Page 6 of Cameron

With a sigh, he put his suitcase away. It was time to quit thinking of Samantha and find Edward. He’d like to sit down and have a talk with Edward. See if he could get a feel for if his friend was being honest with him or trying to pull a fast one.

If one of his cousins, who all sat on the board of directors at Burnett Enterprises, pulled a stunt like this, that person would be run out of Texas. They often disagreed at the board meetings, but not one sitting at that table wanted to harm the ranch they all had inherited and loved.

Picking up his hat, he slammed it on his head and walked out the door. Time to find Edward.

Two big limousines sat outside and he figured that must be the wedding party.

People were lined up in the lobby checking in, and Samantha was there smiling, handing out room keys, with a young kid carrying bags to their rooms. No one offered to carry his bag, but that was all right. He wanted to just hang back and stay low. See what he could learn.

Where was Edward? Why wasn’t he helping to get the guests settled?

Walking outside, he saw Edward standing off to the side talking to a man in a suit. They were having an intense conversation and Cameron had to resist the urge not to pull out his phone and take a picture of the man.

Finally, Edward said something to the man and then pointed to the gate. He could tell he told him to get out of here.

This couldn’t be good.

Turning from the man, Edward strode toward Cameron standing in the cold wind without his coat.

When he saw Cameron, his face lit up.

“Cameron,” he called. “Good to see you. When did you get in?”

“Just a little bit ago,” he said.

“Come on, let’s go to my office where we can chat,” he said, leading him toward the house.

They walked inside the older house decorated for Christmas. A big tree stood in a corner and mistletoe was hung fromdifferent doorways that led into a large living area with a grand rock fireplace.

The house was beautiful.

He followed Edward into a dark paneled office with a huge oak desk. “This was my father’s office. If we were going to stay, I’d redecorate it.”

“Why?”

A massive deer rack was on one wall and oak bookshelves lined another wall.

“Too old fashioned for me,” he said. “I’d like something more modern.”

Not Cameron. This spoke of history and a richness that pervaded the wood-filled room. A very manly office much like his back home.

“So you’ve seen a bit of the place,” he said. “What do you think?”

If he expected an offer right this moment he was crazy.

“I think I need to see more of your operations. Your land, your cattle, and even your books. Before I make any kind of decision, I want to know more about this place.”

A frown crossed the man’s face. “Understand. But I need you to keep this between us. My sister has worked so hard on this wedding, hoping it’s going to save the ranch and I don’t think it’s possible. She would have done better to hang onto her money rather than put it into this money pit.”

What had caused the ranch to start losing money? That was his biggest question. It looked like it had once been a really big cattle operation. The price of beef on the hoof had dropped, but it ebbed and flowed with the economy.

“What made things go bad for you?”

“A lot of different factors. Plus, I made some bad investments,” Edward said.

The memory of the man standing outside having a heated discussion with Edward came to mind. What was going on there?

“When can I meet with the bookkeeper? I’d like to see your books,” he said, knowing that would show him where a lot of the problems had started.

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