Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 87067 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 435(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87067 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 435(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
“What’s going on with the offer? Your dad doesn’t seem like he’s taking it seriously. Plus, the ranch has been in your family’s hands for three generations. It’s successful. Why sell?”
JB sighed and glared at the remains of his sandwich in his hands. “Ranching is always a risky business. We’re better off than a lot of ranches out there. We’ve diversified heavily over the last fifteen years. When my grandfather started, we only raised cattle for slaughter. When my dad took over, he started breeding horses. We give riding lessons. We do some boarding of horses for neighbors. And we give tours of the ranch. Every little bit helps to offset a crazy market in cattle prices.”
“It sounds like you’ve got a great, stable business running here.”
“As stable as it can be, but the majority of our income still comes from the cattle. Those dead cows were a reminder that shit can fall apart fast. Disease could race through the herd and destroy it. That would mean we’d lose contracts because we can’t deliver. People who trust us might not come back next year. We’ve got plenty saved to weather a bad year, but not a long string of bad years. We’d have to lay people off, downsize the entire ranch.”
“But the offer to buy the ranch could save your family from bankruptcy and losing everything,” Cole murmured. He’d nearly finished his own sandwich, and he wasn’t feeling full yet. Was it wrong to make a second?
Glancing over, he found that JB’s plate was empty, and he was scowling at it. “Another?” he asked, holding his own up.
JB winced, his head lowering to his shoulders and his nose wrinkling. “Do you mind?”
Cole finished the last of his sandwich in two quick bites and picked up their plates. He walked over to the other counter and started slapping together another sandwich for each of them.
“The offer was damn nice to start and if Dillinger has raised the price, then I can get why my dad didn’t usher him off our property with his shotgun,” JB admitted softly. “The ranch is a lot of headache and you’re always worried about losing everything, no matter how carefully you plan. Shit happens. Fires, disease, screwy weather washing up out of Houston. Ranching ain’t for the faint of heart.”
“But…” Cole prodded as he placed a new, crust-free sandwich in front of JB.
“But it’s the only life I’ve ever really wanted.”
“Even though you spent eight years as an Army Ranger.”
JB sighed and took another bite of his sandwich. He was eating much slower this time. “Don’t get me wrong, I loved my time as a Ranger, and I did have fun in Cincinnati, playing with your coworkers. But being a rancher, waking up every morning to this place and all its chaos, this is home. It’s more than this job. It’s this place. Alexander Ranch is my home. It’s the only place that has ever felt like home to me. My grandfather taught me to ride here. My dad taught me to rope my first cow here. I sneaked my first kiss behind the tool shed here.” He paused and his smile broadened. “Billy Conway. A ranch hand I had no business flirting with.” JB shook his head and turned serious again. “I always thought that I’d eventually get married, and my kids would be forming all their first memories on this ranch.”
“You said your dad has already handed the running of the ranch over to you. He has to discuss selling with you, right?”
JB sort of shrugged. “I mean, he would, and he has. At least the first time we were approached. We both laughed and brushed the idea off. But technically, the entire ranch is still in his name. He doesn’t have to talk to anyone before he sells it.”
“Do you truly think he would? He has to know how much this place means to you. And what about your sister? Is she in favor of selling?”
JB shook his head. “Katie doesn’t want to sell at all, but it’s not like she can help out with the ranch if Dad were to want out completely. Her husband’s ranch is nearly as big as this one. She’s got her hands plenty full over there.”
“And your dad?”
“He knows how I feel. It’s not like I’ve tried to hide it. But I think sometimes he wonders if this is the right path for me. He knows how much I enjoyed being an Army Ranger. And yeah, sometimes I get restless and need to get away from the ranch. Just like a vacation. A break.”
“Everyone needs a break every once in a while. There’s nothing strange about that.”
JB groaned and leaned back in his chair, dropping his head. “And then my mom is on my case about dating. I haven’t actually dated since I left the Army.”