Cowboy Strong. Stacy Finz

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СКАЧАТЬ Boyardee was over to cook.”

      “Chef Boyardee is welcome at my house anytime,” Jace said while sniffing his way to the inside of Sawyer’s refrigerator. “This it?” He held up a covered glass dish with the leftover lamb.

      “Yep. You want me to nuke some for you in the microwave?” Sawyer went into the kitchen and made Jace up a plate. “What’re you doing home so early?”

      “That’s what I came to talk to you about. I’ve got an interview with what may be our first tenants. Two UC Davis grads who want to lease land to grow and start up a flower stand. Charlie’s sister hooked them up with us. You remember Allison?”

      “The one who owns a nursery in Portland, right?” Jace nodded. “How much land do these Davis grads want?”

      Jace stood sentry by the microwave as if hovering would make the food heat quicker. “A few acres.”

      “A few acres would feed a cow and her calf for a season. That’s money in the bank.” In the scheme of things, 500 acres wasn’t all that much land to run a profitable cattle operation and to lease even a small parcel might not be cost-effective.

      “I hear ya. We’ll definitely have to make it worth our while financially, otherwise it’s a lose-lose.”

      “How much water will they need?” Water was as precious a commodity as land.

      “Don’t know yet. These are questions we need to ask them. But I like that it’ll at least be agricultural. They’re hoping to do flowers for weddings and parties. Also sell to the public. I don’t know how that’ll work. Something else to ask them. But Charlie and Aubrey like the idea. I’m meeting with them in thirty minutes at the girls’ studio. Came by to see if you want to tag along. Cash is in Plumas County today at a cattlemen’s meeting.”

      “Sure, I’ll go.” Sawyer had put in a solid three hours of work after they’d moved the herd and before Gina had shown up.

      The microwave dinged and Sawyer took out the plate of lamb and couscous. He got out the chickpea salad, added a scoop, and slid it down the counter to Jace. “Bon appétit.”

      Jace didn’t waste any time shoveling the food into his mouth. “Wow, this is fantastic,” he said around a mouthful.

      “When was the last time you ate?”

      “Lunch at the coffee shop.” Jace ate there at least five times a week. They all did. “I thought you didn’t like her.”

      “Who, Gina?” Sawyer hitched his shoulders. “She feeds me. I don’t have to like her.”

      Jace pointed his fork at Sawyer. “The question is, Why does she feed you?” And then the moron grinned like he was really onto something.

      “It’s a trade for my kitchen. She doesn’t like hers and she doesn’t like me, either.” Apparently she liked Danny Clay’s dick, though. “And after today I’m pretty sure she’s going to be here forever.”

      “Why’s that?” Jace got up, found a loaf of bread in the fridge, and sopped up some of the lamb sauce with a slice.

      “Someone got ahold of her and that other celebrity chef’s sext messages and plastered them all over the internet. Let’s just say they’re better than anything you get on Pornhub.”

      Jace’s brows winged up. “I suppose sex texts don’t jibe with FoodFlicks’ family-friendly image.”

      “Yeah, not even close. I doubt her sponsors are too thrilled.”

      “She can’t hide here forever.” Jace scraped his plate clean and stuck it in the dishwasher.

      “Let’s hope not.” Though if Sawyer was being truly honest, he hadn’t altogether minded her company. She had a quick wit and was fun to spar with.

      “You ready to go?”

      They hiked across the field to Charlie and Aubrey’s old barn. Whether on foot or horseback, Sawyer never grew tired of the place. The sights and smells changed with the hours. He loved every inch of the land, its rugged hills and rolling pastures and the way they stretched out forever, making everything else seem small in comparison. Most of all, though, he loved the way his family’s history was steeped in these foothills.

      He and Jace caught up with the creek, which wound its way through the property like a snake. Maybe tomorrow he’d sit by the water’s edge with his laptop and do a little writing outdoors, then take a dip. The most popular spot was a swimming hole next to Cash’s old cabin where the water was deep and the current calm.

      But now with Gina living there he planned to avoid the place like the Ebola virus. As much as he appreciated dueling with her, he didn’t want to get sucked into her drama. Not like he had this afternoon. Sure, he’d brought some of it on himself by asking a lot of questions. He tried to chalk it up to the fact that he was a journalist, naturally inquisitive—but that wasn’t completely true.

      For whatever reason he was drawn to her, which was an anomaly. While his parents were fixers, he’d never had a knight-in-shining-armor complex. In general, he steered clear of women with a lot of baggage.

      “What are you so quiet about?” Jace asked as they got closer.

      “Just working out a story in my head and trying to figure out the hook.”

      There was a 1950 candy-apple red Chevrolet pickup parked next to the barn. Sawyer wasn’t an expert on classic cars, but someone had taken real good care of that baby.

      Jace let out a long, low whistle “I like these girls already.”

      They took a few minutes to admire the truck. Yep, the women had good taste in pickups, Sawyer would give them that. But he was still on the fence about leasing them land.

      He and his cousins had to do something to support the ranch, but he wasn’t sure this was the answer. The idea of people traipsing in and out like it was a shopping mall didn’t sit well with him.

      Then again, neither did losing their legacy.

      Voices came from inside the barn. He and Jace climbed over a stack of lumber and circled a sawhorse to get through the entrance. The construction crew must’ve punched out for the day. Either that or the crew had taken a break so they could hold their meeting without the cacophony of buzz saws in the background.

      Charlie and Aubrey were sitting with two young women on a pair of Charlie’s custom sofas in the showroom. Pretty girls, Sawyer thought, though they looked like teenagers. One was blonde, the other a brunette. Both dressed in jeans and graphic T-shirts. The brunette’s had a picture of a John Deere tractor and the words I’d rather be f-ing. Cute, Sawyer supposed, but not the most professional to wear on an interview.

      Damn, I’m getting old.

      “This is Ava and Winter.” Charlie made the introductions while Sawyer and Jace pulled over two chairs.

      “Tell me what you have in mind,” Jace said. He’d never been one for small talk.

      “We need about three acres to grow our flowers,” Ava said and went on to list the genus and species of about a dozen plants СКАЧАТЬ