Page 12 of Samuel

“We’ll see.” The stubborn ass dropped his eyes to her belly, grumbled something under his breath and sank into his chair.

Logging onto the nearly ancient computer at her desk,Evie felt Sam’s eyes on her. She sat up straight, projecting every ounce of strength she could dig down into her gut and reach. He wanted to be cold, she could be just as cold back. He wanted to push her away? She’d fight ten times harder to stay.

“Are you going to be in the office all day today?” she asked.

“Planning on snooping around some more if I’m not here?”

“It’s not snooping, Sam. It’s organizing. It’s trying to make a system here that works in your favor, not one you are constantly fighting against.”

“Right.”

“Well, maybe if you told me a little bit about the ranch, it wouldn’t feel like snooping to you.”

He pushed back from his desk, leaning back in the chair as he laced his fingers behind his head.

“Don’t worry. I won’t make the mistake of asking for any personal details.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Whatever you want to tell me.” She wasn’t letting him off the hook that easily.

“The ranch was started over a hundred years ago by my great-great-grandparents. The eldest son has taken over the ranch in each generation. Our herd is currently the smallest it’s ever been, thanks to higher costs and lower revenue. Five years ago we pivoted away from commercial production and focused on making our product more of an exclusive ranch-to-table offering. We have just shy of one hundred head of cattle currently, but about half of that will be sent off in the fall for butchering.”

“That doesn’t feel small to me.”

“Compared to the thousands of heads my grandfather, and even my dad produced, yeah, it is.”

“So you sell your product locally?”

Sam nodded. “There’s a farmer’s market in Bell Ridge webring frozen cuts to every week. That used to be something I did by myself, but my sister, Abby, has been running the booth since the beginning of the year. Gives me more time to focus on things here at the ranch.”

“That’s nice. Does she live on the ranch too?”

“Across the road. She’s had a hard time being on the ranch since our dad died. But I think it’s getting better.”

Evie smiled. He’d slipped. She was getting more than just ranch facts, and the way Sam’s body had started relaxing as they talked, hope trickled into her heart that she just might be getting somewhere with him.

“So, you focus on the other part of the ranch-to-table business, which is… restaurants?”

Once again, the grumpy cowboy nodded. “We have a few upscale restaurants in Dallas that use our cuts and feature our brand on their menu. It’s driven some smaller business our way from folks coming out to the farmer’s market on the weekends.”

“I really am impressed, Sam. It sounds like you are doing an incredible job keeping your family’s legacy going.”

“I’m not really.”

“I haven’t had a chance to look at the accounting books yet, but I’m sure we can find ways to increase efficiency. Tighten the budget so there is more profit for your family.”

“And my investors.”

Evie paused. “Oh, I didn’t realize.”

“Well, you know enough to know I’m not technically your boss. That’s Sebastian Montgomery. He’s invested the cost of your salary.”

“Yes, of course. I was curious how that came about.”

“Sebastian and his fiance, Emma, are good friends of mine. He’s been helping several businesses in the area. This is no different.”

Gruff and grumpy Sam was back. Evie wanted to kick herself for bringing it up.

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