Page 57 of A Rancher's Love
A note lay on the table.
Tamara and Caleb moved me into the cottage already. Hope you had a good trip home. Watching movies with the girls tonight. I’ll try and catch you in the barn sometime tomorrow.
Operation Prove It now begins!
X, Ginny
Disappointment and exhaustion battled for top billing. Tucker decided to take advantage of the unexpected dose of quiet, made a simple meal and hit the sack early.
The next morning, he found himself swept into a meeting with Ashton and Caleb. Paperwork was signed, and they took a tour around the main ranch buildings. Not even a week ago when Tucker had first arrived, Ashton had showed him around, but the information hit a whole lot harder now.
Caleb rested a booted foot on the bottom railing as they stood by the arena, hands draped casually on the top bar as he, Ashton, and Tucker paused to watch Kelli and Luke work one of the new horses.
“She’s got a gift,” Caleb said.
“She does, and she’s not the only one,” Tucker agreed, casting an experienced eye at some of the other ranch hands. His brain was full to the brim, and in spite of Jack’s help narrowing down where to start, the moment still felt overwhelming.
Ashton folded his arms over his chest and sighed contentedly. “Things are good overall.”
“Even better than I expected,” Tucker confessed. He went for straight-up honest, because working with the man, it would be better to not tiptoe around issues. He met Caleb’s gaze straight on. “The only thing I don’t understand is your lack of focus.”
Caleb blinked. “Explain.”
Tucker shrugged. “You’ve branched out into a lot of areas. That’s not a bad way to put money on the table, but it’s not how Silver Stone becomes established as the best at what she does. You’ve got the breeding program, you train horses for everything from personal rides to rodeo stock. You raise cattle, you had a semi-commercial agricultural arm.”
“Only made sense,” Ashton said, a little more gruffly than usual. “Diversifying brought in money.”
“I’m not saying it’s wrong,” Tucker insisted. “But I am saying that it’s something you need to think about going forward. If you like what you’re doing, then we’ll carry on and find ways to make each part of the operation stronger and more lucrative. Or, if you don’t want to keep that many pots on the fire, you could pick the ones you like best and specialize. Since you’re no longer fighting to keep finances balanced.”
Caleb’s expression seemed stern, but he blinked more than usual, which Tucker recognized as a tell the man was considering brand-new thoughts. “You’re saying I need to take my own advice. The way I told everybody on Christmas Eve to dream about what they’d like to do.”
Tucker dipped his chin. “If you want to bounce ideas around, Ashton and I are more than willing to listen.”
“Huh.” Caleb stared at Luke and Kelli, but his gaze seemed far more distant. “I might take you up on that.”
Conversation shifted to other topics. Eventually Ashton hauled Tucker into the mess hall for lunch, the cook serving up an eclectic mix of classic ranch food and tasty, spicy Indian dishes that created a mouth-watering aroma that set Tucker damn near drooling.
He settled opposite his uncle and dug into his food, the empty hole in his stomach messing with his manners.
When he finally paused, he looked up and discovered Ashton sitting across from him, arms once again folded over his chest and a highly disapproving expression back in place. “Sorry. Didn’t realize I was that hungry.”
“Your lack of table manners isn’t the part I’m pissed about,” Ashton growled.
Yeah, Tucker had figured this was coming. And yet, same as he had with Caleb, he figured it was better to start as he meant to go on. Which had in fact, been one of the bits of advice that Jack had offered that made a hell of a lot of sense.
“You mean me asking Caleb to consider the overall direction of Silver Stone going forward?”
Ashton’s frown deepened. “I thought you planned to apprentice under me, not take over the first chance you got.”
Tucker put down his fork and wiped his mouth clean with his napkin, considering his words. “I absolutely want to apprentice, but what I said to Caleb goes for you as well. With the changes available to Silver Stone, plus me joining the mix, you need to think hard about what you want. There’s not much use in training me to do something that will be obsolete a year down the road.”
Ashton made a harrumphing noise.
The fact his uncle wasn’t tearing a strip off him at that moment was a positive thing. Tucker went on, allowing amusement to slide into his tone. “Plus, I figure you have no intention of retiring completely.”
“Damn right.”
“So tell me I was wrong to nudge the two men with the most influence to consider all their options.” Tucker leaned forward and winked at his uncle. “Nope. Thought not.”
