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That made him feel unexpectedly sympathetic to her. He hadn’t thought about how the Four Corners crew might still have to negotiate things individually. He hadn’t realized what it meant to be the Sullivan sisters. It reminded him a lot of the kinds of bargains he’d had to make in order for ranching to be profitable.
He didn’t want to relate to her.
“Are you saying that the beef ranchers on Four Corners are just producing volume?” he asked.
“No. Not at all. They have great stuff. I am just saying that it’s more accessible. And yours is premium.”
He looked at her, lifting a brow. “Are you saying my beef is premium?”
Better to make a joke than feel empathy for her. Better to defuse the moment.
She opened her mouth, then closed it. Then opened it again. “I... You mean the cows, right?”
“What else could I have possibly meant?”
Her cheeks were pink, and he was fascinated by the way her freckles faded when she was pink. “Right. Okay. But my point stands. It isn’t actually that unusual for people about town to not know you all.”
She frowned, and he could see that she had never considered this. But then, he didn’t see why she would. So many people worked at Four Corners Ranch. They must have over a hundred employees. They were a huge percentage of the population of the town. Many of them lived on the property. Kids went to school on the property. They must feel entrenched and enmeshed in the community. It was just that they, of course, so rarely left their own little pocket that they didn’t ever look up and see all the strangers.
“Well, I just think that’s an assumption,” she said. “We would all be very open to socializing if anybody wanted to.”
“You’re a ranching gang,” he said.
“I just don’t agree.” She was on the verge of sputtering. “I... It’s not like I get along with everyone because I live there.”
“Really?” he asked.
“No.” She let out a harsh breath. “Look, the idea you’re excluded because you aren’t Four Corners people indicates you’d be included just because you are. And no. That isn’t true. I didn’t have friends growing up on the ranch. For years all I wanted to do was please my dad and then...well, later, my temper caused all kinds of...issues.”
“Can’t imagine why.” He looked at her, and he tried not to feel sorry for the image her confession conjured up in his mind. Of young Quinn living on that ranch without any friends. “You rolled up onto my land and talked down to me, so I can see why maybe people find you an acquired taste.”
“I did not talk down to you. I’m confident, Levi, and it is not my fault if men perceive confidence in women to be a threat.” She snorted. “I mean, ask yourself if Sawyer or Denver or Gus have friends. They do. Are they any nicer than me?”
“I don’t think Denver King has friends,” he pointed out. “And anyway, did you meet my sister this morning? And I know you haven’t met my sister Jessie, but believe me when I tell you, I am very comfortable with confident women. You, Miss Sullivan, were being kind of a dick.”
She sputtered again, and he took great joy in that, even as they rolled into the main drag of Pyrite Falls, and he pulled directly into the small parking lot of the ramshackle wooden building that housed Becky’s diner.
“I have been very nice!” she protested.
“Oh, really?”
He killed the engine and got out of the truck, and he heard the passenger door slam a few seconds later. She was huffing and stomping in those boots again. “I was not a... I was not a dick.”
“Oh, you didn’t take one look at me and what you assumed was my situation and me beneath you?”
“I did no such thing.”
“Then how come you assumed that the cabin was my house?”
“It appeared to be.”
“And if it were, would that make you better than me?” he pressed.
Because, again, it was better than feeling bad for her.
“No. There is no shame in...” She scrunched up her face and he thought she might be praying. Or she was doing some kind of breathing or counting exercise. “No. It isn’t about being better. It’s about seeing the resources that you had and wanting to make sure that you were doing the most with them that you could.”
He could see that he had really riled her. He wanted to chase that because she had no right. No right at all to come onto his land, knowing nothing about him, about his life, and just deciding she knew best...
