Page 247 of The Brothers at Horseshoe Ranch

“And we can talk?” I asked softly.

“Yeah, we can talk.”

“Okay. Well, go and call Nancy, and I’ll speak to you later.”

“Okay. Bye, Wyatt.” She hung up quickly.

I frowned at the phone in my hand. Why was she calling Nancy Donovan? Nancy was the biggest gossip in Montana, and that was saying a lot because there were a lot of gossips here.

I walked past the kitchen where Mom was chatting with Eloise and Arya. They always seemed to be puttering around doing something. I was hungry, but I didn’t need my mom interrogating me right now, especially if she wanted to ask why Sadie hadn’t been over in a couple of days. I knew she’d be able to tell from the look on my face that something was up.

I sighed and opened my phone again to check Sadie’s location. She was at home. Well, I guess that was something. She hadn’t been lying to me about that.

I needed to talk to her. I needed to figure out what was going on and if we could get past this. And I kind of wanted to kiss her again, though I knew that might be one of the worst moves I could make. If one of my kisses had already driven her crazy, I couldn’t imagine what a second one would do to her.

Chapter Seventy-Six

Sadie

“Hey, thank you, Nancy,” I said to the old lady on the phone. “I’ll head on over to Olive Ranch right now and meet with them.”

“Oh, no, they’re not going to be at the ranch, honey,” she said softly. “They’re in town.”

“Oh, okay.” I bit down on my lower lip. “So, should I go into town to meet them?”

“Yes, dear. Go to Chicken Sisters restaurant and ask for the Olivio brothers. They’ll be able to help you.”

“Okay, sounds good,” I said. “And they know why I’m going to be meeting with them, right?”

“Yes, dear, yes. I told you, they’re looking to start a learning ranch program. You called me at the right time. They were asking me if I knew anyone who would be interested in the teaching classes.”

“Well, it is quite fortuitous,” I said happily. “Okay, I will head into town, and I’ll let you know how it goes.”

“Oh, of course. I’d love to hear how it goes. Thank you, Sadie. And you tell Wyatt, Amelia, and Ranger I said hello when you see them next, okay?”

“Will do,” I said quickly, hoping she wouldn’t ask me any more questions. “Well, I better go now, bye.”

“Bye, dear.”

Nancy and I hung up and I walked quickly towards the mirror to study my reflection. Did I look professional? I was wearing a loose navy-blue top with jeans. I was about to change my jeans into a skirt, but then I decided this wasn’t exactly a professional business interview—and I was trying to get a job working on their ranch. No one wore a skirt on a ranch. I quickly brushed my hair and applied some lip gloss and hurried out to my truck. This could be the opportunity that I’d been waiting for.

The Olivio brothers had recently bought Olive Ranch and were interested in creating a program where tourists would come and learn how to be ranchers. It was a sort of gimmick they were using to attract clients to the ranch, like a more serious version of a dude ranch. Nancy had said they were interested in training local people as well. If I could set up a program where I could teach single mothers and other people how to farm, raise cattle, and train horses, well, then I’d be killing two birds with one stone. I didn’t mind teaching tourists as well, and if that’s what I had to do to set up this program, then so be it.

“Okay, Dominic Olivio and Tom Olivio, here I come.” I took a deep breath as I pulled up outside Chicken Sisters restaurant and checked my phone. I had a missed call from Wyatt, but I wasn’t going to call him back. I quickly texted him, “Hey, can’t chat right now, at Chicken Sisters. But I’ll give you a call later.”

I powered off my phone before he could respond, put it into my handbag, and headed into the restaurant. I looked around to see if I could recognize either of the two brothers. At the far end of the restaurant, there were two tall identical-looking men with cowboy hats on. One of them lifted it up and called out to me, “Sadie? Sadie Johnson, is that you?”

“Yes!” I hurried over to them with my hand out. “I’m Sadie, nice to meet you.”

“I’m Tom,” he grinned. “And this is my brother, Dominic.”

“Wow, nice to meet you both. You’re twins?”

“No, Dominic’s a year older than me,” Tom laughed. “But you wouldn’t guess it, right?”

“No, you look pretty much identical.”

Dominic grinned. “And if you saw our father, he looks just like us as well, if we were thirty years older.”

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