Page 2 of Cameron

He even liked what the sister was doing to help make money. Maybe he’d buy her out as well.

“When’s a good time for me to come visit? I’d like to spend several days going over the property, looking at the accounting and even riding the range. Then if I’m interested, I’ll give you a proposal,” he told the man, gazing out the window at the pastures filled with cattle.

Yes, they were college friends, but that didn’t mean an automatic yes as far as Cameron was concerned. Especially for Edward.

“Like I said, we’ve got this wedding and it’s right before Christmas. Why don’t you come in the next few days? I’ll make you a reservation and you will be a member of the wedding party,” Edward said. “That way, I won’t upset my mother or my sister until we know if this is a property you’re interested in.”

Cameron’s brows drew together. “Your family knows the ranch is in trouble, but they don’t know you’re thinking of selling?”

There was a moment of silence on the phone.

“My sister, Samantha, wants this wedding business to save us, but so far, we’ve only had one wedding and it’s just not going to make us the cash we need,” he said.

What did he believe? Was the man protecting his family or was he lying to them? He wouldn’t know until he arrived there.

“All right, give me a few days. I’ll be out there on the twelfth. I’ll stay a week at the most and then I’ll be home beforeChristmas,” he said. Or on a lovely beach somewhere avoiding his grandmother’s wedding noose.

Or maybe he’d fly straight to Cancun and avoid the annual Burnett Christmas party, where someone was always announcing they were pregnant or they were getting married or some other kind of nonsense.

“Thank you, Cameron,” Edward said. “There’s no one else I would rather have my family’s ranch.”

That still wasn’t going to be the closing factor. It would be whether he saw potential in the property.

“See you soon,” Cameron said, hanging up. How many others had Edward offered the property to?

He sat back in his chair and sighed. He needed a land appraisal done and on his desk before he left for Montana.

CHAPTER 2

Samantha Anderson stood behind the counter nervous as a mouse being chased by a kitten. The first and biggest wedding of the Mistletoe Inn was this Saturday night and the success of this event would determine whether the inn survived or if they were in even more financial trouble.

She’d put her life savings into doing everything she could to save the family home. Since her father’s death a year ago, it was like the financial gain of their ranch had died along with him.

Her mother Betty strolled through the front entrance after setting out arrangements in the barn. They were all working together to keep the place alive. Even with everyone helping, terror gripped her at the thought of losing the home and land that had been in their family since before Montana became a state.

“What do you think?” her mother said as she turned to face her.

“It’s lovely, Mama. Our guests should be arriving just any time. Are the bedrooms all prepared?”

Anna Finlayson came whirling through the room with her arms loaded with towels. “As soon as I put the towels in the bathrooms, we’re ready.”

“Thank you, Anna,” she said as she opened the computer files to go over the guest list of who were arriving and the rooms she had assigned to them.

This was such a big day for the Mistletoe Inn. Everything had to be perfect.

Staring at the screen, she noticed a new name on the list Edward had entered.

“Edward,” she called.

Her tall, lanky blonde brother came around the corner, his clothes impeccable. His jeans were creased down the middle. Edward liked to be a beacon of fashion and in many ways that made Samantha worry. Clothes often made the man, but not Edward.

Though he was older than her, he still acted like he was a college kid and she often wondered if he would ever grow up. Since the death of their father, he’d acted even stranger. More remote and less thrilled to be here.

It felt like he wanted to be anywhere but here at the ranch and yet they needed him.

She worried if taking over the responsibility of their property was too much for him. He’d never been that interested in being the head of the Mistletoe Ranch and now he had no choice unless he wanted to turn it over to her. And their father wanted his son in charge of the ranch.

“I’m helping Conor make certain the drive looks great,” he said. “Did you know the groom and the best man have already arrived?”

---