Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chesney
“Get out of the kitchen.” Truett points the wooden spoon at me with enough authority that I actually take a step back.
“I’m trying to help.”
For the most part, my brother and I do pretty well at splitting things around the house. Cooking. Cleaning. Maintenance. We’ve found our rhythm over the last several months, and usually, there aren’t any issues.
Keyword: Usually.
When it comes to cooking, there are exactly three things Truett Jennings refuses to let anyone else make—biscuits, gravy, and Sunday pot roast. It’s been this way since he was a teenager and figured out his way around the kitchen.
“You’re seasoning potatoes,” he mutters. “And poorly, at that. I’d hardly call that helping.”
“Poorly?” I bark out a laugh.
“Yes. Poorly.” Truett gestures toward the bowl in front of me. “You dumped half the garlic powder in there.”
“It’s called flavor, you nit-picky jackass.”
Jasper chuckles from where he’s chopping carrots. “Yeah. I’m staying out of this one.”
“I’ll remember that, traitor.” Turning around, I point at him and scoff.
He holds up his hands innocently, biting back a grin. “I’m a guest.”
“Says the guy wearing my t-shirt,” I mutter before getting back to the potatoes.
Truett shakes his head and heaves a sigh. “Both of you hurry up so you can get out and give me some peace.”
Jasper and I glance at each other one more time and chuckle, earning us another grouchy glare. Once we finish, I grab a couple of beers out of the fridge, and we take them to the porch while we watch the sun set over the pastures.
It’s back to the grind tomorrow morning, and we have our work cut out for us for the foreseeable future.
The weekend came and went entirely too fast, so I’m trying to soak up what little we have left.
Yesterday was a jam-packed day, full of meetings and spreadsheets and presentations.
But luckily, today has been a little more low-key.
Jasper woke up early this morning and cooked breakfast for all three of us.
It’s the first time he’s done that here, and it was really nice.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love the sight of that man in my kitchen.
After we ate, he went home to take care of a few chores over there, while Truett and I tackled all the shit in the garage we’ve been meaning to sort through for months now.
All of Dad’s belongings were moved out there when he died, right alongside Mom’s stuff, and it’s too damn cluttered.
Any time I have to go out there, it stresses me out.
We made a decent size dent in it this afternoon, but we’re nowhere near finished.
I knew it was going to be emotional, but I don’t think either of us was prepared for just how much.
We found several homemade gifts we made in school that Mom kept through the years, all our old report cards, and a ton of family photos—including all the ones Lyle was in.
That was the hardest part. I have so many memories with him before he died.
Good ones and the not so good ones. And I’ll always have those memories.
But some of these pictures I haven’t seen since before the accident, and the amount of emotion it drudged up looking at them was staggering.
Truett hollers that the food is done about a half an hour later.
The three of us sit around the table, like we do every Sunday night now.
It’s become somewhat of a tradition. One I look forward to every week.
Dinner ends up being far better than it has any right to be.
The roast practically falls apart, the biscuits disappear before they’re cool enough to touch, and the potatoes are perfect—I don’t care what my brother says.
Conversation flows easily while we eat, and I can’t help but look around the table at both men, thankful for how far we’ve made it.
A year ago, this would’ve been unimaginable.
Jasper sitting at our kitchen table. Laughing with my brother.
Arguing over who’s going to eat the last biscuit.
Never in my wildest dreams—or my worst nightmares—did I see myself returning home.
Now that I’m here, I can’t believe I spent so many years avoiding this place.
If Dad could see all of us now, I like to think he’d be smiling. Mom too.
When the dishes are finally pushed aside and coffee replaces sweet tea, I glance at Jasper. He’s already watching me and nods. My stomach is in knots. I’ve known this was coming for days, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to puke from nerves.
I clear my throat. “So, there’s something Jasper and I want to talk to you about.
“Oh, boy.” Truett leans back in his chair and looks between us.
Jasper chuckles under his breath. “Hear us out. I think you’re actually going to like it.”
He nods once. “Alright, I’m listening.”
Walking over to the counter, I grab the folder I brought home from the ranch, then drop back into my seat and slide it across the table. It’s filled with spreadsheets, maps, loan paperwork, projected budgets—everything Jasper and I have spent the last week putting together.
His gaze drops. “What’s all this?”
“The future,” I say plainly.
His brow furrows. “That’s either inspiring or terrifying.”
Jasper snorts. “Little bit of both, honestly.”
I chuckle, knowing the anticipation is killing him. “We met with the bank this week.”
That gets his full attention. “The bank?” His brows furrow. “Why?”
“They approved us for a loan,” I say. My heart is pounding so fast I can hardly breathe. “We want to merge Wind River and Blue Ember.”
Silence follows.
Complete and utter silence.
My stomach falls to my ass while Truett just sits there.
Considering this whole idea started as a way to take weight off his shoulders and offer a way to share the workload like I should’ve done years ago, I kind of assumed he’d love it and be on board.
But now I’m not so sure since I can’t read his expression…
at all. This really could go either way.
Finally, Truett clears his throat and sits up straighter. “I’m gonna need a little more here.” Fair. “Actually, a lot more.”
Jasper and I start from the beginning. We tell him everything that’s been discussed or has transpired since the afternoon we met for lunch a little over a week ago.
We explain the loan and all financial projections.
We dive into the benefits and what this could mean for both families.
How it could take a lot of his stress away.
Then we finish with our vision—building more cabins, expanding the guest ranch, hiring more employees, the wedding barn and extended trail rides, and how we want to market the entire place as one destination rather than two struggling businesses.
By the time we finish, Truett looks like a fish out of water as he stares at all the paperwork, reading and rereading everything.
“Damn,” he finally says. “You’ve really done this. You guys have thought of everything.”
Pride swells in my chest. “We’ve done the research. The bank believes it’ll work.”
“And so do we,” Jasper adds.
Truett picks up another page. His eyes move across the numbers. “I don’t…” He laughs softly. “I don’t know what to say.”
I lean forward and meet his gaze. “So, say what you’re thinking.”
My brother looks at us, then back at the papers sprawled out across the table. Exhaling slowly, he runs his fingers through his hair. “I think Dad would’ve called you both crazy.”
“Probably.” I snort.
“But I think he also would’ve secretly loved it.”
My smile softens. “I think so too.”
Truett’s quiet for a moment. My knee bounces under the table, nerves vibrating through my veins.
I love this plan—I love it so damn much—but it can’t work without him.
We do this together as a family, or we don’t do it at all.
And the waiting is killing me. I chance a look at Jasper, and he looks about as anxious as I feel.
He’s twisting his hands together, chewing on his bottom lip. I know he wants this as much as I do.
“The two ranches,” Truett murmurs, then shakes his head, breathing out a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sigh. “I never imagined…”
“Neither did I.” I glance toward the window, peering out at the property line just visible beyond the pasture.
“Something Chesney and I have talked about over the last week,” Jasper murmurs, “is how this is what should’ve happened years ago.
Our families bought the land and dreamed of running a cattle business together.
They had the right idea; who knows where the ranch would be now, if life never got in the way. ”
I rest both forearms on the table, looking between my brother and the man I’ve loved since before I even knew what love was.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about those letters.
” Clearing my throat, I shift my gaze to the survey map spread out in front of us.
“Before we found them, I think all three of us believed this feud started because of hate. But it didn’t.
” My chest tightens as I trace the property line on the map. “It started because of love.”
Jasper’s hand finds my shaking knee under the table. The simple, gentle touch grounds me.
“Our grandfathers bought all this land together because they loved their families. Every fence they put up, every pasture they cleared, every business plan they sketched out... Love was the blueprint behind all of it. They wanted something better for the people who came after them.” I pause, breathing out a small, dry chuckle.
“And it’s kind of ironic, if you think about it.
The very thing that laid the foundation for everything they built is the thing that tore it all apart.
If there’s anyone who can understand loving somebody they’re not supposed to”—I look at Jasper, his eyes filled with love as a small smile lifts the corner of his mouth—“it’s us.
“I don’t think your grandfather ever stopped loving my grandmother.
And I don’t think he ever stopped regretting what happened after.
” The weight of that statement sits heavy beneath my ribs.
“He could’ve left you that ranch outright.
Nobody would’ve questioned it. Instead, he left it to both of us.
I spent months wondering why the hell a Smith would leave part of their beloved land to a Jennings.
It never made a lick of sense. Until it did.
” I tap the spot where both ranches meet.
“I don’t think the decision had anything to do with the land.
“I think Clyde spent the rest of his life wishing they could’ve found their way to each other.
Wishing they could’ve figured out how to finish the dream they started before pride and secrets got in the way.
I think that’s why he made us work together.
Not because he wanted to punish either of us, and not because he was too old and senile to know what he was doing.
“I think he knew that if anyone could finally make it right, it would have to be the people who understood both the cost of that love and the value of it.” My voice cracks, but I don’t bother trying to hide it.
Swallowing thickly, I reach across the table, laying my hand over Jasper’s.
He’s smiling over at me, his eyes glistening.
They match my own. “I don’t think this merger is our idea.
This ranch. This partnership. This family.
I think all of it was the apology Clyde spent the rest of his life trying to write. ”
The table is quiet for a moment.
When I blink, a tear spills over, rolling down my cheek, and it becomes the catalyst for the rest of them.
Looking at my brother, who’s been silent the entire time, his jaw is clenched tight, and his eyes are just as red and wet as mine and Jasper’s. “Wow,” he breathes, brushing his hand over his cheek.
“This isn’t only about saving the ranches, Truett. It’s about fixing something.” When he doesn’t say anything, I keep going. “We’ve spent decades acting like we’re enemies. When, really, we’re just people who inherited somebody else’s heartbreak.”
Truett clears his throat and looks between us for a long beat. “So what happens now?”
Jasper smiles. “Now we work. A lot.”
“It’ll be hard,” I say. “There will be more long days than not. There will be arguments, and paperwork, and this will take more blood, sweat, and tears from us than we’ll think we can endure.
But if we put in the work and see it through, it will become something bigger than either ranch. It’ll become ours.”
Truett frowns. “Ours?”
“All of ours.” I gesture between the three of us, my heart fluttering like it’s about to take off.
“This land doesn’t belong to one family anymore.
It belongs to the people willing to fight for it.
I don’t want just a business partner.” Looking at Jasper, then at Truett, I say,” I want family. The way it should’ve been all along.”
“Goddamnit, Chesney,” Truett mutters with a small laugh. “Got me over here crying and shit.” He looks down at the paperwork again, his thumb brushing absently over it. Slowly, a smile spreads across his face. “So, I’ll finally get to stop pretending that damn fence means anything?”
I laugh, unable to hold it in. “Yup.”
My brother lifts his gaze to Jasper. “You sure you want to tie yourself to this family?”
He doesn’t hesitate. “I’ve wanted to since I was fifteen.”
Warmth spreads through my chest. There’s no doubt in my mind he means that with everything inside him.
When I look at Jasper, the love he has for me shines through his beautiful, dark, soulful eyes.
It pours out of him. He doesn’t have to say it because I can feel it like a warm blanket wrapped around me.
And I’ve never known comfort as deep as that.
Truett stands and walks to the kitchen window.
His hands rest on the edge of the counter as he peers out toward the pasture.
Toward the line separating two ranches that have stood apart for generations.
When he finally turns back, there’s a peace in his expression I haven’t seen since I’ve been back in town.
Nodding once, firmly, he says, “Okay.” When he smiles, it’s contagious. “Let’s build something our grandfathers would’ve been proud of.”