Chapter 3
CHAPTER 3
C ameron stared out the window of his room and gazed at the cattle eating hay strewn about the field. They looked healthy. The appraisal on the property had come in high and so he wondered what the problem could be that Edward needed to sell.
The wedding business looked like it had a great set-up for guests. The barn was huge and the perfect place for a wedding with the modifications they’d done. The bunkhouse where the guest slept was nice and had been updated so that the rooms were cozy.
They had the perfect setup for a wedding venue business or even an adult playground in the summer. Just the kind of property he was searching for.
So far, he’d yet to see Edward, but he really wanted a chance to be nosey at some point. Often he could learn more about what was going on from the employees than you could the person wanting to sell.
Plus, he’d hired his cousin, Tucker, to do research to see if he could find out anything about why Edward was selling. Tucker operated Burnett Security and if anyone could learn the truth about what was going on here, he could.
When they spoke, Tucker said to give him some time and he’d have a report to him in less than a week.
Unpacking his suitcase, he hung up his shirts and jeans and even the suit he’d brought for the wedding. Not that he planned on attending if he could get out of here earlier. He’d been to six family weddings in the last two years thanks to his great-great-great-great-grandmother.
And now there were more baby Burnetts than he’d ever dreamed possible. Someday he wanted children, just like his cousins were having, but right now, his focus had to remain on his business.
After he finished unpacking, he glanced out the window again. The land was beautiful, the house was gorgeous, and the barn was the biggest and the best he’d ever seen. Except for the cupola that was missing a bell.
Glancing outside, he wondered about Samantha. Edward said she knew the ranch was in trouble, but she hoped the wedding would save them. The blonde was cute and perky and those dark brown eyes of hers had been filled with mischief.
A sparkling kind of mischief that he feared would make her a handful. But then again, he liked his women to be strong and independent fighters.
For the first time in a long time, he was attracted to a woman, and yet he didn’t have the time to follow up on her flirtatious manner. And with her brother trying to sell him the ranch, he didn’t want to get between her and Edward.
And yet he was tempted to see if this attraction he’d felt between them was real, or did she greet all the guests this way?
With a sigh, he put his suitcase away. It was time to quit thinking of Samantha and find Edward. He’d like to sit down and have a talk with Edward. See if he could get a feel for if his friend was being honest with him or trying to pull a fast one.
If one of his cousins, who all sat on the board of directors at Burnett Enterprises, pulled a stunt like this, that person would be run out of Texas. They often disagreed at the board meetings, but not one sitting at that table wanted to harm the ranch they all had inherited and loved.
Picking up his hat, he slammed it on his head and walked out the door. Time to find Edward.
Two big limousines sat outside and he figured that must be the wedding party.
People were lined up in the lobby checking in, and Samantha was there smiling, handing out room keys, with a young kid carrying bags to their rooms. No one offered to carry his bag, but that was all right. He wanted to just hang back and stay low. See what he could learn.
Where was Edward? Why wasn’t he helping to get the guests settled?
Walking outside, he saw Edward standing off to the side talking to a man in a suit. They were having an intense conversation and Cameron had to resist the urge not to pull out his phone and take a picture of the man.
Finally, Edward said something to the man and then pointed to the gate. He could tell he told him to get out of here.
This couldn’t be good.
Turning from the man, Edward strode toward Cameron standing in the cold wind without his coat.
When he saw Cameron, his face lit up.
“Cameron,” he called. “Good to see you. When did you get in?”
“Just a little bit ago,” he said.
“Come on, let’s go to my office where we can chat,” he said, leading him toward the house.
They walked inside the older house decorated for Christmas. A big tree stood in a corner and mistletoe was hung from different doorways that led into a large living area with a grand rock fireplace.
The house was beautiful.
He followed Edward into a dark paneled office with a huge oak desk. “This was my father’s office. If we were going to stay, I’d redecorate it.”
“Why?”
A massive deer rack was on one wall and oak bookshelves lined another wall.
“Too old fashioned for me,” he said. “I’d like something more modern.”
Not Cameron. This spoke of history and a richness that pervaded the wood-filled room. A very manly office much like his back home.
“So you’ve seen a bit of the place,” he said. “What do you think?”
If he expected an offer right this moment he was crazy.
“I think I need to see more of your operations. Your land, your cattle, and even your books. Before I make any kind of decision, I want to know more about this place.”
A frown crossed the man’s face. “Understand. But I need you to keep this between us. My sister has worked so hard on this wedding, hoping it’s going to save the ranch and I don’t think it’s possible. She would have done better to hang onto her money rather than put it into this money pit.”
What had caused the ranch to start losing money? That was his biggest question. It looked like it had once been a really big cattle operation. The price of beef on the hoof had dropped, but it ebbed and flowed with the economy.
“What made things go bad for you?”
“A lot of different factors. Plus, I made some bad investments,” Edward said.
The memory of the man standing outside having a heated discussion with Edward came to mind. What was going on there?
“When can I meet with the bookkeeper? I’d like to see your books,” he said, knowing that would show him where a lot of the problems had started.
The man nervously licked his lips and sighed. “Right now, everyone is busy with this wedding party, but I’ll see what I can do. Give me a little time to set up some time between the two of you.”
Cameron got the feeling he was trying to dodge him seeing his accounting books and that made him wonder if he was wasting his time coming here. The image of Samantha came into his head and he pushed her out of his mind.
“When will you be available to take me on a tour of the land?”
“How about in the morning? Sometime after breakfast, we could go riding. I won’t take you near the mountain range because of the snow, but we could ride out and see the pasture. You could see how we feed the cattle in the winter.”
It would be a cold ride, but Cameron wasn’t afraid of the frigid Montana winter.
“We’ll need to go early because I need to help with the wedding party. You should participate in some of the activities we have planned. That way everyone will believe you’re here because of the wedding.”
Why was he trying to hide him buying the ranch from his family?
“When are you going to tell your family you’re selling? Don’t you think they should be included in this decision?”
The man shook his head and steepled his fingers. “Like I said, my sister believes the wedding will save the ranch. Plus, it’s Christmas and I don’t want to ruin our last holiday here together. I thought we’d have one last big family Christmas and then I’d give them the news around the first of the year.”
While he could understand not wanting to deliver bad news at Christmas, it felt dirty, and Cameron did not like dealing with people who weren’t honest. This might have been a complete waste of time.
“Go enjoy the party we have planned for this evening. It’s the first night here. Dance and enjoy the music. Be sure to try out the food. We have a new chef who is excellent and you should enjoy his cooking. If I can, I’m going to do my best to get rid of our current chef Emily. Of course, when you buy the place, this will all become your problem, not mine.”
Did he not realize that these were people’s lives he was talking about?
Standing, Cameron needed to walk away and think about the information he’d learned from Edward, and he wanted to see if he could find Samantha again or someone else to speak to about the ranch.
He wanted more than one opinion about why the ranch was doing so poorly that they needed to sell.
“All right, I’ll see you in the morning,” he said and headed for the door.
“Cameron,” Edward said. “I really hope you buy the ranch. It’s been in our family for over a hundred years.”
He wasn’t about to agree to anything. Cameron nodded and left the office. It would be like Cameron trying to sell the Burnett Ranch. That would never happen.