“We don’t need to come to an agreement now?—”
“I’m not agreeing to a damn thing that isn’t selling,” Landry says roughly, “and she needs to realize it’s the best option. The only one.”
“I have my own life,” Bowen says in a quiet way that contradicts the bobbing of his knee. “I built it up myself after Dad kicked us out. I have people who count on me for their livelihoods.”
His gaze flicks to me. I nod in acknowledgment. I know what it’s like to have people count on you. My first taste was with my brothers, and now we’re all in the same boat. We have full-time employees, with benefits, and they have families.
“That company is mine,” he continues, “and I’m not risking it to argue about how many cuts of hay we should do—or what brand of labels we should use for the beer cans.”
“Both of those decisions are already made,” Sawyer says silkily. “Have been for years.”
Bowen’s glare is challenging. “It has to be a unanimous decision to keep you on the payroll.”
Her lips part on a gasp, and my infuriating brother cocks a brow.
“Actually, it’d have to be unanimous to fire her.” Meredith’s voice is shaky, but she exchanges a supportive look with Sawyer. “All I’m asking for is time.”
“We don’t have it,” Bowen shoots back. “How long can a dying ranch afford to keep her on?”
Sawyer crosses her arms, her expression stormy. “It wouldn’t be dying if Meredith and I were listened to more. Same with the brewery.”
“Enough.” None of my boardroom meetings have been this contentious, not even when millions went poof in the stock market overnight. “We’ll have to figure this out eventually. Right now, our emotions are running too high.” I address my next part to Meredith. “But you have to realize that each of us has our own obligations, and we can’t play cowboy and serve drinks in Scandal while our own employees are counting on us.”
“None of you need to be here.” Sawyer rolls a shoulder. “Both places have been doing fine without all of you.”
“Fine?” Bowen snorts. “Doubt that, but Dad was here to run it. I’m not hiring someone who wants to coast on our dime.”
Meredith’s lips thin, and she presses her hands together between her knees. “You all need to realize I’m looking out for the employees of Jules Creek and Crossroads. Ransom was trying to take care of everyone he cared about with his will, and now so am I.”
Landry reverses direction, giving his shoes a hard thump on the floor. “You’ll all have time to find another job?—”
“This isn’t LA,” Meredith snaps. “Or Las Vegas.” She doesn’t meet my gaze. “Or Denver,” she says with less force. “It’s not as easy to bounce around without upending our lives. We need time to think and plan.”
“Carlos can retire.” Bowen squeezes the bridge of his nose. “Sawyer has a career and doesn’t need to siphon off the ranch.”
“I’m not siphoning.” Sawyer’s cheeks flush. “Maybe check the books, McNerdy.”
“I have nowhere to go, okay?” Meredith blinks like she’s surprised at her outburst. “Your dad helped me carve out aniche, and it means something. It means everything to me, and it should mean more to you than something to check off. Leaving all of us reeling should mean more to each of you, since you know how it feels.”
Low blow.I squeeze my eyes shut. Her words dig their way in. There are more people who’ll be affected by all this than just me and my brothers.
Opening my eyes, I rise. “Let’s table this discussion for to?—”
“I caught them together.” Landry’s words land like a bomb between us, leaving our ears ringing. “Dad and Holly. When Mama was sick.”
Shock makes everyone go still. None of us knew anything about Dad and Holly until he put a ring on her finger. To us, it seemed like an insane whirlwind, and it was. We were old enough to suspect the truth about how long it must have been going on for, of course, but suspecting is different than knowing.
I scrape for memories of that day I tried so hard to forget. That final argument between us and Dad that severed everything. The day we stood our ground and told him we wouldn’t attend his wedding, and that we didn’t want to live with someone like Holly, who’d betrayed our mom at her weakest. Meredith and Holly were hiding in my parents’ room. Bowen and I were yelling. Dad was blustering. Landry was quiet until he walked out. I’d never seen him so checked-out, and he hasn’t recovered since. That day changed all of us, but his walls were already erected even before then.
I have the weirdest urge to grab Meredith’s hand to brace myself for what I’m about to hear. She should be the last one I want to turn to.
“Busted them in the shop,” Landry continues, and I stiffen. He sniffs and casts his gaze out the garage door as if that day is playing on a screen in the distance. “Dad promised me he’d stop if I didn’t tell anyone.” Rage ripples over Landry’s skin. “He liedto me, and he choseher. He chose her over our sick mother, and he chose her over his kids. For half my life, I was raised to believe in loyalty to family. To the land. To the name. And he wiped out all those lessons when he fucked your sister on the hood of the car they died in. And hewouldn’t quit doing it. That’s why I’ll never agree to hang onto either company. They mean nothing, and we’re only delaying the inevitable with this unanimous shit.”
Meredith’s gusty exhale breaks through the shock of Landry’s revelation and the discovery that Dad’s betrayal was even worse than I thought.
“Christ,” I say through clenched teeth. Old anger toward my father surges back. Meredith was dragged into this with no regard to her. She shouldn’t have to face down three of us.
“Sounds about right.” Bowen slaps his hands on his thighs. “You guys may not have seen it, but I knew what he was like. Honestly, I’m surprised I didn’t see this bullshit with the will coming.” When Bowen stands, his chair almost tips over. “I thought for sure everything would get left to just you, Calder. Or even Landry. I didn’t even think I’d be named, never mind Meredith.”
