Chapter Nine #2
She nodded. “I’m fine.” She’d known it wouldn’t be easy coming back to the ranch.
But then, she’d been more concerned about dealing with the loss of her father than with the others who were still living at the ranch.
And sitting here in his den, with the scent of leather and sweet cigars on every breath she inhaled, she felt as if her dad was still here in some way.
No matter what Brett Lemmon thought, her dad had to have known how much she’d loved the ranch, too. How much she’d loved him.
“You look really pale,” Maci said. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
Trish nodded. “Just tired.” She patted her stomach, where the babies moved restlessly. Even when she was in bed, she didn’t get much sleep. She had to keep getting up, keep moving to find a more comfortable position.
“Don’t let my brother upset you,” Blake said. “He’s just really protective of the ranch. And it’s been tough going for years.”
“But it’s turned around now, right?” Trish asked.
Blake sighed. “It’s getting there. I wanted to make the beef business organic, make sure that there were no harmful chemicals in our feed that could be passed on to consumers.”
“Blake, Liam and Brett lost their mother to breast cancer,” Maci said.
“Brain cancer, actually,” Liam said, his voice gruff. “She survived the breast cancer but then it came back in her brain.”
Trish gasped over their loss. She wanted to ask questions but didn’t want to pry, so she just offered her condolences. “I’m so sorry.”
The brothers nodded, and Blake continued, “Nobody knows how she got it. So, I just thought it would be safer and healthier to go organic.”
“Of course,” Trish said. “I wholeheartedly agree. And I can’t imagine that hurting the ranch.”
“It makes things more expensive,” Blake said. “And causes more work for us to grow most of our own feed. But…what really hurt was not getting a contract we were counting on from a wholesaler who supplies whole foods stores.”
“Tell her why the Four Corners didn’t get the contract,” Frankie said.
But then she didn’t wait for Blake to explain before adding, “Someone had told them that the ownership of the ranch was in dispute. And he was worried that the new owner might not honor the deal he was working out with the Lemmons.” She narrowed her dark eyes.
“Can you guess who might have told them that?”
“Not me,” Trish assured them. “I didn’t know about any of this.”
“Bet your lawyer did,” Frankie said.
It was clear that Nolan and Frankie were never going to be friends. Was that going to be the same situation with her and Brett?
Brett probably blamed her for them not getting that contract. And maybe it was her fault. If she hadn’t dragged things out like she had…
She couldn’t go back and change the past, but maybe she could smooth things out right now, at least with the purchaser.
Her plans didn’t have to affect the rest of the ranch; she had the settlement money from the divorce to remodel the bunkhouse and buy the animals for the petting zoo.
But because she wasn’t the sole heir of the ranch, she had to work with the others.
And she doubted that there was any way she could get Brett’s cooperation.
He didn’t want anything to do with her plans for the ranch—or probably with her, either.
* * *
“Now I know how Dad felt waiting up late for us to come home,” Blake remarked to Liam, who sat on the porch steps next to him.
Liam chuckled. “Brett was always the one who pushed curfew.”
“I’m a little old for a curfew.” A deep voice spoke from the darkness.
Blake jumped; he hadn’t noticed Brett walk up from the barn. But he recovered quickly and said, “That’s the exact same thing you used to tell Dad.”
“Yeah, when you were sixteen,” Liam added.
“Well, thirty-two is definitely too old,” he said. “Why are you guys waiting up for me? Are you giving me a heads-up that we’re selling off all the cattle and turning the entire ranch into a daycare and a zoo?”
“That would be great,” Liam said.
Blake didn’t know if his younger brother was just teasing or serious. But from the way that Brett stiffened, he clearly wasn’t amused. “It’s not happening,” Blake said.
“You guys voted down her petting zoo?” Brett asked, his voice lighter with surprise.
“No,” Blake admitted. “But it’s not going to affect the ranch or the cattle business. In fact, Trish called that purchaser for the whole foods stores. She got us the contract!” He stood up to high-five his older brother, but Brett didn’t slap his hand. “Okay, leaving me hanging…”
“You should be happy,” Liam said. “What’s your deal, Brett?”
Their older brother just grunted and shrugged. “I don’t trust her.”
“I know a lot has happened, but I blame her lawyer for most of that,” Blake said.
“Frankie certainly blames him,” Liam said with a chuckle. “He would be smart to not show his face around here again until after she leaves.”
“Or ever,” Brett added.
He was obviously not a fan either. Neither was Blake. The man had put Maci through a lot of unnecessary stress.
“But he’s not really the problem,” Brett said.
“You think Trish is the problem?” Blake asked.
“You don’t?” Brett sounded surprised again.
Blake shook his head. “She got us that contract. She doesn’t want to hurt the ranch. She wants to keep it going, make it prosper. She understands everything we’ve been doing and respects it. She just wants to be respected in return, Brett.” Blake didn’t think that was too big an ask.
Apparently, his older brother did because he shook his head as if denying her his respect.
“She doesn’t know anything about ranching,” he said.
“I don’t think she even knows anything about petting zoos and kids’ camps.
She just dreamed up this fantasy from her childhood and doesn’t realize how much work it will be to make it a reality. ”
“I think you’re underestimating her,” Blake said. Or maybe Brett just didn’t want her to stick around because she made him uncomfortable. Was he a little more interested in the single mom than he was willing to admit?