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He lost his composure and roared with laughter, enough to displace Birdie’s dozing head from his lap and cause the horses to turn and glare at us. The sound was glorious and infectious, and I couldn’t help laughing as well.
When he finally calmed down, he glanced over at me. “My father made his fortune in commercial real estate, so I know you have at least thirty thousand acres, which can’t have cost you less than ten million dollars. Even if you leveraged the shit out of your resources, that’s not the kind of money you make from bull jizz.”
That he’d put that together so quickly was a reminder of how smart Richard was and how easy it was to forget that in the face of his ridiculous fashion sense and over-the-top personality.
“You’re right. It’s not.” I squirmed a little before admitting the next part. “I… er… also invested in Oscar’s company early on.” I felt my cheeks begin to heat even more. “I’m actually a part owner of Overton Investments.”
Richard blinked at me, his eyes widening. “Seriously? But Overton Investments is worth… like… I mean, there’s rich, and then there’s really rich, and then there’s stupid rich, and then insane rich, and Oscar’s so far beyond that I don’t even know how you’d describe it.”
Usually, this was a piece of information I kept to myself. Not that many people in my neck of the woods knew who Oscar was or had any idea how much his company was worth. But I’d had my fair share of gold diggers in my past, so mentioning my net worth was something I tended to avoid.
I shifted to tend to the fire and studied Richard out of the corner of my eye, waiting to see if learning about my wealth would change anything. After a moment, he shook his head as if clearing it.
“Well done, you,” he said. “Okay, so you had enough to get this place, and then you had to build up your stock?”
“Not quite. I still had to wait for the right piece of land to become available, and I had a lot to learn about ranching in this kind of climate. It’s different than Texas. I hired on as a hand down near Laramie. Asked a shit-ton of questions and learned a lot. By the time I was ready to go out on my own, I had more information specific to Wyoming ranching, as well as a foreman willing to jump ship with me.”
“Jed’s been with you the whole time?”
I nodded. “We’ve taught each other a lot over the years. Not sure I could have done it without him.”
Richard smiled. “And now here you are, living your dream.”
It should have been easy to answer yes, but something made me hesitate. I was living exactly the life I’d always wanted: I owned my own land, my own cattle, I had good help and good company. Until a week ago, I hadn’t had much to complain about other than Walt Hosser causing trouble and leaving me shorthanded.
The only thing that had changed between then and now was Richard.
“I’m very lucky,” I demurred.
He laughed. “It’s not luck. You’re good at what you do,” he pointed out. “So what does your dad say about your success? I’m sure it feels good to prove him wrong. Do you still talk to him?”
“Every now and again. After a while, my sisters started getting married, and I realized it wasn’t fair to them to miss their weddings because I wanted to make some sort of point to my father. I’ve also run into him at a few industry events. We keep it cordial. We definitely don’t discuss my love life… not that there’d be much to discuss on that topic anyway.”
“Are you not interested in dating?” He attempted to sound casual, but I could hear the interest in his question.
I tried to think of the best way to respond. I thought about Oscar’s warnings earlier—that Richard wouldn’t be sticking around, and he certainly wouldn’t be interested in settling down with anyone.
“Nah. Not a lot of options around here, and I’m not really dating material anyway. Don’t have the time or the inclination.” It was the truth, but it wasn’t the whole truth. I didn’t want to date, but I did want to settle down with someone. I wanted a husband to come home to after a long day out on the ranch. I wanted a man cuddled up warm in my bed. I wanted kids I could teach to ride and love the outdoors.
But I was also a realist. I was pushing middle age, and available men with similar goals were thin on the ground in rural Wyoming.
“What about you?”
Richard flashed me a cheeky grin and ran a hand over his hip. “Oh honey, you can’t tame a wild horse.”
