Page 49 of Hometown Hottie

24

CARSON

My mother frowned at me from across the counter at our breakfast nook, cradling her coffee in her hands. She stared into my eyes with doubt shadowing her own. “I don’t know if I should answer that question, sweetheart. The situation on the Murphy ranch has nothing to do with us. It’s the Murphy ranch, and we’re not Murphys.”

“I know, but look, I’m just trying to help. Besides, it’s not like I’m asking you to show me their financial statements. All I’m asking is for you to give me some background about how it got so bad.”

She got a pinched look on her face, taking a long sip of her coffee before she shook her head at me. “It’s not that simple, Carson. Talking about this feels wrong. Why do you want to know? How are you going to help if Ryan won’t talk to you about the extent of their troubles himself?”

“I don’t know yet, but I want to try. I just can’t do that if I don’t know what went wrong.”

“What went wrong is that George didn’t want to hand over the ranch to his kids to bring into the modern era.” Her nose wrinkled. “Damn it. I didn’t want to say it that way, but there you have it. Everyone else started modernizing years ago. The first wave of it happened while you guys were still at school, but George held on to the old ways. The longer it took him to get onboard, the more he fell behind.”

She blew out a breath, cocking her head at me as she narrowed her eyes in question. “Just what are you going to do about any of this, darling? Everyone has tried over the years to talk a little bit of sense into George. Even Mara, but no one has gotten anywhere with him. What makes you think it’s going to be different when it’s coming from you?”

“Because I’m not going to give him advice on modernization or tell him what he should be doing with his business. He’s the rancher. I’m just a kid who played football and got paid for it. I won’t presume to know better than him, but the Murphys need money and I’ve got some that I’ve been itching to invest in this town.”

“Well, maybe you need to consider satisfying that itch someplace else.” Mom gave me a serious look as she got up. “I know that Ryan has been your friend for a long time, but that boy has been through enough to last several lifetimes. Don’t go complicating his life unless you’re damn sure what you’re doing is the right thing.”

She carried her cup to the sink and rinsed it, then came over to give me a kiss on the cheek. “I’m heading out, sweetheart. You have a good day, alright?”

“You too, Mom,” I replied as I finished my own coffee, my mind already a million miles away.

Maybe you need to consider satisfying that itch someplace else.

My mom’s warning echoed through my mind, and I briefly contemplated it before shaking my head. There was no place else I’d rather invest than in the Murphys. I’d already done a bit for the larger community with the upgrades to the library and the school, and I was in talks with the city council about fixing up some other local points of interest.

I’d also invested in a variety of businesses, bought some stocks, and put some money away for a rainy day. Don’t go complicating his life unless you’re very damn sure what you’re doing is the right thing.

This was the right thing, though. I felt it in my bones. This was why I had arrived back home exactly when I had. I couldn’t shake the feeling I needed to do this.

It wasn’t even really that I wanted to. I did want to, but it was more than that. Deeper. Somehow, I just couldn’t let it go. I couldn’t let it be when I knew what they were going through. That family had been too good to me over the years, and sure, they’d been the same with every child who had regularly darkened their doorsteps, but still.

I felt like I owed it to them to help out now that I was in the position to do so. Grabbing my phone, I put in a call to Vance. If there was anyone who would talk me out of it fast if he thought it was a mistake, it was him.

He was the only one who really had any inkling of how much money I’d made and how little of an effect buying the ranch would have in the greater scheme of things. When he picked up, I grinned. “Want to meet me at the gym?”

“Yes,” he said without hesitation. “It’s way past time we hit that place again. I’ll meet you there.”

We hung up without saying goodbye, both of us suddenly too eager to bother with niceties when we’d be seeing each other in a few minutes.

As soon as I walked into the gym that had been opened while we’d been gone, I felt my worries starting to lift. I’d only been here a few times since I’d been back, but it was a gym and the clanging of the equipment and the scent of cleaning products and chlorine were as familiar to me as my mother’s house. I inhaled deeply, hitting the pool first while I waited for Vance to arrive.

Cutting through the water helped me calm down, and by the time I climbed out, Vance was just finishing up on the treadmill. “How you doing, bud? You’re looking a lot better than you have been the last few times I’ve seen you.”

I flipped him off. “Thanks for nothing, asshole. Why do I even bother with you?”

“Because you love me.” He batted his eyelashes, then laughed as we walked to the neon light on the wall that read weightlifting. “Seriously, though. What’s up? You’ve been quiet lately.”

“I’m just wrapped up in business that isn’t mine,” I said honestly. When he arched an eyebrow at me, I sighed and gave him the answer he was looking for. “Murphy business. Someone tried to sell me their ranch. So in my defense, I didn’t go looking for it this time and it found me anyway. Makes me think there’s a reason I keep finding myself near them.”

“Near Nova, you mean,” he said, stopping as he decided which piece of equipment to tackle first.

I shook my head and pointed at the bench press machine. “I’ll spot you, and no, it’s not just Nova. Although at this point, Ryan is in the way.”

“Of you and Nova? He’s always been in the way of that.”

I rolled my eyes, chuckled, and shook my head. “He’s in the way of the help I want to give them. He’s too proud to take it and I’m worried that if I push, I’m going to end up ruining a friendship that’s only just getting back on track.”