Page 14 of Wrangling Hearts
“Nothing,” she replied with that voice that definitely meant something. But before I could get the answer out of her, Joseph walked through the door.
“Daddy!” Henry flew out of his chair and left me to rot like old news. Something hot twisted in my chest at the sight of them embracing and being genuinely overjoyed by seeing one another.
The twist morphed into an ache as I watched Joseph greet my sister and her growing belly. They were so in love, it was a little nauseating, honestly. Constantly smiling. Constantly touching. Constantly happy. I didn’t remember a time I’d ever been like that with someone. Probably because I hadn’t.
The only thing that welcomed me home was an empty house and TV dinners. Would I ever have a warm home and a happy family to end my nights with? I wasn’t so sure that was in the cards for me after a trail of failed relationships I had left behind over the years.
It took Anna about two seconds to ask about my dating life once we sat down to eat. Every time I saw her, it was the same spiel of wanting to set me up. It was exhausting.
“I don’t have time to date. I’ve told you that thousands of times. Especially not now with this Cavendish partnership in the works.” When I had to focus on going against Claire, who had probably planned this proposal to a tee.
She pursed her lips, stabbing at her salad. “Maybe you should date another rancher, then. That way, she’d understand your schedule.”
My fork froze midair, looking at her out of the corner of my eye. “I’m not dumb enough to fall for this, Annabelle. Whatever plan you’ve got churnin’ in that head needs to stop. You hear?”
My scheming little sister just shrugged a shoulder. It was too nonchalant, and it set me on edge. “I’m not planning anything, just letting the universe do its work.” She was a terrible liar.
After dinner, while Anna got Henry ready for bed, Joseph and I went to his study. It was all dark leather, cigar smoke, and masculinity. Instead of sitting at his desk, he sat on the plush leather loveseat, crossing one leg over the other with a legal pad in his hand.
“So, let’s talk Cavendish,” he said with an easy grin, knowing he had no skin in this game.
I sat in the armchair beside him and took a sip of the bourbon he poured. It was some expensive shit. I cleared my throat and leaned forward, elbows resting on my knees. I fiddled with the crystal tumbler in my hand, suddenly feeling way out of my depth.
“Right. So, there’s a proposal due in three days. Kinda what our plans are for integrating them into Circle M, what we have to offer, those kinds of things.”
He jotted that down, the same look of concentration that Henry gets on his face. “Okay. What were you thinking?”
I scoffed, settling back into the seat. “Fuck if I know. I just know I want horses at Circle M and will do what I need to get them.”
Joseph arched a red brow. “I know you have ideas, so just spit them out. No idea is stupid here.”
I chewed on my cheek. Normally, my ideas got ridiculed or shot down by Mount. But I needed to remember that Joseph wasn’t him, and he couldn’t help unless I let him in. “Well, we have all that land in the pasture at the back of the property. We don’t use it for anything. Was thinkin’ we’d put stables there, maybe thirty or forty stalls. I’ll leave the specifics for you to figure out.”
Joseph nodded, writing as I spoke. “I like that. There’s space back there for an indoor arena for when the weather is shit, too. To save space, we can combine the outdoor and jumping arenas and have portable jumps that the ranch hands can move.”
It felt like he was holding my hand through this, and I fucking hated it. I bet Claire had all kinds of ideas that involved pre-drawn layouts and lists for days. She had always been meticulous like that when we were kids.
He started making long, harsh strokes on the pad. I shifted towards him, and he was drawing a rough sketch of a layout. It looked like a lot; a lot of money, time, and space.
Mount was going to lose his shit. Possibly cut me out entirely, like Colt said, if this went south.
“We’ll also need foaling stalls.”
“What?”
“Birthing stalls. And a space for veterinary treatment. You have a vet lined up, right? Cavendish isn’t going to settle for the town vet. They’ll want someone dedicated to the ranch and available twenty-four seven.”
My vet normally showed up in cargo shorts and steel-toed boots with holes in them. And he was about as old as my dad. He definitely wouldn’t do.
Joseph glanced at me, doing a double-take. He must’ve seen the answer on my face. “I’ll make some calls.”
“Thanks,” I murmured. My knee started to bounce. Claire’s voice from this morning filtered through my mind:You don’t know anything about taking care of them. They don’t even recognize you as the boss.
I wrenched my jaw, knowing she was right, but I wasn’t going to back down. I knew a good opportunity when I saw one, and I wasn’t going to let this pass me by.
“We’ll also need a breeding shed with a phantom mount for semen collection?—”
I grimaced. “Leave a little mystery, would ya?”
