Chapter 32

CHAPTER 32

SLATE

A fter another long but pleasant day on the farm, I was heading downstairs for dinner when Jess cornered me on the landing. Ever since Doug and I had gotten back from the site this afternoon, I caught her giving me all these funny looks, but when I'd tried to talk to her about it earlier, she'd slipped out the back door, loudly announcing that she needed to go check on the cows.

I smiled when she penned me in against the banister. "Weird. I had a feeling you were avoiding me today."

As I lifted my hand to bring it to her cheek, she smacked it away. A glint of steel suddenly appeared in her eyes as she leaned closer to me. "Who is Oden Sawyer, Slate?"

I frowned, wondering where she'd even heard that name. "Oden? He's an old colleague. Why? Where did you hear about him?"

"Well, maybe I heard about him when he showed up here today looking to buy the farm out from under us," she seethed quietly. "That's why. Good enough for you?"

Her tone was sharp and her nostrils flared. Those things, combined with that steely fire in her eyes, told me that she was beyond pissed—and suspicious. Of me.

I arched an eyebrow at her. "Okay. It's not really much of a surprise that he came here, but I didn't know he would be. He didn't give me a heads-up or anything if that's what you're thinking."

"I'm thinking that I found a picture of you two online, grinning and shaking hands like you were the best of friends."

I frowned, but then it hit me what she was talking about and I chuckled. "Oh, that was the Mumbai High Field deal. Good times."

"Why was he here, Slate?" she hissed, clearly not giving a crap that I hadn't shaken his hand to make a deal about their farm.

I shrugged. "Why am I supposed to know why he came here? How was I supposed to know he was coming? I just told you. He didn't let me know he would be coming out."

"But you said it wasn't a surprise that he was here."

"Uh. Sure." I reached for her hips, taking them in a firm grip and not letting go despite her half-heartedly swatting at me again. "It's not a surprise that he came because this is his game, Jess. Clearly, he caught wind of the oil and smelled a profit."

"You didn't tell him?" she asked, those green eyes bright with anger as they moved from one of mine to the other.

I shook my head. "Oden has always been good at showing up where the money is. That's why he represents so many of the big names. He's got a nose for this sort of thing."

Some of the angry light faded from her eyes, but there was still plenty of fight left in her clenched fists and tense shoulders. "Well, you tell him to keep his nose away from our farm from now on."

I held her gaze. "I know it must've come as a surprise to you when he showed up, Jess. But this is actually a really good sign."

"A good sign?" she hissed, eyes narrowed and nostrils flaring all over again. "How is it a good sign that he wants to buy my frigging farm?"

"A predator like Oden wouldn't waste his time on your property if he didn't think it would be lucrative," I explained calmly. "He must've done his own research and studies of the land, and he must be confident that you're positioned on several wells at least."

"Having a guy like him around is never a good thing," she insisted. "I don't want to bicker with you, Slate. I'm telling you I don't want him coming around again."

"And I'm telling you that I can't stop him from coming back," I said. "Oden won't leave a deal like this alone until he's been told by the owner of the property—and no one else—that there is no deal to be made. It's his job, and it's one he's exceptionally good at."

"Why are you being like this?" she snapped, aggravation rolling through her as she tossed her arms out to her sides. "Why can't you just be on my side?"

"I am on your side," I said firmly. "I'm not being like anything. All I'm saying is that this is nothing to freak out about, Jess. It was only a matter of time until guys like Oden came around. As soon as word gets out about this kind of thing, a lot of interest is piqued. It's the nature of the business."

"What if more guys like him come pouring in?" she rambled, her eyes suddenly widening as a wild shimmer took them over. "What if people with deep pockets start poking at us to sell? What if the pressure is too much? Or if my parents can't hack it? What if I lose my farm? My legacy. I can't?—"

I took her by the shoulders and bent my knees to look directly into her eyes. "Calm down, Jess. You're spiraling."

Her mouth snapped shut, but her brow furrowed and her eyes were getting wilder by the second. I pulled her in close and held her tight for a moment, squeezing her until I felt her trembling subside. "Listen to me, baby. None of that is going to happen, okay?"

"How do you know?" She scowled when she looked up at me. "You have no way of knowing that for sure."

"I do," I insisted. "Just calm down. I?—"

"When in the history of the world has anyone ever calmed down when someone keeps telling them to?"

I smiled sheepishly. "This isn't Yellowstone , baby." She didn't smile back, so I arranged my expression into a more serious one. "This is what I'm here for, remember? If anyone tries to mess with your farm, I'll be there, standing between them and Merrick Meadows."

When she still didn't smile, I brought my hand to my chest. "Cross my heart and hope to die. If Oden comes back, just call me. I'll deal with him, but this really is a good sign, Jess. Trust me when I tell you that he wouldn't have come out here, especially in person, if he didn't think you had something big."

Finally, she inhaled and the fight left her shoulders. She sighed, her cheeks flushing a little as she blinked away that wild glimmer and nodded at me. "Okay. Thank you. I'm sorry for losing my cool a little bit."

Glancing up and down the stairs to make sure we were still alone, I leaned forward and planted a quick kiss on her forehead. "Don't worry about it. It was nice to see you out of your element for once. God knows, I've spent the last few weeks there."

At last, she cracked a smile. "Glad I could make you happy. Come on. Let's get downstairs. My parents will be waiting and there's a surprise coming."

"A surprise?" I fell into step behind her and wished I could take her hand as we descended.

It was becoming more and more difficult for me to keep my hands off her completely, but just as I decided to give her fingers a quick squeeze, the front door opened and Austin strolled in. Jess squealed and took off, practically jumping into his arms from five stairs up.

He laughed as he caught her, lifting her off her feet and enveloping her in a huge hug. He spun her in a quick circle. "Now that's what I call a warm welcome. How are you, Jessie? You okay?"

"Who's voice is that I hear? Is that…" Jeanie burst out of the kitchen, a wide grin on her face and tears in her eyes as she hurried over to Austin. "My boy! My darling baby boy. What are you doing here?"

"I came to visit for a couple of weeks," he said, and my eyebrows shot up, but I jogged down the few remaining stairs and offered him my hand.

"Austin," I said. "Welcome home. It's good to see you again, man."

Doug came shuffling out of the kitchen too, a confused smile on his lips as he embraced his son in a quick hug. "What's all this about you visiting for a couple of weeks, boy?"

"I had a break between big meetings," he explained. "Everything else can be handled on my behalf at the office and I've got my laptop here so I can work remotely on the rest. I figured I might come camp out on the farm and be here while everything is happening."

"That's great news, my baby," Jeanie gushed, her cheeks flushed with happiness. She took his arm and dragged her son to the dining-room table, practically hip bumping her husband to move over and make some room for Austin.

Doug laughed and let Austin sit next to his mother. He took a seat next to Jess instead. For her part, she didn't seem surprised at his appearance. Instead, she looked just a little bit smug.

At least all that worry and anger were completely gone now. Her eyes shone with excitement as she boasted lightly to her parents. "How surprised are you? And don't worry, Mom. Austin's room is clean and his bedding has been changed."

"You knew?" Jeanie smacked Jess's fingers playfully with the spatula she'd been holding to dish some pie for everyone. "How could you keep this from me?"

"Because we knew it would make you happy," Austin piped up, laughing. He settled into his seat and looked around the table with what appeared to be genuine joy shining in his eyes.

On the other hand, if I'd been having such a joyful reunion with my family, I was sure I'd have been feeling the exact same way. Doug grinned at Jeanie. "Finally, all duckies are under the same roof for a few weeks again."

"I'm not a duckie," Austin protested laughingly.

Jess shot him a sassy roll of her eyes. "And I am? Gee, thanks, big brother."

I chuckled. "Well, I'd be happy to be counted as an honorary duckie."

"Of course, you are," Jeanie said warmly, then heaped a massive piece of chicken pot pie onto my plate. "Eat up, honey. You boys were out there for hours today. You must be famished."

Austin winced when she plopped the same amount of food onto the plate in front of him. "I should've brought bigger clothes along."

I laughed. "I've been worried about the exact same thing since I got here."

Jess grinned at us both from across the table. "Oh, neither of you have to worry about that. I'll put you to work in the morning. You'll shake off all these calories and then some."

Austin groaned. "Some welcome home that is."

She winked at him. "Work is home, Austin. Home is work. It's one and the same thing. Pepper is going to be so happy to see you."

To my surprise, he smiled. "Pepper's still alive? Wow. For some reason I thought she'd gone to the happy hunting grounds and you just didn't tell me."

"As if Jess would ever let that happen," Jeanie said with an amused smile on her lips. "That cow is going to outlive us all."

"Speak for yourself," Doug joked, eagerly tucking into his pie as his wife sat down after serving us all.

Clearly happy to be at the same table again for longer than just a night or two, the Merrick family didn't stop talking or laughing as we had dinner. I couldn't recall a time I'd ever had so much fun around a dinner table—or felt so much like I'd become part of the family.

I love this , I realized, looking around at their smiling faces and pausing on Jess's sparkling eyes as she teased her brother. Holy shit. I really don't ever want to leave.