Page 59 of The Guy Who Stole My Ranch

“Do you have a picture?”

William stopped pulling barley off the sheaves and frowned. “I don’t think I do.”

Xavier’s jaw hinged open in shock. “What about a plane?”

William smiled. “I flew in on a private jet.”

“Whoa.” Xavier stared at William as if this information had been life-changing.

I hadn’t asked William about any of his rich guy stuff, and I was actually curious about his boat, so I said, “What’s the name of your boat?”

“The W.H.I.”

Xavier blinked. “Uh, why?”

“The W stands for William. H for Harris. I for Incorporated.”

Xavier had recovered from the shock of the plane and said, “We name everything here. Pidge is sick right now. That’s the green tractor, and we named it that because Pidge pilots the green lion inVoltron. Brooke’s truck is Lance, and the yellow bulldozer is Hunk because he’s so big.”

I hadn’t brought this up before, and William blinked in confusion.

I laughed and patted William on the shoulder as I stood to move. “He’s saying you have a lousy naming convention.” Only after I’d spoken did I notice that I’d touched William. Again. He made it so easy, and I was getting used to having him around.

“I see.” He looked at Xavier. “Maybe I’ll form a committee to reconsider the system.”

“You should.” Xavier nodded.

Our group lapsed into silence, and after a few minutes, I heard a sniff come from Xavier.

William must have heard it too because he shot me a worried glance.

I was on my knees, so I crawled to my nephew and said, “What’s up, kid?”

Xavier sniffed and shook his head. I could see the tears running down his cheeks, so I got as close as I could. “You want to talk about it?”

Xavier had always been sensitive, and I’d gotten good at dragging his worries out of him. This time I didn’t have to do more than ask.

“I’m sad grandpa is selling the ranch.”

I blinked. I’d spent the last couple of weeks worrying about me. I hadn’t considered how the kids might feel about the sale. “Why?” I asked.

“Because we’ll never see him again. He said he was going to travel the world and not come back.”

I opened my mouth to retort, then closed it. My dad hadn’t said anything about where he’d settle between trips. Not here, obviously. “I can tell you for sure that grandpa won’t be gone all the time. He and Kathline will come back and see you a whole bunch.”

Xavier shook his head.

William, who had gotten closer to us, spoke in a soothing voice. “Xavier, I know your grandfather cares a great deal about you. He will want to see you as much as he can.”

Xavier wiped his eyes with his sleeve and nodded but didn’t say anything.

Once again, William filled the uncomfortable silence by turning to me and saying, “What do you plan to do after you’re free of mending fences and mucking out stalls?”

I’d been reaching for a stalk, but my hand froze in the air. My stomach twisted, and I had to swallow.

What would I do?

I still hoped to talk William out of this little venture of his, but what if I was unable to?

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