Page 3 of The Cowboy Fix

By the time he came near the couch on the way to the laundry room, he couldn’t go a step further.Forget washing clothes.

He lowered himself to the cushions and stretched out. His cane dropped to the floor. It would take Jonas and Blake an hour to go to Strawberry Ridge, drop off the bed, and come back. A short power nap was all he needed. Before Nathan knew it, he fell asleep with images of the ranch as it used to be when his parents were alive pushing away his fatigue and the twinge in both of his hips.

*

Nathan woke witha start as the front door clicked shut. Jonas and Blake were having a rousing discussion, their voices getting closer and louder as they moved further into the house.

Scrubbing his face, he grabbed his cane and sat up. Taking a steadying breath, he lumbered to his feet, moving as quickly as he could without stumbling to meet his brothers in the kitchen.

Blake looked up, studying him closely. “We brought pizza home for dinner.”

Nathan caught a glimpse of his face in the window. His hair was sticking straight up. Making it to the sink, he shoved a hand beneath the water and finger-combed the tousled mess before he grabbed plates from the cupboard. “Smells great. What are you guys waiting for?”

Jonas pulled out the orange juice and glasses clinked on the stone countertop. Blake got napkins, stacking them by the pizza box.

“Where’s Timmy?” Nathan asked as they sat at the table. He wasn’t normally a procrastinator, but—Not about to touch the elephant in the room, he placed a slice of pizza on his plate.

Blake wasn’t as inclined to hold back. “He’s staying at Malorie’s so we can talk about the ranch and what we’re going to do.”

It was a losing proposition to want the Triple L to remain the same simple horse ranch it was when he was a kid and part of a happy family. Nathan knew that. He was a grown man. He had to move on. But that didn’t change how he felt or how much he missed his parents and the old days. Or, not from lack of trying, how much he wanted to make up for his failure to keep the ranch safe.

“I don’t want to lose the ranch,” he said plainly, pushing his plate away.

Blake retrieved two beers from the fridge. He gave one to Jonas and the other he sat in front of Nathan. Blake didn’t drink anymore, probably a testament to his courage in the face of either changing his life or watching it go down the toilet after he was pushed off the Triple L.

Blake resumed his seat. “Neither do we, so let’s figure this out. But first”—here it comes—“we have to talk about the discrepancies in the financials. About five years back. The numbers don’t add up.”

“I know.” With a soft sigh of resignation, Nathan leaned back in his chair. He would much rather be thought a dunce with numbers than a failure at running the ranch. “Maybe I can’t do math.”

“Come on, Nathan, you know that’s not true. And so do we,” Blake said, apparently not willing to cut Nathan a break. “You’re better than the two of us combined.”

Blake’s admission caught Nathan by surprise. His brothers waited for his explanation.

Leaning forward, he took a bite of his pizza, slowly chewing and swallowing before he gave them one. He stared at Blake. “If you check out the tax forms from that year, you’ll get your answer.”

Blake’s brows shot up. “Why don’t you save me time and just tell me.”

He pushed the unopened beer aside. There was no escape except to tell his brothers what he’d done and how that one move had been the beginning of the slow dive to financial ruin for the Triple L.

He shrugged; pushed to his feet with his cane and went to stare out the kitchen window where he could see the mountains bordering the ranch in the distance. Behind him his brothers were silent.

Finally, he faced them. “The ranch started to get in trouble about seven years ago. We lost two mares while giving birth. The foals survived, one of them was Duke. The vet bills drained the accounts. The farm machines needed to be replaced. When I had to sell what remained of Dad’s horses and let go of some ranch hands to make ends meet, I decided to try something we hadn’t done before. I got a small goat herd. The plan was to market the milk. There was a growing interest in goat milk in Denver. I thought by trying my hand at that and a making a few adjustments to operations, all the ranch’s problems would be solved. I was wrong,” he admitted angrily.

“It was a good try though. So, what did you do?” Blake asked quietly.

Leaning against the sink, Nathan folded his arms across his chest. “Sold the goats for as much as I could and then went to the back for a loan. The balloon payment is what we’re stuck with now.”

“Then why are you so dead set against trying things that could bring in more money?” Blake demanded.

“Because”—Nathan took a step toward his brothers—“I’ve already tried thethingsyou’re suggesting. As I knew it wouldn’t, giving riding lessons hasn’t made a big splash.”

“Then we’ll come up with something else and keep trying until we get it right,” Blake insisted. “What about a wind or solar farm?”

Wincing, and leaving little room for arguments from his brothers, Nathan said, “Absolutely not!”

“Why not?” Blake demanded.

“Because—”

---