Page 27 of Belong With Me

Pulling my briefcase across the seat, I fished my cell phone out and quickly found my father’s contact information.

I nibbled my thumbnail nervously while the phone rang in my ear.

“Sienna-Grace.”

His ever-present no-nonsense tone was loud and clear in my ear. Not a word of hello, not even a how are you. Just business as usual.

“Hi, Daddy.”

“How did it go?” I heard him typing on his computer. A smile curved my lips as I imagined him using his two pointer fingers to do so.

“The property itself is beautiful. The owners, not so much.”

“I don’t care about any of that. Will they sell?” He sounded bored.

“Mr. Sanderson said he will look over our proposal. I’ll follow up with him later.” I shuddered at the thought of going back. After having his eyes running over me repeatedly during my time at Sanderson Ranch. I felt dirty. I was in desperate need of a shower, so I could scrub every inch of me clean.

“Time is money, you know that.”

I rolled my eyes. “He and his wife need to discuss options. She was excited by the prospect of selling off a couple of hectares. I could see it in her eyes. He gave nothing away. However, when I spoke to him before I left just minutes ago, he did ask to speak to me further about it.” I cringed at just how forward Ethan Sanderson had been, all but asking me to fuck him right there on the dining table.

“Now, the next ranch I need you to see is the Jacksons’ at Warmington Run. They are having some financial difficulties so I can’t imagine it will be too difficult to persuade them to sell off some land to us. I’m sending you some revised documents actually, with a lower offer since I think we can get it cheaper than the others.”

Daddy’s business acumen had always been something I’d long admired. After all, he hadn’t become one of the most successful oil barons without being a shrewd businessman. But to outright take money off the table because these people were already in financial distress didn’t sit well with me. “I’ll check them out shortly.”

“Fine. Now. This last ranch is probably the most important.” I swallowed the lump in my throat that formed as he continued, not liking at all where this was going. “Larsen Ranch has been around for five generations. It’s been in that family for the entire time. They too have been experiencing some financial worries of late, not as obvious as Warmington Run but still, it’s something we can exploit.”

“Daddy—” I started.

“Don’t interrupt me, Sienna-Grace.” His voice came down on me like the lash of a whip. “The ranch is run by three brothers and two sisters. All the brothers are single and of similar age to yourself. You shouldn’t have any problem wrapping them around your finger and getting them to sign.”

I felt sick to my stomach. The Larsen family had taken me in and looked after me after my accident last night. They had all been incredibly kind to me so far, but something about what Daddy said tickled my mind. “Why is Larsen Ranch the most important one of the three?”

Not even a second later, my father’s answer came down the line. “Looking at the magnetic surveys, they could be sitting on a very large oil deposit.” For once, I heard a rare glimmer of excitement in my father’s tone.

“Is that so?” I murmured back. It would be easy enough to have a look around the property. After all, Ryder was out and about daily mending fences. I could simply ask to accompany him one day and ask for a tour of the land. Or possibly get Colton to take me on a scenic horseback ride.

“We want you to go see them in the next couple of days.”

I stopped breathing. That meant they knew I would be coming and who I was. They would put two and two together and then it would ruin everything. “I have actually already met one of the Larsens.”

“Well, don’t stop there. Tell me.” Annoyance flickered in his demand.

I chose to mention the least likely sibling, or most likely, depending how he looked at it. Once I’d chosen who, I quickly ran through some likely scenarios, settling on one I knew he should believe relatively easily. Especially since he knew it involved one of my favorite things.

“Mackenzie. I saw her at the local coffee shop this morning. Can you believe they actually make decent coffee here?”

“Stay on topic, Sienna-Grace.” This time his annoyance was vocal as he sighed at me.

Irritation flared within me. Tamping it down, I continued. “Fine. Well, anyway, she came over to me and mentioned how much she loved my handbag, we got to talking a little and then she asked if I wanted to catch up for a coffee another time soon. I agreed since I recognized her name and then she gave me her number.” The lie rolled off my tongue effortlessly. “I’ll call her and see if I can meet her at the ranch instead.”

Huffing a loud exhale into the phone, he responded, “Fine. I won’t get Marion to call and arrange an appointment then. They already have paperwork advising a representative will be there sometime this month.”

“So, they don’t know who is coming to see them then?” I asked, holding my breath while waiting for his answer.

“They don’t know your name if that’s what you’re asking, Sienna.”

I breathed a sigh of relief and mentally crossed myself and thanked the big man upstairs for this win. “Okay. Great. I will let you know how I go.”

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