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“Great. I’ll let Wyatt know.”
“I already heard you, sweetheart,” Wyatt hissed under his breath.
Daisy rolled her eyes, sending a smile at Sam.
“This is excellent.” Sam slid another bite of peach crepe into her mouth, humming in pleasure.
“All her food is great,” Daisy said, cutting into her blueberry waffle. “Linda changes up the brunch menu every week.”
“All I care about is her buttermilk pancakes and homemade maple syrup.” Wyatt smiled as he spread butter on his stack of hotcakes. “How’s your meal, Logan?”
“So far so good.” He looked at his full plate. “I’m not sure what the soup is, but it tastes great.”
“It’s pozole,” Daisy said. “She makes it with shredded pork and hominy.”
The table grew silent as they ate. Sam spoke up when Logan and Wyatt left to refill their plates.
“Have you heard from Amanda Swanson?”
Daisy set down her empty cup of coffee. “I saw her at Lydia’s last week. We were in line together. She hired someone to help with the ranch until it can be sold.”
“She’s selling?”
“She doesn’t have a choice. Loans are coming due, and neither she nor Mark’s parents have the money to pay.” Daisy picked up a slice of bacon, taking a small bite. “She hired a man to help her work the ranch. Minimum wage plus board. The truth is, there are plenty of people who’d take that job and bank most of what they earned.”
“How did Amanda sound?” Sam asked.
“All right. Not great. She doesn’t know what she’ll do once the ranch sells. I encouraged her to speak with Wyatt and Virgil. They may have some ideas.”
“There must be someone in the area who could hire her.”
Daisy nodded. “Probably. The problem is, she’s expecting.”
Sam’s eyes grew wide. “Pregnant?”
“Yes. About four months along. She and Mark decided to keep it to themselves until she showed enough for people to notice.”
Sam made a quick calculation. “The baby’s due in February?”
“That’s what the doctor told her. She learned last week it’s a boy. Mark’s parents want her to move in with them.” Daisy looked up to see Wyatt and Logan returning to the table. “She wants to stay in Brilliance.”
Sam understood. She planned to stay in the area as long as Whistle Rock Ranch offered her employment.
“What did we miss?” Wyatt sat back down, his plate loaded for a second time.
“I was telling her about Amanda Swanson,” Daisy said.
Wyatt picked up his fork, then paused. “She’s in a tough situation. Her husband died, the ranch is for sale, and she’s pregnant. I expected her to call me or Virgil, but she hasn’t.”
“I heard Brady Blackwolf has gone to her ranch several times since Mark died to help her out.” Sam set her empty plate aside.
“That’s news to me,” Wyatt said. “Virgil is probably aware of it.”
Sam lifted her right shoulder in a shrug. “Word is, he’s going on his own time. The same as his volunteer firefighter training. I’m going to call Amanda to see if she needs more help.”
“If she does, I’m in,” Logan said. He looked at Wyatt. “Have you considered buying her ranch?”
“It’s a great location, the land is good, and there’s plenty of water. Buying it would be splitting our operation to two locations. That wouldn’t be efficient and would make it more difficult to run the guest ranch. I’d rather focus on a plan where Amanda could keep the ranch.”
