Page 18 of Wrangling a Texas Hometown Hero

He laughed. “You told me to be honest. Like I said, I’m not someone who knows beer.”

Damn. This wasn’t going well at all. Maybe she should stop beating around the bush and just cut to the chase. “I’m thinking about starting my own brewery.”

His eyebrows lifted. “That’s a big jump from working at a brewery to owning one.”

“It might be a big jump, but I can do it.”

“I don’t doubt it for a second. I’ve come to realize that the Holiday sisters can do anything they set their minds to. I’m just saying that starting your own business takes a lot of work . . . and a lot of capital.”

She hesitated for only a second before taking the plunge. “I was hoping you might be willing to help me out with a loan. I know loaning my daddy money didn’t quite work out so well for you, but I’m not my daddy. I’ll pay you back in full with interest. Or shares. Whatever you want. I just—”

He held up a hand. “Stop, Hallie. I’ll loan you the money.”

“You will?”

“Yes.” He hesitated. “But why beer?”

She shrugged. “I like beer.”

“I like cherry pie—especially your mama’s—but that doesn’t mean I want to make a career out of selling it. Why do you want to own a brewery? What kind of satisfaction do you get out of it? Do you love the process of making beer? Watching people enjoy it? What’s your drive to start this business and succeed at it?”

She knew Corbin would ask her questions, but she thought they would be questions about the location and design she had in mind for the brewery. She hadn’t thought he’d ask more thought-provoking questions. She wished she had spent a little more time preparing before approaching him. “Uhh . . . I haven’t really thought about it. I guess I want to make money.”

“That’s an important goal. But most businesses that succeed have a deeper purpose besides just profit. Take your sisters’ event-planning business, for example. The reason it’s so successful is that Belle loves helping people celebrate their special occasions. That purpose makes her a compassionate and amazing event planner. Just like Liberty’s love of managing events makes her one.”

“You mean controlling everything.”

He laughed. “Pretty much. Since I have the same issue, I prefer the word managing. It’s one of the reasons I wanted to start my own business. I like to be in charge. But I also like to crunch numbers and I get a real thrill when my investments pay off—not only in money, but also in seeing businesses succeed.”

She should have kept her big mouth shut, but she had never been able to do that. “You didn’t want our ranch to succeed.”

He sighed. “True. While I’m sorry for the way I did it, I’m not sorry for what I did. If I hadn’t wanted your ranch as my own, I never would have gotten with your sister.”

“You’ve been talking about having a deeper purpose for wanting to start a business. Why did you want to become a rancher when you love being an investor?”

He hesitated for a long moment before he spoke. “I don’t want to become a rancher.”

She stared at him. “What? I don’t understand.”

“I didn’t either until recently. And don’t get me wrong. I love this ranch. I love the wide-open space and seeing the cattle grazing in the fields and being able to picnic at Cooper Springs. I love riding horses and occasionally playing cowboy by helping Rome and Casey with branding or herding. But I’ve come to realize that being a rancher is so much more than that and if I want to save this place for my and Belle’s children and grandchildren, then I need to get the right people to help me run it. Someone who loves ranching and knows the business inside and out. Unfortunately, your daddy has been helping me choose a foreman and he’s extremely particular.”

“That’s because Daddy thinks he’s the only one who can run this ranch, even after he almost ran it straight into the ground. So I wouldn’t be letting him help you choose a foreman. You need someone who knows the ranch and isn’t as stubborn as my daddy.”

He cocked his head. “Would you be willing to help me?”

That took her by surprise. “You want me to help you choose a foreman? With Daddy? That’s like asking two aggressive dogs to decide who gets the bone.”

He laughed. “How about if I run the applicants by you separately? I really would like another opinion.”

She squinted at him. “You mean keep it our little secret?”

“Something like that.”

For a straightforward woman who hated secrets, Hallie was starting to have quite a few. But she couldn’t exactly deny Corbin when he’d agreed to loan her money for her brewery—if she could come up with a deeper purpose. She couldn’t blame him for that. He wanted to make sure this wasn’t just a frivolous whim he would be throwing his money away on.

It wasn’t. She had a deeper purpose. She just needed to give it some thought. And maybe it wasn’t words she needed to come up with. Maybe she needed to come up with a new beer recipe that would speak for itself. Something stout and rich for the upcoming fall season—a harvest blend. In the meantime, she would help him find a foreman who knew how to run this ranch the way it should be run. Like Corbin, she wanted it to be around for generations to come.

She was about to tell him she’d be happy to give her opinion on applicants when Mama came hurrying out the screen door. Mama hurrying wasn’t unusual. She was always scurrying around doing one thing or another. Although she usually had a bright smile on her face. Today, her face was pale and her eyes filled with fear. As soon as she opened her mouth, Hallie knew it wasn’t going to be good news.

---