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We laugh together, Bray glaring at us with a twinkle in her eye. That twinkle promises retribution when she gets out of this. It’s that moment, with all of us laughing and joking, that Mrs. Carter walks in. Her hands are shaking, but her eyebrows are raised in shock and a small smile plays on her lips.Tuck and Gray notice her, stopping the tickle assault on Brayleigh so that she can see her mom.
“I’m so happy to see you all so happy,” Mrs. Carter says. “This kitchen was built on love and laughter like that.”
“Mom.” Bray walks over, giving her a long hug. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too, darling. Let’s have a seat so we can talk quickly. I’m so sorry, it’s still hard to be here.” Her mom moves to sit at the table, Bray taking a seat right beside her. We all move to the other available seats, none of us sure why we’re here as well.
Mrs. Carter looks at all of us, a small sad smile on her lips before turning to Bray and taking her hands in her own. The look on her face is hopeful, terrified, and so sad. I couldn’t imagine what I would be feeling if I lost Bray, the thought too horrible to even try to think about. I find her strength in coming back here commendable.
“Bray,” Mrs. Carter says, her voice shaking. “We need to talk about the ranch. I can’t handle it and if I’m completely honest, I can’t live here anymore either. The good memories are everywhere, but so is the pain of what happened and the future I was supposed to have with your dad.”
“Oh, okay.” Bray looks so heartbroken, her voice shaking as she talks. “What are you planning to do? Are you wanting to sell?”
Mom squeezes my hands in hers, a broken yet loving smile gracing her face.
“Not exactly. I want to gift the ranch to you. I know it’s a lot for you to handle, that’s why I wanted your men here as well. This whole situation is unorthodox and you can tell me no, if that’s what you want. I was thinking that I would gift the house to you as well as eighty percent of the ranch assets. I would be a silent twenty percent partner with you.”
“That’s—” Bray pauses, her face a picture of shock just like the rest of us. “Overly generous, Mom.”
“It’s something your dad and I always talked about,” her mom assures her. “Especially when you decided to stay and work here. We were drafting something up already that would give you a fifty fifty split with us so your dad could retire in a few years. It was always his dream to keep the ranch in the family with you. I want to go forward with it, but with a greater percentage to you. I know that with these wonderful men by your side you’ll have no issues running this place.”
“Mom,” Bray cries. “I don’t even know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything. I’m ready to be done with this place myself, it deserves more love and attention than I can give.” Mrs. Carter stands up then, pulling Bray into her arms. “I love you, darling. I’m going to head out now, the family lawyer will be contacting you tomorrow about paperwork. Call me after you’re done with him.”
Bray nods, walking her mom out in a daze. The room goes quiet as all of us absorb this information bomb that was thrown on us. I can see the excitement on Colt’s face, his dream has always been to run a ranch. I became an agricultural lawyer so that I could help him with that aspect when he finally inherited the family one. Grayson and Mason are looking at each other, probably communicating through looks like they normally do in higher stress situations. We all sit in silence until Bray gets back, her face a mixture of sadness and confusion.
“She’s giving me the ranch?” Bray whispers as she sits back down. “I’m grateful, I really am. I guess I just didn’t expect it. I’m so sorry she seems to have roped all of you into it in her mind as well.”
“Hey, love. Don’t apologize,” I say, moving towards her. “Grayson already works here and you just added Colt to the payroll. I was going to help you with the legal paperwork you were looking at anyways. We were already working our way to this without even trying, it’s just more formal now.”
“What he said,” Grayson eloquently adds with a grin.
Colton walks up, scooping her into his arms and sitting back down into the chair she was in. He kisses her deeply, all of us standing there watching as he cheers her up with only a kiss. Wish I would have thought of that first. My first thoughts aren’t usually those of action, I’m more of a words man myself.
“You don’t even realize the gift that you just gave me,” Colt whispers as he breaks the kiss. “You have just fulfilled every dream I’ve ever had. Running a ranch, check. A beautiful woman to come home to, check. A large family that will only grow bigger, check. You are still, and will always be, the greatest thing to happen to me.”
Mason chimes in saying he would be more than happy to split his time between the Wild farm and this one. We stop the conversation while we set the table for dinner, everyone seemingly lost in their thoughts. The only person that still hasn’t said anything is Tucker, his face showing very little about how he feels about all of this. It was clear by Mrs. Carter’s words that she expected us to help Bray with this, it’s why she wanted us all here for the conversation.
Once the table is ready, we all sit down to grab food. The silence is almost suffocating, the earlier happiness gone and replaced with confusion and some stress. Bray looks so sad, her eyes keep shooting to Tuck across the table. We need to address the elephant in the room, Tuck needs to yay or nay his support in this situation. The rest of us have made our stance clear, it’s his turn as well.
“Tuck,” I speak up, my voice soft yet commanding. “What do you think about all of this? The rest of us have spoken about how we feel. I think it’s important that all of our opinions are out there on this. We are a team after all.”
Bray sends me a grateful look before swinging her eyes back to Tucker. The others are eating, trying not to be too conspicuous about watching Tuck for his answer.
“You really want to know how I feel?” Tuck says, folding his arms in front of him.
“Please,” Bray whispers, her face showing all of her vulnerability. It seems to soften Tucker up more than anything else probably could.
“I feel like I don’t have a place in this,” Tucker admits, his voice wavering slightly. “I was never a ranch kind of guy. It’s something Dad and I used to argue about a lot. I can do everything you guys can, I just don’t have the same drive to do it. I would rather work on cars in a shop than out in the fields under the sun all day. I feel like I don’t fit into this new group dynamic that just opened up.”
Bray speaks after a moment. “No one is asking you to give up your dreams for mine. I don’t need you to work the ranch with me, I just want to know if you’re still in this—” Bray gestures to all of us. “With me. If we stay together for the long run, which is what I’m hoping will happen, then this ranch will be our home. I want to know if this house with me and everyone else is something you want.”
“You want this with all of us? Living together, being together for the long haul?” Tuck eventually asks. We all hold our breath, staring at Bray as a smile lights up her face.
“Of course,” Bray answers without hesitation. “I love all of you. I’m in this for as long as you’ll have me which is why I don’t want to make this decision about the ranch without all of you. You don’t have to give up your job for this, just maybe your house.”
The table is silent as we all process her words. Is she asking us to move in with her? I don’t want to answer if it’s just a hypothetical right now, that would be a touch awkward. Do I want to move in? Yes, in a heartbeat. I don’t really care how quickly it seems like we’re moving, I love Bray more than anyone or anything. I can see by my brothers’ faces that we are all having the same thoughts. Colton thankfully speaks up and puts us out of our misery by asking.
