Page 29 of Then You Happened
She angles her head as she tries to figure out what I mean.
“I thought you were at the top of your game. Now you tell me your skills need honing. Which is it, Sutton?”
“You’d be a fool not to hire me.”
“Why’s that?”
Because I’m a Sutton.
The words almost slip. My birthright almost exposed in a place where no one needs to know my business or who my family is. One more crumb possibly dropped as to why I’m here.
“Because you just would be. Sending me away is not a mistake you want to make.” A muscle in her jaw feathers as she bites back the retort I can see glaring in her eyes. “Good. Now that we have that settled, let’s set some rules.”
“I’m the boss,” she says in a soft, even voice that sounds like controlled temper and mistrust all rolled into one.
“In theory and name, yes.”
She bristles. “In everything.”
I give her a half-cocked smile, letting her know how wrong she is. “You may have busted your ass to keep that place afloat, but we both know something had to have been mismanaged. You have no staff, very few foals to sell come season, and you’re running that place on a shoestring budget when you need a hell of a lot more than that to be successful. Hell, I admire you for trying to figure out the ins and outs of this world based on things you overheard from your husband, but I already know them.” I take a step closer to her. “I’ll work your ranch, Knox. I’ll get what needs to be repaired, repaired. I’ll get your mares pregnant with the next batch of foals to sell. I’ll make your name and horses known in the places it needs to be known in order to get some customers who don’t know a thing about the bullshit the people in this town spew about you. On top of that, I’ll even try to get that derby horse of yours a stallion because we both know that foal could net you a pretty penny. Regardless, we do this my way. My rules. My—”
“But—”
“Not your turn.” I hold up a hand and take a little bit of joy in watching the shock on her face. “You ran that place into the ground, even if there were extenuating circumstances. You want to learn how to do it, then be prepared to step in and get your hands dirtier than they’ve ever been. I’ll gladly teach you, but I won’t take attitude and I won’t be the punching bag for your temper while I’m trying to rebuild it.”
“Go to hell.”
“Seems to me like you’ve already been there and back. You can either let me help you or you can keep doing what you’re doing.” I shrug. “Your choice.”
We stand in the early afternoon sun as a war over who is more stubborn rages between us.
“Fine.” It takes everything she has to scrape that small contrition from her.
“Good. Room and board—”
“Absolutely not.”
My laugh is long and low, and I just stare at her with a shake of my head. “It’s a deal breaker for me.”
“Same goes here.”
“What are you afraid of? That you might actually end up liking me? That I just might show you how to make your ranch work?” I take another step toward her. “You need me on-site. You need me there in case something goes wrong with a horse in the middle of the night. You need them comfortable with me considering I’m the one in charge. I assure you there’s enough air up there for us both to breathe and not get in each other’s ways.” My grin is a taunt for her to test me. “I live there or my offer is off the table.”
“Your offer?” she asks as she coughs through a laugh.
“My offer.” I nod. “You can have it one of two ways. You can keep your failing ranch that you run all by yourself because no one else will work for you . . . or you can let me run the ranch and make it what it should be. On my terms. Your call.”
6
TATE
Two duffel bags.
That was all he had.
What kind of man plans to move to my ranch, run it for the next six months, and only brings two bags of personal items with him?
Two bags?
