Page 49 of Keeping His Brat

“Fiancé? Honeymoon?” She repeated the words in a flat tone, like she’d never heard them before. And then a sudden brightness lifted her expression and her eyes lit up. “I guess Iamyour fiancé now! Well, you haven’t technically proposed but it still counts, right?”

“It totally counts. And I’ll do the proposing as soon as I come up with something appropriate.” He leaned over to set his empty plate on the floor and then he settled in more comfortably with her in his lap. “We’ll be moving into the big house soon. That leaves this cabin available. It seems like a good time to find someone to take over as foreman.”

She tilted her head looking hesitant, but also eager and hopeful. “Can we afford another salary?”

“Yeah, I think so. Especially with the house as part of it. I’ve got a couple ideas about bringing in some more income around here too, but that’s just going to make it more important that we find someone else.”

He hesitated. He had something else to add. He just hated to mention it. “Truth is, Charlie, the doctor thinks being worn down from so many long shifts probably escalated everything. I mean I’ve been putting in ten-to-twelve-hour days, and then spending time with you at night. I cut down on my sleep to make it fit. I wore myself down trying to be two people. And sitting back there in the hospital I had a lot of time to think about whether that was the life I wanted or not.”

“Well, as long as time with me isn’t one of the things you want to trim …”

He snorted. One eyebrow went up as he stared at her. “Not likely, darlin’. You’re going to get more time with me and … maybe I’ll even consider taking a few classes like we talked about.”

That put a smile on her face, and she snuggled against his chest with a happy sigh. “I love that idea.”

“We just have to work out the details. Thought about maybe promoting Ben to foreman, but you know that wouldn’t work.”

She shook her head quickly. “No, definitely not Ben. He’s good for backup but he’s not the take charge type.” She sounded like she knew that firsthand.

He realized, after being in charge around here during his absence she probably did. “Right, so every time I thought about finding a foreman, I thought about which of the hands might do well to be promoted. Problem was the only ones that I thought likely to work out don’t want it.”

“Like Mike.”

“Right. I knew he’d say no but I asked, just in case. Nope, and he’s thinking about retirement soon anyway.”

“So, what are you going to do? Post an ad? Or maybe ask around at the other ranches? They might have someone looking to move up,” she said.

He’d considered both of those, but he’d come up with something better. “Actually, I think I might know a guy. A friend of mind. He wasn’t too happy where he was last time I talked to him.”

Charlie blinked. “You … have friends?”

“Wow, thanks for that, babe. Yes, I have friends!” He shook his head and laughed. He’d taken it as a joke.

“I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just one of the hardest things since I came home has been how isolated I feel. I was just talking to Marilee about it actually. You and the ranch are basically my whole world and that’s great but …” She sounded forlorn.

How had he not realized she was lonely? He’d been thinking about how much he missed her during his long shifts, and how he wanted more time with her. He hadn’t considered that Charlie was alone most of the time, except when she worked.

He felt a pang of guilt hit him. “I’m sorry, Charlie. I should have noticed you were feeling like that. I wish you’d told me.” He kissed her forehead gently.

“Well, there didn’t seem to be much point because there’s not really a solution. I can’t be friends with the hands, not really, because I’ll always be the owner. I consider some of them family, but it’s different. I don’t have time to leave the ranch to go do things very often. And well …” She trailed off and shrugged.

That was all true. As her Daddy he should have noticed that. He’d find a solution for that problem too. But maybe … maybe one solution would fix two issues. It was just possible that things might work out all the way around. Before he could think of something to say Charlie changed the subject.

“So, what were your ideas for bringing more money in?”

He hesitated, wondering if he should let her deflect. If she wasn’t happy, it was something they did need to talk about. But maybe it was best to wait until he could see a solution.

“Well, you know the beef cows are the steady income. The horses bring in a decent amount between the ones we sell and the ones we train for other people, but that comes in when it comes. I was reading up on some ideas and then when I started to think about us getting married it hit me. How do you feel about setting up a venue that people could rent for weddings or parties?”

Her eyes widened and both eyebrows went up. “Parties? You mean like rent them a field so they could put up a tent or something?”

“No. Something sturdier. We have a few good carpenters, and we could have a structure built without it costing much. Why not put up a whole pavilion that people can decorate? Plant some flowering bushes around it. Put up some plastic sheeting that can be lowered during bad weather.”

It was the first time he’d said the idea out loud and he watched her, trying to gauge her reaction.

“My only concern is having a lot of people we don’t know running around the ranch. Safety could be an issue,” she pointed out.

He’d already thought of that. “Not to worry. I was looking over the map and I found a perfect spot. We have a parcel that is right along the main road. If we cut through the tree line we could pave a side road straight in. Maybe set up a parking lot. They wouldn’t even need to come in through the gates. It would be entirely separate.”

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