Page 23 of A Rancher's Love
His uncle offered a sly grin. “I want you ready to take over as foreman when the time comes.”
5
Iwant you to take over.
The words echoed in Tucker’s head, damn near rattling his brain. “You want to retire?”
“Eventually. I don’t want to stop completely, but I’m getting up there,” Ashton admitted. “I like what I do, kid, but I like it less at five a.m. after being up until three a.m. dealing with one disaster or another. That’s a young man’s task, and I left young a bunch of years ago.”
Tucker sat and let this new information roll over him. He mixed the idea of what Ashton was saying up with the goals he’d had on his own books for a long time and came up with a brand-new reality.
Seems they were going for blunt. So be it.
“I had planned to ask to be brought on full-time as your apprentice the summer I turned twenty.” Tucker watched his uncle do the mental math and his expression grow sad. “Yeah, that’s the year we lost the Stones and the Hayeses. They’d mentored me a lot to that point, along with you, and Walter had pretty much told me that was the next step. But with the accident, Caleb ended up raising not only his family but Darilyn Hayes as well, and no way could they afford to take me on. So I bowed out of that idea.”
“That accident turned so many people’s lives upside down. Damn drunk drivers. Damn them to hell.” Ashton shook his head then met Tucker’s gaze. “Truth is, that would’ve been perfect timing.”
“We can’t change the past. But I haven’t sat idle since then,” Tucker assured him. His comment to Ginny earlier that day came to mind, about how all of his past job experiences had been a slice of Silver Stone. That had been deliberate on his part. “Since I couldn’t be here, I did what I could to learn elsewhere. I’m not ready to jump in and take over today, but I’ve got a good base.”
“Damn right, you do.” This time Ashton’s expression was full on approval. “I wondered why you weren’t staying on at one place for longer than a year or two. Had me worried for a while that you had restless feet like Ginny.”
Tucker had seen Ginny’s face as she stared up at the loft ceiling and all but melted, sinking into the comfort of the familiar old barn. He wasn’t sure that she’d really had wanderlust either, but that wasn’t the topic right now.
“Let me pull together an official resume,” Tucker offered. “If you think this is something Caleb would approve of, we need to set a start date so I can talk to my current boss and give my notice.”
“Caleb told me years ago to hire someone and start training them at my discretion. Since all that time I put in over the years ensured that you didn’t grow up to be an asshole, I think I can work with you.” Ashton raised a brow. “You’re more like me than my brother.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Tucker said dryly. His relationship with his parents was pretty much nonexistent.
His uncle looked him over, hard. “You have much to do with your folks recently?”
“No.” Tucker raised a brow. “When was the last time you touched base with your brother?”
“A month ago,” Ashton returned before making a face. “Like talking to a brick wall. An unhappy brick wall.”
“Because theyareunhappy. Nothing can be done unless they both agree with every decision, which means they keep compromising their way into bullshit that makes both of them miserable.”
It had been a struggle for Tucker to figure out even part of what made his parents tick—their priorities weren’t even remotely logical to him. As if he’d been switched at birth with a far more down-to-earth couple’s offspring. Knowing the truth, though, had made it easier to deliberately step even farther from his parent’s sphere of influence on his life.
After a quick mental check to see if he found even the slightest bit ofgive a damnlingering—which he didn’t—Tucker shrugged. “They made their choices, which clearly don’t include me.”
“I know they’re bad, but—”
“They don’t care,” Tucker interrupted, stating the truth plainly. “I made a last-ditch effort last October and suggested I’d drop in over Thanksgiving. They told me they already had plans, and if I showed up, there would be an odd number at the table.”
His uncle cursed softly.
Tucker had enough other people in his life who did care to make up for his parents, including the man now before him. “I’ve made my choices as well. I lean toward simple and honest manual labour. You taught me the value in that—you, Walter, and Joseph, before they passed on. You’ve done more for me over the years than my parents ever did. Let me be there for you now. I’d love to work for Silver Stone, but I’d also love to make your life better going forward. So, thanks for the opportunity.”
Ashton dipped his chin, leaning forward and slapping a hand on the table. “Then it’s decided. Get your paperwork together so we can make it official, but as soon as you’re done with your work out east, we’ll get you started. I won’t say anything to anyone but Caleb. We’ll let the rest of the crew and family know once you’ve got a date.”
He held out his hand, and like in the old days, Tucker shook it firmly, looking the man in the eye. “I won’t let you down.”
“I know you won’t, son.” Ashton sighed heavily, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes. “Now, get.”
Tucker chuckled. “Getting.”
He stepped outside into the snow and cold, mind spinning with the change of plans and the possibilities that lay ahead of him.
