Page 20 of Sweet Courage

Chapter Nine

“Have you heard the news?” Preston Sweet came through the front door.

“News?” Alice looked up from where she had her nose in the fridge.

Desperately wanting to go lie down and ease the noise dancing in his head, Hanson knew that disappearing as the family began slowly gathering together before dinner would be a dead giveaway that he wasn’t doing as well as he tried to pretend. The day had been long and hard in a way that was totally different from how surviving boot camp or filing his income tax return had been. Who knew that simply buying hot dogs for a few people could have been so challenging. All of it begged the question, what else would be a struggle when he finally finished his last therapy option—the Sweet Ranch?

“Could you be more specific?” Jess dropped a bag of potatoes on the counter, then turned to Kat who gathered her things by the kitchen table. “Remember how to wield a potato peeler?”

A smile spread across her face. “Better than anyone I know.”

“Could we get back to the news?” Arms laden with salad fixings, Alice straightened.

“Old man Harding sold his ranch.”

“Really?” Alice stopped in her tracks. “I didn’t know it was up for sale.”

“No one did. Apparently, he’s accepted that none of his kids are moving back to carry on ranching and he got an offer he couldn’t refuse.”

Hanson’s gaze drifted to the peace and quiet on the other side of the kitchen window. His mind batted about the idea of living and working full time, forever and ever, on a ranch like this. He was a city boy through and through. Career military—or at least that had been the plan. Even so, he couldn’t understand why anyone would want to sell a place like this.

“The new owners took possession Monday.”

Alice frowned and stopped rinsing the lettuce. “Is this going to affect the fair?”

“Fair?” Hanson unintentionally asked aloud.

“The county fair has been on Harding land since we were all kids.” Preston stuck his head in the fridge and pulled out a longneck beer.

“Even before y’all were born,” his mother added.

The front door squeaked open and banged shut. Booted heels across the living room announced Carson’s arrival. “Have you heard?”

“About Harding?” Alice asked.

Giving his wife a quick peck on the lips and loving tap on the rear, Carson turned and nodded. “And the new owners are denying the county use of their land.”

“Can they do that?” Preston tipped a bottle at the others, silently asking if they wanted a beer.

“Apparently,” Carter accepted the drink, “Harding’s father made a handshake deal with the county and it was not included in the sale of the property. Since the county doesn’t actually pay to use the land, the new owners saw no reason to host the fair.”

Alice shook her head. “The Hardings thought it in the best interest of the community to give back. Sounds like the new owners are not planning on making friends with their neighbors.”

“Corporate owners.” Carson took a seat at the table. “They’ll never know their neighbors.”

Her mouth, slightly open, Kat’s gaze narrowed. “Then we have no fair?”

Carson shrugged. “I ran into Mayor Stedman, he says the county is scrambling. They have contracts with all the vendors. No one is sure if the insurance would cover the costs of canceling or not.”

Swiping a little harder at the potatoes, Kat heaved a deep sigh. “Even though I don’t enter any of the competitions, I think it would be awful if we didn’t have the fair.”

“Heaven knows a lot of our kids have been counting on the fair to sell the cows they’ve been raising all year.” Alice threw a dishrag over her shoulder. “How much damage do you think a few thousand people stomping around would do to the south-east pasture?”

Carson and Preston’s gazes met and the corners of their mouths tipped ever so slightly upward. Hanson may not be able to remember when interrupted if he was loading or unloading, but he still recognized silent communication. These two brothers were doing just that, and something told him it had everything to do with using Sweet land, at least temporarily, for a county fair.

Before anyone could respond, Garret and Jackie came hurrying in the front door.

“The county’s agreement with Harding was that any damage caused by the events would be covered by the county. Supposedly the cost was minimal compared to actually leasing land.”