Taming Kate

Chapter Three

Peter felt a strange flutter in his gut. Something about this man was not on the level.

“No trailer?” He studied the older man’s expression. Rossi’s eyes were some of the saddest he had seen in a long time. “I think you’ll need to explain.”

“All right, Mr. Manning.” Carl Rossi took a deep breath. “Let me just fill you in on a couple of things before I get to my point. My great-grandfather was one of the founders of Last Chance Gulch. He owned one of the gold mines that put Montana on the United States map. Benito Rossi loved this land. Instead of using his riches to go elsewhere and make more, he set down his roots here, with this ranch.”

“I know the story.” Peter sighed. Something in the man’s pained expression urged him to take a seat on one of the chairs by the desk. In spite of the strange feeling, he knew he had to hear this man out. “My ancestors were some of those men who labored down in those mines.”

Rossi nodded. “Then you’ll sympathize when I tell you I’m very protective of this ranch. I could never let it fall into the wrong hands. One hundred and forty years of Rossi blood, labor, and tears would be lost, faded into history as if they’d never been. That’s unacceptable.”

Peter leaned back in his chair. “So, what’s this got to do with me?”

Rossi sighed. “What it’s got to do with you is, I’m dying. I’m an ill man with a few years of life left in me if I’m damn lucky. I’m going for some experimental treatment, and it just might work. But, as you know, there are no guarantees.”

The sorrow in the older man’s voice touched Peter’s heart. He remembered his own ordeal with Tori --the hospital visits, the suffering in her eyes, the guilt he felt at not having been able to help her. “I’m sorry to hear that, sir.” He cleared his throat. “I don’t mean any disrespect, but I am confused as to how I fit in the picture.”

Rossi removed his hat, placing it gently on the desktop. “Well, here’s where I need your help. You see, my younger daughter, Blanche, is engaged to be married. Only, the man she’s with is a snake in the grass, a gold-digger. He’d take this empire of mine and run it into the ground before my corpse is even cold.”

“Look, Rossi—”

Carl Rossi held up a hand. “Don’t worry, Manning. I’m getting to the point. Believe me.” He let his hand sink onto the desk before continuing. “Because of what I just told you, I’ve forbidden Blanche to marry until her older sister, Kate, marries. If Blanche tries to elope, she forfeits her inheritance. The problem is, Kate refuses to marry. I understand why. She was devastated once. Her fiancé left her at the altar when he found out he’d never have control of my money.” He shook his head. “The poor girl still hasn’t recovered.” He paused. “The way she acts, I get the sense that every morning she wakes up, she still finds that Dear Jane letter on the table like she did on her wedding day.”

“Sounds like she’s suffered a lot.”

Carl Rossi nodded. “Yes, Mr. Manning. You got that right. The effect it had on her was that now she thinks all men are good-for-nothing gold-diggers. Weaklings who want to use her to get to my millions.”

Peter shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “Rossi, I’m getting the feeling there’s no horse involved here.”

Rossi sighed and his eyes filled with sadness. “I’m to blame, really,” he went on.

“I’ve not been the best of fathers. I’ve been absent mostly, using things in place of my presence in their lives. Their mother died when Kate was thirteen and Blanche was ten. They had no parents for a long time.” He shook his head. “It’s too late for Blanche. She’s not the most intelligent soul. She likes money and what it can give her. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have the brains to manage it or to pick a good man who could.” He looked directly into Peter’s eyes. “But Katy is a different matter. She’s got the goods. A brain and a beautiful face to match. She could run an empire.”

Butterflies began in Peter’s stomach, and he braced his hands on the arms of his chair.

“Mr. Manning, I’ve heard about you, about your talent with wounded horses. You restore their ability to be with people, to…accept kindness. That’s why I asked you here. For Kate. I know she’s not a horse, but…well…I’m at the end of my rope with her. I was praying you could work with her.”

Peter stared at the older man. He wondered if he was hearing right. “Let me get this straight, Rossi. You want me to do with your daughter what I do with horses?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Peter suppressed an impulse to tell the man how crazy he sounded, but he wanted to be compassionate, sensing how desperate Rossi must be to have called a horse whisperer to work with a human being.

“I’m aware I sound crazy, Mr. Manning. But I’m dead serious.”

Peter held out a hand. “You’re not crazy. I understand. What you’re proposing is really a loving act. But, in all honesty, sir, I’m a horse whisperer. Not a woman whisperer. If your daughter is that disturbed, she should see a shrink.”

“I agree completely. But she won’t go to one. She says she’s not the one who needs it. She feels practically everyone she’s ever met needs a shrink, to use her words.”

Interesting woman, Peter thought. Sounded like she had spunk. He had had similar thoughts at various times in his own life.

Carl Rossi cleared his throat. “I’ve begged and pleaded. I’ve offered her around-theworld vacations, anything she could possibly want that might make her happy.” He shook his head sadly. “It’s too late for me to make a difference. I have no credibility with her now. Perhaps if I’d been there when she needed me the most, this situation wouldn’t exist.” His blue-gray gaze bored into Peter’s. “I’m truly at the end of my rope, Mr. Manning. Words cannot express the depth of my distress at this time for my daughter’s welfare.”

Peter looked at Rossi. “I’m sorry this is so difficult for you, sir. But Kate sounds pretty sensible to me. If you’re so worried about your ranch, and you feel she is so intelligent and capable, why not just leave it to her and let her run it? Why does she need a husband?”

Rossi looked down for a moment. Then he rose, went to the cabinet behind his desk, and poured himself a drink. He took a long sip before answering. “She doesn’t need a husband, per se. There are plenty of hands to care for the place. And Katy’s been around horses and cattle her whole life. She could rope a steer blindfolded at this point.” He set down his glass, and Peter noticed a slight shake in his hand.

“I’ll be completely honest with you,” he continued. “Katy is the sole heir to the estate. She doesn’t know it, though. She believes the property and assets are to be divided equally between her and her sister, Blanche. Blanche isn’t interested in running a ranch. She’d rather have her nails done. She’ll have enough to live comfortably. But Katy ...” He broke off, and a look of tenderness came into his blue-gray eyes.

“She loves the land. She loves caring for it, riding wild and free. Until her mother went into the hospital, that’s all she did. She stopped riding altogether when her mother died. It’s Katy’s choice whether she shares the money with the man she marries. He’ll have no access to it without her say-so.” Rossi shook his head. “She knows that much. As I told you, this arrangement lost her a fiancé once. But better she knows who loves her for herself.”

Peter cleared his throat. This story was getting stranger by the second. “So, what’s the problem here, exactly?”

Rossi took another sip of his drink, closing his eyes as he swallowed. “Do you have children, Manning?”

Peter shook his head. “No. A nephew, eleven years old. I’ve been raising him with my sister. But I don’t have any kids of my own.”

Rossi set down his glass. “Well, one day when you do, you’ll understand the soulwrenching depth of my plea. When you have children, you want to see them happy. You want to see them settled. And you want them to know there’s goodness and hope in the world. I want that for Katy. She’s suffered a long time. I want her to be able to ... to love a man and have a life for herself. She’s lost her ability to trust men, even a man who might be decent and really love her for who she is and not what she has. And I’d like to see her healed before I go. I can’t bear seeing how hard she’s become. I remember when she was a little girl. She was the sweetest thing you could imagine. Always helping people and crying for little animals that were sick or injured.” He shook his head. “I long to see her feel free to be the way she was. Happy and loving. She is that way with the children in the hospital. But the rest of the time, she looks so unhappy.”

Peter considered Rossi’s words. In all fairness to himself, he did know how much he worried about Will. The little boy’s well-being was foremost in his heart. He had even put off the plans he had for converting his ranch to a horse-training center because he didn’t want to take any chances with his nephew’s ancestral home. Peter’s caution was uncharacteristic of him. He usually leapt, dove into challenges. Only his concern for Will’s future held him back.

Thinking about Kate’s situation in that light made Peter better understand the man in front of him. He looked at Rossi. “And you think I can do that for her?”

“I sure as hell hope so.”

Peter studied the older man’s face, listened to his honest, caring words. He respected the older man’s sincerity and concern for his daughter. “Listen, Rossi, I’d like to help you, but I’m not qualified to work with people in the way you’re asking. That’s what therapists and psychiatrists are for. Besides, what makes you think she’d let me work with her anyway? If she’s so against going to a shrink, she’s sure as hell not going to let a horse whisperer into her head.”

Rossi heaved a deep sigh. “I know her. Deep down, she wants someone to reach out, someone who has the strength I never had, and still don’t have. I spoiled them. Like I told you, I wasn’t there for them when they were at their most vulnerable. They needed a father, not a driven, money-hungry rancher. I learned too late that family is more important than money.” He looked at Peter. “If you earn her respect, she’ll come around.”

Rossi’s words brought to Peter’s mind his days with his teacher, Kenjo Roshi. The two men had earned each other’s respect through challenging their strength and showing the inner resolve to understand and face fears. Take what you have learned and deepen it. Help others to find the same. Only then can you ease suffering. His master’s words rang through his mind. The Buddha himself had taken a vow not to enter Nirvana, the final stage of enlightenment, until all other beings had found what he had. The situation in front of Peter took on new meaning. The desire to meet Kate rose swiftly on the heels of this revelation. After everything her father had said about Kate’s life, Peter realized he could not turn away, no matter how strange the proposal was. Had the situation been reversed, he knew he would not want someone to turn from

him, either. “Well,” he said slowly, “maybe I should meet her and get a sense of where she is with all this.”

Rossi stood up quickly and held out his hand. Relief washed through his weathered features. “Thank you, Manning!” he said, vigorously shaking Peter’s hand. “As a matter of fact, she’ll be here any minute. I asked her to come.”

Peter stared at him. “And she agreed?”

Carl Rossi slowly released Peter’s hand. “Well, to tell the truth, she doesn’t know you’re here. She thinks I asked her here to discuss what happened between her and her sister yesterday.”