Mason (Remington Ranch Book 1) (Contemporary Western Romance) Read online

  “I need to talk to Cassidy and get things rolling there.” Her smile faded. “And I need to talk to the realtor and put him off for a while.”

  Mason raised an eyebrow. He didn't like the sound of that for a while part.

  Gina shrugged. “I don't want to sell, you know that. Especially not to Guy, but I have to be practical.”

  Mason wasn't sure if he should bring it up yet. They hadn't exactly made any decisions about what their future would hold. She'd talked about spending the rest of their lives making it up to each other. Surely that meant they were back on the track that they had been? He hedged, just in case. “Do you think there's a possibility you'll have to give the place up?” Didn't she realize that he wouldn't let that happen?

  “I hope not, but I need to get things in place first. I need to talk to Cassidy. I have a show coming up in New York I need to go back for. Right now I'm in a precarious situation and until I know where and how I'm going to be able to make enough money to pay the bills every month, I daren't tell Dad we won't have to sell.”

  Mason nodded. He knew how Al felt about losing the place. “I could help.”

  Gina stared at him for a long moment. “Thanks, but I need to figure it out for myself.”

  That stung. What did that mean? That she didn't want his help?

  “Don't look like that, Mase. You need to understand that I'm used to making things happen by myself. I appreciate you offering to help, but this is my problem.”

  Mason didn't understand. If they were back together and going to spend the rest of their lives together, shouldn't it be his problem, too? “Aren't we in this together?” he asked.

  “Yes. That's exactly the point. Together. I don't want you riding to the rescue and solving my problems for me. I want us to be equal partners. We have to be if we're going to make this work, don't you see that? Back then, you were the big strong hero striding in to save the day whenever something went wrong. I was just the little girl waiting to be saved. When you...” She stopped herself, apparently deciding to change tack. “With everything that happened, I learned that I had to take care of myself. I'd believed in us so completely that I never bothered to become me. After we broke up, I had to learn to fend for myself and I've gotten pretty good at it. I'm not just going to throw my hands up in the air now, give up my independence and say, please rescue me.”

  “But...”

  “But nothing. Let me do this my way. Please?”

  Mason nodded reluctantly.

  “Thank you. If we're going to make it work, I need to know that you respect me and will respect my decisions.”

  “I do respect you, G. Is it so wrong of me to want to be part of it, to help?”

  She came and planted a peck on his lips. “It's not wrong of you at all. I love you for it. I just want you to love me for me. I want us to be equals. I don't want to feel like the little damsel in distress who needs you to rescue her.”

  Mason shrugged. He could see that, but he was a man after all. Part of being a man was taking care of the people he loved. Especially taking care of his woman. “I'll go along with whatever you say.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Gina sat back and smiled at Cassidy. “So should we go ahead and book our tickets, then?”

  Cassidy grinned. “Definitely. It's only a couple of weeks away.”

  This was looking as though it might work. Gina had been dreading going back to New York for her show, but now she couldn't wait to do it. Cassidy was going with her and they were going to use the opportunity to establish a name for themselves, to get the word out that they were working together, and, hopefully, to garner interest in the Moonstone Gallery and their upcoming Montana collection.

  “Will you be bringing the sexy Mr. Remington with you?” Cassidy asked.

  “I don't think so. It's hard for him to get away from everything at the stud ranch.” If she was honest, Gina hadn't even considered asking Mason to come. She was going back to New York, back to the life she'd built without him. She smiled. “What's your problem with the other sexy Mr. Remington anyway?”

  Cassidy pursed her lips. “Shane? He is hot. I'll give you that. But guys like him are nothing but trouble. I've been there, done that, got the scars and the T-shirt to prove it. I have no intentions of letting another good looking rat-bastard into my life.”

  Gina leapt to defend her old friend. “Shane's not like that! He is a big flirt. In fact, scratch that. He's a total man-whore, but he's not rat-bastard. Honestly Cassidy, if you just get to know him, you'll see. He really is a sweetheart. He's just never found the right woman.” She hesitated but decided to say it anyway. “Maybe you could be the right woman.”

  Cassidy laughed. “No thank you. I'm done with men. You asked me what mistakes I've made that would make getting engaged to Liam seem excusable. Someday, when we've got a whole evening and a couple of decent bottles of wine, maybe I'll tell you some of my horror stories. For now, I'll just leave it at a flat no. I will admit that I'm attracted to Shane.” She rolled her eyes and grinned. “Far too attracted to him, okay? But I came out here to get away from all the messes I've made with men. Not to make another one. So do me a favor and drop that one?”

  Gina nodded reluctantly. “I'll drop it for now, but I think the two of you might hit it off. He's such a good guy, and he's really taken with you. I've never seen him like that before. He's usually such a charmer, but he gets all tongue tied and goofy around you.”

  “Whatever. I've told you, I'm not going there. So how about we shut up shop and you come over to the studio with me? I want to show you what I've been working on. I hope that once you see what I'm doing, it'll give you some ideas and you'll go scuttling down to the park with your camera and we can get things rolling.”

  Gina couldn't wait to get started. The plan was to produce a whole new line of Montana-based images. Cassidy had been painting landscapes since she'd moved to Livingston. Until she met Gina, she hadn't made any plans as to how she would market them. Gina was going to shoot a whole series of wildlife photographs and they would produce a mixed media collection. Their styles were similar enough that they would be able to produce a consistent theme, and between the photography, oils, and watercolors, they should appeal to a wide range of buyers.

  When they arrived at Cassidy's home, Gina looked around in wonder. “This place is gorgeous!” It was a beautiful two story log-built home. It stood on what Gina guessed must be at least a hundred acres, judging from the length of the driveway and the winding path that led out from the deck down to the river's edge.

  “Thanks.” Cassidy laughed. “I just couldn't believe how low property prices are here, so I went a little overboard.”

  Gina hadn't liked to mention that the place was huge. It was more like a ski lodge than a home, in terms of its size at least. Once they were inside, it certainly felt like a home. And there was no mistaking whose home it was. The whole place had a feel of Cassidy to it. It wasn't just the paintings that covered so much of the wall space. Everything about the place was touched with Cassidy's personality—bold and bright.

  It made Gina feel a little inadequate that she was worried about being able to make enough money to keep her dad's ranch going while Cassidy must have made millions. Judging by the house and its furnishings, many millions.

  Cassidy seemed to pick up on her thoughts. “I never thought money mattered much. It's never been important to me. Whether I had it or I didn't, it couldn't ever help me with what really mattered.” She looked around as if the place surprised her, then went to stand before the peaked windows that soared up to meet a cathedral ceiling. She shrugged. “When I was ready to leave Florida, I finally caved in to the Home Decor people. They'd wanted to buy the rights to most of my beach-themed works. I didn't like the idea of being mass-produced—until I saw the numbers they were talking about. I was done with my 'beach period' anyway so I took the money and ran.” She sounded almost defensive about having made what, to Gina, sounded like a very smart business decision.


  “Hey, I'm certainly not judging you. I don't believe commercial and beautiful are mutually exclusive at all. If I ever had the chance to do what you did, I'd be all over it. I could use the money.”

  Cassidy turned a shrewd gaze on her. “I figured as much. Do you need any help until we get this up and running? I forecast we'll be making serious money within six months, but if you need a loan to tide you over, I'd be happy to help.”

  Gina sighed. “I think I can hang it all together until we start making it.”

  “You don't have to though. I want you stress free and happy, wandering around the mountains without a care in the world as you shoot. You know as well as I do that your mood always comes through in your work. This line has to speak of the freedom and happiness that can be found out here. We don't want it tainted by stress and financial worries.”

  Gina had to laugh. “We do think alike, don't we? If I said that to anyone else, they'd think I was nuts.”

  Cassidy grinned. “They probably would, but we know the truth, don't we? People think that our pictures--your photographs, my paintings--show what we saw. We know that they only show how we saw it. How we see anything is affected by how we feel at the time. So, I'm not talking charity here. We can call it a bona fide, up-front business expense. If you need money to take the pressure off until we're fully swinging, then you say so, okay?”

  “Thanks.” Gina wondered why she felt genuinely grateful to Cassidy and was seriously considering taking her up on the offer. When Mason had suggested she let him help, she'd felt much more defensive than grateful. Even though she knew he had the best of intentions.

  ~ ~ ~

  Mason looked up when Chance emerged from his bedroom.

  “You look like crap, bro. Do you realize you slept for twenty-four hours?”

  Chance nodded and rubbed his face. “So would you if you'd driven the herd up with me. It's been years since you came along, and we were a hell of a lot younger in those days. I tell you, it's tougher now I'm an old man. I could still sleep for another week.”

  “Yeah. I guess we're not getting any younger, are we?”

  Chance stopped on his way to the kitchen. “You feeling philosophical? What’s going on with Gina?”

  Mason explained everything that had happened while Chance had been gone. “I'm struggling with the fact that we lost ten years that we could have been together. You're right, we're not getting any younger. I want the time back that Gina and I lost, but I know we can never get it back. So, I want to live the hell out of every moment that we can. It'll never make up for it, but I don't want to waste any more time.”

  “And Gina doesn't feel the same way?”

  “I don't know.” Mason shrugged at the steely glare Chance gave him. “I want to help her out with her dad's place. She doesn't know if she can afford to keep it going, but she won't let me help. Wants to figure it out by herself.”

  “And you have a problem with that?”

  “I just don't see why she would let her pride get in the way of us just getting on with it. We've lost enough time already. I think we should do whatever it takes to make things right and to be together straight away. I don't see why she wants to go running back to New York to try to make money when she could just stay here and let me take care of it.”

  Chance laughed and shook his head. “Seriously? You want her to give up everything she's built, not to mention her own pride, just because you're back on the scene? Asshole!”

  Mason glared at him. “What do you mean?”

  “Exactly what I said. You're being an asshole. The girl's had...what? Less than a day, to digest that everything she's believed for the last ten years was wrong? And you want her to step back into the roles that the two of you had back then? Don't hold your breath, Mase. She's got to find her own way. Even if she let you help her, she'd end up resenting it. She needs to do this for herself.”

  Mason thought about it. He could see how Chance was right, but he just wanted to help. And he wanted them to get on with their life. Why was that so wrong of him?

  “I'm saying she hasn't had time to catch up, but you need to do the same. You need to catch up with who she's become. You need to make sure that you still love who she is now. You've always wanted her back. Wanted to get back what the two of you had. I've got news for you--that's just not possible. And if you try to recreate what you had and treat her like the girl she was, you're setting yourself up for a whole world of hurt.”

  “But...I'm not...I...”

  Chance shrugged. “Just think on it.” With that he made his way to the bathroom and soon Mason heard the shower running.

  He sat there staring at the wall. Chance was right, of course. He couldn't just pick up where they'd left off and expect everything to be the same. They were both different people now. He knew one thing that hadn't changed. He was still an impatient man. He didn't like waiting around in any situation, and he liked it even less when he saw a solution that he could be getting on with.

  He started when his phone rang in his pocket. He was surprised to see Al's name displayed on the screen.

  “Al! Is everything okay?”

  “No worries here, son. I was calling to ask you the same thing.”

  Mason smiled. “I think so. We finally cleared the air between us.”

  “I'm glad. So have you got any good news coming for me?”

  “Not yet, but I'm working on it.”

  “Well, can you hurry it up? She won't promise me that I don't have to move out of here yet!”

  “I’m working on it. I can only hurry it so much, Al. It's up to Gina more than me.”

  “Jesus! She got you whipped already, has she?”

  Mason scowled at that. Gina wasn't dictating how things went. He was just giving her time. That was all. Wasn't it?

  Al's laugh sounded raspy. “I'm just giving you shit, Mason. You'd better get used to it, seeing as we're going to be family soon. Aren't we?”

  That made Mason smile again. “I hope so.”

  “That's all I wanted to know. I'll leave you in peace then.” Al hung up.

  Mason got a cold beer from the fridge and took it to sit out on the back porch. He and Al would soon be family, wouldn't they? In his mind, it was a given that he and Gina would get married. He started to worry whether she thought so, too. But if she did, why wouldn't she let him help with the money for the ranch?

  Chapter Eighteen

  Mason was edgy on Sunday morning. Gina still wouldn't hear of him helping her out financially, and it was starting to get to him. It seemed she spent most of her time with Cassidy, figuring out whatever it was they were going to do together. To Mason, it seemed as though they were most focused on going on their little jaunt to New York. He didn't understand why she even felt the need to go anymore.

  As he made his way up to the main house, he saw Beau's SUV coming up the driveway. At least that made him smile. Beau came out to the ranch even less than Carter did these days. He wouldn't miss their mom’s birthday for the world though. None of them would. Mason gave himself a mental shake. That was what he needed to focus on today, his mom's party. Now Beau was here, the five of them would be able to pitch in on all the work that needed to be done to get the place ready. Guests were supposed to arrive at three, but some would be early, they always were. Mason wanted to have everything set up by two at the latest. He made his way out front to greet his brother.

  “How's it going?” asked Beau.

  “Pretty good. Shane's started setting up the tables out back and Carter's in the kitchen.”

  Beau laughed. “Carter's always in the kitchen.”

  “Yeah, but this time he's prepping food instead of eating it.” Carter's appetite was a standing joke amongst the brothers.

  “I'd put my money on him eating at least half as much as he prepares.”

  “Probably, but from the amount he brought in, there should still be more than enough to feed the whole valley, and I think only half the valley is coming.”


  Beau nodded. “Want me to get the bar set up?”

  “You can give me a hand stringing the lights on the back deck. Chance is already working on the bar.” He didn't miss his brother's scowl at that piece of information. “Let it go, bro. I don't know why you still have a problem with him. He's one of us.”

  Beau glared at him. “He isn't one of us though, is he? You, me, Carter, Shane, we're brothers. Chance isn't. I know the two of you are close. I know Dad sees him as one of his own, but I don't know why. He's not family.”

  Mason sighed. He didn't want to get into this one today. Beau had had a problem with Chance since he first came to the ranch. Mason had to admit he had been a little wary of Chance back then as well. Their dad had met him through a youth rehabilitation project. He'd been a volunteer, working with kids who'd been in prison. He'd seen something in Chance and wanted to give him the opportunity to get his life back on track. He'd brought Chance home with him and given him a job working the cattle, even though he knew nothing at all about ranching. He'd given him a place to live in the cabin that Mason and Shane now shared with him. Mason admired his dad's kindness and generosity. He and Chance had soon come to be the best of friends. Shane had accepted Chance as another big brother fairly quickly. As far as Mason and Shane were concerned, he was a fifth brother. Carter liked Chance, but wasn't as close to him. He’d been caught up in his own life and was more of a loner. Beau was the only one who had a problem. As the second eldest, he'd been competitive as a kid. He'd always pushed himself to try to prove his worth and, Mason guessed, to win their dad's approval. He'd resented Chance from the day he arrived and didn't seem prepared to let it go. “Let's not go there, huh? Not today. Today's about Mom and making sure she enjoys her birthday, right?”

  Beau nodded. “Right.” He smiled. “So let's go get these lights strung. And while we're doing it, you can catch me up on what's been going on with you and Gina. Why's her dad's place still showing on the listings? I thought she'd have taken it off the market by now. She is staying, right?”