Page 24 of Hometown Hottie

12

CARSON

Miracles do happen.

I grinned as I drove onto Red Stone Ranch, excited to finally get to help out. When Ryan had reached out this morning, I’d nearly fallen out of bed. That was how surprised I’d been to get the call. But here I was, ready to get the job done.

He’d said to meet him at the barn. Something about old doors and a two-person job. I didn’t really know what we were going to do, but whatever it was, I was in.

At least I had been until I walked into the barn with that huge grin still on my face and ended up smack bang in the middle of a Murphy Battle of the Wills. Ryan was on one side, his arms crossed over his chest and his features set into a deep scowl. Nova was on the other, her arms crossed even tighter and her eyes narrowed to slits as she glared at her brother.

“What is it, Ry? Are you embarrassed? Don’t be. Women all over the country are going to be salivating over you, and all the men are going to want to be you. The manly man who fixes stuff and farms. Who cares about the few people in town who won’t understand what we’re doing?”

Ryan’s jaw clenched as he gave his head a firm shake. “It’s not about being embarrassed. It’s about making a fool of myself for no good reason. I know this has worked for other ranches and it really is a great idea, but there’s no guarantee that it will bring in any business at all. Let alone enough business to actually cover any of the expenses we’ll be incurring.”

She tossed her arms out to her sides, exasperation rippling across her face like a living thing. Her eyebrows lifted and tugged together, her mouth twisted, and her nostrils went wide. “What costs? I’ll be making the videos and editing them myself. I got a free subscription to a website that makes it pretty easy. I’ll also be running our pages and uploading the videos, managing the orders and the payments, and for the time being, I’ll even pack the darn boxes myself. So what costs, exactly, are you so worried about covering?”

“Boxes cost money, Nova! Have you seen those things? They’ve got to be a product of their own. Plus, it’s not like you can just box up meat and ship it. There’s refrigeration to consider. Packaging. And have you even thought about what happens if so much as one chunk is delivered rotting?”

Her chest was heaving, her cheeks flushed as she stared him down. Neither of them seemed to have noticed me yet, and I was starting to feel like an intruder, so I cleared my throat and took a step forward.

“Hey, guys,” I said carefully, glancing from one sibling to the other. “What’s going on here?”

Nova opened her mouth to tell me, but Ryan dropped his arms to his sides and marched over. “It’s nothing. Come on. We’ll need to start by taking off the door completely so that I can get to the hinges. Thanks for coming, bro. Have you had any coffee? We can go grab some before we get started.”

“Let’s do that.” I’d clearly walked in on something important, and I was eager to find out how I could help.

From the bits and pieces I’d heard, I was pretty sure I knew what was going on. Frankly, I didn’t know why Ryan was so against it. Marketing and promotion had been part of my job for the last decade, and I’d enjoyed it.

Sometimes, it got a little annoying, but in general, I’d found it pretty fun. As long as you were doing it with the right people and the photographer didn’t have a stick up his ass, it was a good time.

The way Ryan was still scowling though, I knew better than to give my opinion before he told me his side of the story. He led me to the barn they’d converted into an apartment for him, and as I walked in, I realized it was the first time I was visiting.

Surprised by the size and the fixtures, I looked around, hands in my pockets, and let out a low whistle. “Jeez. When you said you lived in a barn, I wasn’t expecting this.”

I’d known the roof would be high, obviously, but between that and the windows they’d put in just under it, the space was airy and filled with natural light. It seemed huge, with a shop area set up for him toward the front and a living area with a kitchenette toward the back and on the left.

Beyond the kitchen, they’d put in a back door that led out on a deck capable of being enclosed in the winter. The stairs had been reinforced and ascended to his bedroom. Pine partitions rose up from the corner, and I assumed that was where the bathroom was.

All things considered, it was a really nice, cozy place with a TV mounted on the wall, rugs on the concrete floors, and tools all over the place. Ryan headed for the coffee machine and smiled as he leaned against the counter once he’d spun to face me.

“Thanks. Dad, Nova, and I put it together ourselves. It was a ton of work, but I like to think it came out alright.”

“It’s great, man,” I said genuinely, already starting to get all sorts of inspiration for the place I wanted to build myself. Striding toward him, I took a seat at the breakfast bar that separated his kitchen from his living space and fixed him with a questioning look. “So, what was all that about?”

He let out a heavy sigh and ran both hands through his hair. “I’m sure you’ve heard about it anyway, since no one in this town knows how to mind their own business, but the ranch is having a tough time at the moment.”

I rocked my head from side to side. “I’ve heard some, but I’d rather get the real story from you.”

His eyes latched on mine, and for the first time, I saw the storminess of worry swirling around inside them. “The real story is that we’re in a tight spot. A real tight spot. Our production has remained the same since Dad took over the ranch from Grandpa in the eighties. Meanwhile, times have changed. Advancements have been made and life has gotten a hell of a lot more expensive.”

“It sure has.”

Ryan nodded slowly. “With a little bit of modernization, we could increase our output and even start growing our operations, but Dad doesn’t want to hear it. He’s old school, but we need to do something new, or we’re going to lose the place.”

I frowned. “Maybe I’m just being ignorant or maybe I was gone too long, but what exactly is the problem with old school?”

He let out a dry chuckle. “You sounded a bit like my dad there, but the problem is that everything around here is ancient. If we could upgrade the structures to include more energy effective heating measures, we could save a bunch of money just from that. The same goes for updating our breeding programs, the pens, the buildings, and streamlining the infrastructure we’ve got. We also need to look at expanding our farming operations to grow crops so we can supplement the income we get from ranching. Raising cattle, hogs, and horses at the rate we are just isn’t enough anymore. If we could afford to buy a few more heifers and sows, then maybe, but we can’t afford it.”