Pitch For You (Texas Heat)

Chapter 10

10

Brett

My phone started ringing as I stepped out of the shower. I wrapped a towel around my waist and walked into the bedroom, reaching for the device and glancing at the caller ID.

Sofia.

“Hello?”

“Hey,” came Sofia's voice. “I need to talk to you about something.”

My heart skipped. “What is it? Is everything okay?”

“It's about the Ranch. Roger Adams showed up here today, trying to get me to sell to him.”

My stomach dropped as I absorbed her words. Roger Adams, the ruthless businessman who had been trying to buy up all the land in Lawson Ridge, including the Ranch. Sofia’s mom had turned him down numerous times before she passed, and now he must think that Sofia would give a different answer. She would never sell it, no matter how much money was offered.

“What did you tell him?”

“That it wasn't for sale, but he was persistent. Kept saying how the money he’s offering could give me a great way to start over with Max.”

I clenched my jaw, knowing that Roger Adams wouldn't give up easily. If he was bringing up her painful history, then that meant he had done some research on her which could be dangerous.

“Listen, Roger will do anything to get his hands on the ranch. He is going to keep coming around. Your mom used to complain about him to us. We had to run him off the property once.”

Sofia was smart and she loved the ranch, but Roger Adams had a way of playing to people’s wants and needs. He bought up the Kelce Ranch after six years of trying to get them to sell to him by paying almost double what it was worth. Grandpa Kelce was very sick and his hospital bills were piling up and once they started rolling in, the family couldn’t hold out anymore.

“I don’t know what to do. Max is finally happy here and now I’ve got this guy breathing down my neck… just when I thought things were getting better.”

“Don’t let him get under your skin. That’s what he wants.” Her frustration was coming through the phone. I put it on speaker and maneuvered a t-shirt on. The towel dropped as I slipped on some boxers, jeans and then my socks and shoes. “Listen, I'm coming over. We need to talk about this face-to-face.”

“You don't have to do that.”

I wasn’t going to give her the option. Right now, she didn’t need to be alone. She was scared. “I want to. Besides, it'll be nice to see Max.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line. “Thanks, Brett. I really appreciate it.”

As I hung up and grabbed my keys, my mind raced. Sofia and I had a complicated history, but the Ranch had always been a constant. It was where we'd grown up together, where we'd fallen in love, and where we'd eventually fallen apart. Now, with Roger Adams sniffing around, it felt like our shared past was under threat.

The drive to the Ranch was familiar, every bend in the road etched into my memory. As I pulled up the long driveway, I saw Sofia standing on the porch, arms crossed, watching me approach. Max was playing in the yard.

I stepped out of the truck, and Max's face lit up. “Brett!” he yelled, running towards me.

I scooped him up, tousling his hair. “Hey, buddy!”

Sofia walked down the steps, a small smile on her face despite the worry in her eyes. “Thanks for coming.”

I set Max down and turned to her. “Of course. Now, tell me everything about what happened.”

As we walked into the house, it hadn’t changed much. I used to spend so much time here when we were growing up. All these memories started flooding my mind, but we had bigger problems to deal with. Roger Adams was a threat, and we needed to figure out how to stop him before he took away everything that mattered to us.

Sofia led me into the kitchen, the same worn wooden table still occupying the center of the room. Max trailed behind us, clutching a toy tractor. She poured us each a cup of coffee, her hands shaking slightly as she handed me mine.

“Max, honey, why don't you go play in your room for a bit?” Sofia suggested. “Brett and I need to talk about some grown-up stuff.”

Max pouted but nodded, trudging off down the hall. Once we heard his bedroom door close, Sofia turned to me, her green eyes filled with worry.

“Roger showed up around noon,” she began, leaning against the counter. “He mentioned how expensive it must be to maintain such a large property on my own.”

My jaw clenched. Classic Roger Adams - find the weak spot and exploit it. “And then?”

“Then he started in on his pitch. How he could offer me more money than I'd ever dreamed of, how I could give Max a better life in the city, how I could finally leave this all behind.”

“He had no right to bring up your past like that.”

Sofia's eyes flashed. “That's what I told him. But he just kept pushing, saying he understood how hard it must be for me as a single mom, trying to run this place on my own.”

I stepped closer, fighting the urge to reach out and comfort her. “You're not alone, Sofia. You've got the whole community behind you.”

She gave me a small smile. “I know. And I told Roger as much. But he just laughed and said that sentiment wouldn't pay the bills or fix the roof.”

“The roof?” I asked, glancing up.

Sofia sighed. “Yeah, it's been leaking in the west wing. I've been patching it up, but it needs a proper fix. And the barn on the far end. There are so many things that need to be updated or fixed. I’m trying my best to get things under control, but i’m only one person.”

I made a mental note to gather some of the guys to help with that. “We'll take care of it. Don't let Roger use that against you.”

“I told him we were managing fine, but he wouldn’t let up. He started talking about the improvements he could make to the land, how he could ‘modernize’ the ranch. As if this place needs changing.”

Sofia’s eyes welled up with tears, and I reached out to cover her hand. She didn’t pull away.

“The worst part was when he brought up my mom,” she continued. “He said she would have wanted me to think about Max’s future, about giving him opportunities that a ranch life couldn’t provide.”

“That’s bullshit. Your mom loved this place more than anything. She would never have wanted you to sell.”

Sofia nodded, wiping away a stray tear. “I know. That’s what I told him. But Brett, the way he looked at me when I refused… it was like he was already planning his next move.”

I squeezed her hand. “We won’t let him win. This ranch has been in your family for generations. It’s not just land - it’s your heritage, your home.”

She met my gaze, a flicker of the old Sofia, fierce and determined - shining through. “You’re right. But what can we do? He’s got money, lawyers, connections.”

I ran a hand through my hair. “We need to be careful. Roger's not above using underhanded tactics to get what he wants.”

Sofia's eyes met mine. “I won't let him take this place, Brett. It's all I have left of my family’s legacy.”

I leaned back, my mind racing. “We fight fire with fire. We’ll need to do some digging on him. And if he keeps showing up here uninvited, get a restraining order.”

Max's laughter from the other room broke the spell. Sofia cleared her throat, pulling her hand away. “Thanks for coming, Brett. I... I'm glad you're here.”

I nodded, pushing down the familiar ache in my chest. “Always.”

Tomorrow was the last day of the fair and Max asked me to take him. He knew Sofia would be busy and I hate for him to miss it. “Listen, I’d like to take Max to the fair tomorrow. Of course, if that’s okay with you. I guess he saw a flyer somewhere and brought it up a couple days ago.” I didn’t want to overstep and she had so much on her plate right now especially with this asshole breathing down her neck.

“Why hadn’t he said anything?” Her palm swiped across her forehead. “I feel like I’m failing him. The ranch takes up so much of my time.”

I didn’t move closer, but I wanted to. She doesn’t realize that Max loved her unconditionally. He might be young but he understood how much the ranch meant to the family. It was the sole reason he was always asking to help and learn the ropes. “Your son is a magnificent boy. And in case you need to hear it… you are not a failure.”

“How about we all go then? I’d love to spend some time with him outside the ranch.” She waited a minute before her eyes met mine. “Or if you want to take him by yourself - I know he would like that too.”

God she’s cute when she’s spiraling. Max was her son. She had a right to go anywhere he went. “I’d love to take both of you. I’ll pick you guys up at five. It’ll be nice to get away from all this for a couple of hours. It’ll do you both some good.”

I kissed the top of her head and walked out knowing that tomorrow would be one of the best nights I’ve had in a long time.