Here Comes Trouble by Becky McGraw Read Free Book Online Page B

their association.
    But he'd have to face the fact that Terri was
a relationship kind of woman, and that wasn't something he could
give her, so she was looking for someone who could.
    It looked like she had everything under
control on the moving front too, he thought, taking another swig of
his beer to wash down the burger that was lodged in his throat. If
she needed help, that guy Solly or any number of other men were
probably available to help her. Joel just needed to hit the road
and quit procrastinating on getting to Dallas.
    Suck it up . That would be Terri's
advice, and that is what he was going to do.
    He had to get back to the ranch as soon as
possible, anyway. The other new hires would be moving in tomorrow.
He only had five days to train them, and organize things before his
first guests arrived next Monday.
    The livestock he'd bought at the local auction
would be delivered to the ranch on Thursday. Ben Bowman had sold
him the horses and tack that he had no more use for, and Joel had
bought more from Tommy Tucker who Chase had recommended he talk to.
Things were coming together, but it seemed like they were all
coming together at one time. The next few weeks were going to be
crazy.
    The next few months would be touch and
go.
    Money was going to be tight for a while. Even
though his brother had partnered up with him investing his part of
their grandfather's inheritance, Joel still needed to find a few
more partners to get them through the winter.
    If he was smart, he would've waited until
Spring to start the bookings, but nobody had ever accused him of
being that. When Joel decided to do something, it was balls to the
wall, until it was done. He had always been like that. It had made
him a good attorney, and now he was hoping it would make him a
better rancher.
    Because he still hadn't settled with Karen,
his money was tied up. He was not going to give in to her demands
just to settle and get what he could though. His attorney was
arranging a court date and was going to call him in the next few
weeks.
    One of the reasons Joel wasn't giving into
Karen's demands was because giving her the money she was asking for
would be like pissing in the wind. Karen spent money like water and
she'd probably be broke again inside of a year, wasting money he
needed to rebuild the life she'd torn apart.
    His ex-business partner was worse. Larry still
hadn't given him an accounting on the figures he'd questioned so
they could dissolve their law firm. Joel wasn't budging there
either. Larry was going to account for every missing cent, or he
was going to pay one way or another, and Joel had put his attorney
to work on that too.
    At one time, Joel had thought Larry might have
a gambling problem, but he'd never proved it. All he did know was
that his business partner had pulled some sneaky shit with their
business accounts. The audit he'd ordered for the dissolution
turned up a lot of problems. There wasn't enough evidence to prove
Larry had misappropriated funds or stolen from the firm, but off
the record, the auditor mentioned Joel might want to have the books
looked at more closely, and he was going to do that now because
Larry wasn't responding.
    The only thing he and Karen had managed to
agree on so far was how to split some of the furnishings in their
house. Tonight, he was going to pick up the few things from the
house he wanted. Karen would be there, but supposedly Larry was out
of town. How convenient for him.
    A small hand rubbed the middle of his back and
slow fire spread along his spine, before Terri climbed back up on
the stool beside him out of breath. Her pretty face was flushed,
her green eyes sparkling with good humor.
    "Where's your boyfriend?" Joel asked grumpily,
and shoved the last of his burger in his mouth, before he could ask
another stupid question.
    Terri picked up her hamburger and stopped
halfway to her mouth with it to turn to him with raised brows.
"Solly?" she asked with her full lips sliding into a