Page 12 of The Cowboy’s Reckoning

“The electrical system in the barn has been on the fritz. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. We’ve quit using the lights for fear of a short, and several of the cow waterers need to be replaced. Normal stuff, really.” The majority of which had happened during the past three months, when they’d been busy with late calving.

In addition to the water lines and electrical, a clogged culvert had come close to washing out the driveway. Fortunately, their hired hand had come late one night to help with calving and discovered the mess before it led to thousands of dollars’ worth of base and road gravel being washed away.

It’d been one hell of a spring. Had they footed the bills, it would have taken a big chunk out of their close-to-zero profit, so they’d simply learned to live with things while they waited for the heir to take the helm. Except for the tree and the culvert, which were her problems. She’d had to hire a guy with an excavator to fix the culvert problem and had had to dip into meager savings to pay him.

“Were there many repairs made before the management company got lazy?”

“We hadn’t been here that long, and the place was in good shape when we moved in. It’s only been recently that we’ve been having troubles.” One after another.

She could see by Jordan’s expression that he wondered how they’d managed to get infrastructure repairs written into the lease in the first place. It was a perk that many such leases didn’t have. And sure enough, he began the journey toward the answer.

“How did you come to lease this place?”

How did you come to inherit this place?

“My dad went into a care center prior to passing away. The cost was high, and we had to sell the ranch to pay.” Not to mention the debt he’d already racked up.

They’d kept some of the ranch equipment and walked away with just enough liquid assets to start again on this leased property.

“Ranch where?”

“South of Dillon.”

“So how did you land here, hundreds of miles away?”

“My older sister worked for Carl Jordan. His tenant purchased another property, so the lease became available.”

He scowled at her, as if he’d misheard. “Your sister worked for Jordan Enterprises? In Chicago?”

Lil’s gaze narrowed. It sounded like an accusation, as if somehow Maya had strong-armed Carl Jordan into leasing to them.

“For three years. She no longer works there, but she did write this lease.”

“I guess that explains the generous terms.”

Lil bit the inside of her lip to keep from saying something she might regret. She didn’t appreciate the insinuation, but she also couldn’t argue against his point. The rent would soon be under market because it could only be adjusted a small percentage yearly for the duration of the lease.

So, she tilted her chin and lied. “From my experience, Mr. Jordan was a generous man.” The lease was generous anyway.

The shift in Jordan’s expression was slight, but noticeable.

Lil decided to push. The more she knew, the easier it was to stand her ground.

“You must have known him well.”

“No.”

And that was the end of the conversation. So much for knowing more. How was it that a man who claimed he didn’t know Carl Jordan had inherited this gem of a property? Had he donated a kidney or something?

“I’ll see about an electrician for the wiring, and I’ll be back to take care of the roof and the standpipe.”

“The waterers?”

“Yes. Those, too. Let me give you my cell number.”

After numbers were exchanged, she asked, “Any idea when you’ll be back?”

“Tomorrow if that works.”