Page 24 of Sweet Beginnings

“Long enough for Mom to heal up?” He came to a stop in front of the house.

She reached for her purse on the floorboard. “Very possibly. We’ve bought a week at the least, two or three might be doable.”

Hopping out of the car, he circled around to her side. “Maybe that’s a good sign.”

“Sign?” Without hesitation, she slid her hand into his. They’d gotten good at walking and holding hands.

“That everything is going to work out.”

She heaved a deep sigh. “I sure as hell hope so.”

Inside he could hear women’s voices coming from the kitchen and see the light coming from his dad’s office. Curious, he headed for the office.

“Hey.” Carson looked up from their dad’s desk.

“Something wrong?” Carson sat in their dad’s office with the same frown he’d had the other day when they all sifted through the books to figure out what was going on.

Carson pushed away from the desk and walked over to the bar. “Checking to see if we overlooked something. An asset hidden somewhere that our beloved foreman missed. See if there’s any other way.”

Preston could have told him there was nothing. That first night, while everyone else was sleeping, he’d pored over the books. Ray had cleaned them out well and good.

“At dinner, Mom threw out an idea. She wanted all of us to be at the table, but she’s worried, so decided against waiting till another time when we’re all here.”

No sense pointing out they all were worried.

“Anyhow,” Carson continued, “she floated finding someone to lease a portion of land for extra income. Pointed out that with the decreased head of cattle we’re now running, we could probably spare the space. Of course, that means finding a local rancher who needs more land and that might not happen soon enough.”

“Even if we did, it might help buy feed for winter, but it wouldn’t be enough to get us out of this mess.” Preston knew better than any of them that there was still only one option. The trust.

“Boy, you two sure work fast.” Jillian plopped into an overstuffed chair.

On a normal day, Preston would have been asking his sister what the heck she was talking about, but nothing about the last few days had been normal. “Where’s Mom?”

Rachel came through the doorway and pointed one finger at the ceiling. “We convinced her to just go to bed early.”

“And she listened?” Two dark brows rose high over Carson’s deep blue eyes.

Flashing an unusually large grin under the circumstances, Jillian accepted a cola Carson had poured for her. “Bless Brady.”

“What does Brady have to do with it?” He’d hoped to be home early enough to join the family for dinner, but the time with Samson had eaten more of the day than he’d expected. Now he was pedaling fast to keep up.

“That dog is in shepherd mode and Mom is his sheep. When she stood up from the dining room table—slowly—Brady came up beside her and gently nudged her toward the staircase. Once Rachel and I added our two cents, Mom gave up and climbed the steps.”

“And Brady?” Preston asked.

“Glued to her side, probably at the foot of the bed now.”

“Or across the doorway.” Rachel chimed in. “Most shepherds are good protectors too.”

“Now that the coast is clear to talk,” Jillian leaned forward in her seat and faced her brother, “the whole darn town is talking about you two. Apparently, you’ve been doing a great job putting on a show. Iris Hathaway has been telling anyone who will listen that Preston is obviously courting Sarah Sue.”

“Courting?” Preston hadn’t heard that old-fashioned word since he was a kid and his mother made him sit through the old musicalSeven Brides for Seven Brothers.

“Whatever.” Jillian shrugged. “The important thing is, the plan is working.”

“Good. Then our running off to Vegas to get married won’t surprise anyone.” Preston floated the idea that he and Sarah Sue had discussed.

“Vegas?” Carson rubbed the back of his neck. “I understand why you might not want a vow before God church wedding. That makes perfect sense. And I know that Vegas is famous for eloping, but doesn’t it seem a bit out of character for both of you?”

---