Read Online Convincing the Rancher by Claire McEwen - Free Book Online
Authors: Claire McEwen
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his grazing lease would be temporarily suspended due to the impending construction of windmills on the property. Perfect timing. He’d tossed and turned all night, emotions jumping from anger about the windmills to guilt at the way he’d laid into Tess yesterday. And now this. He slammed the mailbox and threw the letter into the cab of his truck.
Adding insult to injury, his lawyer was out of town for a few days. He knew that shouldn’t upset him; Matt was down in Los Angeles at a funeral and it just wasn’t right to be angry with someone for honoring their deceased aunt.
With the morning to himself and fury to spare, Slaid got behind the wheel and pulled his truck up to a pile of fence posts he’d purchased a few months ago. It was a good day for a sledgehammer, a posthole digger and a bunch of barbed wire. Loading the heavy wooden posts into the truck felt good. Pounding them into the ground would feel even better.
A noise had him glancing at the road that led from his ranch over a slight rise and back down to Benson. Jack Baron’s old truck appeared, rattling down the hill. Why such a rich guy drove such a beat-up old farm truck, vintage 1950s, was a mystery to Slaid, but Jack was a little quirky in his taste.
“Thanks for coming out here,” Slaid said as Jack descended from the creaky vehicle. He’d called his friend late last night, cross-eyed from staring at websites, trying to figure out how to stop the windmills. A few years ago, Jack had led a successful fight to stop a real estate development company from turning one of the most beautiful mountains outside of Benson into an enormous resort. Slaid wanted his opinion on fighting the wind farm. He just hoped that Jack’s marriage to Tess’s friend, Samantha, wouldn’t complicate things.
“Sounds as if we’ve got a problem on our hands.” Jack glanced toward the truck Slaid had been loading. “And a project. You want some help?”
“If you’ve got the time to spare, sure.” Slaid went around to the driver’s side and Jack swung up into the passenger seat.
“These windmills are going to be worse than I thought,” Jack said as they started up the gravel road that led out to Slaid’s farthest pasture. “I knew Tess was here to represent Renewable Reliance, but I had no idea their site was so close to town, or on your land.”
“Yeah, apparently she forgot to mention that.”
“She didn’t know either, Slaid. Look, I know you’re pissed. I am, too. But you’ve gotta be pissed at the right people. Tess doesn’t own that company and she doesn’t even want this job. Samantha told me her boss had to twist her arm to get her out here.”
His gut-churning guilt grew tenfold. Jack didn’t even know the worst of it—that Slaid had pressured Tess to stay in Benson when she’d wanted to go. He let out a long breath. “Yeah, I got that feeling. And I’ll bet Tess said something to Samantha about our argument yesterday. You must think I was pretty hard on her.”
“Well, she and Samantha talked on the phone a little last night. Tess mentioned that you were pretty angry, but if she was truly upset by what you said, she’d never admit it. Tess doesn’t let on much about her troubles to anyone.”
Shame combined with the guilt. “Maybe I did take things out on her.” They’d reached the old fence, its posts leaning and rotting, the wire rusted and sagging. Slaid parked the truck and cut the engine. They got out, and he tossed Jack a pair of heavy leather gloves, then pulled on a pair of his own. Once Jack unlatched the tailgate, they started pulling the posts from the back.
The talk turned to the fence for a few minutes. They pulled the most rotten section out entirely, loading the rusty wire into the truck and carrying the new posts over. Then they set to work digging out a few old posts that were still firmly cemented in the ground.
“This is crap work, you know.” Jack grinned at him over the shovel. “Don’t you usually pay
Adding insult to injury, his lawyer was out of town for a few days. He knew that shouldn’t upset him; Matt was down in Los Angeles at a funeral and it just wasn’t right to be angry with someone for honoring their deceased aunt.
With the morning to himself and fury to spare, Slaid got behind the wheel and pulled his truck up to a pile of fence posts he’d purchased a few months ago. It was a good day for a sledgehammer, a posthole digger and a bunch of barbed wire. Loading the heavy wooden posts into the truck felt good. Pounding them into the ground would feel even better.
A noise had him glancing at the road that led from his ranch over a slight rise and back down to Benson. Jack Baron’s old truck appeared, rattling down the hill. Why such a rich guy drove such a beat-up old farm truck, vintage 1950s, was a mystery to Slaid, but Jack was a little quirky in his taste.
“Thanks for coming out here,” Slaid said as Jack descended from the creaky vehicle. He’d called his friend late last night, cross-eyed from staring at websites, trying to figure out how to stop the windmills. A few years ago, Jack had led a successful fight to stop a real estate development company from turning one of the most beautiful mountains outside of Benson into an enormous resort. Slaid wanted his opinion on fighting the wind farm. He just hoped that Jack’s marriage to Tess’s friend, Samantha, wouldn’t complicate things.
“Sounds as if we’ve got a problem on our hands.” Jack glanced toward the truck Slaid had been loading. “And a project. You want some help?”
“If you’ve got the time to spare, sure.” Slaid went around to the driver’s side and Jack swung up into the passenger seat.
“These windmills are going to be worse than I thought,” Jack said as they started up the gravel road that led out to Slaid’s farthest pasture. “I knew Tess was here to represent Renewable Reliance, but I had no idea their site was so close to town, or on your land.”
“Yeah, apparently she forgot to mention that.”
“She didn’t know either, Slaid. Look, I know you’re pissed. I am, too. But you’ve gotta be pissed at the right people. Tess doesn’t own that company and she doesn’t even want this job. Samantha told me her boss had to twist her arm to get her out here.”
His gut-churning guilt grew tenfold. Jack didn’t even know the worst of it—that Slaid had pressured Tess to stay in Benson when she’d wanted to go. He let out a long breath. “Yeah, I got that feeling. And I’ll bet Tess said something to Samantha about our argument yesterday. You must think I was pretty hard on her.”
“Well, she and Samantha talked on the phone a little last night. Tess mentioned that you were pretty angry, but if she was truly upset by what you said, she’d never admit it. Tess doesn’t let on much about her troubles to anyone.”
Shame combined with the guilt. “Maybe I did take things out on her.” They’d reached the old fence, its posts leaning and rotting, the wire rusted and sagging. Slaid parked the truck and cut the engine. They got out, and he tossed Jack a pair of heavy leather gloves, then pulled on a pair of his own. Once Jack unlatched the tailgate, they started pulling the posts from the back.
The talk turned to the fence for a few minutes. They pulled the most rotten section out entirely, loading the rusty wire into the truck and carrying the new posts over. Then they set to work digging out a few old posts that were still firmly cemented in the ground.
“This is crap work, you know.” Jack grinned at him over the shovel. “Don’t you usually pay
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