Read Online April, Dani - Raven's Ranch (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme) by Dani April - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Dani April
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terrible.
“You’re right,” she said, wiping the tears off her face. “I’m going to sell the Lazy L to Wholesale Foods. I’ll have to go back. I guess I was a fool to ever think I could escape my old life and start a new, happy one so easily.”
Raven’s dream of starting her life over out here on this beautiful land had just been crushed.
Chapter Seven
The First National Bank of Masterson, the small town nearest to the Lazy L, was a one-story building on Main Street located just across from the town square and in the heart of the business district. The bank was always a busy place in an otherwise sleepy town, frequented by business people of all stripes, as well as the many private account holders since it was the only bank in a fifty-mile radius.
Raven was dressed in a dark pantsuit and looked and felt professional. She had worn this same suit to all of her job interviews back in the city. Her shoes had been shined. Her perfume had been conservatively applied but was expensive. She also had a professional hint of makeup on her face, and her long hair was tied back behind her in a bun, hairspray keeping its unruly nature in check.
She entered the bank about half an hour after it opened that morning, her stomach doing flip-flops because so much was riding on the outcome of this visit. She felt scared because her life had changed so drastically a week ago, and now it was threatening to change back to the old just as fast, and there was little she could do about it. This trip to the bank was her last chance.
“I’m here to see Linda Harding,” Raven told an old lady who was working as a receptionist in the bank lobby. “She’s the vice president of small business loans. I have an appointment with her this morning.”
“Mrs. Harding is meeting with an account holder in her office now.” The old lady fumbled with an appointment book in front of her. Raven saw she didn’t even have a computer on her desk. Didn’t anyone use modern technology out here in the boonies?
“Please have a seat over there, and Mrs. Harding will be out in a few minutes.”
Raven thanked the old lady and took a seat. She felt like she was on trial for murder here instead of just coming to ask for a loan. So much depended on the outcome of this meeting, and her life would be irrevocably changed one way or another after it was over.
What’s going to happen to me? Raven kept asking herself this question over and over as she waited for the bank vice president, and she came up with no answers, only the great expanse of an unknown future loomed before her.
If she returned to the city she knew exactly what her life would be like, but how would she react to being alone again after her all too brief brush with happiness and having a family out here in the country? Connor wouldn’t return with her. In the city he would be a fish out of water and even more lost than she was out here.
Maybe she would go back to the city and take up with some of her former friends again. Of course none of those friends had been very good friends, and the thought of giving up the ranch to return and take up her friendships with those empty-headed waitresses and bartenders she had known before was not very appealing.
No, this had to work today at the bank. Right here this morning she had to buy herself and her ranch enough time to make a go of things. Her wait would not be long; the receptionist had told her the vice president would see her in a few minutes.
Raven watched the customers of the bank run around the lobby from window to window conducting their daily business at the bank and carrying on with their daily lives. She glanced down the hall in the direction she thought the vice president’s office must be but could see nothing yet.
She realized her palms were sweaty and wiped them along the side of her pantsuit. Bringing out her iPad one more time before her meeting, she brought up the figures for the ranch’s budget on the little touch screen
“You’re right,” she said, wiping the tears off her face. “I’m going to sell the Lazy L to Wholesale Foods. I’ll have to go back. I guess I was a fool to ever think I could escape my old life and start a new, happy one so easily.”
Raven’s dream of starting her life over out here on this beautiful land had just been crushed.
Chapter Seven
The First National Bank of Masterson, the small town nearest to the Lazy L, was a one-story building on Main Street located just across from the town square and in the heart of the business district. The bank was always a busy place in an otherwise sleepy town, frequented by business people of all stripes, as well as the many private account holders since it was the only bank in a fifty-mile radius.
Raven was dressed in a dark pantsuit and looked and felt professional. She had worn this same suit to all of her job interviews back in the city. Her shoes had been shined. Her perfume had been conservatively applied but was expensive. She also had a professional hint of makeup on her face, and her long hair was tied back behind her in a bun, hairspray keeping its unruly nature in check.
She entered the bank about half an hour after it opened that morning, her stomach doing flip-flops because so much was riding on the outcome of this visit. She felt scared because her life had changed so drastically a week ago, and now it was threatening to change back to the old just as fast, and there was little she could do about it. This trip to the bank was her last chance.
“I’m here to see Linda Harding,” Raven told an old lady who was working as a receptionist in the bank lobby. “She’s the vice president of small business loans. I have an appointment with her this morning.”
“Mrs. Harding is meeting with an account holder in her office now.” The old lady fumbled with an appointment book in front of her. Raven saw she didn’t even have a computer on her desk. Didn’t anyone use modern technology out here in the boonies?
“Please have a seat over there, and Mrs. Harding will be out in a few minutes.”
Raven thanked the old lady and took a seat. She felt like she was on trial for murder here instead of just coming to ask for a loan. So much depended on the outcome of this meeting, and her life would be irrevocably changed one way or another after it was over.
What’s going to happen to me? Raven kept asking herself this question over and over as she waited for the bank vice president, and she came up with no answers, only the great expanse of an unknown future loomed before her.
If she returned to the city she knew exactly what her life would be like, but how would she react to being alone again after her all too brief brush with happiness and having a family out here in the country? Connor wouldn’t return with her. In the city he would be a fish out of water and even more lost than she was out here.
Maybe she would go back to the city and take up with some of her former friends again. Of course none of those friends had been very good friends, and the thought of giving up the ranch to return and take up her friendships with those empty-headed waitresses and bartenders she had known before was not very appealing.
No, this had to work today at the bank. Right here this morning she had to buy herself and her ranch enough time to make a go of things. Her wait would not be long; the receptionist had told her the vice president would see her in a few minutes.
Raven watched the customers of the bank run around the lobby from window to window conducting their daily business at the bank and carrying on with their daily lives. She glanced down the hall in the direction she thought the vice president’s office must be but could see nothing yet.
She realized her palms were sweaty and wiped them along the side of her pantsuit. Bringing out her iPad one more time before her meeting, she brought up the figures for the ranch’s budget on the little touch screen
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