Page 12 of Headstrong Cowboy
Sunny’s chin lifted, daring Chrissy to dismiss her offer.She didn’t.If Sunny wanted to help, then she would let her sister help, because it was her legacy as much as it was Chrissy’s.“Thank you.”
“You know Tilly will also want to help.Have you told her yet?”
Chrissy sighed.“Not yet, but I will.She has other expenses, so I don’t want to put a financial burden on her as well.”
“Maybe, but she’ll be upset you don’t ask her.With her always off doing her own thing, we tend to not include her in things pertinent to the farm.Which is wrong.”
Sunny was right.If they were going to save the farm, they needed to do it together.“I’ll call her tonight.”
Sunny nodded.“Okay.Now, shoo, so I can continue my work.And watch me.I’ll get that rose variety sorted quicker than you can go around a few barrels,” she finished with a wink.
Chrissy laughed at her sister’s cheekiness.“We’ll see about that, because I went round those barrels pretty fast yesterday.”
“Whatever,” Sunny grumbled, her focus already on the flowers in front of her.
Chrissy left her to it and as she walked out, she saw a plume of dust heading toward the house.Without rhyme or reason, a little ball of dread formed in her belly.
Who was coming to see them?
Chapter Six
Asense ofexcitement, nervousness, and trepidation vied for Ryder’s attention as he slowed down, coming up to the turnoff to his destination.In a few moments, he was about to stand on his family’s land.A family he hadn’t known he was part of because he’d never bothered with his past.Not after his mother had died and he had been placed into the foster care system, a boy of eight, angry at the world and everyone in it.
He wasn’t that boy anymore, and he would do everything he could to fulfill a long-ago wish of his mother’s.A wish he would’ve liked to have known about sooner.Although, would it have made any difference to how he’d lived his life so far?That was a question that couldn’t be answered.
The blue sign advertising the flower farm stood tall on the corner.The wording was faded, as if it hadn’t been painted in a long time.
In his call with Lucinda, he hadn’t asked why the farm was being sold.He hadn’t needed to know.After seeing the tired-looking sign, he suspected it may have hit hard times.
Ryder had never considered it was possible to grow flowers in Montana, considering the amount of snow the area got.Or how harsh the winters could get.What type of flowers did they produce?Not that it mattered to him, as he was looking at the land for a different reason.He wasn’t thinking about buying it to be a flower farmer.He didn’t know if it would fit his needs at all.The size concerned him, but it would be a start to the Four Leaf Ranch.Maybe once he purchased his first bit of land, he could approach the surrounding areas and gauge their interest in selling.Perhaps there were some owners who were ready to sell, but just hadn’t taken the leap forward to do so.Anything was possible.
Mentally, he cautioned himself not to get too far ahead in his thinking.There was no guarantee that any of this would come off, but he would do his best to push it in the right direction—the direction that favored him.
Dust flew up behind him as he traveled down the driveway toward the main hub of the property.The grass on either side was neatly clipped, and in the distance were a large homestead and what appeared to be other structures.
They had to be the greenhouses Lucinda had mentioned.
Ryder pulled to a halt outside a building where another Bloom Flower Farm sign adorned the porch.This one looked in better condition than the one he’d driven past.Had he gotten it wrong and things weren’t as bad as he’d assumed?Or had they just updated this one and not the one by the road?
All of those thoughts were forgotten when he saw who was walking up to him—Chrissy.
He’d known he was likely going to run into her on this visit.He’d hoped he had a little more time to prepare himself for it, not to mention come up with a plausible reason why he was out here.He had an idea and guessed he would run with it.
Grabbing his hat where it sat on the seat beside him, he got out and smiled.He took a moment to savor the enormity of him stepping onto land that had been in his family for a couple of generations before they’d lost it.“Chrissy, this is a surprise.”
Like they had when he’d seen her the previous day, her eyes widened at his presence.“Ryder?What are you doing here?”
He looked around, taking the seconds it took for him to do so to get the idea of why he was there straight in his mind.“I was going for a drive and saw the sign for the farm and thought I’d come and get some flowers.I’m staying at the Graff and thought some would brighten up my room.”
Now Chrissy’s eyes narrowed, and he made sure he didn’t fidget to give away that he wasn’t telling her the whole truth.“Really?I’m sure a hotel the quality of the Graff could’ve easily given you some.Or you could’ve called Sweet Pea Florist and gotten some delivered to your room.”
Damn, what Chrissy suggested made perfect sense.“Yep, I could’ve done that, but I hadn’t thought about it until I saw the sign.”
Chrissy nodded, but he was sure she didn’t truly believe the excuse he’d come up with, even though he was impressed he’d come up with it on the fly.“Right, well, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but we don’t sell direct to the public.”
Ryder was surprised they didn’t.They weren’t far from the main highway heading toward Bozeman.They could pick up some good traffic from people driving past who had the same idea he had after they saw the same sign he did.“You should consider it.You could get some extra business.”
What was he doing?Was he trying to give her ideas of how to keep the place going?All the buildings were looking a little tired.The paint was peeling on the eaves of the building they stood out in front of.
