One Texas Cowboy Too Many (Burnt Boot, Texas #3)(77)

“And it wouldn’t be any fun if we couldn’t all go together,” Verdie said.

“Thank you,” Sawyer said softly as he reached for Jill’s hand. “Thank you so much, Gladys.”

“And thank you, Aunt Polly, for selling the bar, so we can have more time to devote to Fiddle Creek and to the store,” Jill said. “Pinch me, Rhett. I’m sure this is a dream.”

He chuckled. “Just don’t throw me off Fiddle Creek or I’ll think it’s a nightmare instead of a dream.”

“That’s where my next proposition comes into play,” Polly said.

“Leah came by this morning before church, and Polly gave her permission to move into the guest room in her house,” Gladys said. “Now go on, Polly. He needed to hear that first.”

“I could have told him. I didn’t have a damn stroke, so there ain’t nothin’ wrong with my brain or my ability to speak,” Polly fussed.

“Get on with it, Polly, and quit your whining,” Gladys said.

“Okay! Okay! I’m going to sell my ranch to you, Rhett, if you want to buy it. You can change the name and brand if you want to. It’s been called Polly’s Ranch for so long that most folks won’t even remember the original name anyway, but it won’t hurt my feelings one bit. I don’t have any idea what you have in the bank, but we’ll negotiate a down payment, and you can pay me the rest of it in yearly installments after you sell off the calf crop each fall,” she said.

Rhett’s hands went clammy. His heart thumped around so hard that it hurt his ribs and his pulse raced. He’d been saving for years while looking for a ranch the size of Polly’s operation—a good solid start that would support a few hundred head of cattle.

“What’s your asking price?” he whispered.

“I’ve got a section of land, six hundred and forty acres. Prime is selling for about three thousand an acre, but—”

“I’ll take it,” he said.

“Hey, barter with me a little here. I’m prepared to let you have it for two thousand an acre and throw in what cattle is on the land right now. That’s three hundred head of Angus.”

“I’m not arguing with that price. I can give you half down and pay you the rest out in ten years,” he said. “I could pay for all of it, but I need working capital for the first two years.”

“Smart man,” Sawyer said.

“Whoa! Wait a minute! That means we’re losing our foreman on Fiddle Creek in two weeks,” Jill said.

Rhett grinned. “There’s lots of O’Donnell cousins who’ll jump at the chance to move up here and work for Sawyer.”

Polly stuck out her hand. “Deal! I’ll tell the lawyer to draw up the papers tomorrow when me and Gladys go to town. Now, this business with Leah—I told her this morning what I was offering you. If you got a problem with havin’ her for a roommate, she can either live in one room of the house, or Jill can give her your old room until she can find a place to live.”

“I don’t have a problem, but if she does, then she can talk to Jill,” Rhett said.

What if after today, she doesn’t want to live in the same house with you? the voice in his head said.

Then I guess she’ll have to find another place to live.

“Oh, and one more thing goes with that deal,” Polly was saying when his mind stopped arguing with his heart. “I’m not able to clean out the house, so that’s up to you three to do for me. You can store it all in the barn down at the back of my ranch until I feel like going through it and having an auction.”

“That’s only what’s in the house, right?” Rhett asked. “The equipment does come with the sale?”

“Lock, stock, and barrel. Just not the household things. Most of them are pretty sentimental,” Polly answered.

“Then I’ll be more than happy to move it all out.”

“Good. All except whatever is in that guest room. That belongs to Leah now, and it never meant much to me anyway,” Polly said. “You can have the house with all the appliances plus the freezer that’s in the utility room and whatever is left in it. The rest goes to storage.”

*

Leah threw herself onto her bed. There was work to do and lots of it. Her personal things had to be boxed up to move to the new house. Clothing could be taken downstairs on the hangers and piled in the backseat of her truck. Not a single person had stepped up to help her, so the job was all hers.

That plus what Tanner had said about ending the feud had put her into a terrible turmoil. All she wanted to do was run away, maybe back to the beach, alone this time, to think about this emotional roller coaster.

She sat up and reached for her purse and the letter she’d written to Rhett fell out on the floor.

“Dammit!” she exclaimed. “He doesn’t have any idea that I didn’t have access to a phone or a vehicle. I wonder what went on over at Betsy’s. Dammit! I bet she tried to wow him with all that Wild Horse could offer him, right along with her body. I’d like to cover her with honey and stake her out on a fire ant bed.”

“Hey, Sis.” Declan knocked on the door and poked his head inside. “I hear you’re leaving us tomorrow after your first day of school.”

“I am.”