Free Brazen by Bobbi Smith Page A

I saw him. What does he want?"
    "He wants to speak privately with you. I told him I'd
have to see if you were up to seeing anybody this morning."
    "Where's Michael?" He wanted his son with him when
he faced Jack.
    "He and Nick rode out earlier with the men. I don't
expect him back any time soon."
    Frank looked around himself in disgust. The last thing
he wanted to do was appear weak before Jack Turner,
but short of having one of the hands cany him downstairs
to the study, he was trapped. The thought that anyone
had to carry him anywhere filled him with rage, but there was nothing he could do about it. He'd stay put. Jack
Turner could come to him.

    "Help me get a shirt on."
    Elizabeth quickly helped Frank take off his pajama top
and don a shirt.
    "All right. Bring him up."
    She went down to the parlor where Jack was waiting.
    "Frank is ready to see you now."
    "Thank you, Elizabeth." Jack followed her up the stairs.
    Elizabeth let him in, then told her husband, "If you
need me, just call."
    Jack stepped quietly into the bedroom.
    She closed the door, leaving the two longtime adversaries alone.
    Frank glared at Jack. "What the hell are you doing here,
Turner? What do you want?" he demanded aggressively.
    "I need to talk to you." Jack had known this wasn't
going to be easy. The sight of the once strong and powerful Frank Donovan sitting unmoving in his bed reminded Jack of his own vulnerability and mortality.
    "About what?"
    "About the Bar T." A sudden wave of weakness washed
over Jack. He hated to look weak before Donovan, but
after his collapse the other day, he had no choice. He
asked, "You mind if I sit down?"
    "Go ahead," Frank told him, indicating a chair by the
bed. He eyed him warily, not trusting him. Jack never did
anything without a reason, and he wondered what he was
up to.
    "First I'm sorry about what happened to you."

    "You think I believe that?"
    "Believe what you want, but it's true."
    "Being sorry don't change a damned thing."
    "I know, but, Frank, as much as we've been at odds
over the years, I didn't have anything to do with the ambush. It wasn't me."
    Frank believed him, but that didn't change the way he
felt about the other man. He continued to glare at Jack.
"So what's going on? I know you want something or you
wouldn't be here."
    "There's trouble coming," Jack began.
    "Trouble?" Frank repeated sharply, wondering how
things could get any worse for him than they were already.
    "That's right. There's trouble ahead for both the Bar T
and the Circle D, unless we can work something outogether."
    "Us? Work together?" Frank looked at him as if he were
mad.
    "That's right," Jack repeated, hating the idea as much
as Frank did. "You think I like being here? You think I
wanted to come to you? I didn't, but I had no choice.
Frank" he looked his enemy straight in the eye "I'm
dying."
    "What?" Frank was shocked.
    "It's my heart. Dr. Murray says I don't have long to live."
Jack had never said it out loud before. He drew a slow,
ragged breath before continuing, "That's why I came to
see you."
    "What's your being sick got to do with me?"

    "I need to make sure some things are taken care of
before..."
    "Just what do you want to take care of?"
    "Casey. If I die and she loses the ranch"
    "Why would she lose the ranch?"
    Reluctantly, Jack was forced to explain his financial
situation to Frank.
    "Foster said he'd give me two more months, but that's
all. And I don't think I can raise that kind of money, so
fast. Even if I could, how could I protect Casey? I have to
make sure someone is looking out for her after I'm gone."
    "Why don't you just sell the ranch?"
    "No," he answered fiercely. "Never. McQueen's already
made me an offer--"
    "John McQueen?" Frank was instantly alert. The other
rancher had made him an offer, too, some months back.
He hadn't been about to sell out to anyone, but there was
something about McQueen he didn't trust.
    "That's right. Did you know he bought out Ron