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“Come on down for breakfast. I’ll tell you everything after you’ve eaten.”
She turned away and headed for the hall. Mama had been doing something in secret, that was for sure. But I wasn’t certain if I’d like it or not.
The scent of bacon and coffee filled the kitchen as soon as I walked through the swinging door. I spent so many mornings here. Something about the way the butter-yellow curtains matched the top of the old Formica table left me with a sense of calm. It was safe here. Nothing could touch us in this sanctuary. But that wasn’t true. Cancer had taken my dad, and Mama’s heart trouble just kept getting worse. Now we were on the verge of losing it all. My sanctuary had been breached when a devil wearing a blue dress and leather boots had walked into our lives and turned us all upside-down. In case I wasn’t clear, the devil’s name was Jess.
“I see you over there thinking something fierce, Clint. If it’s about that girl who stole from us and broke your heart, you best let her go. We gotta move forward. Leave her in our tracks. You understand?” Mama poured me a fresh cup of coffee and started making herself a cup of caffeine-free tea. It’d been hard for her to give up that liquid gold, as she called it, but the doctor told her no more caffeine. “You know how much it means to me that you took up your daddy’s place when he died? I wonder how much of your own happiness you gave up to help me here, though.” I knew she was talking about my decision to come back to the main house, to give up the home I’d built, the privacy I’d earned. Buck and Tristan lived on the ranch, but they shared a house closer to the stables. She needed someone here. Close to her.
“You mentioned something about having an ace up your sleeve?” She handed me my mug and took a seat across from me.
“Yes. I got an email about a week ago from DFW, you know, the television network?”
I cocked a brow in surprise as I took a sip and waited for her to continue.
“Well, seems they’re looking for a place to film their new reality show. I told them they could come check out our ranch. See if it fit their vision.”
“What?” I nearly choked on my coffee.
“Seemed like God was dropping a solution in our laps. I wasn’t gonna question it.”
“Why would they email you? You’re not…the business has never been in your name.” I had to tread carefully there. Mama worked behind the scenes, getting us all trained up as we grew so we could take the reins when she and Dad retired. Now she wouldn’t get the chance to retire with him.
“I…have the password to your dad’s email. The network doesn’t exactly know he passed on.”
Shock hit me in the chest. “You lied?”
She rolled her eyes and waved a hand like it was no big deal. “I omitted the truth. Doesn’t change anything. They’ll be here today to pitch their idea and check out the ranch.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“Nope. You’d better get gussied up. You’ve got a date with some pretty important people in about an hour.”
“Hell, Mama.”
She gave me a look that could’ve wilted a weed on the spot. “Clinton, watch your language. You may talk that way outside, but under my roof, there will be none of that.”
“Yeah, Clinton,” my youngest brother, Tristan, walked into the kitchen through the back door. His boots were covered in mud. In fact, one side of him was caked in dark dirt. He looked like he’d spent the early hours of the morning fighting with a stubborn horse and losing.
“Tristan! What on God’s green earth happened to you? You’d better take those boots off before you walk on my clean floor.” Mama turned her attention from me and continued her scolding. “We have a mudroom for a reason, boy. Have I taught you nothing?”
“Sorry, Mama. Wildfire’s been giving me he—heck this morning. He’s got a lot of spirit, but I’ll break him before it’s time to show him.”
He sat on the small bench near the door and tugged off his boots, setting them outside before hanging his hat on the hook over the bench.
“You will. I know you can. Just don’t get yourself hurt.”
He grinned, and she smiled—won over. He always won. Tristan was her favorite, but none of us would tell her that. And even at twenty-three, he was still her baby. “I need a shower. Oh, there’s a fancy black car coming down the drive, by the way. Think they’re lost?”
My gut clenched, and my gaze shot to Mama. “You said an hour.”
“Guess they’re early.”
Grabbing my hat and jacket, I strode to the mudroom and snagged my boots. I didn’t know what to expect, but nothing good came in sleek and shiny packages. I learned that the hard way.
Saddle Up
