3 #3
Eli continued driving, one hand relaxed on the wheel. He waved to a pair of ranch hands crossing toward the stables.
“Morning, Lisa! Travis around?”
A woman with her hair tucked under a hat called back, “Breeding barn!”
“Tell him I’m showing off his empire.”
She laughed. “He’ll deny it.”
“Of course he will.”
Talia watched the exchange closely. There was warmth everywhere here. Familiarity. People called to each other without hesitation. They did not look surprised to see Eli giving a tour, and they did not seem curious about her in the obvious way she had expected.
That was either a sign of good manners or a sign that strangers were common enough not to cause a stir.
Perhaps both.
Eli pointed ahead. “That’s the medical center.”
Talia sat straighter.
The building he indicated looked newer than most, clean-lined and practical, set with easy access to the main road and an open stretch of land beyond it. Near it sat a helicopter, its blades still, its body gleaming under the sun.
“You have a medical center on the ranch?” she asked.
“Sure do.”
“And a helicopter.”
“Medical chopper,” Eli said. “Comes in handy. Ranch accidents, emergencies, transport when time matters. LaRiah helped get the medical side going. Dwight and Mari are tied into the aviation side. It’s been a blessing more than once.”
Talia stared at the helicopter.
Stanley Ranch had its own medical helicopter.
Of course it did.
Why would it not?
She made herself speak lightly. “So, if someone sprains an ankle, do you call the chopper or just have Elise feed them soup until they recover?”
Eli grinned. “Depends who sprained it. If it’s Cody, we call LaRiah because he’ll pretend his foot is still attached by confidence alone. If it’s Luke, Edye already knows before he tells anyone. If it’s me, Elise says I’m dramatic and gives me a plate.”
“Are you dramatic?”
“Artistically expressive.”
“Ah.”
“Different thing.”
“I’m sure.”
He laughed and kept driving.
The ranch opened wider the farther they went.
Talia saw barns, corrals, pastures, equipment sheds, work crews, livestock, fencing, and more land than she could easily measure.
The scale was difficult to absorb from inside an office.
Out here, with dust lifting behind the tires and sunlight spreading over acres of movement, Stanley Ranch became almost overwhelming.
A working ranch, yes.
But also a community.
A machine with human feelings.
A family business too large to be dismissed as charming and too intimate to be treated like a corporation.
Eli glanced at her. “So, Talia. You from around here originally?”
Her spine stiffened by instinct.
Questions.
There they were.
She had expected them. Eli was too personable not to ask.
“No. I was raised by my grandmother in Houston. My parents weren’t ready to give up their jobs when they started having kids.”
His expression softened, but he did not pounce on it. “Yeah. I can understand that. My mother wasn’t ready either.”
Most people either ignored a statement like that or tried to dig underneath it. Eli simply accepted the weight and kept driving.
“You have family nearby now?” he asked.
“Not nearby.”
“But some family?”
“Yes.”
“You close?”
Talia looked out the window. Pasture blurred beside them, cattle grazing in the distance. “Complicated.”
“Most honest answer there is.”
She looked back at him.
He smiled, but gently this time. “Around here, complicated is practically a family crest.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“Depends. Is it working?”
“A little.”
“I’ll take it.”
She smiled despite herself.
He slowed near a pasture where several bulls stood separated by fencing. They were massive, muscled animals, their presence so physically imposing that Talia found herself leaning back though they were nowhere near the vehicle.
Eli pointed. “Now we’re getting closer to Cody and Sierra’s part of the ranch.”
“Cody is Luke’s brother?”
“No. More like family by love, work, marriage, and enough years that technicalities gave up. Cody’s married to Sierra. He’s building a breeding business for rodeo stock.”
“Rodeo stock?”
“Bulls and broncs. Good ones. Mean ones too, depending on your definition of good.”
Talia studied the animals with renewed interest. “And that’s growing?”
“By leaps and bounds already. Cody has an eye for it. Travis too. They’re building a reputation fast. Other ranchers are wanting Stanley bulls to sire the next generation of their cattle.
Everybody wants strength, temperament, bloodline, performance.
If Cody keeps going at this pace, Luke may have to build him a second office just to store the contracts. ”
“Does he want that?”
“Cody? An office?” Eli laughed. “He’d rather wrestle a bull with paperwork taped to its back.”
Talia laughed before she could stop herself.
“That bad?”
“Cody’s smart. Don’t let the cowboy fool you. But he likes being outside. Sierra’s the one who can make information look pretty enough that people accidentally understand it.”
“Sierra does design?”
“Web design, photography, branding, some business stuff. She sees things differently. Luke trusts her eye.”
“And Cody trusts her?”
Eli glanced at her, smiling. “Cody would trust Sierra to talk the sun into rising from the west if she told him she had a plan.”
There was fondness in his voice.
Not teasing, not entirely.
Admiration.
Talia wondered what it would be like to be spoken of that way by people who knew her when she was not in the room.
She pushed the thought aside.
Dangerous.
They drove toward another cluster of buildings, smaller than the main ranch but clearly active. Equipment sat near a broad barn. A fenced area held horses, and beyond that she could see open land being worked.
A man in a hat lifted a hand as they approached.
Eli waved. “Cody!”
The man turned fully, one arm resting on the fence. Even from a distance, he carried himself like someone who belonged exactly where he stood.
“Giving the tour?” Cody called.
“Trying not to scare her off.”
Cody’s gaze moved to Talia. He tipped his hat. “Good luck with that. This place scares most sensible people.”
Talia smiled politely. “I’m still deciding how sensible I am.”
Cody laughed. “Then you might fit.”
Eli grinned and drove on.
“Everyone here seems very comfortable with warning me,” she said.
“We believe in informed consent.”
“That sounds suspiciously polished.”
“I overheard Amy say it once. I’ve been waiting to use it.”
“And Amy is who?”
“Luke’s sister. She and her husband Brad live in town. She’s a doctor. Brad’s the Sherriff round these parts.” Talia suppressed a giggle.
They drove farther along the road, past more fencing and a pasture where horses moved in the distance like dark notes across green paper.
Eli asked, “What do you like to do when you’re not working?”
Talia hesitated.
The truth, as long as it did not compromise her.
That had been her rule for the day.
“I read,” she said.
“What kind of books?”
“Anything with people making terrible decisions for understandable reasons.”
“So, history or romance?”
She blinked, then laughed. “Both, actually.”
“I knew it. Rose reads romance and says the terrible decisions are essential.”
“Rose?”
“My wife.” His grin changed when he said it. Softer. Brighter. “Singer. Actress. Trouble. Best thing that ever happened to me.”
“That’s quite a description.”
“Still incomplete.”
Talia looked away, pretending to study the pasture.
Some people talked about love like a performance.
Eli talked about it like weather he was grateful to stand in.
“And you?” he asked. “Married? Dating? Secret fiancé hidden in a mysterious city?”
“No.”
“That answered all three?”
“Yes.”
“Efficient.”
“I try.”
“Any hobbies besides emotionally complex books?”
She considered what to give him. “I like old buildings. Archives. Small-town history. Stories people think nobody cares about until someone writes them down properly.”
His eyes flicked to her, interested. “That sounds useful here.”
“Why?”
“Because this ranch is full of stories. Some funny. Some messy. Some folks around here would rather chew a boot than tell you theirs, but they have them.”
“I imagine most places do.”
“True. But most places don’t have Elise.”
Talia smiled. “She seems to be a major figure.”
“Elise is a force of nature with measuring cups.”
“And Edye?”
“Strategy in human form.”
“And Luke?”
Eli took a moment before answering.
“Luke is the kind of man people mistake for the whole ranch until they understand the ranch is what happened after he finally let people love him.”
Talia looked at him.
That was not a joke.
It was not casual either.
There was loyalty in it, deep and unembarrassed.
“And you?” she asked before she could stop herself. “What are you?”
Eli’s grin returned, but slower this time. “Me? I’m the charming tour guide.”
“That’s all?”
“Foreman. Musician when Rose lets me believe I’m useful. Occasional problem solver. Frequent problem, depending on who you ask.”
“Who should I ask?”
“Not Edye.”
“Because she’ll be honest?”
“Because she’ll have documentation.”
Talia laughed again.
This man was impossible.
They passed another building, this one painted in clean, cheerful colors with wide windows and a fenced outdoor space beyond it. Several children’s drawings were displayed near the entrance.
Eli slowed. “That’s the learning center.”
Talia turned toward it. “For children?”
“Yeah. Brenda runs that. It started as after-school help, tutoring, homework, meals, support for ranch kids and local children. But it’s growing too. Might become a school at some point if Brenda and Edye keep dreaming at each other.”
“Dreaming at each other?”
“You ever seen two determined women have a conversation and accidentally create a five-year plan?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“Then you understand.”
Talia studied the building.
The learning center was not an afterthought. It was cared for. Designed with intention. Built for children to feel safe, not merely supervised.
She had not expected that.
Then again, she had not expected most of what she had seen.
“How many people live and work here?” she asked.