Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 120708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 604(@200wpm)___ 483(@250wpm)___ 402(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 604(@200wpm)___ 483(@250wpm)___ 402(@300wpm)
“Yes, they did,” I replied.
When a silence settled over us, Tanner started to talk. “So, Timberlynn tells me you’re a doctor.”
My father smiled politely. “Yes, I am. Right now, though, I do mostly consulting work for hospitals.”
When we got to Tanner’s truck, Tanner opened the front door for me, held his hand out to help me in, then assisted my father with his suitcase.
“How long will you be able to stay?” I asked my father.
“I’m not sure. I told my secretary to put everything on hold for at least a week.”
I felt Tanner turn and look at me. I was too nervous to meet his gaze.
A week. My father had planned on staying in Hamilton for a least a week. Was he going to try and talk me out of living here? That had to be why he planned on staying so long.
“Well, we’ve got you set up to stay with us, but my folks have also offered the use of their house as well. It’s whatever makes you feel more comfortable.”
“I appreciate that, Tanner. Now, how long have you and my daughter been living together?”
Oh. Shit.
This time I did look at Tanner, who simply took a quick look my way and winked.
“Not that long, sir. I’ve only just recently purchased a cabin that was on my folks’ ranch.”
I let out a nervous laugh. “It’s not a cabin, it’s a log house that sits on a crystal-clear lake. Dad, you should see it. If you thought the mountains outside the airport looked too pretty to be real, wait until you see the Shaw ranch.”
“I’m excited to see it,” my father said.
As we drove, my father asked Tanner questions about what type of ranch his family owned. Did they have cattle? Did they grow things? How long had it been in their family? Then he moved on to Tanner’s recent career.
“You roped cows?”
“Yes, sir, I did. We mostly used Corriente cattle.”
“And you made a decent living at it?”
“I did, yes. I was a four-time WNFR qualifier and won the world championship once.”
“Are you able to make it with that sort of a living?”
My jaw dropped open, and I quickly turned to look at my father. “Dad!”
Tanner laughed. “It’s okay, Timber. And yes, you can make money at it. My career earnings were around one-point-two million, give or take. I also still get asked to do endorsements. I’m set to fly to Colorado for a Wrangler commercial in March.”
This time I looked at Tanner, my jaw even wider open at what he just said. “What?”
I hadn’t even thought of asking Tanner what kind of money he made while roping. It honestly wasn’t even something I thought about. I knew he had money, especially since he paid his folks cash for the lake house. He had never asked about my trust fund, and I had never asked him about his money. It never mattered to me, and I knew it didn’t matter to him.
Tanner didn’t look at me as he said, “Sorry, Timber, I just found out about that this morning. I was going to talk to you about the upcoming trip this evening.”
I laughed. “I’m not surprised about your commercial…or maybe I am.”
He shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal.
“Have you invested your winnings, Tanner?” my father asked.
“I have, yes, sir. I’ve learned a lot from my older brothers and have taken advice from them and my folks. I bought my house from my parents in cash, and it’ll all be legally divided so that the house and acreage is in my name.”
“Hmm.”
It was the only response from my father before he cleared his throat. “And what about you, Timberlynn? Since you clearly haven’t spoken to Tanner about his income, does he have any idea of what your net worth currently is, or what you stand to inherit once I pass away?”
My mouth felt like it turned to cotton. I tried to speak, but nothing came out. The idea of my father dying was something I didn’t like to think about. At all.
I could feel Tanner’s eyes on me. “We have not spoken about that, Mr. Holden,” he said. “I need you to know I have no intentions of holding Timberlynn back from pursuing her dreams of horse training and rescue. I have no intentions of using any of Timberlynn’s money. That is for her to use to pursue her own dreams.”
“What about nursing?”
“Dad, I told you I’m not interested in nursing.”
“What you’re telling me, then, is that I paid for you to go to college for nothing.”
I closed my eyes and slowly drew in a deep breath. “Do you think we could talk about this later, in private?”
“Why? If you’ve decided to move in with this…cowboy…and didn’t bother to talk to him about your finances or his, why feel the need to hide anything?”