Page 49 of Whiskey and Wildfire

Dakota’s hand tightened around mine under the table. “That soon?”

I nodded, trying to project more confidence than I felt. “Good. The sooner the better. We need to get everything ready.”

Beau leaned forward, his blue eyes intense. “We should get out to the ranch today. Start cleanin’ up, makin’ it look its best. First impressions and all that.”

“Good idea,” I agreed. “We’ll need to round up some extra help though, get them on board with what’s happening. Last thing we need is someone saying the wrong thing to these investors.”

Lucas nodded. “I can get our ranch hands to come out and help. Most of ‘em have been around long enough to understand the situation. They already know how it works at our place, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Alright,” I said, feeling a plan starting to take shape. “Let’s finish up eating here and head out to the ranch. We’ve got a lot of work to do in the next two days.”

Our meal was a quick affair and as we left the diner, the gravity of what we were about to do hit me. We were potentiallychanging the entire future of my family’s legacy. But as I looked at the determined faces of my friends—and Dakota—I felt a surge of hope. Maybe, just maybe, we could pull this off. I made sure to give Lucas a big hug before we headed back. Without him, we wouldn’t have stood a chance of surviving.

The drive back to the ranch was quiet, Dakota and I lost in our own thoughts. As we pulled up to the main house, I could see the worry etched on Dakota’s face.

“You okay?” I asked, placing my hand on his shoulder. “You’ve been awfully quiet.”

He glanced over at me, his brows furrowed. “This… This is really happening, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “I hope so.”

There was a long pause.

“Can I be really honest with you?”

“Of course!”

“I… I don’t want your family to lose this place,” he said slowly. “This is my home too. I love it here.” He paused again, his eyes full of emotion. “But… I don’t know… I kind of hoped we’d find another way out of this.”

“You don’t like the tourist idea?”

He shook his head. “It’s a good idea and it sounds like it’s going to work. But… this place is sacred to me. And seeing it turned into a cowboy bed-and-breakfast… it just feels wrong.”

I reached out, pulling him into a tight hug. “It feels kinda wrong to me too,” I said softly. “But I don’t know what else to do.”

“I know. I think this is our only choice.”

“But,” I added, lifting his chin so our eyes met. “That doesn’t mean it needs to be trashy. We’ll keep this place as authentic and beautiful as we can. A few little cabins and some riding trails won’t hurt that, right?”

Dakota smiled softly, his eyes crinkling in the corners. “Yeah. I… I think you’re right.”

“We can do this, Dakota. Together.”

He nodded, hugging me tightly once more. “Together.”

Chapter 19

Dakota

Preparing the ranch for the investors was exhausting. However, it would’ve been a lot worse if Lucas and Beau hadn’t donated their ranch hands to help us get everything ready. In the first day alone, we cleaned up the barn, mucked out all the horse stalls, and got the cattle moved to the pasture closest to the house. I hoped that might give the illusion that the Baker’s owned more cattle than they did. The last thing on the list was brushing down the horses and feeding everyone. Thanks to Beau, the latter was quite a feast and the best barbecue I’d ever had.

Dirty and exhausted, I waved to everyone as they pulled out of the driveway, leaving me, Logan, and my mom standing there in the dust.

“Well,” she said, clapping her hands together. “I don’t know about you boys, but I’m gonna go draw a bath and have a glass of wine. It’s been a long day.” She patted me on the shoulder. “You two should get cleaned up and get to bed.”

“Yeah,” I nodded.

With a small wave, she headed back toward the house. I expected Logan to follow her, but he stayed by my side.

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