Chapter 4 Jovie
“So, you’re really considering moving and living on this ranch for the next 12 months, huh?” my intern, Sienna, asked as she followed me into my office.
“I don’t know anything anymore, Sienna,” I sighed as I sunk into my desk that overlooked the city of Houston and placed my face in my hands.
It had been just one day since my meeting with my grandfather’s lawyer and Rig Cameron, and my mind had been racing with uncertainties ever since I left the diner.
I held a lucrative position as the CFO of a tech start-up, a position I had worked incredibly hard for. I had finally secured my dream job, and yet, my grandfather’s will had thrown unexpected changes my way that I was unsure how to navigate.
“I can’t just not give it a shot, right? I mean, this is a property that my grandfather and his father owned and managed for decades. My mother grew up on the ranch. Hell, I grew up there. It’s a multi-million-dollar estate. If I walk away, it’s just going to be handed to his neighbor for nothing, and though I don’t remember Rig, and he seems nice enough... If I at least stick it out, I can sell it in a year and walk away a millionaire and do some good with that money.”
Sienna sat across from me, tapping a pen to her chin pensively as she listened. In the past six months at MillennialFolio, she had proven to be an exceptional intern — a quick learner and hard worker, becoming my right hand for anything I needed to get done. Despite the guilt about leaving her with only two months left in her internship before graduating from the University of Texas Houston, I questioned whether my grandfather would want me to pass up this opportunity.
Perhaps our CEO, Daniel, could temporarily appoint Trevor, my Director of Finance, to hold down the position for me for the next year. I could probably handle some of it remotely, though I wasn’t sure how much time I'd have to work while learning and working on the Ashwood ranch.
I sighed again, realizing that if I committed to moving, I would need to leave everything behind. The only way this would work was if I fully embraced a new life in Lonestar Junction and didn’t leave any loose ends to return to in Houston.
“Look, I don’t want you to leave me with Trevor, but I also get it. This is an opportunity to learn more about your family, the place where your mother grew up and make a significant amount of money if you stick it out for a year. Did you tell your mom about the offer?” Sienna asked.
“Not yet.”
“How much time do you have to decide?”
“It went into effect the week he died, so last week.”
“Shit, Jovie.”
"I know... Rig said he’d give me another week to figure things out, but unless I get down to Lonestar Junction within the next few days, he'll sue me for breach of contract. He seems like a nice guy, but I don’t think he believes I can stick it out on the ranch. I think he wants to speed up the ownership transfer process because, right now, he’s managing things per Clarence’s last wishes without any reward."
“He included that in his will?”
“No, but Rig said he and my grandfather had a conversation, and Rig agreed to help me get up to speed on things with the ranch if I decided to move down. My grandfather always based things on someone giving his word which is why it’s odd that he put this in a contract. It isn’t all charity, though. Rig said in the event I decided not to move, he didn’t want the ranch to fall apart in those two weeks while I figured out what to do.”
“Sounds like he’s thinking about himself,” Sienna stated with an eyeroll.
I chuckled. My memories of ranch life were of the tough ranch hands that my grandfather hired working long, hard hours under the Texan sun. There wasn’t a lot of time for niceties, though I did appreciate Rig offering to show me the ropes.
“I think you know in your heart what you need to do, Jovie,” Sienna said, standing up. “It’d suck to lose you but think about what you can do with that amount of money all at once. You could finally finance the dream you've always had,” she said, smiling with a wink and then closed my office door behind her.
I swiveled in my chair, looking at the city below as Houston traffic began to pick up for the evening commute. Sienna's words echoed in my mind as I thought about the dream that'd been in my heart since I was a little girl. Pulling out my phone, I did a simple Google search for the number of acres that Ashwood Ranch had.
“Ashwood Ranch boasts 3000 acres,” Google chirped back at me.
Shit.
Next, I typed in ‘what’s the average cost per acre of rural land in Lonestar Junction, Texas? ’
“The average cost per acre of rural land in Lonestar Junction Texas is three thousand dollars,” Google chirped back at me again.
Double shit.
I sucked in my breath. I could walk away with close to nine million dollars if I stuck it out on my grandfather’s ranch for the next 12 months. That would be more than enough to fund my business idea and set my mom and sister up for life.
I knew in my heart what I needed to do though my mind was screaming to stay in Houston.
This time, my heart won.
Guess it's time to go put in my notice with Daniel.