Chapter 5
Chapter Five
“S o how did Mimi convince you to move back home?”
Hallie finished dumping the shovelful of horse poop into the wheelbarrow before she turned to the open door of the stall. Daddy stood there looking as big and intimidating as he always did, but she’d learned a long time ago to never show how much her daddy intimidated her.
Or how much his opinion mattered to her.
She went back to shoveling poop. “She thought you might need some help with the ranch. From the looks of these stalls, you do.”
“Corbin said he was going to do it. I guess he got sidetracked.”
Hallie knew exactly what had sidetracked him. “Belle showed up with Tito’s tacos and they headed to Cooper Springs.”
Daddy snorted. “I thought their honeymoon was over.” Corbin and Belle had just gotten back from their honeymoon in Italy. Jesse and Liberty were still on their honeymoon in the Caribbean.
“They’re still newlyweds and enjoy spending time together.”
“Well, they need to spend that time together when there’s not work to be done.”
She stopped shoveling and leaned on the handle. “I hate to bring this up, Daddy, but Corbin’s the boss now. If he wants to go on a picnic in the middle of the day, he can go on a picnic.”
Daddy scowled. “Bosses should work harder than everyone else.”
She wanted to say, “Little good it did you,” but she bit her tongue. Pointing out that her father had almost lost the family ranch wasn’t the best thing to do on her first day home.
“I’m sure Corbin will be back soon.” When he got here, she was hoping he’d be happy to see she’d done his job for him. Mucking out stalls had to earn her some brownie points.
“So what are your plans, Hallie?”
She knew Daddy was talking about her future plans, but she decided to play dumb and postpone the argument they were bound to get in. “My plans? Well, I figure I’ll wheel this pile of crap around to the back of the barn and dump it before I wash out the stall and spread some fresh—”
“Are you just trying to piss me off?”
She sighed. “I want to own a brewery and make my own beer.”
He rolled his eyes. “You’re not still stuck on that harebrained idea, are you?”
And here we go.
She jabbed the shovel under another pile of poop. “Yes. I’m still stuck on that harebrained idea. And if you’re going to give me the lecture on what a foolish idea it is, don’t waste your time. I know how you feel and you’re not going to change my mind. I’m going to start my own beer-brewing business come hell or high water.”
He huffed. “I thought age would get rid of that stubborn streak, but I guess I was wrong.”
“Well, take a look in the mirror, Daddy. Your stubborn streak is still a mile long and two miles wide.” She went where she swore she wouldn’t go. “If you weren’t so stubborn, Corbin wouldn’t be your boss.”
“I’m not his boss, Hal.” Corbin appeared in the doorway next to her father. He looked like he and Belle had been doing more than picnicking at Cooper Springs. His hair was finger tousled, his western shirt was mis-snapped, and there was a definite hickey on his neck. Something that had her father scowling. Corbin mistook the scowl. “I mean it, sir. You know a lot more about ranching than I do. As far as I’m concerned, you’re still the boss.”
That seemed to appease her father and remove the scowl from his face. “Thank you, son. But you own the ranch now. Have you had any more foremen apply?”
“Not any after the ones you vetoed.”
Hallie held in her snort. If Corbin was having her father help him pick foremen, she wished him luck. Hank was not easy to please.
“Well, we’ll find one who’s right eventually,” Hank said. “Now I’m riding out to fix some fences. You want to come along?”
Hallie couldn’t help feeling ticked that he didn’t invite her. Of course, after letting her temper get the best of her, she couldn’t really blame him.
Corbin shook his head. “Thank you, sir, but I think I’ll help Hallie finish here and meet up with you later.”
Daddy nodded before he glanced at Hallie. “See you at supper.”
“I’ll be there with bells on.”
Once he was gone, Corbin looked at her. “I thought Belle was exaggerating when she said that you and your daddy were like vinegar and oil.”
She shrugged. “Welcome to the Holiday family. It’s not always a bed of roses. There are a few thorns thrown in. Daddy being the biggest. By the way, your shirt is snapped wrong and you have a hickey.”
He slapped a hand to his neck. “Shit. Do you think your daddy noticed?”
“Yep.”
He groaned as he unsnapped his shirt and started re-snapping it. “And I thought he was really starting to like me.”
“He does like you. You’re the man who saved his ranch.”
He finished snapping his shirt and looked at her. “I’m also the man who took it.” He squinted his eyes in thought. “I believe your exact words were lowdown snake and villainous ranch thief. ”
It seemed Corbin had a good memory. “Sorry about that, but that was before you fell in love with my sister and put everything to rights.”
He frowned. “I haven’t put everything to rights. I want this ranch to be successful and I’m not sure I’m the man for the job. There’s so much I don’t know about ranching.”
“You’ll learn.” She set down the shovel and went to grab the handle of the wheelbarrow, but Corbin stopped her.
“I got it.”
She stared him down. “Please don’t tell me you’re one of those men who won’t let women handle certain jobs.”
He held up his hands. “No, ma’am. You want to haul horse poop, I’m more than happy to let you.”
They worked together on the rest of the stalls. Once they had them cleaned out and fresh straw put down, they were both sweating like pigs and it was a relief to get out of the hot barn and move under the shade of the big oak. Although once there, she couldn’t help remembering the last time she had stood there. Just the thought of Jace Carson had her face flushing with anger.
“You okay?” Corbin asked. “You’re probably not used to working in this heat.”
She pulled out a bandana and wiped the sweat from her flushed face. “Living in the city, I did forget how hot a barn gets in the summer.”
“So did you get all moved in?”
She had just arrived at the ranch the day before after being in Austin for three weeks finishing out her lease and packing. “I didn’t have that much to move. The furniture came with the apartment. I just have some clothes and my brewing equipment.”
“Belle told me you make your own beer.”
This was the opportunity she’d been waiting for. “I sure do. I’d love for you to try it.”
“Of course. But I’ll be honest. I’m not much of a beer drinker.”
“Because you haven’t tasted mine. It will change your mind.”
He laughed. “You sound like Mimi with her elderberry wine. She thinks it cures everything from lovesickness to depression.”
“My beer doesn’t cure anything but thirst. How about I go get a couple and meet you on the porch?”
It took her a while to get the beer. Mama wouldn’t let her set foot in the kitchen until she’d washed off with the hose and taken off her boots. When she finally made it to the porch, Corbin was sitting in a chair talking on his phone.
“. . . I’m sure Gilley will be fine, Bella. Dogs eat lots of crazy things and it doesn’t kill them. If it makes him sick, he’ll throw it up. But if you’re still worried about him when I get home, I’ll take him to the vet . . . yes, I love you too, baby.” He hung up and took the bottle of beer Hallie handed to him. “I guess Gilley decided that chewing one of his chew toys wasn’t as much fun as eating it whole.”
Hallie laughed as she sat down in the porch swing and gave it a push. “That huge furry dog eats everything. At the wedding, he was snatching things off people’s plates right and left—that’s when he wasn’t chasing Melba’s new foster cat around, wanting to play. I had to rescue the cat numerous times from the overzealous dog.” She sighed. “Which convinced Melba that I’d be the perfect adoptive mama for Jelly Roll.”
Corbin raised his eyebrows. “Since I don’t see a new cat, I figure you didn’t let her bamboozle you.”
“I refuse to adopt a solid black cat with my name.”
He grinned. “I see your point.”
“It was hard to say no. Jelly Roll is the sweetest thing. But I can’t take a pet until I’m settled.” She watched as Corbin took a sip of the beer. “So what do you think? And be honest.”
“I think it’s good.”
She frowned. “I was hoping for a little more enthusiasm.”
He laughed. “You told me to be honest. Like I said, I’m not someone who knows beer.”
Damn. This wasn’t going well at all. Maybe she should stop beating around the bush and just cut to the chase. “I’m thinking about starting my own brewery.”
His eyebrows lifted. “That’s a big jump from working at a brewery to owning one.”
“It might be a big jump, but I can do it.”
“I don’t doubt it for a second. I’ve come to realize that the Holiday sisters can do anything they set their minds to. I’m just saying that starting your own business takes a lot of work . . . and a lot of capital.”
She hesitated for only a second before taking the plunge. “I was hoping you might be willing to help me out with a loan. I know loaning my daddy money didn’t quite work out so well for you, but I’m not my daddy. I’ll pay you back in full with interest. Or shares. Whatever you want. I just—”
He held up a hand. “Stop, Hallie. I’ll loan you the money.”
“You will?”
“Yes.” He hesitated. “But why beer?”
She shrugged. “I like beer.”
“I like cherry pie—especially your mama’s—but that doesn’t mean I want to make a career out of selling it. Why do you want to own a brewery? What kind of satisfaction do you get out of it? Do you love the process of making beer? Watching people enjoy it? What’s your drive to start this business and succeed at it?”
She knew Corbin would ask her questions, but she thought they would be questions about the location and design she had in mind for the brewery. She hadn’t thought he’d ask more thought-provoking questions. She wished she had spent a little more time preparing before approaching him. “Uhh . . . I haven’t really thought about it. I guess I want to make money.”
“That’s an important goal. But most businesses that succeed have a deeper purpose besides just profit. Take your sisters’ event-planning business, for example. The reason it’s so successful is that Belle loves helping people celebrate their special occasions. That purpose makes her a compassionate and amazing event planner. Just like Liberty’s love of managing events makes her one.”
“You mean controlling everything.”
He laughed. “Pretty much. Since I have the same issue, I prefer the word managing . It’s one of the reasons I wanted to start my own business. I like to be in charge. But I also like to crunch numbers and I get a real thrill when my investments pay off—not only in money, but also in seeing businesses succeed.”
She should have kept her big mouth shut, but she had never been able to do that. “You didn’t want our ranch to succeed.”
He sighed. “True. While I’m sorry for the way I did it, I’m not sorry for what I did. If I hadn’t wanted your ranch as my own, I never would have gotten with your sister.”
“You’ve been talking about having a deeper purpose for wanting to start a business. Why did you want to become a rancher when you love being an investor?”
He hesitated for a long moment before he spoke. “I don’t want to become a rancher.”
She stared at him. “What? I don’t understand.”
“I didn’t either until recently. And don’t get me wrong. I love this ranch. I love the wide-open space and seeing the cattle grazing in the fields and being able to picnic at Cooper Springs. I love riding horses and occasionally playing cowboy by helping Rome and Casey with branding or herding. But I’ve come to realize that being a rancher is so much more than that and if I want to save this place for my and Belle’s children and grandchildren, then I need to get the right people to help me run it. Someone who loves ranching and knows the business inside and out. Unfortunately, your daddy has been helping me choose a foreman and he’s extremely particular.”
“That’s because Daddy thinks he’s the only one who can run this ranch, even after he almost ran it straight into the ground. So I wouldn’t be letting him help you choose a foreman. You need someone who knows the ranch and isn’t as stubborn as my daddy.”
He cocked his head. “Would you be willing to help me?”
That took her by surprise. “You want me to help you choose a foreman? With Daddy? That’s like asking two aggressive dogs to decide who gets the bone.”
He laughed. “How about if I run the applicants by you separately? I really would like another opinion.”
She squinted at him. “You mean keep it our little secret?”
“Something like that.”
For a straightforward woman who hated secrets, Hallie was starting to have quite a few. But she couldn’t exactly deny Corbin when he’d agreed to loan her money for her brewery—if she could come up with a deeper purpose. She couldn’t blame him for that. He wanted to make sure this wasn’t just a frivolous whim he would be throwing his money away on.
It wasn’t. She had a deeper purpose. She just needed to give it some thought. And maybe it wasn’t words she needed to come up with. Maybe she needed to come up with a new beer recipe that would speak for itself. Something stout and rich for the upcoming fall season—a harvest blend. In the meantime, she would help him find a foreman who knew how to run this ranch the way it should be run. Like Corbin, she wanted it to be around for generations to come.
She was about to tell him she’d be happy to give her opinion on applicants when Mama came hurrying out the screen door. Mama hurrying wasn’t unusual. She was always scurrying around doing one thing or another. Although she usually had a bright smile on her face. Today, her face was pale and her eyes filled with fear. As soon as she opened her mouth, Hallie knew it wasn’t going to be good news.
“Decker’s been shot!”