LITMIR.BIZ

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      “All right then,” KC said gruffly.

      She hung up the phone after a few more minutes of conversation and then rubbed her forehead. Mel was good with cattle, but things like this happened on ranches and considering her luck on the Lightning Creek...no, she wasn’t going to consider that.

      Mel called a few hours later, explained to Allie how the accident had been a fluke. She’d expected the cow to charge her, had actually planned to go over the fence, but had caught her boot on the way over and fell end-over-teakettle, landing on a pile of irrigation pipe.

      “I need to get less cumbersome boots,” Mel explained.

      “Right.” But Allie smiled, glad that her sister sounded as if she were in good spirits.

      “And KC said you promised to call the vet if any calves need to be pulled.”

      “I will.”

      “There’s a reason there’s a ranch fund, you know.”

      And she and Kyle were the reason that the ranch fund was so low. “Speaking of which, we had a windstorm...” Allie went on about the storm, wondering why it was that when her sisters were there, the fund grew slowly but surely, and when she was there, it shrank. It was starting to give her a complex.

      “Keep me posted,” Mel said, sounding as if she were glad to have something to think about other than her ankle, which was going to keep her in the house for a lot longer than she wanted. “How’s the job?”

      Not what she expected. “Let’s just say teaching high school art and managing an elementary library are worlds apart,” she said dryly. She was a little surprised by the fact that she didn’t feel more satisfaction at the end of the day. She enjoyed the kids and the staff, but when she walked out the door, she felt as if she needed...more.

      “Hang in there,” Mel said.

      “Will do. Get some rest,” Allie said. “And let me know when you leave for the ranch.”

      * * *

      JASON SPENT THREE days driving around with Ray Largent, looking at properties with acreage, before finding eighty acres butted up against Forest Service land on one side and a giant ranch on the other. It was close to what he’d been looking for, only a fifteen-minute drive from his dad’s house, yet it gave him privacy. Granted, it was smaller than he wanted, and overpriced, but at least it was one option to consider. Ray encouraged him to make an offer soon, but Jason had done his homework and knew that the property had been on the market for close to a year. Odds were that he didn’t need to make a snap decision.

      He headed home to what was supposed to be an empty house, since Kate had agreed to take their father to his weekly checkup, only to find an unfamiliar Lexus parked in the front yard. A moment later Jimmy got out and Jason swallowed a groan. Jimmy’s name had not come up for a couple of days and Jason was beginning to hope the matter was closed.

      “Hey, JD!” His uncle clapped him on the shoulder.

      “Jim.” Jason clapped him back, then put up his hands in a defensive stance when his uncle threw a couple of fake jabs at him. “It’s been a while,” he said when his uncle finally quit punching.

      “Sure has. Wish we could have seen you here at home more often, but I know how it is.”

      “Want to come in for a beer?” Jason asked. He’d always liked his uncle, but he also saw him exactly for what he was. An opportunist. Jimmy had made a lot of money being an opportunist, on top of what he’d inherited, but according to Kate he had invested poorly and lately had seen diminishing returns. But he hadn’t yet stopped living the high life.

      “A beer sounds great.”

      Jason led the way into the house through the garage door, waved Jimmy to a seat in the great room and got a couple of beers out of the fridge and opened them.

      “So how did Jaromek take your retirement?” Jimmy asked as he took his beer. “You guys were a team for a long time.”

      “He understood and Littleton was ready to step in and take my place, so I think it’ll all work out. Plus they have O’Donnell.”

      “He’s over that foot injury?”

      “Should be a hundred percent by minicamp.”

      They continued to talk football, segueing from the pros to the local team and Jason started to relax, wondering if this whole work-for-Jimmy plan was something his father had cooked up for reasons of his own...reasons Jason couldn’t begin to guess at. They debated the merits of veteran coaches entrenched in their ways versus new coaches with little experience but lots of ideas, then Jason offered his uncle another beer. Jimmy waved it off.

      “Actually, I came by to talk to you about going to work at the dealership.”

      Jason’s stomach lurched. “I—”

      Jimmy held up a hand, stopping him. “I heard you had reservations because you have no experience in sales.”

      “I have reservations because sales aren’t my thing.”

      “Your thing.” His uncle blinked at him. “Is money your thing? Because looking at statistics, a lot of retired pro players are broke after a couple of years.”

      Jason’s expression went stony. “I don’t plan on being one of those guys.”

      “So what are you going to do?” There was a touch of belligerence in his uncle’s voice. “I can give you a damned good job and you wouldn’t have to work that hard.”

      “Why is it so important that I work for you?” Jason asked, thinking he may as well hear the reason spoken out loud.

      “Because we can help one another,” Jimmy said earnestly. “A symbiotic relationship. Your name, my expertise in sales.”

      “I can’t.”

      “Can’t?”

      “Won’t,” Jason said coldly.

      “I need your help. How can you turn down family?”

      “I can loan you money.”

      Jimmy’s lip curled. “I don’t want a frigging loan.”

      “That’s all I can offer.”

      “You won’t help me?”

      Jason gave his head a slow shake. “Not in the way you want.”

      “Look. Kid. Your career was already on the skids when you quit. If you think you’re going to get any major endorsements or anything, you’re wrong.”

      “I don’t.”

      “So, what? You’re going to live here with your father?” He sneered a little as he spoke.

      “Until he feels better.” Jason got up out of his chair, towering over his uncle. “And I don’t want him to get upset.” He gestured toward the door with his head. “Finding the two of us here, going at it, won’t be good for his heart.”

      “Neither will your being a selfish prick.”

      The sound of the garage door going up caught both their attentions. Jimmy sent Jason a look he couldn’t read, then a moment later, Max came into the house.

      “So did you talk?” his father asked.

      And that was when Jason knew he’d been set up. “We talked. The answer is no.”

      “It’s no, no, a thousand times no,” Jimmy said sarcastically. “He can crawl to me and I wouldn’t hire him now.”

      Max looked from his son to his brother and back at his son again. “Maybe if the three of us sit down—”

      “That’s it,” Jason said. “Is Kate here?”

      “Feeding the dogs.”

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