Bashful Banker Page 3

  “Nope, he wasn’t. Weird, huh?”

  Fred was quiet for a moment as they got back into the car. “No, not to me,” he said slowly.

  “Well, good. Now that that’s settled, why are we doing this audit? Just for fun?”

  “Not everybody would call it fun.”

  She held up her hands after she’d fastened her seatbelt and Fred pulled back onto the road.

  “Don’t get me wrong. It sounds great to me, but what’s the purpose? That’ll have bearing on how we approach this, won’t it?”

  She waited for Fred to answer, and when he hesitated, she frowned. What reasons could there be, and why wouldn’t he want to tell her?

  He eventually cleared his throat and said, “Lots of reasons, I guess. Just to get things in order, mainly. The ranch has grown incredibly quickly in the past couple of years.”

  She listened quietly as he explained that the Weston parents had gone traveling in an RV and the kids had “taken over”, growing the ranch bit by bit while they were away. And that now, they’d come back and the paperwork pretty much needed to catch up with the growth.

  “We’re also getting prepared in case there’s an IRS audit at some point.”

  “Why would there be?” Olivia asked, frowning. “Anything nefarious or shady we need to look for?”

  Fred hit the steering wheel and downright laughed for a good couple of minutes.

  “That’s funny. No. The Westons are the most stand-up people you’d ever want to meet. Nothing nefarious. You’ll see.”

  He was still chuckling, and she smiled. “All right. Good to know we’re not dealing with thieves or anything. I don’t do well with thieves. They make me mad.”

  “Good to know. You won’t need to pull on your Superwoman outfit here, I promise.” He turned to her and smiled, his dimples deepening as his eyes twinkled.

  He pulled out of a final stand of trees and turned onto the ranch proper. She turned to look out the window as he passed a saloon, a bakery, a book store, an art gallery—and what looked like what might be a child care center. Kids’ Korral.

  “This place looks fun,” she said as she clapped, and pointed toward a large building at the far end of the property. “Is that a log house?”

  “It is. It’s the original, main house of the ranch. It now houses their corporate offices and a restaurant, along with some guest rooms.”

  “Wow,” she whispered.

  “Pretty impressive, isn’t it?”

  “It sure is. All of it,” Olivia said as Fred pulled up to what looked like a diner with huge, plate glass windows overlooking the view.

  “Here we are. Kelsey’s Kafe, where Chef Bob will regale you with delightful delicacies.”

  “High praise for a diner,” Olivia said as she hopped out of the car.

  Fred laughed and opened the door of the diner.

  “You’ll see,” he said as he followed her in.

  Chapter 5

  The wonderful scent of food—real food—enveloped Olivia as she stepped inside, and her stomach rumbled loudly. Her hand flew to her tummy and her eyes widened as she turned to Fred.

  “I know. Does the same thing to me,” he said as he caught the attention of a pretty blonde behind the counter. “Morning, Kelsi.”

  “Morning, Fred. Sit anywhere you’d like.” She nodded and turned back to the coffee station, proceeding to top off the coffee cups of the folks at the counter.

  As Fred and Olivia passed down the counter toward a table in the back, she was met with smiles and a couple of odd glances. An older couple sat at the counter—the pretty woman greeted Fred by name as the gray-haired gentleman next to her smiled and nodded at them.

  “Hi, Jaclyn,” Fred said as he stopped and shook hands with the man. “How are you doing today?”

  “Fine, fine,” the man said as he looked back at his plate and then at Jaclyn, almost waiting to see if she’d say something.

  She did. “Who’s this lovely young lady?” She quirked an eyebrow and cocked her head as she looked from Olivia toward a man sitting across the diner. Their eyes met and the man looked away.

  Fred made the introductions, and when he finished, the woman—Jaclyn—said, “It’s lovely to meet you, my dear. I’m sure I’ll be seeing more of you while you’re at the ranch.”

  She smiled and shook the lady’s hand just before Fred tugged on her elbow and guided her toward a table in the back, looking straight ahead. He seemed to have paled a bit, but she didn’t really know him that well and she could be wrong.

  He held her chair for her and she pulled off her scarf and coat, setting them on the chair beside her. “They seem very nice,” she said, her back now to them.

  “Yes, they are.”

  She turned around as his eyes darted from Jaclyn and Simon to the man Jaclyn had looked at when they’d met. She shrugged her shoulders—guess everybody around here knew everybody else. As a newcomer, she’d just stick with her numbers, thank you very much.

  A very pretty, leggy blonde with a great smile set down two menus for them.

  Fred pushed aside the menu before saying, “Hey, Joni. I heard at the bank that you’d finished up your degree. Congratulations. Big plans now?”

  Joni took a quick look behind the counter and watched for a moment as Kelsi, the other waitress, took an order. She looked up and caught Joni’s eye and gave her a wink and a smile.

  “You know, Fred, I’m not sure. Kelsi’s still kind of getting her bearings with the twins and working again. I want to make sure everything’s good before I make any big decisions.”

  Fred looked past her at Kelsi, and Olivia turned around as well. Seemed like Fred did know everyone at River’s End Ranch—and in Riston, too.

  “Mighty sweet of you, Joni. You’re a good friend,” he said before he turned back to Olivia. “If you’re an adventurous eater, I’d suggest we just have Bob’s special of the day.”

  Joni started to tell them what it was, but Fred held up his hand and smiled a little mischievously.

  “I like to be surprised. You?” he asked Olivia.

  Well, “When in Rome...” was one of Olivia’s favorite mottoes, so she nodded toward Joni.

  “Two specials, coming right up,” Joni said as she headed back toward the kitchen.

  “Do you really know everybody in here?”

  Fred glanced around the cafe, his eyes lingering on the man Jaclyn had looked at. He looked down and stirred his tea.

  “Yes, I think I might. A couple of guests I don’t know, maybe.”

  “You grew up in Riston, though, right?”

  “I did, but I think I spent as much time out here at the ranch as in Riston. Went to school with all of the Westons, and any chance we had, we were out here.

  “In cowboy land?” she said, cocking her head to one side and eyeing his bow tie.

  “Yep. I spent a great deal of time with Wyatt and the horses.”

  Her eyes widened and her eyebrows rose. “You? A cowboy?”

  She felt bad when his cheeks reddened and he stirred his tea faster, not meeting her eyes.

  “I know. Doesn’t seem like it. Never mind,” he said.

  He looked up when an older woman approached the table and rested her hand on his shoulder.

  “Hello, Fred,” she said, and she smiled at Olivia.

  He jumped up and pulled out a chair for her.

  “Olivia, this is Mrs. Weston. Mrs. Weston, Olivia Hamilton. She’s the CPA who’s going to help us with the...um, I mean Project Jack O’Lantern.”

  Olivia almost spit out her coffee as she looked up at the “code name” for the project. She’d done lots of projects with code names, but none with anything like that. She reached across the table and shook Mrs. Weston’s hand, assuming that she must have a pretty good sense of humor.

  “It’s very nice to meet you. And thank you for coming on such short notice. Fred’s got a very big job to do and, I’m afraid, a short time to do it.”

  Fred cleared his throat. “
Yes, a very short time. Halloween isn’t far off. Olivia and I will do our best, but it’s quite a bit of work.”

  Mrs. Weston leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table.

  “I know it is, dear, but I have complete and utter faith that you’ll be finished by the party.”

  Olivia watched as Fred rubbed the back of his neck, a concerned look directed at Mrs. Weston.

  “The party?” he said slowly.

  “Of course, dear. The party. Didn’t Wilber and I mention it?”

  He looked from Mrs. Weston to Olivia and back again.

  “No. No, you didn’t.”

  “Of course there must be a party. It’s the perfect opportunity for the big reveal,” she said, her voice hushed as she looked around the restaurant. “Everyone will be there, and the barn is the perfect place for it. It’s brilliant.”

  “The big reveal?” Olivia said as she leaned forward herself, not at all sure what Mrs. Weston was talking about but excited that they’d be having a Halloween party.

  “You didn’t tell her why she’s here?” Mrs. Weston asked as she rested her hand on Fred’s arm and he again found something fascinating to stare at in the bottom of his tea cup.

  “No, of course you didn’t. You wouldn’t. That’s who you are,” she said as she patted his arm. “But she’ll be working very hard alongside with you, so I think you can tell her the reason of the audit—if she’s trustworthy. If you trust her, I do.”

  This was getting more interesting by the second. When Olivia had agreed to come, she thought they were doing just a regular tax audit—exciting enough for her on any day, but now it seemed they were getting into intrigue and excitement.

  Fred nodded solemnly as Mrs. Weston stood and began to leave.

  “Again, nice to meet you, Olivia. This is going to be a momentous occasion for River’s End Ranch, and you’re going to help us get there.”

  Fred watched Mrs. Weston head to the counter and Olivia turned as she took a seat to talk with what she now knew to be her daughter, Kelsi. She was getting a little better connecting all the dots, but she was definitely curious as to the reason of the audit, and she turned back to Fred and drummed her fingers on the table.

  “Well?” She waited for a moment as Fred leaned forward and looked both ways before he started to speak.

  In almost a whisper, he filled her in on the history of the ranch and the plan for turning it over. He went over why it was such a big secret, and that none of the kids could find out. Sure, they’d know about the audit—they’d have to help—but they weren’t to talk about why.

  “And the big reveal is at this Halloween party?”

  “Apparently,” he said with a chuckle.

  “We’ll have to get great costumes,” Olivia said, already flipping through previous years’ outfits in her head.

  “Not for me,” he said firmly.

  “What? Why not?”

  “Halloween’s not my favorite time of year, particularly, and I don’t do dress up.”

  She cocked a brow at him and eyed his bowtie. “You do a pretty good imitation of a nerdy banker,” she said before she could stop herself, and immediately regretted her flippant comment. She hadn’t meant to insult him—she thought it was cute, actually—but he frowned and tugged a bit at his tie before looking out the window.

  “Mrs. Weston needs to talk with me a second,” he said after he’d cleared his throat. Olivia followed his gaze toward Mrs. Weston, on the other side of the plate glass window, knocking and crooking her finger toward Fred.

  He stood and said, “Excuse me. I’ll be right back,” before he walked outside.

  She watched him talking with Mrs. Weston outside and wondered why he hadn’t told her up front about the reason for the audit. But Mrs. Weston had said he’d been sworn to secrecy and that was definitely something she could admire in a man—in fact, something that she admired more than anything. Loyalty and honesty. What more was there?

  Chapter 6

  Fred scooted his chair back and reached for his jacket. He nodded at Olivia and crossed the café, looking straight at the door. He didn't look left at Jaclyn and Simon as he passed by, nor did he look right at Joshua, who was now chatting with his aunt and Simon. He had a mission to accomplish, and he'd heard the rumors about Jaclyn and the fairies. He had no time for any of that now.

  He pulled open the door and stepped outside, crossing over the wooden porch to where Mrs. Weston stood. She fiddled with the scarf around her neck as she waited. She looked back in the café and then gestured for Fred to follow her down the steps and around the corner of the café.

  "What can I do for you, Mrs. Weston?" he asked. "Is everything alright?"

  Mrs. Weston look down at her shoes and tapped her foot for a moment.

  "I think I forgot to tell you something the other day," she said as she glanced over her shoulder. "Or maybe Mr. Weston and I discussed it afterwards. I know we've been talking about it for years and you'll know, too."

  Fred folded his arms against the cold. He rubbed his hand through his hair, not remembering them discussing anything else besides the turning over of the ranch, and the audit that it would require.

  "Okay," he said slowly. "What's up?”

  "You might not remember this, actually," she said. "Now that I think about it, we made these arrangements and this purchase with your father, not you." She cocked her head as she looked at him. "So I'll just explain from the beginning real fast. I don't want you to miss your breakfast."

  Fred glanced in the window and gave a quick wave to Olivia. It didn't appear that their breakfast had gotten there yet, so he said, "Go on."

  "You probably do know that Mr. Weston and I purchased land surrounding the original ranch property. It was always our intention to grow the ranch as big as we could. Guess we had maybe grandiose ideas, but at the time we were just looking out for our ever-growing family."

  She took a moment and looked around the ranch, from the big main house where she graced her family to the Old Town and the Kids’ Korral that had been new additions.

  “We'd always wanted something that the kids would be proud of. And I think that that time has come. We're incredibly proud of what everyone's done here at River's End Ranch and we wouldn’t have been able to do it without you, either."

  Fred looked down at his boots and shuffled his feet for a moment. His father had been the Westons’ original banker and yes, there were things that had happened before his father died between the Westons and the bank that he didn't know about. But he was pretty positive that whatever it was was in those file cabinets and he was interested to see what Mrs. Weston would say next.

  "If you look through the folders and things that your father has kept in those file cabinets, you should find some plot maps and some property deeds. You know the big parcel that everyone thinks isn’t part of the ranch up on the south ridge?"

  "Yes," Fred said as he instinctively turned and looked up on the ridge. It was covered with aspens turning, maples with orange leaves and towering pine trees. It had a sweeping view of the lake and he realized somewhere in the back of his head, he didn't really know who owned it.

  "Is that something that you want to purchase to add to the property?" He looked back at Mrs. Weston and saw that she was gazing at it as well, her eyes misty.

  "Wilber and I spent a lot of time up on that ridge while we were courting,” she said as she turned back to Fred. “While we had the ranch proper, we always knew that it was something we wanted to give to our kids, separate and alone, where they could build houses and stay together as a family no matter what the outcome of the ranch."

  "So you want me to buy that for you?" he asked.

  “No, no,” she said with a smile. “We bought that and another parcel on the far side of it. We already own it.”

  “You do?” He looked again up at the gorgeous property and back to her with a wide smile. “That’s fantastic.”

  “I know. It’s really special, and it’s enough pr
operty that we can split it seven ways and each of the kids can have a large parcel. We figured we’d tell them that at the Halloween party along with the other news.”

  Fred rubbed the back of his neck and paced a little.

  “Well, all right. Olivia and I can get right on it.” He wasn’t sure it could be done, but it certainly could be in process if they both worked on it starting right away.

  She reached out and tugged at his arm to stop him from pacing. He turned to look at her, and she glanced back in the cafe.

  “Fred, I know you trust this Olivia, and she seems like a charming girl. I’m so glad that she can help you, especially since I’ve given you a challenging time line.”

  Fred watched as Joni set down their plates. Olivia waved a fork at him and smiled before she began to eat.

  “I don’t know her that well, Mrs. Weston, but from what I’ve seen she’s smart, thorough and trustworthy.”

  “I’m sure she is, and I trust you implicitly. I’m perfectly comfortable if she knows about giving over the ranch—heck, the kids already know that’s going to happen sometime, just not when. I just want it to be a big surprise if we can pull it off. But the property...that’s different. Nobody knows about that but my husband and I, and I want to keep it that way until the end. Well, you have to know, of course, but you and your father before you have always been our trusted confidants. We wouldn’t have all this without your help and support, both financial and personal.”

  He was touched by her comments, and he shuffled his feet again.

  “I’ll keep this one to myself, Mrs. Weston. I’ll have to get a surveyor out there as soon as possible, and I can do that with Wyatt’s help. He doesn’t need to know why. He can suit me up for a trail ride and I can meet with and describe it all to the surveyor and he can work on his own. If we don’t get it all done in time for county approval, it can certainly be well on its way. I don’t need to tell Olivia.”

  “Thank you, Fred,” Mrs. Weston said with a sigh of relief. “I know I can trust you, and I just really want it to be a secret.” She patted his cheek. “You’re like family, you know. I’m forever grateful.”