Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Luke had been awake since four-thirty, lying in the dark with his hands folded behind his head, running through Claire’s implementation timeline until he’d memorized the pattern in the ceiling.
He was out of bed by five and in the office by five-fifteen.
The binder Claire had put together sat open on his desk, and the sight of her handwriting in the margins of the pages she’d annotated during their working sessions caused his pulse to skip.
She’d even drawn small arrows and question marks and underlined phrases where she’d wanted to flag something for discussion.
Graham came into the office at eight carrying two mugs and set one on the desk. “Your text at five was entirely unnecessary. I had another half hour of sleep.”
“Brody Kessler.” Luke ignored his brother’s comment and turned the partnership proposal around, tapping it to bring Graham’s attention into focus. “I want to ride out and talk with him this morning. The grazing access piece needs to be discussed in person.”
Graham looked at the proposal. “You’re going to drive out to a twenty-four-year-old’s property on a Monday morning to discuss a partnership agreement.”
“That’s what I said.”
“Luke.” Graham’s hands wrapped around his mug. “Six months ago, you conducted every vendor relationship by email and made Eli handle anything that required a face-to-face conversation. Or one of us if you thought it needed a personal ‘Calloway’ touch.”
He stood. “That’s why I’m going in person.” Minutes later, he climbed into his truck and headed out. His brothers would take care of the ranch. They knew their jobs and didn’t need him breathing down their necks.
The old Garrett place sat back from the main road behind a cattle gate that needed paint but hung plumb and closed properly, which told Luke something about the man who’d taken it over.
Fences in decent repair. Equipment shed with the doors closed and latched.
A garden plot near the house that someone had already turned over for spring planting.
Nice, solid steps in bringing a ranch back to life.
Brody came out of the barn when Luke’s truck pulled in, a pair of bolt cutters in his hand and a German shepherd moving at his left knee. Neither looked anywhere except at Luke. He respected that.
“Mr. Calloway. Wasn’t expecting you.” Brody’s firm handshake revealed scarred knuckles and callused palms.
The dog circled Luke, sniffing him all over. Luke let him do his job. “Sorry about that. I tried calling ahead, but figured you’d already be out for the day, and I never got your cell number.” He nodded toward the barn. “Finish what you’re doing. I’ll wait.”
“I’m done.” Brody set the bolt cutters against the fence post. “Come in. I’ll get coffee.
” He led the way to a functional and undecorated kitchen.
A topographic map of the property covered most of the table, held flat at the corners by a coffee mug, a pair of fencing pliers, a library book, and a rock.
The dog settled in the doorway and watched Luke with his head on his paws.
Coffee bubbled and hissed, and Brody stood across the kitchen with his arms crossed.
Luke set the folder on the clear corner of the table. “I have a proposal for you. Grazing access in exchange for operational support during our peak seasons. It’s outlined here but the short version is we both get something we need.”
The tenseness that had invaded Brody’s stature when Luke first started talking relaxed a tiny bit. He opened the folder and read, his eyes scanning the page slowly.
Luke didn’t blame him. Poor guy had been through the wringer already, and no doubt he’d thought Luke hoped to claim a favor of some sort after the auction ordeal.
It wasn’t like most of them to be cautious of help, but Brody had every reason to.
Luke drank coffee that was better than he’d expected and examined the topographic map. “Love the detail here. Is this the original land claim?”
“Yep.” Brody didn’t look up for several minutes. When he did, he met Luke’s gaze squarely. “The access acreage here.” He tapped a section of the proposal. “You’re asking for spring and fall rotation only. Seems too good to be true, if I’m being honest.”
“Your summer pasture is yours. We don’t need it, and you do.
” Luke leaned over the map, tracing the relevant sections.
“What we’re after is the creek corridor in May and the east bench in October.
Keeps our rotation from overloading our south pasture.
We have a water issue sometimes if the rain doesn’t keep it filled.
I’d hoped this would help with that, give us another option.
” He’d never told anyone outside of his brothers about a single problem at the ranch, but it felt right to admit their shortcoming to a fellow rancher of Brody’s caliber.
“And in exchange?”
“Calloway crew for your branding day. Equipment access during hay season. First call on our portable working chutes.” He ticked off each one with a tap of his fingers on the table.
“And if you want it, a standing invitation to the 4H mentorship program we’re relaunching.
You’re young enough that it might feel redundant, but the network it builds isn’t, and once you’re ready, you might even want to host the event. ”
Brody closed the folder. He looked at the map for a moment, then at Luke. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because the partnership benefits the ranch.” He tried for his usual shrug, but it failed him.
“You could get grazing access from three other properties without offering anything close to this return.”
Luke finished his coffee and set the mug in the sink behind him. “I forgot what it meant to be a friend and a neighbor. I don’t ever want to do that again.”
Brody stood with his mouth twisted to one side, tapping the folder against his palm, then he put it on the table and pushed it toward Luke. “I’d want the equipment access to include the tractor for spring planting. Your proposal only specifies haying equipment.”
“Agreed.” Luke made the note in the margin and signed it with his initials. “Anything else?”
“The branding day crew. I’d want the same arrangement to run both directions. My family shows up for 4C Ranch, your crew shows up for us.”
“That’s what I intended.”
Brody put his hand out. “Then we have a deal.”
They shook on it, and Luke drove back to the ranch with the signed copy on the passenger seat and a smile so wide his brothers would fall over in shock if they saw it.
That clarity lasted until he passed Oak Street.
He didn’t look down the road. He kept his eyes on the intersection ahead. But his peripheral vision caught the white fence and the front porch and the small house where his mind wandered in unguarded moments.
She was in there making her decision. Or she’d already made it. He didn’t know, and he didn’t dare stop and ask again.
He spent the afternoon in the north pasture with Eli, fixing the fence he’d mentioned. Eli was good company for physical work, offering observations when needed and letting silence stand the rest of the time.
“Post is good.” Eli tested the last one with his full weight. “That section’ll hold through next winter.”
“Good.” Luke loaded the remaining wire into the truck bed. “Thanks for letting me help.”
Eli closed the tailgate and turned. “Man, wild horses couldn’t keep you from helping if that was what you wanted to do.”
“True. Still. It felt good to get out and get my hands dirty.” He rolled his aching shoulders. “My back won’t appreciate it tomorrow, but my head sure does.”
Eli picked up his gloves from the truck hood. “Amen and amen. I have a lifetime subscription to ibuprofen.” He checked the sun falling behind them. “Better get to the house. About time for the ranch meeting.”
Luke rushed to the truck, threw his stuff inside, and climbed in. Eli jumped in the other seat, closing his eyes for the entire drive up to the main house.
He had just enough time to knock the mud from his boots and wash his hands before Dad called for everyone to hurry up.
He started off the meeting with prayer, then turned it over to Luke letting him walk them through the implementation updates.
He presented each item with the competence the work deserved. He showed them the follow-up notes, the timeline adjustments, and the contact names. Claire’s framework spoke for itself, all he did was prove he’d been paying attention and had a willingness to change.
He’d just finished the guest ranch expansion update when Noah set his pen down.
“Okay.” Noah spread his hands on the table. “What’s going on?”
Luke looked at his agenda, then around the table at his family, who all stared back at him with wide eyes and slack jaws. “I have two more items.”
“Luke.” Caleb raised both hands. “We surrender, brother. You have done more good deeds in the last two weeks than most people do in a year. Every item on that list is real progress. And you’re running through it like you’re trying to outrun a stampede.”
“I’m not—”
“Brody Kessler.” Noah ticked his finger.
“Tom Martin’s contract. The 4H relaunch.
The freezer program. The fence line in the north pasture.
” One finger after another. “You also called the church hospitality committee, reorganized the equipment storage, personally delivered the vendor paperwork to three separate businesses instead of mailing it, and fixed the gate hinge on the south entrance that’s been sticking since October. ”
“It needed doing.” He tried to press the point home. Why were they fighting him on this?
“In a week?” Caleb stared him down, and for some reason he didn’t have a comeback.
“The gate hinge.” Graham said it slowly, like he hadn’t understood the first time. “That’s been on the maintenance list for eight months.”
“It needed doing.” Since they were repeating each other, might as well get his digs in too.