Page 41 of Opposites (Never) Attract
My brain only had the capacity for two thoughts.One, these numbers looked worse than I imagined. Two, I wasn’t wearing panties.
This was not ideal while my new half-brothers sat across from me with scowls on their faces.
Carter was pacing in front of the window that looked out over the valley of the ranch. Mac sat on the leather couch, his knee bouncing as he looked from his brother, to me, and then back to his brother. I had spent less than five minutes with the guy, but it was obvious he worshipped his older brother. He was probably shaken that Carter hadn’t been able to fix this on his own and needed help.
Ethan was there, too, of course. A man who’d obviously returned to the family fold. He was leaning against the mantle over the cold fireplace. There were pictures of the family all over the place. Graduations. Camping trips. Weddings. Carter’s kids.
The Calloways had the same pictures, minus the weddings and kids. Our frames were all cockeyed, and a lot of them were homemade school projects with macaroni and glitter.
While the McGraws’ were all polished wood and brushed steel.
“Please, just say something.” Carter finally cried.
“Let her work, Carter.” This from Ethan, who was clearly more patient than his older brother.
“She’s been working for over an hour,” Carter told his brother.
“She’s processing,” Ethan said.
“She’sin the room, boys,” I said, finally scootching the big chair back from the desk. I’d seen enough.
Carter charged across the area rug to stand in front of the desk, towering over me. I wanted to roll my eyes and tellhim to sit down, but the guy was in a full blown freak out and I didn’t have good news.
“Give it to us straight, was Dad right about potentially losing the Swinging D?”
“No,” I said.
All three McGraws sighed, like they’d all been holding their breath.
“I knew it,” Ethan said, smiling confidently at his brothers. “Dad was always over exaggerating everything. The man lived for hyperbole.”
“The Swinging D will be fine, if you run a much smaller operation and sell off about twenty-thirty thousand acres,” I told them, and the room exploded.
“Fuck that!” Mac cried, bursting from his seat on the couch. “We’re not selling anything.”
“Dad called you back here for one reason,” Carter said, through his teeth. “He wanted you to save the operation, as it exists today.”
“I’m sure he did,” I said. “So, instead, I’m going to tell you the truth. There is no saving the Swinging D as it exists today. You’re too over-extended. Unless there is some magical pile of cash you’ve been hiding, all you’ve got is the value of the land.”
“That’s…disappointing,” Ethan said, in his very measured way.
“There’s nothing you can do? You’re supposed to be some kind of genius,” Carter said, with just a thin strain of derision that was a little too close to Smarty Sunshine to let it slide.
I slammed my hands on the desk and stood to get their attention.
“Look, maybe you think this is the part of the movie where the prodigal daughter comes home to save her newfamily, and she tells them all they have to do is start raising buffalo or some shit like that. But, here is the thing. I don’t know fuck all about cattle ranching. I work for a trading firm in New York. I’ve never castrated a bull, shot a gun or ridden a horse!”
“Never?” Carter asked, then shot Mac a look. “That seems wrong.”
“Geesh, Sunny, you’re from the Gulch, you’ve never ridden a horse?” Mac said, simultaneously.
“We could take you horseback riding if you’re hanging around…” Carter said, like he was offering me a consolation prize.
“Stay on point, gentlemen,” I said, through clenched teeth. “There is nothing to do, but the obvious. Sell the land.”
Carter shook his head. It wasn’t refusal, it was just disappointment.
“Now, if you’re done with me, I think I’ll be heading back to New York.”
