Rodeo Family. Mary Sullivan

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       Chapter Three

      Nadine parked her car on Main Street, wishing for the hundredth time that she had a garage to protect it from the elements. She needed a car in rural Montana, but if something serious happened to the one she had, she wouldn’t have money for another unless her circumstances changed drastically.

      She hadn’t saved money in New York. She might have worked long hours, but living there was expensive.

      Lee didn’t pay her well. If she didn’t get this story and he fired her, getting another job in her field would be nearly impossible after that incident in New York.

      She couldn’t think about it. Couldn’t face her own hubris. Had left it behind in the Big Apple.

      Her stomach cramped. She picked up her bag and walked down Main to the Rodeo Wrangler office, staring at the gold and black lettering on the door.

      Lee had made promises when she’d come home.

      He had no children. No heirs. He’d intimated he wanted to retire. He needed someone to take over.

      That someone would be her.

      Coming home in a state of utter loss, his promise had been a prayer answered.

      But now she faced this changed man and his unreasonable demand.

      Lee stood in the large plate glass window watching her approach.

      When she’d worked for him in high school, she had never gotten a bad feeling from Lee. He’d given her a first shot at journalism and she had been grateful. Who was this man he’d become and what had he done with the Lee Beeton she’d known?

      Despite her anger and feelings of betrayal, sadness filled her.

      He’d once been a decent man.

      Judging by the look in his eye, he was in the same mood as when she’d left to go out to the Brandt ranch. He would want a full report, she was sure. His gaze seemed almost malevolent.

      Boy, she was chock-full of exaggeration today. Or maybe not.

      How could she have misjudged him so badly? As a teenager, she had thanked him profusely for the opportunities and the experience. And when she’d returned to Rodeo a year ago with her tail between her legs, Lee had once again agreed to give her a job. She’d seen signs that he had changed. Grouchiness. Tension. Impatience. Her friends had said he’d been slowly becoming more bad-tempered over the years. Nadine had ignored all of this, but could no longer.

      Not with his demand for dirt on a fellow citizen.

      She stepped into the office.

      Without preamble, he asked, “Did you get it?”

      “The story? Of course not, Lee. That was just the first interview. I can’t jump into the nitty-gritty without gaining his trust first.”

      “Trust. Yeah. I guess so.”

      He guessed so? Lee knew how to conduct an interview and how to handle a subject. He’d been a good journalist in his time, but these days he seemed desperate. What was going on with him?

      “Lee, if your mother has a memory of something fishy in the Brandt family, why don’t you just ask her about it? Why send me to do your dirty work?”

      “Because she isn’t telling me. She said she needs to talk to Richard Brandt.”

      “Rick? Zach’s father?”

      “No. Richard—Zach’s grandfather.”

      Dread settled into Nadine’s stomach. “His grandfather who’s been dead for decades? Does your mother not understand that he’s gone?”

      “Sometimes she’s lucid and sometimes she isn’t.”

      “So how can you trust anything she has to say? Maybe all her memories are suspect.”

      “Naw. When’s she lucid, she’ll remember the dress she wore on her first date and what they had for dinner that night.”

      “But СКАЧАТЬ