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“I’m looking through foreman resumes.”
Her eyes registered surprise as she flopped down in a chair across from his desk. “You’re hiring a foreman? What happened to my brother who thought he could handle a ranch by himself?”
“He figured out that it’s harder than he thought. And since the end of the month is fast approaching and Hank, Darla, and Mimi will be leaving soon, I figured it would be a good idea if we had an expert taking over.”
She stared at him. “So you’re still going to kick them out?”
“I’m not kicking them out, Sunny. They knew the terms of the loan.”
She hesitated. “And what about Belle?”
He gave an innocent shrug. “What about her?”
She rolled her eyes. “Did you really think I wouldn’t figure out what you two have been up to?”
“We haven’t been up to anything. Belle has just been helping out while her parents and grandma are away.”
“And where have you been going for the last couple nights?”
“I told you. To have a drink at the Hellhole.”
Sunny threw up her hands and huffed. “Good Lord, Cory. You must think I was born yesterday. I know you’ve been going to the trailer to see Belle because I followed you last night.” He went to interrupt, but she stopped him. “Before you go all postal on me, you aren’t the only one who worries about your sibling. I worry about you too. I warned you about getting involved with Belle, but it looks like you didn’t pay me a speck of attention. You never pay me a speck of attention. Which is why I’m thankful to have Jesse as a brother now. At least he listens to me.”
That hurt. “I listen to you. But I’m a grown man and you have no business following me around.”
“Really? Just like I’m a grown woman and you had no business hiring that security team in Paris to keep tabs on me?”
She wasn’t supposed to know about that. He cleared his throat. “That’s different. You were a young woman in a foreign country. All kinds of things could have happened to you.”
“That’s bullshit, Cory, and you know it. I get that you love me. I get that you worry about me. I appreciate you taking care of me when we were kids. I didn’t have a mama and daddy to love me, but I had you. And I’m grateful for all you went without so I could have everything. But I’m a grown woman now. I don’t need someone watching my every move and making all my choices. I need a brother who trusts me to make my own choices.”
“Fine. Make your own choices.” He turned the laptop to her. “You want to choose the foreman for your ranch, choose the foreman for your ranch.”
“I don’t want to choose a foreman.” She hesitated. “I don’t want this ranch.”
He shook his head. “Don’t start that again. All you talked about as a kid was the Holiday sisters and how much fun it would be to live on the Holiday Ranch. You drew picture after picture of this ranch.”
“I was a kid who wanted a stable—”
“Home. Exactly. And I gave it to you.”
She growled with frustration. “Dammit, Cory! Would you listen to me for just a second without cutting me off? Yes, as a kid I dreamed about having a life like the Holiday sisters. I wanted to live on a ranch surrounded by five sisters who were my closest friends and ride horses and jump from haylofts and skinny-dip at Cooper Springs.”
“And you can do all those things now. Except jumping from haylofts. That’s too dangerous.”
She closed her eyes and took three deep breaths before she opened them. “I’m leaving, Cory.”
“What? What do you mean you’re leaving?”
“I mean I’m packing my bags and heading to Houston to live as a twenty-three-year-old single woman in a big city until I figure out what I want to do with my life.”
“Wait a second, you can’t go to Houston. I got this ranch for you.”
“I thought that at first. But after seeing you here, I realize that you never got the ranch for me. You got it for you. You dreamed about this ranch, didn’t you? You dreamed about living here as much, if not more, than I did.”
He shook his head. “Absolutely not.”
She smiled sadly. “Then you’re lying to yourself. But I’m not lying to myself, Cory. I don’t want someone else’s dream. And that’s what this ranch is. This is the Holidays’ dream. Not mine. And not yours.”
