Page 9 of Hero for the Holidays

And once a month they did this. They gathered together, they ate, they socialized. They played poker. And she did her best not to tangle with Landry.

Once a month. She went through all this once a month.

Sometimes she wondered why she’d committed herself to living here. To dealing with this baptism in her own personal hell. But there was no other option. She refused to be run off her land by a man.

Fuck those men.

She refused to have her life turned upside down, a life that she had fought so hard for, just because of them.

Of him.

She was proud of all she’d achieved. And so, she dealt with seeing him. So, she dealt with all this.

“The lone order of business is coming to us from Landry King.”

Her shoulders went stiff, a bolt of lightning streaking up her spine.

She held herself steady. She tried not to react.

“Come on up, Landry.”

“The first part of this is a petition for an increase in the budget,” he said.

And she swore that just for a second, his eyes flicked to her. Rested there. And she was transported back to another meeting nearly a year ago, when he had outright refused to increase the funding for the Sullivans’ project. The budget was the budget, he’d said.

And she hadn’t managed to keep her cool. No. In that instance, she let the anger she felt for him in the present—and all the burning anger she experienced when she thought of their past—take her over.

Look who’s a fucking accountant.

She remembered. Because she always remembered when she messed up with him. Always remembered when things got too real. Too intense.

Always.

“I’m sorry,” she said, lifting her hand, but only as a formality. “I’m unclear as to how you think that we can redistribute the budget when the budget has already been made for the year.”

“I thought you might have a problem with it, Fia,” he said. “But believe me when I tell you this is part of a plan that’s going to benefit everybody.”

“I benefited,” she said. “Thanks.”

“I took a class,” he said. “It was about finding your niche in ranching. And that’s the second part of this. I want everyone to be thinking about that.”

“I believe that’s what my farm store is, Landry. My niche.Thank you.” She sounded so sugary she wanted to die. But she had to go sugary or she’d get salty real fast.

“It’s true,” he said. “Sullivan’s Point is probably the most advanced when it comes to this. But then, you’ve had to be.”

He made what she considered a triumph sound a lot like an insult, and she marveled at his ability to do that. And to fill her up with hate all the while looking so handsome.

“Is that so?”

“Yes. And that’s the kind of thing I want to do with King’s Crest. I’m asking for an increase in the budget to renovate the main barn. I want it to serve as a meeting space, and an event space. Eventually, I’d like to do what they did at McCloud’s. Put in small cabins, but instead of using it as therapy space, I’d like to use them as guest rooms. We’ll be able to host destination weddings, small conferences and the like. It would likely increase business to Sullivan’s. Because you could hopefully provide some food. Which I know you’re all very good at.”

She was beginning to get angrier and angrier. Partly because it wasn’t a stupid idea.

But their ranch was alreadysoprofitable. The Garretts and the Kings had a monopoly on beef in Oregon. They were massive operations. And the two of them together being able to share profits made them unstoppable.

What Landry was proposing now would undoubtedly line the pockets of the Kings even more. But it would benefit all of them.

“Why?” she asked. “I mean, what triggered this?” She tried to regroup. “It’s only that we laid our plans out at the beginning of the year and yes, I know that I didn’t adhere to that entirely last year, but that was about unexpected expenses related to a project we’d already approved. You’re talking about new endeavors and I want to know why now, and not at the new fiscal year?”

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