Page 45 of The Cowboy Fix

“The remodeling’s done, but yeah, they came knocking as soon as I hung my shingle.”

Nathan was still watching Izzy when Blake clapped him on the shoulder. “I know Izzy is pretty as a picture but give the lady some breathing room.” Then he added, “Mal and I have a meeting with an architect.”

The mischief glinting in his brother’s eyes said only one thing. Blake knew he was a bear who had found a stash of honey that was too hard to reach. Heat burned Nathan’s cheeks. “What about the kids?”

“I’ll take them to Malorie on the way to the bank. After we’re finished with business, they can go to Durango with us to see the architect,” Blake explained.

Before hanging up, Izzy said, “Send me all the details.” Was it a job offer?

The disappointment boiling in his gut didn’t make sense. From the moment he met her, he’d known she would move on to the next thing when her time on the ranch was over.

She started to pitch in with cleaning up the kitchen. Nathan took the towel out of her hands. “We’ve got this. You go spend some time with your mom.”

Neither Payton lady was going to be with them long. He didn’t want Izzy to leave, or her mother either. He liked Sylvia and the relationship she had with her daughter. If he could think of a reasonable excuse to keep them both on the ranch, he wouldn’t be opposed to having them stay as long as they wanted.

“Thanks.” Izzy leaned forward a little, then her smile disappeared, and she backed toward the door. “Good luck at the bank. Oh, wait.” She pulled a manila envelope out of her folder. “Here’s the spreadsheet of your intentions for the ranch and projected outcomes for The Wedding Cottage, your barrel-racing training—horse and riders—and Blake’s riding lessons to give to the account manager. Hopefully, it will give you enough clout for a new loan.”

Of course, she’d thought of everything. Thirty minutes later, Nathan followed Jonas and Blake down the road toward Strawberry Ridge. Despite the gravity of their visit to the bank, he couldn’t get Izzy out of his mind.

Their business with the account manager didn’t take nearly as long as he anticipated. The brothers presented a united front and with Izzy’s documentation, it was as easy as watching his mother make apple pie. And they included funds in the loan to cover the rodeo sponsorship and advertisement. He suspected Izzy had used her own money for the wedding flyers since Blake hadn’t mentioned that she’d given him a receipt. He made sure they got enough to cover that expense too. As a temporary fix, it was enough. The note wouldn’t come due for four weeks.

Before leaving the bank, they set up a separate account that they could all three deposit money into and make the ranch payment automatically. When it was all done, he watched his brothers get into their rigs and head out to take care of business that didn’t include him.

That was okay. He felt good. The last time he’d been this happy was when he went fishing with his dad at Andrews Lake. All the chores would be done. Blake would be at one of his track meets. Jonas was most of the time off studying with Sloane.

Nathan missed those days. And then he’d had that fight with his dad. Nothing had been the same since. Until today. He couldn’t wait to tell Izzy that everything had worked out better than they expected at the bank.

Because she must have read his mind, right on cue, his phone rang. “Hi.”

His pulse spiked. Not wanting to interrupt her time with her mom, he decided to keep his good news to himself until he saw her back at the ranch.

“Are you still in town?” she asked.

She was calling him, so she wasn’t hurt. “Yes. Why? What’s wrong?”

“I came into town to buy baking supplies, and my car started making a funny noise—”

He could hear voices in the background. “Where are you?”

“Michaels’ Garage. The mechanic says it will take her two days to fix the Rover. I can rent a car but—”

“Don’t rent a car. We have a spare at the ranch you can use.” Michaels’ was the best repair garage in town. And he’d known Sloane most of his life. If she said it would take her two days to repair Izzy’s car, that’s exactly what it would take. “I’ll be right there.”

He parked in the customer parking lot and went straight to the bay where he knew he would find Sloane. Izzy’s car was on a lift several feet off the ground. Sloane’s head and shoulders were underneath the Rover.

Not wanting to startle her, he waited until she was clear of bumping her head before he spoke. “Hi. I’m here to pick up Izzy. What’s wrong with her car?”

“She has a bad wheel bearing.” Sloane pulled a shop rag out of the back pocket of her coveralls and wiped the grease off her hands. “I haven’t seen you in a long time. What have you been up to? I heard you were laid up for a while.”

Thank you, Jonas, for being such a blabber mouth.

“Yeah, I fell off a horse.” Ironic wasn’t it? Not wanting to get into the details, he asked, “How’s business?”

“Do you know a good mechanic who doesn’t already have a job? I’ve got more work than I can handle.”

“I wish I could say I do, but—” He shrugged.

“Story of my life.” She smiled and headed toward a small office. “Your girl is in the waiting area.”

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