Tiger cate, p.6
Tiger Cate, page 6
“So, did you end up joining your dad’s law firm?”
“Yep, but only on the condition we steer the practice toward estate planning.”
A voice on the PA system cut in with a request for Team Baker.
“Oh, hey, that’s my team. Cate, so good to see you again.” He reached in his pocket and handed her a business card. “Call when you’re in town. We’ll do lunch at the Palace.”
Then he stepped onto the first rail of the fence, propelled expertly onto his horse’s back, and trotted off toward the arena gate.
The announcer broke the news that Team Finley had been disqualified after letting a calf escape back to the herd. Cate saw Estelle’s horse open his mouth and set back on his haunches as she yanked savagely on his bridle. Then the woman slid clumsily out of the saddle and threw the reins at Leelee. As she leaned in to hiss something at the Ruiz siblings, her eye strayed toward the house on the hill.
A large black SUV was parked next to the house, and a line of suited men stood peering down at the crowd. Estelle waved animatedly and was headed toward them when she noticed Cate and made a detour.
“Good to see you’re up, Caitlyn. Did you want to join in the fun? Liliana can saddle you an appropriate horse, I’m sure.” Then she noticed Cate’s empty coffee cup and held out her hand with the air of a schoolteacher shaming an offender. Cate smiled back, lazily handing her the cup.
“Not quite dressed for riding this morning, Estelle. All good. Happy to be a spectator.”
“Wow, you are so not Margaret,” Estelle said, dusting off her jeans and chuckling. “Well, I’m off to conduct some meetings this afternoon, but I wanted to invite you to a little dinner party for my, uh, visitors.” She gestured up the hill, speaking at a fast clip. “We’ll have drinks starting at six, then a presentation you will find very interesting. Then some delicious catered barbecue. Hopefully, your sister will arrive in time for it, but at least you’ll join us, yes?”
“Um, sure. Thanks, Estelle,” Cate replied, feeling the muscles contract in her stomach.
The prospect of this woman and some strangers witnessing her reunion with Margaret was unsettling. Her gut was telling her something was way off in that house and to keep her distance. But her mind wanted to know just what kind of presentation the woman was planning, and for whom.
Wanting to get Leelee’s take on the situation at the house and connect some random dots, she looked around for the girl. Finally, she spied her hanging a hay bag in front of Bella’s stall. Cate walked up to her old mare and scratched her ears gently.
“How’s our patient today?”
“Well, she’s eating and drinking, so all good, I guess,” the girl replied tonelessly. She looked deflated, and Cate longed to ask what Estelle had said to her.
“Nice effort out there in the arena this morning. Couldn’t have been easy.”
Leelee looked at her with genuine curiosity.
“How well do you know — ?” she began.
“Estelle? I was going to ask you that,” Cate replied. Leelee nodded and looked slightly relieved.
Well, this wasn’t good news. Cate hadn’t realized how much she’d been counting on the Ruizes to reassure her about Estelle. Her heart started to race as she stroked Bella’s neck.
“Honestly, I’ve never heard of a cousin named Estelle before yesterday. Dad didn’t have many relatives, and my mother had no family here and no contact with her family back in Ireland. Wish I could talk to my folks or Margaret about her. What did Estelle say to you and D.J. before your ride? I can’t help asking; you looked so miserable out there.”
“She … she likes winning, but … she’s just a terrible rider. I feel so bad for Pete, the horse she rode. His mouth was bleeding. She’s heard what I think about it. Said she’d get me fired if I continued my sass. You better ask D.J. what she said to him, though. We don’t speak for each other anymore.”
At the breakfast burrito concession, Rosa said D.J. had taken the hay truck into town. Just then, there was static over the PA, followed by an announcer calling out, “Cate Finley to the arena, please. Cate Finley, arena gate.”
Startled, Cate turned and saw Jimmy waving from just outside the arena entrance. She walked down to see what he had in mind. In answer, he held out the reins of the brown and white spotted horse standing placidly next to him.
“Hoping you can help. Our third rider ducked out before the second go -vround, and we’ve got a shot at some prize money.” His smile was mischievous.
“Do I look dressed for horse sports?” she asked, matching his smile.
“Nobody much cares what you’re wearing, Cate Finley. They care if you still have cow sense.”
“I haven’t stepped in the saddle in nearly two decades,” she said, laughing because this was going to happen. “Jimmy. I’m begging you. Please don’t make me do this.”
“You’re in good shape — haven’t let yourself go, at least. Hop up. Cochise will do all the work.”
“Hope I don’t regret it,” Cate said, adjusting the stirrups. She gave the gelding a pat on the neck and hauled herself onto his back.
As it turned out, riding a horse was a lot like riding a bike — once you’d ridden enough, you would always know how to do it. It helped that Cochise’s trot was smooth as silk, and he proved easy to turn. Once in the arena, Jimmy introduced her to the other rider, Paco, and explained their strategy. When the buzzer sounded, they would each take a turn separating their assigned calf from the herd and then driving it toward the pen at the end of the arena. Jimmy volunteered to take the first calf, counting on Paco’s and Cate’s calves following their buddy into the enclosure without resistance, and thus shaving time off their score.
It worked like a charm until Cate got distracted by Estelle, standing on the hill flanked by her entourage. Out of the corner of her eye, Cate saw her calf double back and head for the main herd again. Without a cue from her, her horse spun on his haunches and raced to cut off the calf’s escape, managing to chase it back into the pen at the last possible moment. The crowd whistled and whooped their approval. Once she’d regained her breath, Cate reached down and rubbed the spotted horse’s neck as he blew out.
“Good boy, Cochise,” she crooned.
Suddenly she was fourteen again and riding Bella out of the arena behind Doc and Margaret after a superb round of penning. They’d snagged the trophy, and Doc had let the sisters split the cash prize. Winning these events had always created a fleeting camaraderie between the Finley girls. Margaret had beamed at her and given a rare thumbs - up that day. Recalling it now, an ache found Cate’s chest, and her eyes stung.
Now the PA was announcing the morning’s winners. In the end, Team Baker took the second-place jackpot of $210, which Jimmy and Paco gave to Cate for being such a good sport. While she was relieved to have some unexpected cash, she quickly rebated them fifty dollars each. A girl had some pride.
Wanting to delay going up to the house until she’d talked to D.J., Cate grabbed a grooming bucket from the tack room and headed for Bella’s pen. On the way, she passed the Finley Ranch horse rig that she’d seen from up at the house and veered off to take a closer look.
The trailer was a monster, with six stalls and what looked like a dozen feet of living quarters, hooked up securely to a Freightliner hauler. Cate guessed she was looking at well over a hundred thousand dollars of horse transportation. She imagined Margaret climbing into the cab and feeling like the queen of the world. What would make her sister leave it behind on a horse - buying trip?
The door of the living quarters wasn’t locked, and a shocking mess lay inside. Clothing and food containers were strewn on the floor. A pile of empty Jack Daniels bottles and numerous beer cans occupied one corner. A human rat’s nest. Who was living in the trailer and trashing it? She refused to believe it was her sister, who had once torn into Cate for dropping a gum wrapper at the stables. She would need to ask Estelle about this along with some other troubling details. But first, a visit to Bella’s stall.
But the mare wasn’t in the barn. Cate saw her out in the stable yard, where a man in a filthy cowboy hat was about to load her into a stock trailer. A magnetic sign on the trailer read, “Copperton Livestock Auction.” Panicked, Cate looked around for Leelee and saw her carrying a saddle to the tack room.
“Leelee, what’s going on with Bella? She’s not going to auction, is she?”
Leelee shot her a furtive look, then stared down at the saddle in her arms. “Well, Estelle just told me she has to go. Too many colics.”
“Estelle? Since when does Estelle make decisions on the horse operation? I thought she managed the office or something.”
“Cate, I don’t — ” Leelee pleaded softly.
“If Doc was alive, he would never send Bella — a beloved ranch horse that he’d bred and raised — to an auction. Because you know why? At her age, they go straight to slaughter.” Cate felt her voice shaking as the emotion began to build. “I can’t believe Margaret would ever allow this.” Not the animal-loving sister she remembered.
“Well, I think she must have told Estelle to do it, Cate. That’s … that’s what I think,” the girl said defensively.
“Tell you what, you keep Bella off that trailer, and I will deal with Estelle, okay?”
Leelee nodded and headed over to talk to the driver.
Cate could hear the drone of voices coming from the dining room as she walked through the front door of the ranch house. In the foyer, she stopped before a painting of her parents and gazed into her father’s gentle eyes.
“You wouldn’t do this to Bella, not after all the years she’s given the ranch.”
She went into the kitchen for a glass of water and tried to eavesdrop on the meeting. Estelle stepped through the door, a peevish finger to her lips.
For a moment, Cate took in the towering woman, freshly changed into a cow print shirt over her fire engine red jeans that she’d tucked into black and white cowhide boots. A woman of her age and size, dressed like that, might have been laughable had Cate not been so furious.
“Estelle, Leelee seems to think Margaret told you to send Bella to the livestock auction. True?”
Estelle looked at her blankly for a moment.
“What? Oh, uh, sure. She said to sell all the excess horses.”
“Really? Bella? To the slaughter auction? Because back in my day, we avoided doing that to our beloved animals.” Cate could feel her face heating up.
“Don’t shoot the messenger. Talk to your sis. I’ll give you her cell.”
There was that smirk again.
The last thing Cate wanted to do was have another ugly phone conversation with Margaret. And, gauging how she felt right now, it would be ugly. Someone was jerking her around.
Cate stared back at the woman, speaking slowly and deliberately.
“I have canceled the haul to the auction yard until my sister gets home. You look like you’ve got plenty of other things on your plate, am I right?” Cate asked, throwing a look in the direction of the dining room. “Who are those men?”
“Oh, you’ll meet them tonight,” Estelle said with a look that made Cate’s spine shiver a little. “Don’t forget, happy hour starts at six.”
The woman headed for the door only to turn back to Cate, her face now looking wounded.
“And listen, I’m truly sorry if my stepping in to do some operations management disturbed you. Margaret has said countless times she wished you had stayed and become her partner in the ranch.”
Stung, Cate watched Estelle disappear into the dining room. The woman had gotten one part of the story right, at least. Cate had ruined her sister’s grand plan when she ran away to New York.
Chapter 11
When six o’clock rolled around, Cate put on the black sheath and sandals, along with the department store makeup, and studied herself in the bathroom mirror. Not bad. If she was to be the Finley clan representative at dinner, she was determined not to feel like a poor relation.
Quietly taking the back stairs down to the kitchen, Cate glimpsed a panel truck with “Copperton Charlie’s Texas - Style BBQ” parked outside. The tailgate stood open, revealing a portable slide - out grill. A mouth-watering aroma of barbecue wafted into the kitchen.
Rosa stood assembling ingredients for an enormous tostada on a silver platter when Cate leaned in for a side hug. She resisted the urge to remain there all night, embracing this woman. The summer after her parents died, Rosa Ruiz’s nurturing had been the only thing standing between Cate and starvation.
“Que bonita, mamacíta,” Cate murmured. Rosa beamed and hugged her back briefly, then shot a worried look over her shoulder in the direction of Estelle’s voice in the great room.
“Ten cuidado, mi preciosa. Be careful!” Then she quickly resumed the salad preparation.
Cate nodded, feeling somewhat like she was entering a lion’s den. She picked up a wine glass, filled it with tap water, and entered the great room.
Their names were Hugo, Dirk, Randy, and Gabe, and they were already on their second round of cocktails when she strode into the room.
Conversation stopped, which was flattering. Cate was glad she’d taken some extra time with her hair, brushing it into a loose topknot with tendrils carefully pulled out and wound into spirals. A chic version of her girl-living-out-of-a-backpack look.
Hugo turned out to be the eldest nephew of Sheriff Mack Griffin, who had indeed died a few years back and left him the two rental properties next to the ranch.
“With all original plumbing and laden with termites, they were twin white elephants, I’m afraid,” Hugo said in a slight British accent. She looked at him curiously, and he laughed. Aristocratic and well-tailored, with the air of a friendly, well-built stockbroker, Hugo was the polar opposite of his folksy uncle.
“My great - grandparents were originally from England. My father Colby — Mack’s younger brother — spent his senior high year with relatives in London and basically never returned to the States. So, I represent a whole branch of the Griffin family composed of repatriated Brits.”
“Wow, someone who strayed farther than I did,” Cate quipped.
“Yes, I’ve heard. New York, right? And this is your first trip back since high school?”
Yes, yes, that was becoming the question to ask her.
Estelle came by just then with a towel-wrapped champagne bottle.
“Fill you up, Cate?”
Cate started to protest, but the liquid was already pouring into her empty glass. In general, champagne held no appeal for her — bad memories of Manhattan hotels.
Dirk and Randy appeared to be twins or at least related, but maybe it was just the shared male pattern baldness and lack of fashion sense. Flashing realtor cards along with their dentist - enhanced teeth, they seemed in awe of Estelle’s charisma. Estelle’s minions, Cate thought.
The fourth man, introduced as Gabe and standing apart from the others, was by far the most interesting. Between answering and asking questions from the others, Cate kept her eye on him as he inventoried the fixtures and furnishings in the great room. Antique dealer? Either that or he was painfully shy. Or a well - dressed burglar. He had a face that clenched like a fist, even when in repose. Dressed impeccably, he seemed reluctant to touch anything for fear of ruining his inky black suit with dust and animal hair.
He caught her looking his way, and a smile spread across his features. It made him look like a ravenous thug. Charming … friendly … but no less a thug. She hated feeling so paranoid, especially now that she was back in her family home. This was the lasting damage from having spent so many years in a harsh city like New York. You picked up on dangerous energy.
She noticed the waning fire in the oversized brick fireplace and seized a wrought iron poker to stoke it. The logs instantly fell apart, being the wax and sawdust kind for sale at supermarkets. Cate closed her eyes and imagined her father, a master builder of real wood fires, rolling over in his grave.
A sudden nostalgia for Doc’s corny jokes and easy company came over her. God, she missed him, more so now she was back in the home they’d all shared. There was something undefinable and ominous in this room right now, making her feel nervous and edgy. She had an impulse to keep the poker handy.
Gabe moved to stand next to her, his back to the fire.
“What an exquisite property you have here.” His voice was smooth and practiced. “Must have been hard to leave all those years ago.” Clearly, an invitation to draw her out.
She’d changed her mind about him. A lawyer or corporate operative of some kind. The kind that might have a nondisclosure agreement from a powerful man tucked in his coat jacket. She knew that was crazy. There was no way Joseph had followed her back to this dusty little Arizona town. Even so, she turned and gave the man a cold stare, hoping to discourage more conversation. He nodded, slightly amused, and they both turned to view Estelle’s floor show.
“Why don’t we start the presentation, shall we?” Estelle had recorked the champagne after refilling Cate’s glass and now set it under a side table by the bookshelf. “I’m most interested in what you gentlemen have come up with since our last meeting.”
Estelle ushered everyone over to a line of folding chairs that faced the picture window. She switched on some spotlights, then closed the ceiling-high drapes with a flourish. The room instantly transformed into a cabaret, with Estelle as the main act. Pulling down a screen that hung on an easel, she stepped to the side as Dirk — or Randy — started a PowerPoint presentation.
The first slide showed a wide span of houses that looked like they backed right up to Cabeza Rock National Monument. It took a few moments to register that some of the structures in the vast sea of homes would have to be located on Finley Ranch property. Specifically, the bottom half of the hundred - acre irrigated cattle pasture that had been her father’s pride and joy.
