2. Daisy
two
Daisy
I sit in my sister’s office and eyeball the naval whistle I gave her for Christmas last year, glinting on her desk like a warning.
Charlie is the first to admit she runs the family like Captain von Trapp before Maria got to him, and when one of us mentions it, everyone chuckles because isn’t that hilarious? But the whistle is only kind of a joke.
I grit my teeth against the effects of one too many white wine sangrias last night.
My head pounds, my mouth’s dry, and Charlie’s taking her sweet time scanning my business proposal.
She’s holding three pages of dreams that took me three weeks and three sessions with my brother and my best friend to get right.
I’m not the cleverest Davenport. I barely graduated from high school and never went to college.
All I wanted as a kid was to grow up, ride horses, and see the world—at the same time, if possible—and that’s what I did.
I spent a decade on the road, but now I’m home, and I’m not the girl I was when I left Silver Leaf Ranch.
I don’t realize my eyes have closed until Charlie clears her throat. I startle awake.
“Big night?” she asks, amused.
I sit up straighter. “Just a few drinks at The Slippery Tipple with Poppy.”
Charlie tilts her head and lifts a skeptical eyebrow.
“What?” I ask. “We were celebrating the end of my one-year man ban. A whole twelve months without a guy. It’s got to be a record.”
“Not in my book,” she mutters, then adds, “And what does that mean exactly? The end of your man ban?”
“It means I’ve purged the past. Exorcized my demons. Shaved my legs.”
“Ah.” She nods like she’s humoring me.
“No. Really. I’m a stronger woman now. With standards. High ones. I’m tough enough to date again—if I want to. But I don’t. Men suck.”
Her blue eyes soften, and she holds up the pages of my proposal. “Is that what this is about?”
My headache roars, making me wish I’d had the foresight to down an extra painkiller. “What do you mean?”
Charlie pauses, and I tense up. I don’t want much.
Not really. Just her blessing to manage the horses, the stable, and the trail rides—all of it, all on my own.
Silver Leaf is as much mine as it is my brothers’ and sister’s, and at the rate they’re shacking up, growing the business, and popping out babies, if I can’t convince them to give me more responsibility now, I’ll be irrelevant before I get a chance to prove I’m not the flaky little sister anymore.
If she doesn’t green-light my plan, I’m calling her Charlie von Crapp from now on. To her face.
The thought comes and goes quickly, and I kick my own butt for being grumpy.
I love my sister. She’s smart and fair and sensible, and if she wasn’t as strong as she is, Silver Leaf might be a memory right now.
That’s how bad business was a year ago. It’s not her fault I’m hungover.
It’s mine, and I make a swift promise to myself that this is the last stupid thing I’ll ever do.
Charlie’s a boss, and I want to be like her, but I don’t blame her for being cautious.
I’m not sure I’d give me what I’m asking for if the roles were reversed.
“I mean your sudden need to be involved in operations.” Charlie sets down my papers, rests her elbows on her desk, and leans forward. “This place is yours as much as it is mine, but you’re not business-minded, Daze. You’re the free spirit in this family. Nobody’s asking you to change.”
“Maybe I want to change.”
She frowns. “Leading the trail rides and maintaining the stable is already a big contribution to this place.”
“Yes, but Finn was always around to help me with the business side of things, and that’s not the case anymore. I’m on my own, and I want it to stay that way.”
Charlie purses her lips. “You don’t have anything to prove—to me or anyone else.”
“What if I have something to prove to myself?”
The line between her brows deepens, and I take a recalibrating breath.
“Things are changing,” I explain. “And I need a new passion. Something all mine that requires my sweat and my soul. I need my role at Silver Leaf to be bigger than what it is.”
I don’t say what I’m really thinking—that I need something to love that won’t break my heart.
Charlie studies me, then nods. “I’m listening.”
Relief loosens my chest. “Our brothers all fell in love this past year. You and I are the only ones with our focus entirely on the business. Nothing—or nobody—to distract us. Our only priority is to make Silver Leaf the best ranch in the region.”
Charlie hums thoughtfully, her eyes meeting mine as we share the ironic smiles of two chronically single women. I can see her ticking off a list in her mind, the way I’ve done these last few weeks.
Our eldest brother, hockey legend Chord Davenport, retired this year. He’ll move back to the ranch in a couple of months with Violet, his fiancée, by his side.
Then there’s Dylan, raising his young daughter and running the family restaurant as a newlywed to my best friend, Poppy.
And Finn. This spring, he fell head over heels for pop icon Rosalie Thorne after saving her from a psychopathic stalker. Rosie’s expecting their first baby before the year’s out, and they’re living in Nashville with plans to visit every summer.
That leaves Charlie and me. Silver Leaf is my sister’s life’s work, and I’m determined to make it mine too.
“You’re asking to take over the entirety of trail operations,” she says. “And invest in more horses. That’s a huge responsibility, Daze.”
“I know, and I’m ready.”
“I know you think so, but it’s a lot of work. I’m not sure you realize how much.”
“It’s all in my proposal, isn’t it?”
“Some of it.” She flips through the pages again.
“But do you understand that I’d be handing over everything?
Administrative tasks, insurances, finances, marketing, and resourcing.
And the facilities stuff, like property and asset maintenance.
You’ll have to manage the relationship with our veterinarian—”
“Charlie?” I wait until she meets my gaze. “I know.”
She sighs. “If this doesn’t work out, or you decide in a month or a year from now that it’s too hard or too boring and you want to travel again, I don’t have the resources or, frankly, the passion to pick up what you leave behind.
Not the care of half a dozen horses and everything that goes with them. ”
I clasp my hands in my lap, holding on to the shame of Charlie’s opinion of me as well as the knowledge that I haven’t done much to improve it in the year since I came home.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I say. “And I won’t be bored. I promise. Just let me try.”
Charlie leans back in her chair, her face unreadable, and my heart hammers. I need this. She’s got no idea how badly. I need a north star now that my entire world is this ranch.
She suddenly nods like she’s ended an argument with herself. “All right.”
I jolt upright. “All right? As in yes?”
“Yes.” Her smile is fond. “I might be CEO, and it might be my job to keep us in the black, but it’s not my goal to stunt your growth. This is progress, Daze. Silver Leaf belongs to all of us, and if you say you can do this, I believe you. I believe in you.”
“Really?” My throat feels tight. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. You’re looking at long days on your feet and late nights poring over paperwork.”
“Charlie? I know.”
“You don’t have to do it alone,” she adds. “I’m here. Dylan and Poppy are around. Chord and Violet will be back in the fall. We’ll help you.”
“I don’t need help,” I insist. “I’ve got this.”
“Okay. Great.” She sets her palms on the desk. “When do you want to start?”
“How about now?”
“You don’t want to take the rest of the weekend to, uh… recover?”
My head pounds, and I’d kill to smash a bacon sandwich in front of The Golden Girls, but I shake it off.
“Nope. I’m good to go. And the first thing I want to talk about is hiring help now that Finn’s not around. The casual hands are great and all, but I need someone permanent.”
Charlie grimaces. “I’m glad you brought that up because… I already found someone.”
“You did?” My shoulders sag. Hiring a new worker was supposed to be an easy first win. “Why didn’t you talk to me first?”
She looks only a little chastened. “I didn’t want to leave you on your own for too long, and you’ve never shown an interest in recruiting before now. It didn’t occur to me to wait.”
“Seriously?”
The corners of her mouth turn down, like she’s reevaluating my potential, and I shake that off too.
“I’m sorry. You’re right. This is great. One less thing for me to worry about, right? What kind of experience do they have?”
“He’s an all-rounder. Horse training. General stable hand stuff. Extensive administrative work. He came with strong recommendations, so I snapped him up.”
“So far so good,” I say. “Why did he leave his last job?”
“He’s been working seasonal and short-term stints for years, but he’s a single dad, so he needs something family friendly with on-site lodging and a long-term guarantee. It’s a perfect fit.”
I nod my approval. “When does he start?”
“About that…”
A knock sounds at the door, and Charlie gives it a guilty glance.
“Today?” I hiss. “Really?”
“He wanted to get settled into his accommodations ahead of his official start on Tuesday.”
I yank out the band holding my ponytail and use my fingers to comb out my curls. “You could have given me a heads-up.”
“It was on my list of things to talk to you about later today.”
Charlie offers me an apologetic wince as she rises. I jump up too, then regret it when the memory of last night’s sangria rolls through my stomach.
My sister shoots me a questioning glance, and I nod to let her know I’m ready.
She opens the door with a hospitable smile. “Hello. You must be Beau.”
“Yes, ma’am,” says a voice on the other side. Smooth. Southern. Unmistakable.
My heart throws itself against my ribcage, and the air is suddenly hot and thick.
“It’s nice to meet you in person,” Charlie says. “Come in.”
“Thank you,” he says.
Just like that. Thank you. All manners and charisma and charm.
He murmurs something else, the words directed at someone behind him, and I press a hand to my fluttering middle as Beau Covington steps into my sister’s office and back into my world.