Page 70 of The Cowboy Who Came Home
“It does,” she said. “But Alex put it in himself.”
Finn nodded, swallowed, and looked at Jerry. This—meeting with him—felt like such a grown-up thing to do, and it caused nerves to spin through Finn’s bloodstream.
“Air conditioning,” Jerry muttered as he tapped. “Well water, yes. Gas, mm-hm. Water rights.” He looked over to them again. “Are we farming? Or raising cattle?”
“Raising cattle.” Finn knew how to do that. Alex had cattle and farmed, as most ranches had to do. Finn had grown up on a large cattle ranch, and he could handle a small one. A hundred head of cattle could yield him enough calves every year to make a good living, depending on the market. Right now, a calving rate of eighty percent would give him eighty cows to sell, and at current market prices, he could expect almost seventy thousand dollars for those in a single year.
“I don’t need anything big,” he said. “I’m thinking a couple hundred acres. Somewhere I can have a hundred head of cattle.” He glanced over to Edith, but he didn’t want to talk to her about where he’d get those cattle in front of Jerry Bozeman.
“A couple hundred acres,” Jerry said as he typed.
“He also needs room for a decently sized shed,” Edith said. “Preferably in the backyard or close to it. Not out by the smelly barns or anything.” She smiled prettily, and Finn lifted her hand to his lips to kiss the back of it.
“I do need that,” he said. “It’s what? Maybe fifteen feet by twenty feet.”
“Twelve by twenty-four,” Edith said. “With options for electricity and water would be nice.”
Jerry looked between the two of them, and Finn’s chest filled with pride as he leaned forward. “She writes books for a living, and she has a she-shed-office where she does that.” He heard the pride in his own voice, and he looked over to Edith. “So we need room for that.”
“Room for a she-shed,” Jerry said slowly as he typed it in. Several long seconds passed while he studied the tablet, and then he said, “Yeah, we don’t have anything like this right now.” He looked up with sympathy in his expression.
“I know,” Finn said. “I’ve looked online. I was just thinking if you saw something come through, you could call me first.”
“Of course.” Jerry smiled at him. “Things change daily, right?”
“Right.” Finn got to his feet, feeling sweaty and a little wild. “Thanks, Jerry.”
“You bet, man.” They shook hands, and Finn let Edith lead the dogs out of the tent. He followed her, and they didn’t speak as they moved toward the next booth. They passed monogramed handkerchiefs, which his grandfather would’ve liked, and a booth full of puzzles.
“I’m thinking of asking my daddy to sell me a hundred head,” Finn said. “For a two-hundred-acre ranch. That’ll be a decent living every year.”
“And you can do that yourself?”
“With some help at major times,” he said. “But yeah, I can do it myself, with a good partner.”
She nodded and didn’t look at him. “Have you asked him?”
“No.” Finn sighed and looked at all the people in the park. “It feels a little like a cop-out, you know?”
“Why?” Edith paused and turned toward him. “Lots of people simply take over the ranches their daddies have worked.”
“Yeah, I know.” For some reason, Finn didn’t want to do that. “It’s just….”
“You have a problem with your family.”
“No, I don’t.” Finn looked at her when he realized he’d been scanning the park. “Why do you say that?”
“Because it’s true,” she said. “You love your family, but it’s like you have something to prove to them.”
Finn opened his mouth to argue and found he couldn’t. A soft grunt left his mouth instead, and Edith eased into his arms. “It’s okay, Finn. Alex came back here to basically do the same thing.”
Finn wrapped her in his arms. “I want something of my own,” he whispered. “Something for me, and something for you.”
“I know you do, cowboy.” She stepped back and beamed up at him. “Now, come on. It’s getting hotter by the minute, and I’m done with this Boutique and all these people.”
Finn grinned at her. “Thank the stars above. Maybe we can take a nap on your she-shed couch so we can stay up late for the fireworks tonight.” He raised his eyebrows in question, and Edith laughed at him.
“All right,” she said. “Let me call Alex and see where he is.”
