Page 7 of The Cowboy Fix

We would have woken you up, but you were sleeping so soundly we decided to let you rest. Blake is taking us fishing. I know that’s not your favorite sport. I’ll text you when we’re on our way back. Think about where you want to go for dinner—my treat.

Love, Mal

PS. Nathan is at the ranch. Alone. Might be a good time to have that talk with him, girl, and convince him you’re the best one for the job.

She put the note back on the counter, started the coffee machine, and enjoying the view of the back garden out the window, clasped her hands, lifted them over her head, then bent slowly from side to side. Izzy considered her friend’s advice. Her reputation for getting the job done was well-earned. Her plan from the beginning when she’d first decided what she wanted to do with her degree and had developed her business model was that she would get in, work some magic, get out, and move on to the next job. And she’d been doing just that ever since she graduated. This was the first time she’d had a potential client practically turn her away at the door.

Maybe Nathan was right, and she and the Triple L weren’t a good fit, but Izzy wanted the chance to prove him wrong. Sure, this was the first time she had a ranch for a client, a second-generation horse ranch at that. The brothers needed her to do her best to get the Triple L back on its feet. She could do it if given the chance.

If she could pull it off, not only would she bring back a long-established community member. It would also be a real feather in her cap and look great on her résumé.

Whatever she could do would help Malorie and Blake too. Mal had been a lifesaver in college when Izzy had decided she didn’t want to be a nurse but instead, a business major focusing on failing businesses and how they’d gotten into that predicament in the first place. Her first client had been the local coffee shop on the university grounds that was about to close its doors, and it’d worked. Coffee and More was still thriving.

She’d had to take a diverse course load and more credits a term than she had time for, but it was Mal, who’d encouraged her and kept her going until the resurging university icon had thrown a reopening celebration. Coffee on the house.

She owed Mal one and there was no time like the present to return the favor.

Since presentation was everything, she dressed to impress the rancher in her best blue jeans and a rust-colored tank with a sharp-looking button-down, stylish overshirt. After pulling her thick hair into a ponytail, she added lip gloss and stood back, looking in the full-length mirror in her temporary bedroom.

This wasn’t a date, she reminded the girl inside who had no time to go out with a nice guy, much less one who was as cranky as a bear. She just wanted to make a good impression that telegraphed she could and would pull his ranch out of the financial hole it had fallen into. Better add her half-boots, so she looked like a girl who understood ranch life.

Grabbing her purse, she hopped into her Range Rover and headed to town. She’d bought the shockingly bright yellow car for herself as a graduation present. Her mom might have a house in Portland as her base. For Izzy, it was this car that made her heart feel like it was home.

She stopped at a pastry shop on Main on the way to the Triple L, hoping that an offering of sticky donuts would appeal to Nathan’s better nature. She was betting somewhere under all his gruff he had one.

When she drove up to the house, horses were in the pasture. One was very pregnant. The sky was blue. The July sun was warm. When she got out of the Rover, carrying the box of donuts with her, she could hear the birds and understood why the brothers loved the place. She would, too, if she hadn’t grown up all over the country.

Nathan sat on a bench on the front porch and stoically watched her approach. She ignored the flip in her belly. He didn’t seem surprised to see her, which startled Izzy. Maybe he intuitively knew she didn’t give up easily. Or maybe Malorie told him her friend was like a dog with a bone once she set her mind to taking on a new project.

Thanks, Mal.

Izzy stopped at the bottom step. “Hi. Blake took Mal and the kids fishing today”—she held out the box—“so, I thought I’d bring you donuts. I had to guess which ones you might like, so I’m afraid I picked out the ones I like most.”

Curiosity peeked through his dark eyes, then quickly disappeared. “Isn’t there an adage about being wary of strangers bearing gifts?”

She couldn’t help it. Izzy laughed. “Something like that.” His caution triggered the innate carefulness that usually had her taking her time when getting to know a potential client. “Should we take these inside or do you want to eat them out here?”

“I’m not going to change my mind. Even if you are a good friend of Malorie’s. We don’t need a stranger poking into our business.” The man was direct. Izzy liked that. It meant she didn’t always have to pretty up her language. Grabbing his cane, he stood and watched closely for her response.

She didn’t disappoint him. “So, you’d rather lose the Triple L rather than let your guard down for a stranger’s helping hand?” Three steps took her up to the covered porch. If Nathan Lohmen thought he could scare her off with another refusal, he had a surprise coming. “The longer we stand out here discussing whether you are going to invite me in, the more chance these delicious donuts will get stale.”

His eyes narrowed at her sass, but the corner of his lips twitched. He held the door open. “The kitchen’s to the left.”

“Thank you, kind sir,” she couldn’t help it. He was so dang resistant.To donuts.There had to be more to this Lohmen brother than the cranky dude who did not want to welcome her into his home.

Behind her, as if he was reading her mind, Lohmen grunted. Izzy wanted to hug him just to see the shocked look on his face, but of course, she wouldn’t. Though she thought he was cute and just a little over the top in his refusal to consider his options, she was too professional to let her guard down in that way.

Looking around at the house as she proceeded to the kitchen, she was surprised to see how weary the house appeared, and how much she wanted to bring the charming home back to life—against her better judgment and for the sake of this down-on-his-luck rancher.

She put the donuts on the island and flipped open the lid. First, she had to talk Nathan into giving her a chance to prove she could do what she said she could. “Do you have napkins?”

“In the pantry.” He pointed to a side cabinet as he leaned over and took a deep breath.

Finding the napkins easy enough, she plopped a pile next to the box. “So, not a bad idea, right?”

“We’ll see.” He straightened and eyed her as if trying to figure out her game plan. “I’m sorry about last night and that you walked into one of our famous brotherly discussions.”

“No worries. How about this—” She chose two old-fashioned donuts—her favorite, wrapped them in napkins, and shooed him toward the small breakfast table with banquet seating. “While you enjoy this scrumptious donut, I’ll tell you what I do.”

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