Page 9 of The Cowboy Fix

He twisted, only to find his brother yawning big and stretching. Jonas was good at sneaking up on Nathan. “Yeah. Izzy Payton stopped by. She just left.”

“I’m sorry I missed her. Did she convince you to let her take on the ranch?”

Nathan scowled. “Not exactly, but she’s working on it.” Stuffing her business card into his pocket, he indicated the pastry box. “She brought donuts.”

“That was nice.” Jonas dug into the box. “I’m guessing from the frown on your face that you didn’t hire her.”

He smoothed out his brow. Maybe Izzy Payton was nice. He didn’t know. She left just when their conversation was getting... interesting.

“I’m thinking about it. She’s putting together a proposal for us.” She definitely had enough enthusiasm to save not only one very loved horse ranch but humanity from extinction too.

“No cane?” Jonas’ brows arched. His brother was always quick to notice such details.

Nathan shrugged. “Don’t need it.”

“I see. Well”—taking a second chocolate-covered donut with him, Jonas sat at the table—“I think you shouldn’t dismiss the lady so quickly. She comes highly recommended by folks other than Malorie. And she could have ideas we haven’t thought about.” He grinned, motioning with the donut in his hand. “And she has great taste in donuts. You should nab her while you can. We don’t have time to turn away someone with her skills.”

Nathan didn’t need the reminder. He didn’t always agree with Jonas, but this time he did.

“I have to check on the horses.” He got up and headed for the great Colorado outdoors where the sun was shining and everything made sense.

“Hold your horses, little brother. I’m heading into Strawberry Ridge to set up the new office. I can’t give you a hand with the horses, but I’ll be back this afternoon and maybe we can brainstorm ideas for how to get out of this jam.”

Nathan took a deep breath. “I’ll be here.”

Jonas closed the donut box as Nathan eased the front door shut behind him. His brothers being absent was a familiar feeling and at least gave him several hours on his own to plan his comeback as a trainer. He wouldn’t admit it to his brothers, or Izzy Payton, but the obstacle was he wasn’t quite ready physically to spend a lot of time in the saddle, even though Duke had the smoothest gait of any horse he’d ever ridden.

The horses were in the front pasture. Blake must have put Duke and his mares there before he’d left that morning to take his new family-to-be fishing. It was something their dad often did. The fact that his brother was following family tradition made Nathan feel more separated from his brothers than usual.

He had to concede, even as a part-time rancher—Blake wrote hisTimmy, the Superherobooks when he wasn’t being a father to the star of the books—his brother had skills that could help the Triple L. He would be stupid to ignore that.

Wandering slowly through the barn, he took in Blake’s work. The stall floors were covered in fresh hay. The tack hanging on the center isle walls had been newly cleaned. Nathan pushed on the freshly painted railing leading up to the apartment where Blake and Timmy bunked. At least it was less hazardous.

“Nathan—” He turned at the sound of Jonas’ voice. “I’ve got a good idea.”

He was afraid to ask. “What’s your idea?” When Jonas had agood ideait usually meant more work for Nathan. He had enough on his plate as it was.

“Now that Malorie has a place in town.” Jonas slid his thumbs into his front pockets. He was dressed in his best going-to-town jeans and his favorite dress shirt. He even had on his good boots. “We ought to offer Izzy the cottage. I’m sure Malorie is glad to have Izzy stay with her and the kids, but the house is a bit small, and Izzy won’t have much privacy. The guesthouse would be a good fit for her and give her room to spread out. Besides, it’s only temporary, right?”

Jonas didn’t mince his words. “Look, you need to take time to get to know her and get familiar with what she brings to the table. The Triple L needs Izzy, whether you want to admit it or not.”

Nathan sat on the closest hay bail. He looked at Jonas long and hard. Big brother was up to something. Did he have a crush or something for the pretty businesswoman? He was sure dressed to catch a lady’s eye. With him living in Denver for the last sixteen years, Jonas hadn’t been around long enough for Nathan to know his falling-for-the-girl tells.

“Are you taking Izzy to dinner tonight?” Not that it was any of his business, but maybe that would explain why Jonas was lobbying for him to hire the lady.

Jonas flushed, surprising Nathan. The oldest Lohmen brother never got flustered, which is why he was a good lawyer, or so Nathan had read in theStrawberry Ridge Journal,Local Boy Makes Goodheadlines and all that.

“Of course not.” Jonas straightened. “I’m taking Sloane to dinner. We have business to discuss and some catching up to do.”

Nathan raised his brows. That should be a very interesting meal since he had a suspicion Jonas had been avoiding that conversation with hisbest friendfor years. “You’d better get out of here then. You don’t want to keep your date waiting.”

“We’re friends.” Jonas insisted. “Nothing more.”

Nathan got to his feet and walked toward Jonas, mentally urging him on his way. “If you say so.”

“I do,” Jonas tossed over his shoulder as he spun on his heels. Minutes later, he gunned his black, souped-up Mustang and drove, pedal to the medal, down the long drive to town.

Nathan grinned. He wasn’t without skills when it came to managing his older brother. He inspected the tack room. Blake and the kids had done an inventory, but he knew without looking too closely, there wasn’t much left. Finally, his mind spinning in useless circles, he went to check on the horses. Duke met him at the fence.

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