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Shane caught Reba’s gaze and rolled his eyes.
And because Bill couldn’t help himself, they spent the next half an hour discussing care and prevention of his cattle from getting any of the common diseases.
“Dad.” Rick groaned after about fifteen minutes more of cross-examination.
“All right, all right,” Bill said. “Reba, you’re a delight for indulging this old man. You’re welcome back anytime. Don’t bring kittens with you next time, though.”
“Yeah,” Lainey said. “Next time, we need bunnies and puppies.”
“I’ll keep my ear out,” Reba said, delighted.
They thought she was joking. Shane had a feeling they were going to be in for a big surprise if someone dumped a litter of puppies near Reba.
But they had procrastinated this discussion long enough. Shane needed an answer to take to Jackson Blevins. He hoped it was going to be the correct one.
“So, Mom and Dad,” Shane said. “You’ve had some time to review the contract. Rick and I have gone over any of the issues we think could come up with the exclusive contract. I think we should do it. So does Rick. Can we get you to sign off on it?”
“I don’t have a problem with it,” Mary said.
Shane smiled and did a small fist pump under the table.
Bill continued to eat his dinner and, for one annoying moment, Shane thought he was going to pretend that he hadn’t heard Shane’s question. But after he was done chewing his mouthful of chicken, he said, “I don’t like it. The UPRC is too new of an organization to trust our bulls to exclusively. If they were willing to have us without being exclusive, of course, I’m all for that.”
“They’re getting away from non-exclusivity,” Shane said.
“That’s because of that doping scandal last year, right?” Bill asked.
They had gone over this. Shane gave a curt nod.
“I don’t see what the problem is. Our bulls are clean. They’ve always been clean. We’ve never had a problem with our bulls. If the testing is becoming too expensive, all they have to do is stop testing our bulls. Right, Reba?”
“Right,” Reba said. “However, their insurance company is not going to let that happen. Maybe in the future, but not right now.” She shrugged. “At least, that’s the scuttlebutt I’ve been hearing. My sister, Dolly, says that the UPRC is very concerned about getting their attendance numbers up. So they want the best bulls that they can get. The more exciting the bulls, the more people are going to come out to watch them. It’s a great honor for the Viking Ranch to be chosen, especially since you’re relative newcomers in the field.”
Shane groaned. That was the wrong thing to say.
“Newcomers? My daddy’s been doing this, and his daddy was doing it for generations now.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Reba said hurriedly. “I meant new to the UPRC.”
“Our reputation is spotless. Always has been. Always will be. We’re a family-owned ranch. We don’t do any of these new-fangled treatments that could be construed as altering bulls’ performance with drugs.”
“Of course not,” Reba said soothingly, but she had opened up a can of worms.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea.” Bill shook his head.
Shane set his jaw and looked at Rick, hoping for backup. Rick looked at his plate. Dammit, Rick! “If we don’t sign with UPRC, we’re not going to be able to command a higher price for our bulls at the other rodeos.”
“So what?” Bill said. “We’ll just apply to more rodeos, then.”
That would make Shane’s job a whole lot harder. “Even then, we’re not guaranteed to get in those other rodeos. You want to negotiate from a position of strength. If we achieve the level of being an exclusive supplier to be UPRC, then in five years when our contract is up, that’s going to make us more attractive to the other rodeos if we decide to diversify at that time.”
“So you want me to hold my dick—sorry, ladies—sit on my hands for five years until this happens? I don’t want to wait another five years to retire.”
“Then don’t,” Shane said. “You’ve been training Rick and I to take over the business since we were kids. You know we’re ready to take over. You just need to trust us enough to make the difficult decisions. Rick and I have talked about this, and we’ve considered all of the risks. Rick and I think we should do this. Don’t we, Rick?” He gave his brother a significant look.
Now is the time to step the fuck up.
There was a tense moment when his father looked over at Rick, and Shane thought that Rick was going to capitulate and agree with his father. But Rick nodded and said, “Giving the UPRC exclusive rights for the next five years is the best decision we can make for the Viking Ranch’s breeding program and for our stock trade.”
