She nodded and indicated they sit at the table. “The Riesling family’s old farm and land are for sale. Been on the market for a good while now. I’ve scouted it out plenty. I’d like to ask you guys to consider a loan for me so that I could buy it. I know it’s a lot to ask. But I don’t know any other way for me to make something happen for myself. I don’t own a piece of the ranch that I can drop into my lap like the Rydell family does. I tried to get a bank loan a few months ago, but I was denied. I have some money saved, not much, that I’ll put towards it, but—” His words came out in a rush and were obviously not completely thought-out, until he began to sound incoherent.
“Wait. Slow, down. You want to buy the old Riesling place?”
“Yes!” Asher gasped before he began to slow down. “I really do. I want to start my own ranch.” He snickered as he leaned back and continued, “God, listen to me. Who does that nowadays around here? Raising cattle and/or horses is becoming a lost art with all the land and space they require and all. But maybe that’s exactly why I want to do it. I love the Rydells. Honestly, I do. I know what they’ve done for you, Dad, and for us. I know they consider us part of their family. But I want my own identity as Asher Reed of the Reed Ranch.”
“How much land are we talking about?”
He blew out a breath. For the sum of acreage was huge to him. “Three hundred and fifty-two acres. It’s not real hospitable land either. Hence, the price. But I can make it work. It will be—”
“A start.” AJ interrupted. “It’s a mighty fine start to what you’re thinking of doing.”
“Exactly.” He smiled and leaned back in the chair as his dad seemed to already understand his desires.
“By the price per acre it must be pretty rugged and undesirable land.”
“It is. But they are also way underselling it. I think it’s the location. There is a ranchette in this area that is only forty acres going for six point five million dollars. So you see the difference in land quality just from that. The old farmhouse on it is marked as a tear-down, but I’d have no such intentions. The last existing Riesling hasn’t been able to sell this land after all these years. It’s too high and dry for most people to consider for vacationing and too rough for housing development. But cattle? Horses? It would be their utopia.”
AJ leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. “Cattle? What do you know of raising cattle?”
“I know much of what you taught me. I’ll do more. I swear. And of course, I’ll board and train horses. I do have knowledge in that. I know carrying me on the purchase price of this is asking way too much of you both. I was going to wait. But now that Wallace has entered the picture, I could use him up there. No one would care where he went. Mostly, it’s given me a kick in the ass and it’s about time.”
“I get that. I blinked and woke up in my sixties,” Kate said with a snort. “Asher, you’ve never expressed a desire to branch so far out on your own.”
“No. But I’ve thought a lot about it. I guess I was waiting for the right time. I have no idea if it’s all sold yet, but that land is definitely for sale. A lot of it. Cheaper than most large parcels of land. But it’s still way beyond my affordability. I’ll make payments with interest. Make it an investment. Not an uncollateralized loan. I won’t default on it. I won’t flake on you. I swear to you.”
Kate touched his hand. “I was going to say that I am quite convinced of your sincerity and your desire to realize your ambitions. I am very proud of you for it. I mean, I was proud of you regardless. You’re a very hard worker. Dedicated. Reliable. And smart. But to see you have such plans?” Her eyes welled up.
He tilted his head. “I feared you might be disappointed. I mean, a career as a rural cattle farmer? Not what most moms hope for their sons. Even the adopted ones.” He flashed a smile.
She flopped her hand on the table. Glaring as she always did when he qualified how he became her son, she replied, “Fuck that. Cami was also my ‘stepdaughter,’ but we never observed any difference than if she were my own. You were both thirteen years old when you came to me. See the symmetry? It was supposed to be that way. I always believed it. God realized I was the best person to handle thirteen-year-old children. I was sympathetic and kind but saw through all the bullshit and teenage angst. I was the best mom for you then, and I am now. And there is no ‘step’ or ‘adopted’ about either of you, you are both just my children.” She gave him a glare. “And you said that just to get me going, intentionally.”
“Just to remind you how much you love me, Mother.” He gave her an angelic smile. “As I ask you for a giant sum of money to back me on something I haven’t earned, don’t deserve, and am no expert in. But still, I’m asking.”
Kate leaned over and took his hand to squeeze it. She glanced at AJ and he nodded. Asher tilted his head; it was like having an entire conversation in a split-second eye-lock. They’d always been tightly connected like that. Kate did all the talking. AJ all the listening. Always. Although he usually added a snippet or two. Would Asher ever have such a connection to a woman? He didn’t think so. It seemed so far out of character for him. He wasn’t big on sharing himself with others. He loved his parents, but he remained private to the extreme. You had to share with another to get others to share with you. He wondered how that could ever develop for him?
His mom continued, “Because you’re honest and not a suck-up. Because we know how hard you will commit yourself to anything you take on, the answer is yes.”
“That simple?” He blinked. Deep down, he knew they would agree to anything he suggested. They were bound to say yes. They believed in him without demanding the proof he could do it. Not even a bank statement to verify his own involvement. No business plan either. Not even a twenty-minute conversation.
“Yes. We have plenty of money. You know that. If we invest it in you, our son, what better choice is there than that? You’ll make it work and pay us back. I know that. We both do. So yes.” Kate ran a consultation business from the ranch and in Seattle for thirty years before retiring. She became the main money earner of the family. Somewhere in the high six figures per year, Asher believed. Anyone who knew AJ and Kate had no idea of their affluence. Their house was nice, sure, and their land and barns were always neat and immaculate. But their life was rather simple. Their needs weren’t extravagant. And the idea that AJ was rich? Asher doubted AJ even acknowledged that.
“I’m still sorry I have to ask you for it. I wish there was another way. I tried to get a bank loan, but I lack any collateral. And I don’t know how else to get it. Land around here at that price just doesn’t happen very often. Still, I planned to shelve it indefinitely until I saw what happened to Preston. Now I feel amped up. Probably too much so. Maybe not the best time to go into debt, but I feel like life spoke to me and I should listen to it.”
AJ smiled and replied, “I agree with you. We wouldn’t give it to you if we didn’t trust you to handle it well. So, I think you should do this. Succeed or fail by your own hand. Work for yourself. Find exactly what you’re made of. No, most people don’t get such an opportunity, but you know what? Your mother worked hard most of her life to give our kids much more than I ever had. Now you get to do what I would have killed for at your age. Except I was in prison. So, don’t consider needing money an embarrassment or failure, because I couldn’t be prouder of you.”