Chapter 35

CHAPTER 35

JESS

H eaven only knew what time the boys had finally gone to bed last night, but thanks to the vodka, I'd fallen asleep quickly and easily. Also thanks to said vodka, my mouth was a tiny bit dry this morning. Mercifully, I hadn't drunk enough to have a full-fledged hangover.

Out on the farm before the sun came up, I went about my chores, my mind surprisingly quiet despite all the upheaval in my life at the moment. After speaking to Austin about it and seeing the fireflies around the equipment, I'd decided to stop worrying.

Slate's team was continuing their assessment, and until that was done, there was no reason to get ahead of myself. Dad would never sell the farm anyway—no matter how much money he was offered for it.

I just had to take Slate's advice and slow down. Focus on taking things one at a time. We'd know what our options would be once we knew and not a second before. So I milked the cows and cleaned the barn, then checked on the crops and chewed my lip as I eyed the old irrigation system.

With the days heating up fast now, we were in for a scorcher of a summer. I really did have to talk to Slate's oil guys about when I'd be able to try drilling for water again. I didn't need their help. All I needed was Bessie and my dad.

Sitting down to drink some coffee from my thermos, I watched the sky come to life, and soon, the farm was stirring. Machinery started up in the distance. The scent of my mother's cooking was in the air when I strode over to the chicken coop and let the creatures out for the day.

They started pecking at the ground and I inhaled, catching a whiff of a clean, linen scent that told me the laundry machines were running now too. I smiled, folding my arms around myself and just breathing it all in for a moment.

I loved this time of day, and even though the whirring of the machinery was new, it had quickly become part of my routine. Dad would never sell this place. Never. This is who we are.

As I headed over to the storage shed to make sure Bessie was in tip-top shape—as tip-top as she could be given her age, anyway—Slate intercepted me. He came out of the house and pressed his hand to his forehead, scanning the fields until he saw me. Then he grinned and jogged over.

Freshly showered and none the worse for wear after his late night with my brother, he had on a clean white tee with his jeans today. I'd noticed that he still hadn't shaved off his developing beard, but he was keeping it neat, which made me wonder if he was taking a break from being clean shaven for now.

I liked this more rugged look on him. Especially since he also hadn't touched his hair product again.

"I thought I'd come see if you need a hand wrapping up so you can join us for breakfast soon," he called as he drew nearer, that grin still on his face. "You keep telling me that I'm not pulling my weight around the farm, so put me to work. Just do it fast. Your mom has another huge spread coming."

I laughed. "Austin's home. She's always trying to fatten him up some before he leaves again. All I have left to do for now is to check on the cows who were suffering from mastitis. I was out there earlier, but Dad will want to know how they're doing."

Nodding, he fell into step beside me and followed me back to the barn. He smiled when he saw Pepper. "She's looking good. Healthy and pain free." As he approached her, he lifted a hand and ran it along her rump, patting her hindquarters as he gave her a smile. "I'm glad you're doing better, girl. How are you feeling?"

When he paused, I giggled. "Are you seriously giving her time to respond?"

She mooed, and he flashed me a smug look over his shoulder. "See? She understood me. That was her saying she feels much better and thanks for helping her out."

"What about Daisy and Marshmallow?" I asked. "Do you want to ask if they're feeling better too?"

I started toward my mahogany brown girls in the corner, giving them each a slow onceover as I approached. Slate's footsteps were quiet behind me, and I was a little bit surprised he was actually following. I'd kind of expected him to stay with Pepper while I checked the others, but as I stopped next to Daisy, he was right beside me.

"What exactly are we looking for?" he asked curiously, the fresh soap scent of him making my mouth water.

He dropped to his haunches when I did. I glanced at him. "It's fairly easy to see mastitis when you know what you're looking for. We'll check the foremilk as well, but that was fine when I was here this morning. Mainly, you're looking for any redness, swelling, or heat."

Slate braced his fingertips on the ground as he leaned over to inspect the cow's udder, his touches gentle when he felt for heat. "Do you see any of that? Because I don't."

"I don't either." I grinned and offered him a high-five. "Well done. Now go grab that pail so we can check her foremilk."

"I thought you said you?—"

"Yeah, but this is about showing you how to check it and what it looks like when they're getting better."

To my surprise, he didn't argue, simply standing up and fetching a pail from the shelf. When he brought it back to me, I wondered why he was suddenly interested in learning about the cows, but I didn't ask. He'd been here a while. I couldn't blame him for just being bored and curious.

After snapping on some gloves, I squeezed Daisy's teat carefully and tipped the pail for Slate to see into it when I was done.

"Do you see that?" I asked. "Previously, she wasn't producing nearly as much as fast, but a reduction in yield is one of the telltale signs of infection. Plus, it looks normal now. If it was watery or yellowish, the infection would still have been active."

Slate nodded thoughtfully before he pushed back to his feet and patted Daisy's neck. Cooing to her, he ran his fingers through her coat. "I'm glad you're feeling better, girl. Remember to thank Jess for doctoring you."

Daisy nudged me with her nose and I chuckled and gave her a pat of my own before we went to check on Marshmallow. "Out of the three, she's the one I'm still a little bit worried about. She was lethargic yesterday and I noticed some swelling in her udder. Here. Let me show you."

I dropped to my haunches once more, and again, Slate followed without even wrinkling his nose. Upon closer inspection, I grinned at Marshmallow as I ran my hand along the side of her udder that had still been swollen before.

"There we go, girl. You're finally looking better too."

"High-five," Slate said, and I thought he was looking at me until he offered his palm to the cow. She stared at him dumbly and he shrugged. Chuckling, he rubbed her shoulder instead. "That's okay. You can leave me hanging. I get it. I should have gone for a low-hoof. My mistake."

Genuine warmth filled my insides at his treatment of my favorite animals. "You're really coming along as a farmer. I'm proud of you."

He chuckled. "I've got a long way to go, but thanks."

"We'd better get to breakfast. Mom won't wait for us for long."

As we left the stall-free barn, I noticed a cloud of dust on the road leading away from the house. Frowning, I squinted into the distance, seeing just enough to make out a flashy car disappearing down the country road at the end of the driveway.

I cursed. "Shit. That was him. Oden Sawyer."

Slate had been talking about the cows, but he stopped abruptly, blinking a few times until he seemed to notice the dust still hanging in the air. "That's weird. He's not usually a morning person."

"I don't give a damn what kind of person he is," I said, picking up my pace as a ball of dread formed in my stomach. "He must've figured the best time to catch my dad in the house is early in the morning."

Slate's jaw clenched, all the ease of the morning wiped away from his features. We hurried over to the house. Bursting through the front door, we found my family in the kitchen, all of them on the same side of the table and staring at a piece of paper with their mouths hanging open.

At least, Mom's mouth was hanging open. Dad just looked dazed, like you could knock him over with a feather. Austin's brown eyes were wide, but moving across the document like he was scanning it repeatedly, just looking for a mistake.

My heart hopped in my chest, skipping and jumping as my blood flooded out of my head and the dread turned to something much more painful in my stomach. "Is that the offer?"

Austin's gaze darted to mine. "You knew about this?"

"Mr. Sawyer came by to talk to Dad yesterday," I explained, my voice barely above a whisper. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get it to go any louder as dizziness took hold of me. "I told him Dad was out and that he could discuss whatever it was about with me. That I'd pass along the message, but he refused and went on his merry way."

My brother nodded slowly, also apparently dazed now. He leaned back in his chair and scrubbed his palms along his cheeks. My knees were weak, but I stumbled over anyway, gripping the back of my mom's chair and looking at the paper over her shoulder.

What I saw hit me like a ton of bricks. Holy mackerel. Oden wasn't lying.

The offer he'd made my dad was staggering. More than just staggering. It was unbelievable. Not the kind of money regular folk like us saw in five lifetimes.

In my mother's hands was a check with more zeroes on it than I'd ever seen. More zeroes than I thought I ever would.

I couldn't even comprehend that amount of money. I stumbled back and a strong arm caught me, guiding me into a chair. When I glanced sideways, I saw it was Slate helping me, but I couldn't thank him.

I couldn't find my voice.

Just an hour ago, I'd been thinking that my dad would never sell, but that had been before I knew how much money Oden Sawyer would be offering. An amount we really would be foolish to refuse.

My eyes slammed shut and my lungs shrank.

Meanwhile, it seemed my family had been released from the initial shock the offer had on them. Mom let out a sharp breath, and when I opened my eyes to check that she was okay, she was smiling at my dad.

"Well, that was unexpected," she said.

He nodded enthusiastically, wrapping his fingers around his coffee and staring into its muddy depths like it held the secrets to the universe. Austin, on the other hand, was suddenly grinning like a maniac.

"Fifty million? Fifty. Million . Dollars." He pumped his fist in the air and did a little dance on the spot. "We're rich, guys. Come on. Where's the champagne? We have to celebrate."