he quietly asked, “I’m guessing that didn’t work out for you?”
She laughed shortly and shook her head. “No. We went back home, and my father hired a construction crew to renovate the house. I was still dreaming, planning my room, naming my imaginary horse. Then he told us that once the renovations were done, he was selling the ranch at a ‘tidy profit.’”
She could still remember the disappointment, the crushing letdown she’d felt when she had learned that her father had never intended to move his family to that beautiful ranch. She’d felt betrayed, as if he’d allowed her to dream just to crush her.
“A few months later, he did sell it,” she said. “I never went back to the ranch.”
“So,” he said, “you’re trying to redo your own childhood? Is that it?”
“No,” she said softly. She wasn’t that foolish. But she was rewriting her adulthood far away from the plans of her father. “It’s just important to me to foster other little girls’ dreams. I want them to know that they can be and do anything. I know the Perry Ranch has several women working the herds—seeing that in reality would go a long way to showing the girls that anything’s possible. Why is it wrong for me to want to show young girls that their dreams can come true?”
“It’s that important to you.”
It wasn’t a question, but she answered it anyway. “Yes. It is.” Her dreams had been systematically flattened by her father, who instead wanted her to marry well, have children and run the various charities he approved of. Not that she didn’t someday want a husband and kids—but on her terms. And no matter what happened here with Liam Morrow, she was never going to surrender control of her life to anyone else.
Chloe took another breath and confessed, “This would be a test case, sort of. If it took off here, the idea could spread to other ranches, heck, other states.”
“Big plans,” he mused.
“You bet,” she agreed, flashing him a quick look and a smile. “At some point, I want to buy land myself. Set up a permanent camp. Buy horses, cattle, hire wranglers, and have a place where girls can go to dream.”
She watched him take her measure and saw that he wasn’t amused by her dreams, her plans. That was a step in the right direction.
“I can see how important this is to you,” he said. “But I’m not convinced yet.” He shifted his focus from her to the computer screen, then scrolled down the images she had posted.
“I haven’t finished my pitch yet,” she reminded him. And he hadn’t walked out yet, either. Good sign? “If you’ll check the map I posted, you’ll see where I want to set up the tents.”
“Tents,” he repeated. “And with all these girls there, what were you thinking of using for bathroom facilities?”
Chloe winced. This was one of the sticking points she was still working out. “I thought they could use the bunkhouse—”
“I don’t think the ranch hands living there would go for that.”
“It wouldn’t be easy, true.” Actually, she hated the idea of the girls using the bunkhouse bathroom. Because it would be awkward along with a host of other possible problems. “But if that doesn’t work, then maybe Sterling would let them use the bathroom off the kitchen.”
“Know about that, do you?” His gaze shifted to hers.
She smiled. “I’ve been to the Perry Ranch many times.”
“Yeah. For parties.”
“You say that like an insult.”
“I don’t have a lot of time for parties.”
“Well, maybe you should make time,” Chloe countered. “It might help you lighten up a little.”
“I don’t do light.”
She sighed. Seriously, the man was sex on a stick, but his personality was so prickly, she wondered if anyone ever got close enough to find out if he was as good in bed as she thought he was.
“All right then,” she offered. “We could bring in Porta Potties for the week.”
He snorted. “And portable showers?”
“These are just tiny details that I can figure out later,” she said, exasperation setting in. “You’re being deliberately confrontational. I wonder why.”
He unfolded his arms and tucked his hands into the back pockets of his faded jeans. “Because it’s my job to look out for the ranch.”
“It’s not like a handful of girls would be there to destroy anything.”
One eyebrow winged up. “Just the working routine for the ranch hands.”
“Briefly,” she reminded him. “I’m thinking camp would be a week long. And I’m sure we could work out the bathroom issue,” she insisted, and made a mental note to talk to the housekeeper at the Perry Ranch. Chloe was pretty sure the woman would allow a few girls to use her shower for a week.
“Look, this would be a test case. To see if there are enough girls interested.”
“And if there aren’t?”
“Then I drop it,” Chloe said, then added quickly, “but there will be. If Sterling goes along with this, we could hold one camp week a month. I could even pay to have a bunkhouse with bathrooms built on the land.” Inwardly she winced at the idea of taking money out of her savings to do it, but it would be worthwhile.
“So when you eventually move your camp somewhere else—”
Chloe shrugged. “Sterling will have a new bunkhouse he didn’t have to build.”
Outside, the world darkened and the wide front window rattled with a gust of wind. The rain against the glass was heavier now, a continuous assault, and pedestrians hurried along the sidewalk, looking for cover.
Liam straightened up, looked down at her and Chloe felt a rush of heat. Amazing that a man who irritated her so much could cause such a reaction.
“You said at some point you’ll be looking for a permanent place?”
“Well,” she said, amazed that he would ask, “yes. This isn’t a one-off thing. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, and I really believe that girls will love it.”
“Uh-huh,” he answered wryly. “And you think Sterling will be willing to just donate you a piece of his ranch to have children running loose?”
Truthfully, she didn’t know if he would or not. That would be lovely, but she had plans if that didn’t happen. “I can buy land from him or maybe even another rancher not far from Houston.”
He snorted.
She was really getting tired of that sound.
“Of course you can.”
Chloe
