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Chapter One
No one ever mentioned how young old age starts. Craig Baron took a long swallow of cool water. Rebuilding the bull-proof fence line between the Baron and Gold ranches was proving to be a bit more challenging than any of the brothers had expected.
“The old gray mare, she ain’t what she used to be,” Chase sang to his younger brother, a huge grin on his face. “Growing older isn’t for sissies.”
“Pot calling the kettle black?” Leaning on the shovel handle, Craig straightened his shoulders. “And for the record, I am neither old, nor a sissy.” He wasn’t even going to address the mis-assigned gender of mare.
“Speak for yourself.” The eldest of today’s workers, his brother Mitch pulled a traditional bandana from his back pocket and wiped his brow. “I freely admit this was way easier a decade ago.”
“Ditto.” Kyle, the sibling most likely to be in the best physical condition, chugged a bottle of water, then squeezing it, he tossed it into the nearby bin. “I think fence digging is for the next generation.”
“And car racing?” One brow arched high on Jared Gold’s—soon to be an official member of the Baron clan thanks to Craig’s sister Eve—forehead.
Kyle blew out a long sigh. “It’s not official yet, but,” his gaze lifted to a point in the distance, “I think it’s time to hang up my helmet.”
Having taken another long gulp of water, Craig almost spit out his drink. His entire life, every single Baron family member had a competitive streak as wide as the Nile. Each and every one of them strived to be at the top of their game, no matter what it took to get there. The idea of Kyle walking away from racing was as absurd as Craig walking away from an award-winning film. Not happening. “Are you kidding?”
“Nope.” Kyle removed his hat and slapped the dust off against his thigh before placing it back on his head. “I think it’s time.”
“Wow.” Mitch shook his head. “I know you’ve been hinting at it, but didn’t expect to see it actually happen. At least not yet.”
“Like I said,” Kyle grabbed hold of one side of the two man auger for digging deeper postholes, “nothing’s official yet. Might need to give Gibs another year.”
“Unless someone moves over.” Craig waved his fingers. “I’ve heard rumors that Bergeron isn’t happy with his team. He’s not as good as you, but he’s close.”
“Hmm,” Kyle muttered.
From what Craig could see, his brother might think he was ready to hang up his racing suit, but maybe not so much ready to be replaced. Heaven knew Craig and Kyle weren’t that far apart in years, and yet Craig was just beginning to reap the benefits of his hard work. Making it to the top of the movie industry was not any easier than climbing to the top of the racing world. He couldn’t fathom Kyle walking away any more than he could fathom not fighting tooth and nail for that next big film that would make Baron Productions the holy grail of the industry. The company that A-listers would be chasing after him to produce instead of the other way around. Biting his tongue, he shook his head. No way could Kyle walk away.
Jared took a minute to survey their work for the day, then glanced up at the sky. “Heat’s starting to bear down on us.”
“This is Texas,” sarcasm dripped from Kyle’s words. “The heat is always bearing down on us.”
Jared chuckled. “True, but in today’s case, I think we’ve made nice progress. This would be a good place to call it a day and pick up again tomorrow.”
Craig’s back twinged at the mere mention of doing this again tomorrow. He really had let his desk job make him soft. “I admit, right about now, Hazel’s French cream crumb cake and a cool glass of blueberry lemonade sounds heavenly.”
Staring off into the distance, Mitch’s head whipped around. “Hazel made French cream crumb cake?”
The man had his moments. Just when Craig thought his older brother was totally in his own little world, he’d perk up and let everyone know he was right in step with the conversation even if he’d not said a word. The man had also been spending a great deal more of his time at the ranch than usual. Mitch would fly back and forth to DC to conduct Senate business, and then scurry home again for as long as he could. Every last member of the family considered the ranch home base and on any given weekend at least half of them would arrive and settle into their old rooms as if not a day had passed since their childhoods spending summers and weekends with the grandparents. Still, Craig wasn’t sure when was the last time Mitch had made even a short pit stop at his downtown home. Almost every weekend, sometimes weekdays too, he could be found in the barns.
Despite their best efforts to subtly uncover what, if anything, was bothering Mitch, none of the brothers had been able to learn why he was spending more time than usual on the ranch the last few months. The ache beginning to poke at Craig’s lower back reminded him that about now a good hot shower was in order. He could pick up worrying about his big brother another day.
“Last one back to the ranch is a rotten egg.” Of course Kyle had to reduce everything to a race. The man might think he was ready to retire from the adrenaline rush of the racing world, but Craig was yet to be convinced.
In record time the entire family made it back to the ranch for that long hot shower, a change into clean clothes, and a short respite before dinner with the Governor and Grams. Even Jared and Eve joined them for the family meal.
“Any news on a date yet?” stroking the pup nestled at her side, their grandmother casually asked her granddaughter. Much the same way she’d managed to ask every week since Jared got down in front of the entire family on bended knee and proposed.
“I want to look at a few more halls before we narrow down availabilities,” Eve answered just as casually as she had each and every other time her grandmother had asked the same question.
The truth was that he knew his sister was still waiting on their mother to give Eve a window when she could abandon her hideaway in Europe to brave another family wedding. Since tension tended to run high when it came to the Barons and their mother—the first ex Mrs. Bradley Baron—his sweet kid sister willingly took the flack.
“I understand Paige’s plans for making the winery available as a wedding venue are coming along well. Perhaps that would be a good fit?” His grandmother’s dimples deepened as the corners of her mouth lifted into a teasing smile. “I could pull a few strings if you like.”
Eve’s broad grin widened to match her grandmother’s. “I might have a few strings of my own I could pull.”
“What strings are we pulling now?” Paige, the aforementioned sister—daughter of the second ex Mrs. Bradley Baron—fluttered into the room, immediately planting a kiss on her grandmother’s cheek.
