it.” He’d picked up a pen and a sheaf of papers, effectively dismissing Liam. Then he’d glanced up again. “I’ve told her the final call is yours. You’re the one who knows the ranch best.”
A real rancher would have been embarrassed to admit that he didn’t know his own ranch as well as his foreman. Not Perry.
One more month, Liam had told himself that day. After that, whatever happened at the Perry Ranch wouldn’t matter to him. But even as he’d thought it, he’d known that wasn’t entirely true.
His own father had once been foreman here, and Liam had practically grown up on this ranch. It would always mean something to him even though it would no longer be his main focus. So he still would look out for the ranch’s long-term interests. Even while planning for his own.
“Fine. I’ll meet her in Houston,” Liam had said as he’d watched his boss. “I’ll give her a half hour. No more.”
Sterling had shrugged. “Works for me.” Then he’d busied himself with paperwork, and Liam took the not so subtle hint.
He’d stalked out of the big man’s office and closed the door behind him. Meeting Chloe Hemsworth wasn’t high on his list of things to do since here at the ranch they had two mares ready to foal and the vet coming to start inoculations on the cattle, not to mention the fact that Liam was busy training his own replacement. “How the hell am I supposed to work in a meeting with some society woman with too much time on her hands?”
“She’s not like that.”
Liam had stopped and turned toward the grand staircase that curved in an elegant sweep up to the second floor of the mansion. Esme Sterling had stood at the bottom of those stairs, and she smiled as she walked toward him.
Esme was tall, with long, straight blond hair, blue eyes that never missed much and an easy smile. In Liam’s experience, she was the one exception to the rule that rich, high-society females were useless. And she was a friend.
“Didn’t see you there,” Liam had said, grateful he hadn’t been complaining about her father out loud.
“Yes, I know.” She’d shrugged, tucked her hands into the pockets of her pale gray slacks and said, “I found out a long time ago that you can learn all kinds of interesting things if people don’t realize you’re around.”
Liam had grinned. “Sneaky, are you?”
“I prefer covert,” Esme had said, still smiling. “Look, Liam, I know my father can be...challenging.”
He snorted. As a PR executive at Perry Holdings, Esme spent most of her time explaining her father’s actions and guarding the family company. But of all the Perry kids, Esme had always been a friend.
“But he’s right in this. I know you don’t want to talk to Chloe, but she’s not what you think she is.”
Not convinced, he’d snorted again. “You mean she’s not the daughter of a rich man with more money than sense?”
“I didn’t say that,” Esme had allowed. “But Chloe’s more than that. She’s working hard to make a life for herself, and I would think you more than anyone could understand that.”
He could and that bothered him. Still, in his experience, wealthy women were mostly concerned with their hair and being seen at all the right parties.
“She’s really nice and very driven,” Esme had said, then paused. “Like you.”
“Driven?” Liam had been unconvinced. He and Esme had been friends for a long time, so he didn’t take offense at the word. But he also didn’t believe it applied to him.
“Oh, please.” She’d waved one hand as if wiping away his disbelief. “You’ve always known exactly what you want, and you’ve devoted yourself to getting it.”
All right, he’d silently conceded, maybe driven was the right word to describe him. Liam had planned out his life a long time ago, and finally that plan was becoming a reality. “Okay, I’ll give you that. But how are Chloe and I in any way alike?”
“Because she’s plotting her own course, too. She’s a friend, Liam, and all she’s asking is to be heard.”
“About a camp for little girls. On the ranch.”
One eyebrow had lifted. “So only little boys are allowed to dream of being a cowboy?”
Neatly boxed in, he’d bowed his head. “You got me. I’ll hear her out.”
“And give her a fair chance,” Esme had said.
“And give her a fair chance.”
“Thanks, that’s all I’m asking.” Esme had walked closer. She’d reached up, kissed his cheek and patted his shoulder at the same time. “Now, don’t pout because you gave in. It’s so unattractive.”
He’d laughed and left the house, shaking his head at the Perry family. Sterling got his way through intimidation. Esme did the same thing with a smile and reason. He preferred Esme’s way.
“Hey, man!” Mike elbowed him and instantly Liam came up out of his thoughts like a drowning man breaching the water’s surface. Memories of those conversations with Sterling and Esme washed away, and he faced the foreman-to-be.
“What?”
Mike laughed shortly. “You were somewhere else.”
“Yeah, too much on my mind,” he admitted, and couldn’t wait for the day when all he had to think about was his own ranch, his own life, his own damn future.
Until then, Liam would meet the Hemsworth woman, hear her out and then get back to the real world of ranching.
Liam and Mike walked across the ranch yard toward the corral where one of the men was putting a steel-gray stallion through its paces. The horse was stubborn as hell, didn’t like a bridle and pretty much thought running in circles in a corral was a waste of time. Liam couldn’t blame him. It was exactly how he felt about the last several years.
Mike, already comfortable in his new role as “almost foreman,” climbed the corral fence to lend the cowboy a hand. Liam watched the show, but his mind wasn’t on the horse or the men in front of him. Instead, he thought about his own place, and how damned eager he was to be there.
Liam threw a long glance over his shoulder at the big house that Sterling had inherited from his late wife. Sterling Perry might not be much of a rancher himself, but the man had always loved this place and he knew how to put on a show. The house was big enough for four families to live in. It gleamed such a bright white when the sun hit it, a man could be blinded. Not to mention the hot Texas sun glancing off the million or so windows on the place. It was showy and fancy and suited Sterling down to the ground.
On Liam’s own place though, the house he’d had built was a two-story log house with wide porches that wrapped around both the upper and lower floors. It was big enough for the family he might decide one day to have, but not so damn big a kid could get lost in it.
A flicker of shame slapped him as he told himself he shouldn’t be thinking badly of Sterling Perry. The man had his problems, but
