“Us?” Shane asked earnestly. “Mom, never.”
“Ha.”
She walked out of the living room. Clay settled in the chair by the screen and waited for his brothers to speak first.
Rafe nodded slowly. “Impressive. Who helped you put together the presentation?”
“I did it myself.”
Rafe’s eyebrows rose.
Clay relaxed into the chair, knowing he was going to enjoy this. “I have a degree in business with an emphasis on marketing. From New York University. I also completed an apprenticeship in farm management in Vermont a couple of years ago.” He shrugged. “There’s a lot of downtime in modeling. I didn’t waste mine.”
Diane, his late wife, had encouraged him to get his degree. The apprenticeship idea had come later, after she’d died. He’d needed to get away and hard physical labor had provided a way to heal.
Rafe blinked. “Seriously?” He turned to Shane. “Did you know about this?”
“Sure.”
Rafe returned his attention to Clay. “You didn’t want to tell me?”
“I tried a couple of times.”
Rafe shook his head. “Let me guess. I didn’t listen.”
Clay shrugged. “Growing a successful company takes a lot of time.”
He could have said more but in the past few months, Rafe had done some serious changing. The once-strident, meddling bottom-line-only mogul had become a person. Thanks to his new wife, Heidi. Love had a way of shifting a man’s priorities. Clay had learned that lesson a long time ago, and in the best way possible.
With Rafe, Shane and their mother all settling in Fool’s Gold, Clay had wanted to move close, as well. It was the perfect location for his Haycation. The strong sense of community was an added bonus. While his business was important to him, it wouldn’t take all his time. Leaving him with the opportunity to get involved with the town. He had a few ideas about that—one he would discuss with a certain firefighter the next time he saw her.
Rafe flipped through the hard copy of the presentation that Clay had printed out for both of them. “You have a lot of information here.”
“I did a lot of research.”
Shane looked over the crops list. “I like the idea of having a say in what’s grown.”
Shane bred and raised racehorses. After years of breeding Thoroughbreds, Shane had bought his first Arabian stallion.
“You think people on vacation will really do work?” Rafe asked.
“Who doesn’t want to ride a tractor?” Clay grinned. “If they don’t do enough, we can hire local teenagers and college students. There’s also a community of agricultural workers in the area. I spoke to them about hiring on if we need them.”
Shane looked at him. “Mom will come at you with a list of what she wants.”
May had been thrilled to be part owner of the ranch and she had immediately started collecting old and strange animals no one else bothered with. There were elderly sheep, a few llamas, and Priscilla, an aging Indian elephant.
“I’ve already done research on what Priscilla would most enjoy,” Clay said easily.
They talked numbers for a while longer, with Rafe digging into the details on what the vacation bungalows would rent for and what it would cost for the extras, like a swimming pool. They debated providing lunch as part of the deal—barbecued hamburgers and hot dogs or sandwiches. Finally Rafe rose.
“You did good, kid,” he told Clay. “I think we should go for it.”
Clay stood. Satisfaction and victory had been a long time coming. There was hard work ahead, but he was looking forward to all the sweat required.
“I’m in,” Shane said, joining them.
The three brothers shook hands.
“Everybody comfortable with Dante drawing up the paperwork?” Rafe asked. Dante was his business partner and a lawyer.
Clay put his hand on his oldest brother’s shoulder. “No problem. As long as you don’t mind me having my lawyer review every word.”
“You don’t trust me?” Rafe asked with a grin.
“Sure, but my mama didn’t raise no fool.”
CHAPTER TWO
CHARLIE CHECKED THE saddle one last time, then patted Mason’s side. “Ready?” she asked her horse.
He snorted, which she took to mean yes, then led him out of the barn.
The morning still had a touch of coolness, although it would climb to nearly ninety later in the afternoon. The sky was blue and she was going on a ride. It was already shaping up to be a good day in a pretty good life. She had a job she liked, friends she could depend on and a place where she belonged.
From the corner of her eye, she saw movement and turned. Clay Stryker strolled toward her.
“Heading out?” he asked with an easy smile. “Want company?”
The word that came to mind was no. She didn’t want company. She wanted to ride alone because she preferred it that way. But he was new in town and what with one of her best friends marrying one of his brothers, not to mention her other best friend getting engaged to another Stryker brother, she was going to be seeing a lot of him. It was simply the nature of living in Fool’s Gold.
She eyed his body-hugging jeans and idly wondered if they cost less or more than her monthly house payment. “You know how to ride?”
The smile turned into a grin. The flash of amusement in his dark eyes gave her the answer before he spoke. “I think I can figure out how to hang on. Give me five minutes.”
He turned toward the barn. She found herself staring at his butt, which was as spectacular as it had been the last time she’d seen him. Being physically perfect must be interesting, she thought, leaning against Mason and scratching behind his ears. Clay managed to get her attention, which was something of a trick. Maybe if she spent the afternoon with him, she would feel that flicker again. As her goal was to solve her “man” problem, having a source for flickers and maybe even tingles was a good thing. If he could get her fired up for normal guys, all the better. She would be healed and able to get on with her life.
He returned within the five minutes, a saddled horse walking behind him. She took in the long legs and perfect face. He sure was easy on the eyes.
“I recognize speculation in that look,” he said as he approached. “Should I be worried?”
“Not about me.”
She stuck her foot in the stirrup and swung up and over, landing lightly in the saddle. Clay
