I tap the papers.
“Not helpful. What’s that?” she asks, throwing her hands up in the air.
I make direct eye contact with her. “So, we all know now that they’re going to start filming here at the ranch in a couple of weeks.”
Shayla heaves out a disgruntled sigh and Caleb glances at his hands.
I rub my hands on my jeans, denim rough under my damp palms. I have no idea how these two are going to take it. Preston won’t care unless he can figure out some way to make it lucrative for the ranch, but there’s no way he’s going there. He may come off as a big asshole sometimes, but I know deep down he’s still got some integrity buried under that slick suit. But these two? They could make or break the whole thing.
Finally, Shayla cuts through the silence. “Yes, we know. Spit it out, Quint. We don’t have all day. I have to get to the office.”
“Right. We’re about to have a visitor. Someone from the show.”
Caleb narrows his eyes glancing down at the papers I dropped on the table. “Who?”
“I don’t suppose you’ve heard of Aurelia Lane?”
That gets their attention. Shayla’s mouth drops open and she leans forward. “FromPaisley Creek?”
“No, the other Aurelia Lane. Works over at the general store.” I wince as her fist connects with my arm. “Ouch! What the fuck, Shayla?”
“Stop being a smartass.”
I rub my arm where she hit me. My sister packs a mean punch in her small frame. “She just got into town, and she asked me to help her learn to ride.”
My brother leans back in his seat, crossing his arms across his chest. “She doesn’t know how to ride? What’s she doing on the show then? I don’t know much about Hollywood, but seems kind of important for the kind of show they’re filming here.”
“It is. And it’s kind of complicated, but she asked me to help her.”
Now Shayla is straight up laughing. “You? Why you? And wait, have you met her? When?” She’s trying and failing to hide the excitement in her voice.
“Yesterday. And maybe she asked me because I’m good with horses. I don’t know, sis. But she did.”
“No way. You’re fucking with us.”
“Hold up, Shayla, I don’t think he would do that. Is the film going to be paying you for these lessons?” Caleb asks.
I wince,hoping they’re not opposed to keeping a tiny secret. “Here’s the thing, they don’t know she can’t ride. That’s why she came to me, and she asked me not to tell anyone. Hence the NDAs.”
Shayla’s shaking her head. “NDAs? No way, little brother, that sounds shady, and I don’t want to get involved.”
My heart skips. My sister has her difficult moments, but I didn’t anticipate her flat-out refusing. I glance at the door. Aurelia is going to be here any minute, and I need to get these two on board before she arrives or this whole thing could blow up. And I don’t want that.
“Please, Shay-Shay, read it before you say no. All it says is we can’t talk about Aurelia being here and we definitely can’t talk about the whole not-knowing-how-to-ride thing. She’s going to pay me herself.” As reluctant as I was to agree to that part, it might be the thing that gets these two on board. “And of course I’ll be putting that money back into the ranch.” That should help seal the deal.
Caleb shakes his head and runs a hand through his short brown hair. “I’m not against this. I’ll read the agreement. Maybe get Preston’s ass down here to go over it. He knows more about this sort of thing than I do. But if she’s paying you, you should keep the money for yourself.”
I drop my hands onto the table, leaning closer to my brother. “Not happening. I know you all still think of me as the baby. But I’m not. I’m not a child. And this goddamn ranch is more important to me than anything else in the world, other than you guys. So I’ll be putting the money back into the ranch and that’s it.”
“Ooh, little brother grew a backbone in school.” Shayla smirks.
“Anyway. She’s coming over soon, can we please all get on board with this?”
My brother gives a slow nod. “Go get Preston. We’ll take a look and if it seems like everything is on the up and up, we’ll sign them.” He turns to our sister.
She pushes her lips out and a frown creases her brow, but she nods. “Fine.”
“Good.” A sense of relief washes over me, and I rush up the stairs to drag Preston away from his several screens.
