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“Are you listening, Sweetie?”
She returned to the present and looked at Hallie.“Sorry.What?”
“We can’t let Mama and Daddy sell the ranch to complete strangers.This land is Holiday land.It should remain in our family.”
“I agree, but are you coming back to help run it?Because I’m not.Daddy and I are like a lit match and gasoline.There’s no way we could work this ranch together.Not to mention that I have no desire to be a rancher.”
“I wouldn’t mind being a rancher as long as I could brew beer too.Although I can’t get along with Daddy either.”Hallie looked at Cloe.“You, Belle, and Noelle are the only ones who can.”
Cloe shook her head.“I can’t leave my job.Or Brandon.”Cloe was the only one of the six sisters who had a steady boyfriend.“And Belle has a successful business in Houston and I’m sure she won’t want to leave it—not that Liberty would let her.”
Liberty and Belle were killing it as event planners.While Sweetie was thrilled for her sisters, she was also a little jealous.They had succeeded at their dreams while she had failed.
“What about Noelle?”Hallie asked.
“You know she’s never loved ranching as much as she loves baking,” Cloe said.
“So we’re just going to let the ranch go?”Hallie asked.Both she and Cloe looked at Sweetie for the answer to the question like they had always looked to her for answers.But this time, she didn’t have an answer.
Or maybe she just wasn’t ready to accept that it was time to let the ranch go.
ChapterNine
Usually, mealtime at the Holiday table was a chaotic affair with plenty of laughter and people talking over each other as they passed around the plates and bowls of Mama’s home cooking.But tonight, no one seemed to be in a jovial or talkative mood.
Except for Mimi.
She didn’t seem depressed at all about selling the ranch.Which made Sweetie worry that maybe she was getting a little senile and had forgotten.Especially when all she wanted to talk about was Rome and Casey Remington.
“Those two boys are fine catches, I’m telling you.Besides being good-looking as sin, they know how to run a ranch.Any woman would be lucky to have one of them as a husband.”
“If that’s the case, why did Rome’s wife leave him?”Hallie asked around a big bite of biscuit.
“Rumor has it, she just wasn’t cut out for ranch life.Rome and Casey need a strong woman who understands the hardships that go along with running a ranch.”Mimi swatted Hallie’s arm.“And don’t talk with your mouth full.Regardless of the time you spent in ours, you weren’t raised in a barn, Halloween Jean.”
Hallie’s eyes darkened and Sweetie knew she was upset over Mimi using her full name.She hated her name as much as she hated high heels, makeup, and arrogant men.But instead of saying something, she stuffed the rest of the biscuit in her mouth as Mimi continued.
“I hear that Sam Remington is wanting grandkids.I figure it will only be a matter of time before Rome chooses another wife.”
Daddy sent his mother a sharp look.“I’d prefer you not use that man’s name at my table, Mama.”
Mimi didn’t cower.“It’s time for you to get over your feud with Sam.His boys might just be our salvation.”
“What are you talking about?I won’t be taking any help from a Remington.”
“You already did.If Rome hadn’t found you and called 911, you might not be sitting here at this table.”
“I didn’t ask for his help.”
Mimi sighed.“No.You never ask for help.Which is one of your major flaws.If you knew how to ask for help, maybe this ranch wouldn’t be in the trouble it’s in.”
Sweetie might have taken the opportunity to ask exactly what kind of trouble the ranch was in if Mama hadn’t quickly put an end to the conversation.“Let’s not talk about the ranch’s problems tonight.Let’s just enjoy our girls being home.Now who wants pie?”
After they finished dessert, Sweetie volunteered to do the dishes.Hallie and Cloe started clearing the table while Daddy and Mimi headed to bed and Mama headed to the laundry room to fold the load of towels she’d washed earlier.
“What should we do tonight?”Hallie asked as she set a stack of dirty plates on the counter next to the sink.“And I’m not watching those old song and dance movies you love to watch, Cloe.What’s with that anyway when you don’t like to sing or dance?”
Cloe set some glasses on the counter.“You don’t have to know how to do something to enjoy watching other people do it.”
