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Corbin grinned. “I see you and Tay made up.”
“I still get the occasional scratch, but we’ve formed a truce . . . with the help of Mimi the cat whisperer.”
Corbin’s smile faded. “Mimi? Mimi Holiday?”
Jesse pulled the other chair out from the table and sat down. “We need to talk, Whitty.”
“Obviously. Since when are you on a first-name basis with the Holidays’ grandma?”
“Since I got to know her and the rest of the Holidays. What are you thinking foreclosing on their ranch?”
Corbin cocked his head. “What am I thinking? I’m thinking that I loaned them money in good faith and they broke the contract.”
“But Rome is willing to pay off the loan. With interest.”
Corbin shrugged. “I don’t want the money. I want the ranch.”
All Jesse could do was stare at him. “The ranch? Why would you want the ranch? Land prices are down.”
“I’m not selling it. I’m living in it.”
If he had said he wanted to be a pizza delivery guy, Jesse couldn’t have been more surprised. “Living in it? Since when do you want to live on a ranch? You love your fancy apartment in Houston.”
“It’s not about me. Sunny needs a home.”
Jesse knew Corbin adored his sister and wanted to give her everything, but he didn’t get this. “But why a ranch? You know nothing about cattle and horses.”
“Then I’ll learn. You said yourself that I’m a fast study. I learned the loan business in just a year.”
It was the truth. Corbin had taken to business like a duck to water. Just like Jesse, he had a natural ability to make money. Which was why Jesse had pushed him to start his own business. And he had never interfered with Corbin’s choices or decisions.
Until now.
“Okay. If you want a ranch for Sunny, I’ll help you find one. Hell, I’ll even invest in your cattle-raising business. Just not the Holiday Ranch. Let Rome pay off the loan, Corbin.”
Corbin stared at him for a long moment before a knowing look entered his eyes. “They got to you, didn’t they?”
“What?”
“The Holidays. They sucked you in just like they’ve sucked in everyone else in this town.”
“They didn’t suck me in. I just discovered they’re good people is all.”
Corbin set Tay-Tay on the floor and got up from the chair. “Good people? You think they’re good people. Well, let me tell you about those good people, Jess. For five years our uncle busted his ass for the Holiday Ranch, and do you know how Hank thanked him? He fired him.”
Jesse was more than a little surprised. Not about Hank firing their uncle, but about Liberty not mentioning it. And there was probably a good reason for that.
“Are you sure Hank fired him? Or is that Uncle Dan’s version? Because I can’t see Hank firing a man for no good reason. Especially one who worked for him for so long. I never met our uncle, but if he was anything like our daddy, he stretched the truth. If he didn’t, I’m sure there was a good reason he got fired. You told me yourself he had a drinking problem like Daddy.”
“Maybe he did have a drinking problem, but instead of firing him, Hank should have offered him help.” Corbin hesitated. “They should have offered us all help.”
Now they seemed to be getting to the root of Corbin’s problem with the Holidays.
Jesse sighed. “I know it wasn’t easy for you and Sunny being pawned off on one relative right after the other. But the Holidays aren’t to blame. Our daddy and your mama are.”
“I’m not blaming the Holidays for that.” Corbin’s face hardened. “But they could have made Sunny’s life a little easier. You don’t know her yet, but Sunny is just like her namesake. She’s bright and full of life. It about killed me when she came home every day crying because she didn’t have any friends and had to eat lunch by herself. And you know the friend she wanted most? Noelle Holiday. But Noelle already had her clique and she never gave Sunny the time of day.” He paused and a hurt look entered his eyes. “And I knew how Sunny felt because I fell for my own Holiday.”
Jesse knew what name Corbin was going to say before he said it.
