I Choose You: A sizzling Hollywood Western romance. Kristina O'Grady

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      This conversation was going nowhere. Jenna and him were old news. Last he’d heard she’d married some grain farmer from the next town. Her rejection still stung like an open wound. He didn’t allow himself to think about her, much less talk about his almost wedding. Looking back now he knew he was naive to think she would have been happy married to some poor cowboy like him. Beth told him her new husband was a rich farmer set to inherit his family’s farm. Funny, not once while they were together did he ever think of Jenna as a gold digger.

      He sighed and pushed thoughts of Jenna into the far reaches of his mind.

      “Dad, why is the ranch in such a mess? What happened? I thought this place more than paid for itself before. What’s going on?”

      “As I said, having your sister in and out of hospital for so long piled up the bills. The cost of having to stay in a hotel to be near her was enough of a strain, let alone the food, extra hands on the ranch and travel back and forth. At least the treatment was covered. But we survived all that. I made some bad business decisions these last few years and I guess you could say I’ve never had a good head for business. Not like you. I need your brains, Ben, and your muscle. This place is falling apart and I’m afraid without your help we won’t make it. That’s why I asked you to come back home. Besides,” he said, leaning back in his chair, “this is where you belong. Not in some city working behind a desk.”

      “I was working at a farm supply store, Dad, not at a desk,” Ben muttered.

      “Did you like it?” his dad asked, leaning closer to Ben.

      “No, not really,” Ben admitted.

      “You would have been wasted there. You were born a rancher, you need to be a rancher. What do you say? Will you stay and help us get ready for this film crew?”

      Ben sighed and sat back down in his chair.

      “What do you need me to do?”

       Chapter 5

      Helga threw her keys in the bowl on the side table by her door. Sometimes she wasn’t even sure why she’d bought this apartment; she was never here. She pushed the button on the wall and the blinds wound open. The late afternoon sun streamed into the windows. She walked over to the glass and looked over the New York landscape. Ah yes, this was why she’d bought this place.

      Below she could see the park and the tiny figures scurrying from place to place. She loved New York. The atmosphere was electric. The art was fantastic and the theatre, oh the theatre was the best in the world. When she wasn’t working she’d spend her time soaking in the performances on Broadway.

      She could still remember the first show she saw not long after she moved here: Annie. It had been magnificent: the crowds, the lights, the music. It was the best New York moment of her life. She loved Broadway and hoped it was something she’d do later in her life.

      She sighed, turning her back on the view and went to her fridge to grab an iced tea. A smile played across her lips as she thought of the faces her girlfriends would make if they saw her beverage choice. They preferred manhattans and vodka sliders but she always went for the non-alcoholic variety. She knew too many stars that had gone down the drug and alcohol track and had no wish to follow them.

      She was taking the last sip from her glass when her phone rang. For a moment she was tempted to let it ring and then she saw who it was. If she didn’t answer now, she knew he’d just call back.

      “Hi Dad. How’s Mom?” Why did she always sound so weary when she talked to him? She could even hear it in her own voice, it sounded as though she hadn’t slept for weeks.

      “She’s fine, honey, but that’s not why I’m calling. It’s you I’m worried about.” His gruff voice echoed down the line. A knot grew in her stomach.

      “Me? I’m fine, Dad.” Here we go again. She went back to her window and stared down at the park below.

      “How can you be with what I’ve read in the papers?” Concern filled his voice, but it didn’t make her feel any better.

      “Dad, I’m fine. Really I am. You know you can’t believe everything you read in those magazines.” Helga held back a sigh. Would this day never end? All she wanted was to curl up on the couch and watch a movie. It was either that or cry herself to sleep…again. Oh, who was she kidding? She was going to do that anyway. Tears pricking the back of her eyes she cleared her throat to hold them back.

      “Oh…so Myles didn’t cheat on you?” His voice rose at the end of the question in hope. Her dad had really liked Myles.

      “Well, yes, Dad he did, but…” The knife twisted in her gut again.

      “Why don’t you give it up, Helga? And get a real job? One that doesn’t splash you all over the papers? One that pays well.”

      “Dad, this one pays pretty well.” The glass of the window was cool against her forehead. If she just closed her eyes, maybe this would just be a dream when she opened them again.

      “No, no, no, I mean one that pays really well. You could be a lawyer like your brother. Or a doctor. You’re smart enough for that.”

      His confidence in her was heartening, but she’d had this discussion or one very similar to it too many times to feel anything but betrayed. Why couldn’t he understand that this is what she loved? Okay, so she didn’t love forfeiting her privacy, but she loved acting. And she was good at it, Goddamn it!

      “Thanks, Dad. I appreciate your suggestions, but you do realize I make $19 million a film, right? Even my dear brother can’t beat that.”

      “Yes but, honey, his name isn’t splashed all over the papers on a weekly basis. And he is happily married, I might add. Your mother and I want grandchildren someday, you know. If you can’t settle down, how are we going to get those?”

      She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

      “Dad,” she said, “you have two other children, you know that, right? You just finished pointing out to me that Adrian is happily married, why not call him and tell him to hurry up and have babies?”

      “Oh honey, you know Adrian is busy. He’s got a very busy practice to look after; he can’t take the time off to have kids right now. You should know that.”

      Helga rubbed her forehead.

      “I’m not busy? Dad, I’ve just finished shooting back to back films. I work sixteen to eighteen hours a day. I don’t exactly have time to have kids either! And it’s not like Adrian has to actually have the kids. He only needs to show up for a few minutes, job done. It’s Susan who will have to carry the thing for nine months.”

      “Don’t be so crude.” Her father’s voice snapped down the line and her hand clenched the receiver.

      “Sorry,” she mumbled. How was it he had the ability to make her feel five years old again? “Dad, we both know Adrian won’t help with raising the child, even if he was at home all the time. It would be beneath him. Poor Susan, I don’t know what she ever saw in him.” Her voice sounded bitter and she now regretted her outburst. Her brother wasn’t all bad, she just struggled to find the good in him sometimes, СКАЧАТЬ