Kissin' Tell (Rough Riders #13)(71)

“See anything you like?” India asked.


“Are all these your designs?”


“Most of them.”


“They are amazing.”


“Thank you. Were you considering a memorial tattoo?”


Georgia looked up. “I never have before now. But it seems…”


India patted her hand. “It’s hard to mark a sad event. But if you decide to do it, I can design anything from gaudy to discreet.”


“I’ll definitely be back.”


That night as Georgia wrote her sales report for her boss and mapped out her plan for the businesses in Moorcroft the following day, she kept sneaking glances at her cell phone. Checking it like some smitten teenage girl, wondering if her phone was somehow…broken because another day had gone by and she hadn’t heard from Tell.


So call him.


Right. After hearing his family’s concerns that she was some sort of femme fatale heartbreaker? Now she was uneasy enough about the situation that she wouldn’t call him first. Not out of pettiness; out of self-preservation.


Chapter Eighteen


Early Thursday morning, Tell glanced at Dalton, standing on his left. Man. His baby brother looked like roadkill. Then he noticed Brandt yawning. They were a lively bunch.


Cord had called a meeting at the sorting pens, which was neutral ground and the center of the ranch.


Pickups were parked in a lopsided circle. His cousins were spread out in groups of brothers. Kane and Kade were in a deep discussion. Colby, Cord and Colt were laughing about something. Quinn and Ben were standing together, not talking at all.


He spoke to Brandt. “You have any idea what this meeting is about?”


“Nope. Wish I’d brought more coffee. I am draggin’ ass today.” He yawned again. “Tucker cried all night. Woke us up every hour.”


“That sucks.”


Brandt offered a small smile. “Oh, it ain’t so bad. It’s just frustrating when we can’t figure out why he’s cryin’. The only thing that calms him down is bein’ held, so me’n Jess take turns.”


Dalton leaned closer. “Either of you got any Tums? I’m about to blow chunks after way too much drinkin’ last night.”


“There’s some in the glove box,” Brandt said. When Tell gaped at him, he said, “What? Jess ate Tums by the handful when she was pregnant. I kept ’em in my truck since I was her chauffeur.”


“That ain’t what surprised me. It was the fact you didn’t go all ‘you’re a dumb-ass’ on our little brother.”


“I’m too f*ckin’ tired to care.” Brandt shot him a smirk. “And I’m practicing not bein’ a dick.”


Tell snorted.


Cord stepped forward and all conversation ended. “We haven’t had a formal shareholders meeting since around this time last year, so I figured we’d get it out of the way.”


“So we’re doin’ this without the previous McKay generation in attendance?” Quinn asked.


“Technically, they’re shareholders, but they gave up voting rights when they passed us the reins.”


It went unsaid that none of them wanted to deal with Casper after what’d happened last year. An endless prayer followed by an endless litany of criticism and complaints.


“I don’t gotta go over the financials because you all got copies relating to your shares. We all had a record year last year and so far it’s lookin’ like this one might be even better.”


Heads nodded.


“That said, we’ve gotta replace a lot of equipment, and that’s expensive, but since it’s equipment we all use it, the purchase will come out of the main ranch account.”


“We’re payin’ cash?” Ben asked.


“That’s what we need to vote on,” Cord said. “Whether we wanna take out a loan or use the cash reserves.”


Colt spoke up. “I’d rather we used some of the cash, say thirty or forty percent, and finance the rest. If we’ve still got a solid amount of cash this time next year, then we can look at payin’ off the remaining amount. Or extending the loan another year.”


“I agree,” Kade said. “Who knows what the economy, the price of feed and the livestock market will do in the next twelve months? Better to play it safe.”


“Any other comments or suggestions?” Cord asked.


Ben raised his hand. “At the risk of ruffling some feathers, I suggest we make sure we’re getting the lowest rate from Settler’s First Bank before we commit to borrowing money from them.”


“Sez the competing bank president’s husband,” Tell said dryly.


Everyone laughed.


“I agree with Ben,” Brandt said. “It wouldn’t hurt to talk to American West Bank to see what they’ll offer to get some of our business.”


“And just to be clear, I won’t be involved one way or the other. I just wanted to mention it,” Ben added.


“So, show of hands on usin’ a partial down payment?”