52 - Sophie
52
Sophie
A week later, the four of us stood on a flat piece of land about twenty miles southwest of Fort Worth. A rusted barbed-wire fence sagged along the border, barely visible by the knee-high prairie grass that whispered in the wind. Beyond it, the skeletal remains of a once-grand barn slumped to one side, its red paint peeled to a dull memory. The ranch house sat half-choked in creeping ivy and dust, its windows gaping like the empty eyes of a skull. The air carried the scent of sunbaked earth and forgotten things, punctuated only by the slow groan of a weathered windmill spinning idly against the endless Texas sky.
“It’s not much to look at now,” I said. “But it’s about a thousand acres. Plenty of grazing land, with a lake on the northern edge of the property. It’s been on the market for over a year, and they’ve dropped the asking price several times.”
“I can see why,” Sawyer muttered.
“It’s a fixer-upper,” I said hopefully. “A starting point. Trust me, I’ve done my research, and this place is a steal. Even with all the work that needs to be done. But if you would rather look at property back in Colorado…”
“Everything’s twice as expensive in Colorado,” Johnny said.
“Three times as expensive.” Sawyer approached the nearest fence post and gave it a wiggle. It immediately snapped in half, dust and wood fragments floating to the ground.
My stomach sank. They hated it. They weren’t going to buy it.
“I LOVE IT!” Eli blurted out.
I gave a start. “Really?”
He swept me into his arms and gave me a quick kiss. “At the price you told us, it’s a steal. And with three of us working on it, we’ll get it fixed up in no time.”
“Four of us,” Sawyer corrected, gaze fixating on me. “I’m only in this if Sophie is.”
I gawked at him. “What do you mean? This is your ranch. The three of you.”
“Bull-fucking-shit,” Sawyer growled. “Two months ago, the three of us hated each other.”
“Hate’s a strong word,” Eli began.
“I hated this man,” Sawyer reiterated, pointing at Eli while still addressing me. “I liked Johnny more, but that’s not saying much. But you brought us together. Helped us become friends.”
“Friends!” Eli exclaimed. “He said it. We all heard.”
“Friends,” Sawyer gritted out, like the admission took something out of him. “Friends who are now pooling our money together to buy a ranch. We wouldn’t even have this opportunity if not for you. So I’m not buying any property unless you’re along for the ride, too. And no, that’s not negotiable.”
I looked at all three of them. “I… I’m flattered. And I’m interested, I think.” I shook my head. “I don’t think. I know . Having a ranch, or a homestead, of my own has always been my dream. But I don’t have any money to contribute to the purchase.”
“Forget the money,” Johnny said.
“We’ve got the cash taken care of,” Sawyer said. “What we need is someone to keep us together. You’re the glue, Sophie. Without you, none of this works.”
Eli and Johnny nodded in agreement. Hope filled my chest, making me feel lighter than air, but I still hesitated.
“That’s a lot of pressure to put on our relationships, if you can even use that word,” I said. “The four of us have only been together , loosely speaking, for two months. Aren’t you worried that we might break up? Or worse, if I decide I don’t like one of you? What happens if I fall madly in love with Eli, and not you two?”
Sawyer gave me one of his incredibly rare smiles. “I’m not worried about that. Are you, Johnny?”
“Not even a little bit,” Johnny replied.
Eli cleared his throat. “As natural as it would be to fall for me instead of these two, I think we’ll be all right. Hell, we’ll be more than all right, darlin’.”
As I looked from one man to the next, I felt all of my doubts falling away. I began nodding, certainty growing with every second.
“Okay,” I said. “I’m in.”
The four of us shared a group hug. Surrounded by their loving arms, I felt certain that I was making the right decision.
For the first time since I could remember, I was excited about my future.
“Are we really doing this?” Eli asked.
“We’re really doing this,” Sawyer agreed.
“What if we disagree about how the ranch should be run?” Johnny asked carefully. “How will we settle disputes? You’re the one ponying up the most cash—does that mean you get the final say?”
Sawyer shook his head. “Fuck that. All decisions have to be unanimous between us. All four of us.”
Eli let out an excited whoop, then took off at a sprint. The rest of us watched in amazement as he hurdled the barbed-wire fence, then took off toward the barn.
“Maybe all decisions have to be unanimous between us three,” Johnny said.
“I second that motion,” Sawyer agreed.
The two of them shared a chuckle, then looked surprised by their agreement.
But I couldn’t stop grinning. The four of them had hated each other two months ago, and were now working together.
And it was all because of the way they cared about me .
We drove back to Fort Worth and spent the next few hours signing the paperwork at the real estate office. Once everything was official, we met at my apartment to celebrate. My building technically didn’t allow pets without an animal deposit, but we managed to sneak Dusty inside without anyone noticing. And as soon as he was inside, he ran circles around the living room and then curled into a ball in the corner and went to sleep.
“He’s made himself at home,” Sawyer muttered.
“He likes Sophie’s scent,” Johnny explained while cracking open a beer. “Normally, he paces at night when we’re in a new place. But whenever she’s around, he falls right asleep.”
“Same!” Eli said from the kitchen while mixing cocktails for the rest of us. “I always sleep like a newborn calf when I’m with her.”
“That probably has to do with what we usually do before falling asleep,” I teased.
Eli grinned over at me. “I reckon you’re right.”
“I can’t believe we bought a ranch,” Johnny mused. “A ranch of our very own. I need to tell the owners back at Horseshoe Ranch that I’ll be quitting. I hope it doesn’t blindside them too much.”
“I put in my notice already!” Eli announced.
Sawyer blinked in surprise. “When? We signed the documents half an hour ago.”
“Called them on the drive over here,” Eli explained. “Didn’t want to drag it out.”
“What’s the next step?” I asked.
Sawyer accepted a cocktail from Eli. “I’ll reach out to the cattle breeders I know. There are three in New Mexico who are willing to part ways with the number of head we want to buy. Then it’s just a matter of fixing the property up.”
“My friend Liz, you know, the one from Billy Bob’s? Her husband knows a lot of contractors. Whatever we don’t want to do ourselves, we can hire them for.”
“That’ll speed things up, too,” Johnny agreed.
“Send me their information,” Sawyer told me. He took a sip of his mixed drink, then winced. “The hell is in this?”
“Ginger beer, lemon, bitters, and whiskey,” Eli said. “You don’t like it?”
“I don’t like that you watered down good whiskey with a bunch of bullshit,” Sawyer said, handing the glass back to him and going to the kitchen.
“Some people are never happy,” Eli muttered.
“Oh, I’m as happy as can be,” Sawyer replied while pouring whiskey into a glass by itself. “Happy with the money we spent today. Happy with the woman we’re all sharing. Happy with what we’re going to do tonight.”
I twisted in my chair to look back at him. “What do you mean? What are we going to do tonight?”
Sawyer knocked back the whiskey in three long gulps, then set the glass down. “Tonight, we’re going to share you.” His eyes narrowed on me. “At the same time.”