Page 69 of A Rancher's Bride
“We’ll give you the details later,” Luke said, “But I feel our income is going to rise after the week in Kananaskis.”
“Any orders right now?” Walker asked.
Kelli and Luke exchanged glances but had to shake their heads. “Maybe soon.”
“It’s on the list,” Tamara promised.
Why did that sound as feeble and patronizing as it had when she’d said the same thing to Dustin?
“We have family in the south. If we end up selling Silver Stone, we’ll have enough money to buy in with Uncle Frank.” Caleb glared as Dustin made a rude noise. “Be civil, or I’ll kick your ass out of this room and give you the summary at the end the way we give the little girls.”
Dustin looked slightly ashamed at Caleb’s reprimand, but it didn’t stop him from making a comment. “I’m not going to live with that man.”
“Duly noted,” Caleb said.
“We might be able to head north,” Tamara offered. “With the Coleman family amalgamating, it’s possible we might be able to do some sort of buy-in. We wouldn’t own land, but we’d still be able to ranch.”
Walker was nodding slowly, but he and Ivy had exchanged a glance. “If we end up having to sell Silver Stone, I’ll figure out something else to do. Ivy and I will be staying here in Heart Falls to be close with her family.”
Dustin swore.
All heads snapped toward him as he rolled off the back of the couch to his feet. Fists smacked against his hips, and he glared around the room as if not sure who to take his frustrations out on. “So that’s it. That’s the only thing you can think of? Sell the ranch, move away. That’sbullshit,” he snapped.
Caleb opened his mouth, but Ashton’s response was far more immediate and direct. The foreman reached out and caught Dustin by the ear, tugging him to one side as if the young man didn’t have three inches on him. “You talk like that one more time in front of the ladies, and I don’t care that you do think you’re an adult. I will wash your mouth out with soapandmake you clean stalls for a month.”
Dustin slammed his mouth shut, his lips compressed into a thin line, but he nodded briefly, and Ashton let go.
Dustin took a cautious step away even as he looked slightly ashamed to meet Tamara’s eyes. “We can’t sell,” he said, his voice thick as if he was fighting tears. “We’vegotto stay together as a family. I promised. Silver Stone is the only connection I have to Mom and Dad.”
He took off, darting down the hallway. A moment later the front door opened then slammed closed, and the room fell silent.
Tamara let out a sigh. “He’s right. Leaving Silver Stone would mean leaving a lot of memories.”
“Good and bad ones, if we’re being honest,” Luke said. “But I agree with Dustin that we need to do everything we can to try and stay.”
More ideas were brought up. Caleb shared an update on where the oil and gas research was at—basically still in limbo, as the unobtrusive testing methods they’d chosen hadn’t yielded anything positive yet.
They could sell off some land. They could rent out land. There were options, but none of them were about ranching or making the operation stronger.
“Kelli, you haven’t said anything,” Tamara pointed out.
Kelli blinked. “Why’re you asking me? I’m not family.”
An exasperated sound shot from Luke, and he put his hand on her shoulder and tugged her toward him. “You’ve been here for over eight years. You are so family. And besides, you and I—”
She cut him off, knocking his hand off her shoulder before he could say something he’d later regret. “I might live here, but it doesn’t make mefamily.”
The look of disbelief in his eyes was brutal. “Answer the damn question.”
“Watch your language, Luke Stone, or Ashton’s going to be over here pullingyourear,” she snapped back. She twisted toward Tamara. “I think Luke’s right that we’re about to have good things happen with the horses. Not just from the contacts we made in Kananaskis Country, but honestly, I think by the time this racing season is over, we’re going to have more stallions earning their weight in stud fees.”
“Anything else?”
“I guess you could sell off more land around Heart Falls,” she suggested. “Even though that would break my heart, it’s probably the most valuable non-commercial land you own.”
“Sell it for what?” Ivy asked, frowning slightly.
“Houses. Big-ass acreages—or smaller ones. You’re close enough to Calgary you could be a bedroom community, or a nice quiet retreat for people in the arts.”
