“I’m sorry I couldn’t save this place.” I gripped the handles of my chair, trying to contain my emotions. “It tears me up, thinking about losing Silver Sage.”
“Then let us help,” Bowie said, “and stop trying to be the lone hero who saves the day.”
I bristled at his accusations. “That’s not fair. I was here alone! And I’m not trying to be a hero. I’m just trying to hold things together.”
“Let’s talk about this calmly,” Faith said. “What could we do to keep the ranch going for the time being until we can make a long-term financial plan?”
“Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of time to give,” Sam said. “My practice keeps me busy, but I have some savings I could contribute.”
“Savings you were going to use to expand your practice,” I said. “I don’t want you to pour that money in here when I can’t guarantee a return on your investment.”
“Maybe it’s not an investment,” Sam said, finally getting serious. “Maybe it’s just a way to keep our land in the family.”
“I could come up there and do some cleaning and decorating,” Faith said. “Those old curtains on the cabin windows are probably threadbare by now. I can sew new ones right here at home. My machine still works.”
She was right. The curtains and so many other things were in poor condition. This was the first time I’d tried looking at the situation from their point of view. Maybe I did like the idea of being the one who swooped in and saved the ranch, but I couldn’t do this on my own anymore.
“I’ll take some time off and help with renovation projects this fall,” Bowie said. “You know I love demolition.”
“I’m sorry I kept you in the dark,” I said, “and I do appreciate your willingness to help. We’re still going to need a large infusion of cash to make major changes here, well beyond what Sam has in the bank. I don’t know how we’d get our hands on that kind of money.”
“What about a bank loan?” Faith asked.
“I don’t think we can get another one,” I said, “not when the business isn’t doing well.”
“We need to think of another option,” Bowie said. “Could we sell off some of the land?”
I’d already considered that. “Then we can’t get money from Cal for letting his cattle graze here. That income has been keeping us afloat. But I guess if we have to sell off land, we could.”
“What if we found an investor?” Faith asked. I hoped she wasn’t talking about Palmer. There was no way I was going into business with that asshole. It would be like Lauren selling part of her business to Freddy. Lauren…
“Someone was interested in buying the ranch,” I said. “A guest who was here recently.”
“Mrs. Wagonblast?” Sam said immediately.
“How did you guess?” I asked.
“Duh. Lauren Cozzi is a wealthy woman, and she loved the place. Besides, who else would it be? It’s not like you’ve had a lot of guests lately.”
He had a point there.
“Sam told me there was someone at the ranch who you’d taken a shine to,” Faith said in an irritating sing-song voice. “He said he’d never seen you so smitten with anyone.”
“That’s Lauren.” Sam smiled brightly, happy as a pig in shit.
“Enough about Matthew’s crush on her,” Bowie grumbled. “What did she offer for the ranch?”
“We didn’t get into specific numbers.” I told them about Lauren’s interest in the ranch as a place for retreats. I expected them to balk when I mentioned filming a reality show on our property. Quite the opposite happened.
“You can usually get a tax break for stuff like that,” Sam said.
Faith’s face lit up with excitement, making her look like a different woman than the one who’d logged onto our call. “I knowMs. Match! Lauren and Tori seem like amazing business women. It would be like we’d partnered up with one of the people fromShark Tankif we go into business with them.”
‘’I’m fine with shifting our focus,” Bowie said, “as long as we get to keep our land and retain a say in what happens to it.”
“Lauren was talking about buying the ranch outright,” I explained. “That wouldn’t give us any control over what happens here.”
“How about she can have fifty percent ownership of the ranch if she makes a sizable monetary investment?” Bowie said. “Our family would keep fifty percent ownership, and we can make business decisions together.”
