Chapter 25
TWENTY-FIVE
MEREDITH
More people turn out for the reception than the funerals. Several people bring food, as if they knew we couldn’t have possibly prepared enough. We need it all.
Now the funerals and the graveside services are done, I feel lighter, but also empty.
My future is completely unknown. It’s been a week since Ransom and Holly died, but it’s like I’ve been waiting years to know what’s coming next.
Maybe I have. Maybe I’ve known the brothers could return at any time and I’d fade into the background since I was thirteen.
But they didn’t come back, and I knew what my role was until now.
I’m worn out from making small talk. I can’t rush around serving beer, so I’ve been going table to table talking to former classmates, other landowners, customers, and our nice neighbors, the Millers.
Ben and Declan just left, and now I’m at a table visiting with my old history teacher and the owner of Ritter’s, the farm supply store.
Calder and his brothers didn’t change out of their suits, but they took their coats off, thanks to the warm day and the equally warm breeze.
Calder’s sleeves are rolled up, and his top button is undone.
Every iteration of him in a suit does it for me.
All the brothers are sitting with Carlos and Esme.
Carlos scrapes his chair back to face me. “No pressure, though, Meredith.”
“No pressure sounds divine.” Whatever he’s talking about.
Calder’s gaze softens, but his brothers’ do the opposite. Bowen’s brow furrows as he takes me in, but that’s become his default expression when it comes to me.
Did he hear me and Calder last night? My cheeks flush. Will they think my blush is from the heat?
Landry’s gaze is stony, like Calder’s was when he first arrived. Now Calder is more contemplative, but his youngest brother barely lets any emotion slip through. He didn’t shed a tear at either funeral, but then again, neither did I, and I’m not immune to emotion.
“Moving cattle in two weeks,” Carlos says like he can tell I wasn’t following the conversation. “Bowen’s made it four days, and he’s going for it. I’ve talked Landry into staying too. If he hasn’t forgotten his skills, we can drive them to the summer pastures. The horses need some work.”
A nostalgic grin lifts my lips. Cattle drives used to be fun. Ransom had the time of his life, Holly kept us fed, and I learned a lot. “I can help. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten out with Styx.”
Sawyer approaches. “Are you sure about putting three inexperienced guys on horseback?” She sounds like she’s only partially teasing.
The few people remaining at the reception fall quiet. Sawyer’s question is fair. Riding a horse is like riding a bike, but these aren’t the same animals they’re used to. I’m not as fearless on horseback now as I was in my teen years.
Confusion crosses Bowen’s sharp features. “We’ve been riding all our lives.”
Sawyer cocks her head like she’s thinking hard. “If I do the math, you’ve spent as much time away from the ranch as you were on it.”
“I haven’t forgotten a thing.” Landry’s every word is tinged with knowing arrogance.
Calder ticks a brow up. “If you’re using that logic, Sawyer, then we’re equally matched. My twenty-one years to Meredith’s twenty.”
“It’s my job to keep the horses and cattle safe,” Sawyer begins, “and—”
“I’m sure you’re good at it,” Bowen interrupts, “but it isn’t your decision.”
Her eyes narrow. She’s as protective of Crossroads as Ransom was, and as Carlos is.
Where Carlos is delighted to have the Cross brothers participate in a cattle drive again, she sees them as interlopers.
Usurpers. I’m not sure how I feel. It’s hard to get past the excitement of seeing Calder going full cowboy.
A black Lexus coasts down the drive. Macon Johnson, from the law office. My heart bottoms out straight to the garage floor. The brothers all straighten. At least the pissing contest stops.
“Ah, hell,” Carlos mutters as Calder and his brothers walk out to meet Macon.
Bea stands, and she and Esme herd the others out of the garage. We’re well past the hours Sawyer and I set for the reception anyway. Esme returns to the table with Carlos.
Macon smiles at me and Sawyer. “Nice to see you two again.” He shakes Carlos’s hand and greets Esme.
“We’d like Carlos and Bea to stay.” Calder drags his chair next to me and drops into it.
Bowen sits and kicks a seat out for Sawyer, and Landry sits opposite us.
We all surround one table. “Sawyer too,” he adds without asking me.
“They’ve been instrumental in both businesses and our lives.
They deserve to learn what’s going on when we do. ”
“Of course,” Macon replies.
While I’m pleased Calder’s including the people I care about the most, my pulse pounds, and pressure fills my chest cavity.
I saw Macon at the funeral, but then he was gone, and I pushed it out of my head.
I knew this was coming, but I could pretend otherwise.
There was too much else to do with the graveside service and the reception.
“I don’t want to do this,” I whisper, catching Calder’s gaze.
His eyes soften, and I have to look away. Calder’s going to sell. He won’t change his brothers’ minds. Does he even want to? Do I want to know?
“Let’s get to it then.” Macon sets an eggplant-colored soft-sided briefcase on the table and digs out some papers.
He whips a pair of reading glasses out of the pocket of his dress shirt and slides them on.
“It’s pretty simple, really, and the stipulations cover both businesses, Crossroads Ranch and Jules Creek.
It’s all in the same trust. You can maintain the status quo, or you can sell.
But the decision has to be unanimous between the owners: Calder, Bowen, and Landry Cross. ”
My eyelids slide shut. Once again, my life is upended. Just like when Holly moved us here. When I returned after my breakup with Tanner. I’ll start again. Build something that’s mine for once.
Macon grips the papers. “And Meredith Winslow.”
Sawyer’s gasp breaks the silence. Calder leans forward as if he needs to hear better.
“What the hell?” Bowen snaps. “You’re kidding, right? Equal ownership?”
“No, I’m not kidding,” Macon says lightly, his features tight. “Like I said, pretty straightforward. Four owners. All four must agree about what do to when it comes to any decisions.”
“I can’t believe this.” Landry bolts out of his chair and paces the garage like a caged panther. “It’s not hers. Mama’s rolling over in her grave right now.”
My hands are shaking, but a rush of intense relief fills me. I’m not left out. I have a place, and it’s right here. Ransom made sure of it.
The muscle in Calder’s jaw remains permanently flexed, and he avoids my gaze as if he doesn’t even notice me at all. Sawyer gives me a subtle nod. She’s probably the only one here who agrees to me being written in as an equal partner.
“We’ll buy you out.” Landry spins, hands on his hips, his shirt stretched tight and his handsome features pinched. “What’s your price?”
“Well.” Macon places the papers on the table, and Calder snatches them up. “Whatever you decide—all of you—let me know.”
He practically runs out of the garage.
“I’ll be damned,” Bea breathes as Macon’s Lexus pulls away. “I knew Ransom would take care of you, but this is…”
“A surprise,” Carlos finishes. He stands and holds a hand out to his wife. “We’ll leave you kids to talk. I know this isn’t easy, but remember that Ransom loved all of you. He wanted to do right by each of you, however misguided.”
Ouch.
“Damn,” Sawyer mutters. She leans closer to me. “I’m not leaving. They’re not going to railroad you.”
I’m about to deny that they would, but it’s wishful thinking.
The emotion roiling inside the Cross brothers turns the air thick.
Too soon, Sawyer and I are alone with them.
I’m breathing through a straw, muscles knotted all across my shoulders, and I just want to be held by Calder again.
Will he ever want to? Did his interest in me get obliterated when he learned he can’t just walk away?
“How much?” Landry asks. “How much to buy you out of that trust?”
“And try to remember, both businesses are failing.” Bowen clenches his teeth so hard cracks should be heard. He’s not happy about me, nor the state of the ranch and the brewery. “You might not get the payout you want.”
Calder pinches the bridge of his nose. “That’s not helping, Bowen.”
“It’s waited too long,” Landry points out. “Dad made sure it wasn’t part of any conversation we had until he was gone. I’m not going to apologize for being upset when he knew this was how it’d go.”
Their anger is aimed at me, but, surprisingly, his words make me feel better. None of us asked for this, and Ransom might’ve intended to discuss the trust with his boys but didn’t get the chance.
“As long as we realize it’s Dad we should be angry with,” Calder says.
“We can’t take this out on each other. It’s business.
” He meets my gaze, conflict in his eyes.
This is more than business to him. To all of us, but at least the heat of their emotions isn’t solely on me. “Are you going to let us buy you out?”
Hurt spreads through my chest cavity, oily and slick.
He doesn’t want me—not like that. I haven’t had time to let a fantasy build after what we did in my room, but maybe a little hope was harbored in the corners of my brain.
A dream that he would tell me he doesn’t want to sell or leave, and I’m the reason.
I have hearts in my eyes and delusions in my head.
A rich, sophisticated man isn’t going to see this place, the brewery, and me and change his mind over a calzone and a cold beer.
“Don’t agree to anything you don’t want to do, Meredith,” Sawyer says before I can figure out my answer.
The air in the garage thickens until I’m suffocating.
“Meredith?” Calder asks again.
Do I hear hope in his voice? For what—that I’ll make his hard decision easier and sell, or that I’ll make his life infinitely more inconvenient and refuse?
What do I want?
A place, a home, and my pride. The first two are the most important.
I add pride because a family isn’t looking too likely.
I work too much, and that isn’t going to change.
Will the guys allow us to hire more people, or will they run both businesses into the ground until we have no option but to sell?
I don’t know, and I’m too tired to fight it. Ransom left a mess.
Do I want to start over, or do I want to use the gift Ransom left me? It’s all I have.
I love this place. I can’t imagine wanting to be anywhere else. But that’s me. There are three other owners. Guys who’ve been gone for twenty years. One of them has been back for… What has it been? A week?
They’re convinced their minds are made up, but are they really? Will they have regrets? I’ve witnessed Calder soften since he arrived. He cares about that brewery. He loves this land. He loved his parents, and they loved him. Same with the others.
“No.” My answer is a croak. “I think we need time to make this decision. So, no, I’m not selling.”