Montana Sky

document word for word after all, Nate. I want to get this all straight in my head.” She went to a lacquered liquor cabinet and did something she’d never done when her father had been alive. She opened his whiskey and drank it.
    She drank quietly, letting the slow burn move down her throat as she listened to Nate’s recital. And she forced herself not to think of all the years she had struggled so hard to earn her father’s love, much less his respect. His trust.
    In the end, he had lumped her in with the daughters he’d never known. Because in the end, she thought, none of them had really mattered to him.
    A name Nate mumbled had her ears burning. “Hold it. Hold just a damn minute. Did you say Ben McKinnon?”
    Nate shifted, cleared his throat. He’d been hoping to slide that one by her, for the time being. She’d had enough shocks for one day. “Your father designated myself and Ben to supervise the running of the ranch during the probationary year.”
    “That chicken hawk’s going to be looking over my shoulder for a goddamn year?”
    “Don’t you swear in this house, Will,” Bess piped up.
    “I’ll swear the damn house down if I want. Why the hell did he pick McKinnon?”
    “Your father considered Three Rocks second only to Mercy. He wanted someone who knows the ins and outs of the business.”
    McKinnon can be mean as a snake, Nate rememberedMercy saying. And he won’t take any shit off a damn woman.
    “Neither of us will be looking over your shoulder,” Nate soothed. “We have our own ranches to run. This is just a minor detail.”
    “Bullshit.” But Will reined it in. “Does McKinnon know about this? He wasn’t at the funeral.”
    “He had business in Bozeman. He’ll be back tonight or tomorrow. And yes, he knows.”
    “Had a hell of a laugh over it, didn’t he?”
    Had nearly choked with laughter, Nate remembered, but now he kept his own eyes sober. “This isn’t a joke, Will. It’s business, and temporary at that. All you have to do is get through four seasons.” His lips curved. “That’s what all of us have to do.”
    “I’ll get through it. God knows if these two will.” She studied her sisters, shook her head. “What are you trembling about?” she asked Lily. “You’re facing millions of dollars, not a firing squad. For Christ’s sake, drink this.” She thrust the whiskey glass into Lily’s hand.
    “Stop picking on her.” Incensed, instinctively moving to protect Lily, Tess stepped between them.
    “I’m not picking on her, and get out of my face.”
    “I’m going to be in your face for a goddamn year. Get used to it.”
    “Then you better get used to how things run around here. You stay, you’re not going to sit around on your plump little ass, you’re going to work.”
    At the “plump little ass” remark, Tess sucked air through her nose. She’d sweated and starved off every excess pound she’d carried through high school, and she was damn proud of the results. “Remember this, you flat-chested, knock-kneed bitch, I walk, you lose. And if you think I’m going to take orders from some ignorant little pie-faced cowgirl, you’re a hell of a lot more stupid than you look.”
    “You’ll do exactly what I say,” Willa corrected. “Or instead of having a nice cozy bed in this house you’ll be pitching a tent in the hills for the next year.”
    “I’ve got as much right to be under this roof as you do.Maybe more, since he married my mother first.”
    “That just makes you older,” Will tossed back, and had the pleasure of seeing that nice shaft strike home. “And your mother was a bottle-blonde showgirl with more tits than brains.”
    Whatever Tess would have done or said in retaliation was broken off when Lily burst into tears.
    “Happy now?” Tess demanded, and gave Willa a hard shove.
    “Stop.” Tired of the sniping, Adam seared them both with a look. “You should both be ashamed of yourselves.” He bent down, murmuring to Lily as he helped her to her feet. “You want fresh air,” he said kindly. “And some food. You’ll feel better then.”
    “Take her for a little walk,” Bess told him, and got creakily to her own feet. Her head was hammering like a three-armed carpenter. “I’ll put dinner on. I’m ashamed enough for both of you,” she said to Tess and Willa. “I knew both of your mas. They’d expect better of you.” She sniffed and, with dignity, turned to Nate. “You’re welcome to stay for dinner, Nate.