“Yes,” she said. “It’s fine. I just avoid the saggy boards over there.”
“Cricket,” he said. “You’re about to slide through the whole damn thing.”
“I won’t.”
“Okay. Maybe you won’t, because you probably don’t weigh a buck and a quarter soaking wet. Somebody like me is going to fall right through.”
“Well, sounds basically like the equivalent of a cowboy moat to me. And I may be okay with that.”
“You got something against cowboys? Because it seems to me that you need one to get this place going.” He looked around and affected an expression he hoped looked something like overwhelmed.
He’d never been overwhelmed a day in his life.
“You might need more than one cowboy, realistically,” he added.
“Nothing against. Just don’t need one in my house.”
“I also suspect that isn’t true. Because I’m thinking you probably need some things fixed in there.”
She looked stubborn for a moment. But under that he could see...she was wary and he wasn’t sure why. He’d never given her a reason to be wary. “Well, maybe a few things. But I can call someone else out for that.”
“Why?” he asked. “You’ve got me.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You know how to repair things?”
“I sure as hell do.”
“Well... All right. I’ll let you come take a look then.”
“Lead the way. Point out the mushy boards.”
He walked up the steps and through the front door, into the tiny, shabby entryway.
Cricket held her arms out. “Well, this is it.” She smiled. “What do you think? Just kidding. I don’t care.”
He looked around, turning in a circle. “It’s...something, Cricket.”
To tell the truth, the little farmhouse wasn’t so bad. It was worn with years, and a bit shabby, but it was definitely repairable.
What he couldn’t imagine was a girl like Cricket—who’d grown up in a monstrosity of a mansion that was doing a poor imitation of a Tuscan villa—settling into it.
“I thought so. It’s a ranch. I feel like... That’s what I feel like I want to do. Wine’s not really for me.”
“Yeah, I noticed you were never all that into any of the Maxfield events.”
But there was a lot of ground between not wanting to be part of the winery and wanting to run a ranch. She might not know it yet, but he did.
He’d spent years working the ranch at Cowboy Wines. Years. Pouring blood and sweat into his father’s land. His father’s legacy.
Until he’d found out the truth about Cash Cooper. And then he’d just...
He’d wanted his own.
Now, he still worked at the winery. He wouldn’t cause a rift. His mother wouldn’t have wanted that. She’d spent years working to make sure she kept the family together at the expense of her own happiness and he wouldn’t be the one to wreck that.
But he didn’t have to make his father’s life his own.
“No, I was really not,” she said. “And this has always been kind of my dream. So...”
“Why ranching?”
Her expression suddenly went shy, then sharp. “I don’t know. I feel like it’s in my blood. Which is weird, because my family doesn’t do it. Is that how you feel? Like ranching is in your blood?”
He shifted. Shrugged. “Can’t say as I know. It’s just something I do. I can’t see doing any different.”
“Yeah. That’s exactly it. Except, it wasn’t just right there for me, so I had to figure out what that meant. What it might mean for me that I dreamed about having my own little house out in the middle of... Well, just like this. A field all around. I want horses.”
“How are you going to make money? Are you breeding horses?”
“Well...”
“Cattle?” He didn’t wait for her to respond. “Dairy or meat? Have you thought about dealing with slaughtering cows? With getting to the nearest USDA station and the cost of it all?”
“I...”
“If you decide to do horses are you going to keep studs or have sperm brought in?”
“Well,” she sputtered again.
“Doing produce? More of a farm? Have you thought about CBD? That’s a growing industry.”
“The thing is,” she sputtered, her manner that of a wet hen. “I haven’t exactly decided. I don’t really know what I want to do with the place. But I kind of feel like until I get a bit more... Until I get it into shape, I’m not going to know.”
“I don’t know how that’s going to work,” he said, like he was honestly doing her a favor. The girl had no idea what she was getting herself into. She’d be in water five feet high and rising. Before she knew it, she’d be in over her pretty head.
This was practically a rescue mission.
Yeah, don’t go that far. You’re being a dick. Own it.
Sure, he’d own it.
Like he’d own this ranch in the end.
But Cricket suffered from the overconfidence of the young and inexperienced. Jackson Cooper hadn’t been young or inexperienced for a long time. The problem with someone like Cricket was she was sure she knew exactly what was happening, exactly what she was doing, and she was also certain no one could possibly know better than her.
“I mean, I’ll be honest,” she said. “I don’t know if I have the fortitude to do beef. But it seems to me that the overhead with horses is really high.”
“Horses are expensive. Getting into good ones... That’s pricey. But it might be more what you’re looking for. Breeding good horses.”
“Maybe that’s it.” That she seemed to be considering anything he said shocked him. “I’ll think about it. I’ll spend some time reading.” She sighed. “Fundamentally, I have time. This place is paid for. And I have some reserves.”
“From your dad’s estate?”
“Pretty much. I sold my stake in the winery. I wanted out. I wanted to...follow my own path, and I knew I wanted out. So... I sold my stake. I got some cash.”
“And you’re using me for slave labor.”
“Well, since I had the opportunity, that just seems like good business. Why pay for something when you can get it for free?”