Page 96 of Somewhere We Belong

“Maybe one day I can have it back, but for now I’ll live a little before I decide on what’s next,” she sighed.

“Live for you, Izzy,” Jude said somberly. “Find out what you want and if that’s the farm, then do it, but if it’s out of some obligation, it’s going to be a burden, just like it was for dad and mom.”

I expected an argument. “Ok,” she said softly. “It’s hard to want something else when your entire life was centered around it.”

“I struggled when I came here and I didn’t enjoy ranch life until I let go,” I said, pulling my horse close to her. “Let it go, and like Jude said, if it still calls to you, well, maybe we can figure something out.”

I patted her back, feeling a little guilty she had no choice but to sell the farm, but I knew she would have struggled to get the farm out of the hole.

“Ok, I’ll let you know.” She smiled at me, and I felt the crack in our relationship heal even more.

“Hell, start a new farm here,” Jude said, making Iris laugh.

“I’m sure you can get some good crops here, maybe even an apple orchard,” Luke suggested.

“All I need is a few acres, I could totally start an orchard, maybe with apples and peaches,” she grinned. “We could even have a festival and maybe dress up the cows.

“Whoa, how did we go from helping her to offering the ranch up and dressing up my cows?” I looked between them, confused.

They laughed. “I’m teasing, Theo,” Iris said.

“Oh.” My cheeks grew red.

“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself,” Iris chuckled.

“Well, I do have the acreage for it,” I said, realizing this might not be a bad idea.

“Mmmm, now I want some apple pie,” Jude said, rubbing his stomach.

“Peach cobbler would be great too,” Iris said, as she looked over at Luke.

“We could bond more over pie.” I looked over at him pleading with what I hoped was a cute, adorable face.

Luke laughed, “If one of you can beat me home, I’ll bake them; if not, you’re on your own.”

Luke took off quickly, but my brother hadn’t been on a horse in a while. Izzy took off after him, quick as lightning as Jude and I pushed our horses to run. I was confident that Izzy would beat him. She was amazing with horses and had always been a natural with them.

I laughed when Izzy beat him by a lot and as she made a lap around Luke, I had a really great idea. I might have found a newventure for the Ranch and possibly a new teacher for Sunflower. Maybe I could entice my sister to stay here by giving her so much more than our farm ever could.

I already interviewed a few people in January who didn’t feel right for the job as Ranch Hand. I needed someone I could rely on but no one seemed to fit or even realize what this job entailed. This time I figured a working interview might be easier and tell me what I needed to know in the first few minutes and save us some time.

A tall man walked up to the barn admiring the view. He was dressed in boots, jeans that had seen better days, a jacket lined with sherpa and a baseball hat. I instantly liked him as he reminded me of Colt except he smiled at me immediately.

“Hiya, you must be Theodore,” he said, holding his hand out. “Names Forest.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said, shaking his hand. “Ready for a ride?”

“Hell yeah.” He walked to the barn with no hesitation.

I let him get Atlas’ horse ready, watching as he did it with ease and caring for the horse. He got on the horse getting out a set of gloves. We rode out to the herd in silence as I watched him ride taking in the scenery with a smile on his face.

“Have you worked with cattle before?” I asked as we stopped on the edge of the herd.

“For two years down in Texas a few years ago, then worked a dairy farm after that and then I worked the circuit,” he said, looking at ease out here.

“Well, we don’t have an enormous herd. Our schedule isn’t as hectic,” I said looking out at the land. “My boyfriend and Imanage just fine but it would be nice if we had more time off. We might also expand in the future and I’d like to have the crew before that happens.”

This was always the hard part. Not many people approved of our lifestyle and I didn’t need to subject the people I loved to idiots who were small minded.

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