Page 10 of Cowboy Devil's Embrace

New gutters.

Replacement doors and windows.

Upgraded electricity and plumbing.

Yeah. I could get that done. Then the place might actually prove livable.

Of course, there were stipulations to this whole thing.

I couldn’t just throw money at the problem and hope it would go away.

Technically, the way my trust worked was that I shared it with all members of the Leeds family. The money, lands, and deeds were all divvied up amongst us by age and rank in the family.

Grandmother had the most power, of course. Which was why she was currently ruining my life.

As usual.

Avail sent the legal packet through to my email just this morning and from what I gleaned, I had to personally see to at least sixty percent of the physical labor of any repairs, maintenance, refurbishment, or any of the work required myself.

No passing on the buck, as it were. Oh no. I was expected to get my hands dirty in a not sexy fun times way. Which was another thing I was hardly experienced with.

Really, Grandmother?

I wanted to say fuck it. But the monster inside me scratched at my skin. The Devil in me was getting harder to ignore. He wanted to be set free.

But I reined in my bestial side, canted my head and sniffed the air, looking beyond the mud and muck of the scattered goats, chickens, and the few cows I’d already scented.

Wood.

Rot.

Animal scat.

Wildflowers.

End of summer rain.

Smells nice.

Shit.

I should have run when I had the chance. But then the wind changed, and I took an even deeper breath, crouching down to touch the dark, damp soil beneath the grass.

I smelled something else just then. Something that rang of potential.

Really? You think you can do this? The land is good, but do you have potential, Max?

My inner voice was such a dick sometimes.

But dick or not, I had to admit I was curious. Interested even.

And those were two things I hadn’t felt in a very long time.

“Oh my God! Max, come see this stove,” Mrs. O’Hare shouted from inside the house.

I shook my head and grinned. The air buzzed with electricity and the hair on my arms and the back of my neck stood straight up as I approached the front door, avoiding the broken stairs.

One foot hovered over the threshold, like I wasn’t sure if I would go inside, and that just made me mad at myself.

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