“Suit yourself,” he said, easing back up to the table when their waitress placed a plate full of food in front of him. Alyssa watched him dig in. He’d said he could think better on a full stomach, but was he really going to eat all that? She couldn’t imagine him eating such hefty meals as the norm, especially since he had such a well-built body that was all muscle and no fat.
“Why are you staring at my plate?”
She shrugged. “That’s a lot of food,” she said when the waitress placed a sandwich and bowl of soup in front of her.
He laughed. “I’m still growing. Besides, I need all this to keep my strength up. What I do around the ranch is hard work.”
“And what exactly do you do?”
He smiled over at her. “I’m a horse tamer. I have some of my men stationed out in Nevada. They capture wild horses then ship them to my ranch for me to tame. Once that’s done, I ship them to Montana. My cousin and brother-in-law own a horse-breeding company. My sister works for them as a trainer.”
“Sounds like a family affair.”
“It is.”
Alyssa intentionally kept her head lowered as she ate her sandwich and soup. She didn’t want to risk looking head-on into Clint’s eyes again. Each time she did so made every cell in her body vibrate.
“I’m thinking of getting one of those.”
She raised her head and gazed at him, trying not to zero in on his handsome features, while at the same time ignoring the sensations that flowed through her. “Getting one of what?”
“A website.”
She lifted a brow. “You don’t have one already?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Why would I?”
“Mainly to promote your business.”
“Don’t have to. Durango and McKinnon are in charge of bringing in the customers. We have a private clientele.”
“Oh. Who are Durango and McKinnon?”
He wiped his mouth with a napkin before answering. “Durango is my cousin and McKinnon is married to my sister, Casey. They are my partners and the ones who started the horse-breeding company. Now it has grown to include horse training and horse taming,” he said.
She nodded. “If you did just fine without a website before, then why are you thinking about getting one now?”
He actually looked like he was tired of answering her questions. His tone indicated that he was only answering her in an attempt to be polite. “Because of the foundation I recently started.”
“What foundation?”
“The Sid Roberts Foundation.” And as if he was preparing for her next question, he said, “He was my uncle.”
Her eyes widened. “Sid Roberts? The Sid Roberts? Was your uncle?” she asked incredulously.
“Yes,” he responded, seemingly again with barely tolerant patience. And then as if he’d had enough of her questions he said, “Why don’t you finish eating. Your soup is getting cold.”
* * *
At least he had gotten her to stop talking, Clint thought, taking a sip of his coffee. Although he noticed what she was eating wasn’t much. He’d thought Casey was the only person who considered soup and a sandwich a full-course meal.
Clint leaned back in his chair. The food was great and he was full, so now he could think. Yet he was far from having an answer to their problem. Part of him wanted to start the appeal process and see what would happen. But if the appeal failed, they would have to do the thirty days anyway.
“You didn’t say why you are establishing a foundation for your uncle.”
He glanced over at her. “Didn’t I?” he asked tersely. He couldn’t recall her being this chatty before. In fact, he remembered her as a mousy young woman who didn’t seem to have the fortitude for her job as a Ranger. Although truth be told, he would be the first to give her an A for her acting abilities during their assignment together.
He couldn’t help noticing how the sunlight shining through the window hit her hair at an angle that gave the copper strands a golden tint. He felt a sudden tingling sensation right smack in his gut. He didn’t like the feeling. Since becoming partners with Durango and McKinnon nine months ago, he had placed his social life—and women—on hold.
“No, you didn’t,” she said, breaking into his thoughts and seemingly not the least put off by his cool tone.
He didn’t say anything for a while and then asked, “What do you know about Sid Roberts?”
She smiled. “Only what’s in the history books, as well as what my grandfather shared with me.”
He lifted a brow. “Your grandfather?”
“Yes, he was a huge Sid Roberts fan and even claimed to being a part of the rodeo circuit with him at one time. I know Mr. Roberts was a legend in his day. First as a rodeo star then as a renowned horse trainer.”
“Uncle Sid loved horses and passed that love on to me, my brother and sister. In my uncle’s memory, we have dedicated over three thousand acres of land on the south ridge of my property as a reserve. A great number of the wild horses that are being shipped to me are being turned loose to roam free here.”
“Why go to the trouble of relocating them here? Why not leave them in Nevada and let them run free there?”
He frowned. “Mainly because wild horses are taking up land that’s now needed for public use. Legislation is being considered that will allow for so many of them to be destroyed each year. Many of these wild horses are getting slaughtered for pet food.”
“That’s awful,” she murmured and he knew she was deliberately lowering her voice to keep out the anger she felt. It was the same with him every time he thought about it.
“Yes, it is. So I’ve established the foundation as a way to save as many of the wild horses as I can by bringing them here.”
He felt they had gotten off track, and had put on the back burner the subject they really needed to be discussing. “So what are we going to do, Alyssa, about our marriage?”
She frowned. “You make it sound like a real one when it’s not.”
“Then tell that to Toner. And maybe it’s time to accept that regardless of where we want to place the blame, legally we are man and wife.”
Alyssa opened her mouth to deny what he said, but couldn’t. He was right. They could sit and blame others but that wouldn’t solve their problem. “Okay, you have a full stomach, what do you suggest?”
“You’re not going to like it.”
“Probably not if it’s what I’m thinking.”
He sighed deeply. “Do we have a choice?”
She knew they didn’t but still... “There has to be another way.”
“According to Hightower, there isn’t. You heard him for yourself.”
“I say let’s fight it.”
“And I say let’s just do what we have to do and get it over with.”
She nibbled on her bottom lip. “Fine, but there’s still the issue of where we’ll stay. Here or Waco.” Each knew how the other felt on the subject. Alyssa knew she was being hard-nosed. To handle his business properly, he would have to be on his ranch, whereas she could operate just about anywhere, as long as she had her computer and server.
“Alyssa?”
She glanced up at him. “Yes?”