A woman’s tears always made Jackson feel uncomfortable, but the sight of Mandy’s tears did more than that. They twisted his gut inside out. He wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back. “It’s okay, darling. I wish you’d tell me what’s wrong. I can help you fix it, whatever it is.” The words came out unbidden, but as soon as he said them, he knew he meant it. He would move Heaven and Earth to help her if he only knew what was bothering her so much.

  Being held in his arms brought her body to life. Nerves fluttered in her belly, and her nipples which were being pressed into his hard chest tightened in response. She so didn’t need to make a fool of herself again with this man. Mandy pushed away from Jackson and wiped away the tears trailing down her cheek. “There’s nothing you can do to help me, Jackson. And as you so eloquently informed me six years ago, we aren’t even friends, so why would you bother. Now are you going to leave on your own or do I need to call one of the ranch hands to help you find your way off the property.”

  The way she abruptly dismissed him was a kick in the gut. Jackson held up his hands in defeat. “I was just trying to be neighborly. Don’t worry, I’m leaving.” He turned and walked out the door, slamming it behind him as he went.

  Mandy Tyler was the most infuriating woman he’d ever met! And yes, he was willing to admit that now she was all woman. Her blond curly hair, wide violet eyes, and willowy body combined to make one very tempting package. And that package should be labeled trouble Jackson decided because he just knew trouble was going to be gunning for him. And it had Mandy’s name written all over it.

  Mandy watched him climb into his big black SUV and disappear down the driveway. She didn’t know why Jackson was finally showing an interest in her after all these years, but he was wasting his time. She and her mother would be leaving the ranch, never to return, in just a few weeks. She’d probably never see Jackson Walker ever again once she returned to San Antonio.

  And his life would go on just as before. He probably wouldn’t even notice her absence, until someone else mentioned it in passing. This time she couldn’t hold back the sobs. They shook her body as they escaped in giant bursts. And of course, that only made her head ache more.

  THREE

  Jackson sank his putt for birdie on the eighteenth green and flashed a big grin at his playing partner. He watched Carson putt for par. The ball disappeared into the hole, but Jackson had still won today by five strokes. The two men headed for the golf cart. “We are usually evenly matched. What’s going on with you Carson, problems at work?” His friend definitely seemed preoccupied with something.

  “You could say that,” Carson agreed. “It’s all tied in with what you asked me to look into regarding Mandy Tyler. Things are not good, Jackson. There could be big trouble. I’ve asked Landon James to meet us at the clubhouse. He should be arriving in the next ten minutes.”

  Jackson pulled the golf cart into a parking place outside the clubhouse and looked over at his friend. He didn’t like the sound of this one bit. It looks like his prediction had been correct. Trouble was looming on the horizon it seemed, and it was coming his way. “You know there isn’t much love lost between Landon and me, so I’m assuming if you asked him to meet us it has something to do with the ranch.” Jackson gave his friend a fierce frown. “And that it is indeed serious.”

  Carson looked at his friend and nodded. “I’ll save the explanations until he arrives because I only want to have to repeat what I’ve learned once.” Carson hated the spot he was in, but he didn’t regret what he was about to do. “I could get into a lot of trouble for what I’m about to do. I could lose my job, and jeopardize my career, if old man Johnson found out about this. But since the James and Walker Ranches both border the Tyler Ranch it concerns both of you and something needs to be done.”

  Jackson led the way into the clubhouse and found an empty table in a secluded corner in the back. The three men should be able to carry on a private conversation without having to worry about eavesdroppers. They had just sat down when Landon James walked into the clubhouse. Jackson raised his hand in greeting and watched Landon make his way to the table.

  Landon shook hands with both Carson and his neighbor Jackson Walker. The two men had never really been friends, more like rivals, so the fact that he was here told Landon this must somehow be connected to the two men’s neighboring ranches. “Good afternoon, Gentlemen. You were very secretive over the phone, Carson, and I had to sneak away from my new wife to keep this meeting quiet. I’m not very happy about that, so let’s get down to business. What can I do for you today?”

  Carson waited for the waitress to finish delivering the three whiskeys he’d ordered when they’d first walked into the door. As soon as she walked away, he cleared his throat. “Gentlemen, you have a problem, a very big one. Lucky for you I found out what I did when I did, and there’s still time to fix it.”

  “What’s going on, Carson,” Jackson felt his gut twist in alarm. He glanced over at Landon and guessed he was feeling the same way. “Does this have anything to do with Mandy and her visit to the bank Monday morning?”

  Carson nodded his head in agreement. “I pulled her file up on the computer after you left. What I found out is not pretty. Her father was a nice man and from all acco
unts a wonderful husband and father, but he was not the best businessman. The Tyler Ranch has been losing money for a while now. Things got more complicated when he became sick. He took out a second mortgage on the ranch property. It hasn’t been paid for several months and is now in default. Old man Johnson is going to call in the note at the end of the month. If Mandy can’t pay off the entire hundred thousand plus dollars, then she’ll forfeit the property to the bank.”

  Jackson let out a deep breath. No wonder Mandy was so upset when she left the bank and later when he visited her at the ranch. She just lost her father, and now her childhood home was about to follow. He felt sorry for her and her mom both he really did, but surely it wouldn’t be the end of the world.

  Landon seconded what Jackson was thinking. “I’m really sorry to hear that. I feel bad for Barbara and Mandy. I really do, but what does any of this have to do with Jackson or me?”

  Carson narrowed his eyes and then looked from Landon to Jackson. “That’s where you’re wrong, Landon. Johnson was careless enough to carry on a cell phone conversation in his office without closing the door all the way. I just happened to be at Daisy’s desk looking at the bank’s central calendar. Johnson wants to foreclose on the property because he already has a buyer. I listened long enough to catch the man’s name, and it’s not good.”

  Jackson was ready for this conversation to be over and done. It was making him more uncomfortable than it should. “Well, who’s the buyer?”

  “Are you familiar with Doug Morris?” Carson asked the two men.

  Jackson felt a chill snake down his spine. “Doug Morris, as in the man that has been gobbling up as much of the southwest as he can and then building hideous industrial parks on the sites, that Doug Morris?” Jackson asked.