Page 27 of Last Chance for Her Rancher Boss

“We?”

“We. I’ll help.”

“Why?”

She wasn’t entirely sure. It had been years since she’d seen Nash and only a couple of days when she didn’t actively hate him. Partly, the truth was that she felt loyalty to their past selves, the kids who thought they’d be inseparable forever. The truth was, she was just realizing now how desperately she’d missed him. Therealtruth might even be that this would be an excuse to spend more time with him. All of which was far too raw and crazy to ever mention out loud. So Meg stuck to the most rational answer she could think of.

“Because… At least if we try this and it doesn’t work, then you can hand over the ranch to the company knowing you tried everything. And I can sign off on the recommendation with a clear conscience.”

Nash peered around the place again with a critical eye, as if he was trying to envision what it might look like with a bit of spring cleaning. A whole lot of spring cleaning, really…

“People would really pay to stay all the way out here?” he asked, still sounding dubious.

“Yeah. Rich city people who don’t get to see grass or trees, that sort of thing. We could even make the barn all nice and advertise it as a wedding venue. That would be a hit.”

Now Nash just looked at her like she’d gone insane.

“You’re telling me fancy city people wouldpayto get marriedthere?”

He stabbed a finger in the direction of the old barn.

“They’d pay a lot of money, yes.”

“To get married?”

“Ah-huh.”

“In a barn?”

“Yes, in a barn.”

He looked around the dusty and decrepit space with his face twisted up into a confused expression. Meg could practically hear the cogs whirring in his brain.

“I’m assuming we’d have to do some pretty intense renovations before we’d host a spa day here?” he drawled, kicking an abandoned bird’s nest aside and sending up a puff of dust.

“Not necessarily,” Meg said cheerfully, knowing he was inches away from agreeing. “I mean, all the structures look just fine. It would be a matter of cleaning and maybe some fresh paint. Well, not maybe. Definitely some fresh paint. But like, simple stuff, you know?”

Nash chewed on her words while Meg stayed quiet, letting him think.

“All right,” he said, with a shrug and a disbelieving shake of his head. “I mean, it’s not like I’ve got anything to lose.”

He looked over at her, head tilted like he was analyzing Meg now instead of the room.

“And you’d really help me set this up?”

She nodded. “I really would. Like I said, if it doesn’t work, then at least we’ll both have a clear conscience.”

He nodded and held out his hand.

“Well, then,” he said. “Looks like we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us and not a whole lot of time.”

Meg took his big hand in hers, her fingers immediately enveloped.

“I guess we better get started, then.”

CHAPTER 10

MEG

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