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Cloe smiled weakly.“Of course it will.”Sweetie’s phone pinged with an incoming text and Cloe nudged her.“Answer it.”
Sweetie shook her head.“It would be a mistake.”
“I thought so at first, but then I saw the way he was with you at Cooper Springs.He couldn’t look away from you.”
“I was naked.”
Cloe laughed.“True, but so were five other women that were surrounding him.He didn’t pay attention to any of us.And you couldn’t look away from him either.”
Sweetie sighed.“When he’s around, it’s like I can’t think straight.All I can think about is being in his arms.When I’m not around him, my brain kicks in and pulls up all the reasons why getting into a relationship with him is a really bad idea.And not just because of Jace.Decker and I are complete opposites.I’m loud.He’s quiet.My life is a hot mess.His is stable and secure.He’s the beloved town sheriff.I’m the town outcast.Us starting something makes absolutely no sense.”
Her phone pinged again and she pulled it out from under the covers and quickly turned it off.
“No.Decker is not for me.I need to accept that and move on.”
For the rest of the day, Sweetie silently repeated that mantra and refused to turn on her phone.In the morning, she helped her mama organize all the holiday decorations in the attic.In the afternoon, she and her sisters met in their daddy’s study to go over all the things that needed to get done before they left town.
“We need to talk to the investment company that gave Daddy the loan and see what the payoff is going to be,” Cloe said.
Liberty raised her hand.“I’ll do that.”
“Great.”Cloe checked it off her list.“I’ll talk with the real estate agent in town and see what we can get if we have to put the ranch on the market?”
Noelle shook her head.“That’s a waste of time.Mimi is not going to sell.If the house gets foreclosed on, they’ll have to take her out kicking and screaming.”
“Maybe we won’t have to sell the house,” Sweetie said.“For now, find out what the land is worth without the house and barn, Cloe.”
“I don’t know why we don’t just go to the Remingtons and ask what they’d pay for it,” Hallie said.“I bet Sam with want to buy it.”
“Sam will lowball us,” Liberty said.“Not to mention, Daddy will only let Sam buy this ranch over his dead body.”
Cloe made a check on her list.“No on trying to sell it to the Remingtons.”
“Good,” Noelle said.“I’d hate for Casey, the devil incarnate, to get this ranch after the way he’s treated me.”
“You haven’t exactly been nice to him either, Elle,” Hallie pointed out.“In school, you two were like two feral cats put in a cage.”
“Let’s stay on subject,” Sweetie said.“What’s the next thing on your list, Cloe?”
Cloe’s look answered the question before she even spoke.“Someone has to start trying to convince Mimi to sell the ranch.”
Not one sister raised her hand.Sweetie sighed.“Fine.I’ll do it.”
Later that day, she found Mimi working in the large vegetable garden next to the chicken coop.All Sweetie could see was the top of her wide-brimmed hat as Mimi hacked at the cold ground with a small garden spade.
“Isn’t it a little early for planting vegetables, Mimi?”
Mimi continued spading.“That’s what most people think.But gardening isn’t just about planting.It’s also about preparing the soil so that when you do plant, your seeds will have the perfect home to grow in.There’s nothing like a perfect home to make a flower grow.You girls are a perfect example.You had a good start in perfect soil and you grew up to be good, strong flowers.”She glanced up at Sweetie.“Even if you and your sisters refuse to consider a perfect plan.”
Sweetie knelt beside her grandmother and picked up another spade.“What about if we sell the land, but keep the house?”
Mimi stopped spading and squinted at her.“I’m not worried about keeping my house.I don’t care anything about a pile of wood.I care about this land.Land that has belonged to Holidays for over a hundred years.Yes, I know I’m not a Holiday by blood.But I loved your granddaddy and know in my heart that he wouldn’t want us to sell this land.He’d want it for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren to enjoy just like we did.So, no, I won’t sell.”
“But, Mimi, you don’t have a choice.The investment company Daddy got the loan from will foreclose if we don’t pay them.”
“Then we need to figure out how to pay them.”Mimi went back to spading.
With no other arguments, Sweetie sighed and started helping her grandmother turn the soil.
