Page 114 of Grit
Cary laughed, a full, roaring sound that came from his gut. “You have got to be kidding me.”
Adrian shook his head. “My friend, I am not. Nothing is certain, but at least half the people looking at the Allen ranch are legal marijuana growers.”
Melissa closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to imagine the look on Bud Rogers’s face when he heard the news. “Well… at least we know they’ll probably be organic.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Cary tossed his cards down.“You little hustler.”
Abby giggled and grabbed all the M&M’s in the middle of the table. “What?”
“You know what!”
They were sitting on the front porch of the ranch house while Rumi, Joan, and Leigh cooked dinner inside. Abby had convinced Cary she needed to “learn” how to play poker.
After a few fumbling hands, she had destroyed him.
“Who taught you how to play cards?” he asked.
Ox walked out of the house and set two beers on the table. “Did she get you too?”
“She gotyou? I assumed you were the one who taught her.”
He shook his head and sat down. “Nah. I fell for it too.”
Cary narrowed his eyes on Abby. “Okay, who was it?”
Abby blinked innocently. “I just looked on YouTube.”
“Lying. No one learns that well from YouTube.”
“I learned about making goat-milk soap on YouTube. I even made some orange-blossom soap, and your mom says it’s the best soap she’s ever used.” Abby picked up her bottle of Coke and sipped it. “I’m going to try honey-and-lavender-scented soap next.”
Cary leaned forward. “That sounds like a great idea, and stop avoiding the question.”
“I don’t know what you want me to say.” Her eyes were wide and innocent. She shrugged her tiny shoulders. “Just beginner’s luck, I guess.”
“Ooooh.” Ox started chuckling. “I know who it was.”
Abby gasped. “You better not.”
“I know because she used the same ‘beginner’s luck’ line on me.”
Abby scrambled up and put a hand over her uncle’s mouth. “No! Don’t tell him!”
“Tss dfffly Mmmmy.” Ox was laughing behind Abby’s hand.
Cary drank his beer. “Emmie, huh?”
“No!” Abby threw her head back. “I promised I wouldn’t tell!”
Cary drummed his fingers on the table. “So Emmie’s the card shark in the family?” He nodded slowly. “Good to know.”
Ox’s eyes were laughing when he pulled Abby’s hand away from his mouth. “At least she’s got that part of being a cowgirl down.”
Cary squinted into the bright autumn sun. The leaves were changing colors on the hills, the grass was brown and thirsty. And in the corral nearest the house, Melissa was sitting on the fence next to Stu, shouting instructions to Emmie, who had just started trotting PJ around the ring.
“Eyes forward!” Melissa shouted. “Keep your hips loose and trust your mount, Emmie.”
