Chapter 62

CHAPTER 62

SLATE

J ess stormed into the house, slamming the door behind her and startling her mother, who was just serving up homemade mac and cheese. Jeanie blinked as she recovered, but she lit up when she saw her daughter and waved her into a seat.

"Honey! You're right on time. Come sit with us. We were just about to listen to Slate's proposition on what to do with the oil."

Jess had stopped moving as soon as she'd appeared in the doorway, but the fury that had been shining as bright as diamonds in her eyes melted to confusion as she took in her mother's words. She blinked hard, suddenly swaying a little like she was out of it before she caught herself on the door frame and nodded, glancing at me on her way into the room.

I frowned. Her hands were still in fists and she glared at me as she sat down. "That sounds perfect, Mom. I'd like to know too. What are we doing with our oil, Slate? Do we even know how much we have yet?"

Something was up with her. I just didn't know what had gotten her so riled up. If she'd gotten home ten minutes ago, I'd have taken her aside to ask, but Jeanie and Doug were already seated, looking at me expectantly as they settled in.

Sighing internally, I nodded at Jess, hoping she would hear me out without jumping to any conclusions—and that she'd forgive me for whatever had made her so angry once she heard my proposal.

"As you know, the team has been spending this week finishing their assessment and the foreman let me know this afternoon that they were done." The room went so quiet that I could hear my own heart beating in my ears even if it wasn't racing. It also wasn't broken, but it felt strangely fractured. The rhythm was even for now.

Calm. Hurt, but not wild.

Doug leaned forward and Jeanie dropped her fork, reaching for his hand without taking her eyes away from mine. Jess was stony faced, but I saw the fury starting to flare back to life as she kept glaring at me.

What the fuck? Mentally, I shook my head at myself. Focus, Slate.

"I've read over the final report and you were right, Doug. There was a reason you got offered so much for the property. It turns out you're sitting on a gold mine."

The man himself slumped back in his chair, the relief radiating from him palpable. Jeanie glanced at him, tears in her eyes. She smiled, but neither of them interrupted me. To my surprise, Jess didn't look relieved or even happy.

Her features were even harder now than they had been before.

I frowned at her, wondering what on earth was going on, but she just shook her head at me. "So what happens now?"

"That's what I'm getting to," I said patiently. I needed to do this the right way, and that meant explaining everything to them as I spoke. "Now that we know exactly what you've got, selling the farm or that portion of it is a definite option to consider. We'd be able to provide any potential buyer with that report and it puts in a strong position to start negotiating from."

Jess opened her mouth, but since I could see from the look in her eyes that she was about to snap at me, I kept going quickly, needing her to know that wasn't what I thought they should do. "However, I know that selling isn't an option you'd like to seriously consider unless you absolutely have to."

Jess slammed back in her chair, folding her arms and arching an eyebrow at me. "Does that mean you haven't already sold it?"

"What?" I felt my features contorting, unable to help it. "What are you talking about?"

Even Doug frowned at Jess. "Are you okay, honey?"

She sighed, nodding at him before turning back to me. "I think it's time you landed the plane, Slate."

"Right," I said, confused as all get out but that would have to wait. "As farmers, I've gotten to know your values pretty well, I think. I know you don't want your own day-to-day lives or the lives of your neighbors to be disrupted by big oil companies. If you decide to lease the land to any of them and to continue drilling for more oil, that's what would happen."

The family nodded, Jess inching forward on her seat while Doug's gaze became unfocused and Jeanie flinched. "Is there any way to avoid that?"

I rocked my head from side to side. "I think I've found a way and I've run it by Mira. She's onboard."

At the mention of her friend's name, Jess blinked away her suspicion and leaned forward a little more, her expression suddenly open. "What has Mira got to do with this?"

"Well, the only way you're going to turn any kind of profit here without selling the land is by leasing it, but then I started wondering if there was some kind of middle ground, and if you agree, I think I've found it."

"You have?" Jess asked.

I nodded. "My plan is that you go into business with Mira."

At the stunned expressions on their faces, I relaxed a little bit, not seeing a trace of defiance or hostility anywhere. Not even from Jess.

Suddenly feeling a little bit more enthusiastic, I pitched them the same thing I had to my sister this afternoon. "I suggested to Mira that you use my crew, the guys who are already here and familiar with the drill, and that you hire locals for all other labor. There will be a lot of work, so you'll be able to employ quite a few people from the area to help."

Jess blinked hard, Doug was starting to smile, and Jeanie nodded. I grinned. "Mira will handle sales to small clients instead of mega oil corporations. Smaller loads would be acceptable to these clients since they don't have the capacity to handle more than that themselves. Money would come in steadily instead of a giant lump sum, but it would be guaranteed for years to come."

"How much are we talking per year?" Doug asked. "If we'd need to employ so many people and pay the existing crew, would it be enough to make it a viable enterprise?"

"Five hundred thousand to a million," I said. "It depends entirely on how much access you'd be willing to provide for transport. Mira's confident that she could sell that without breaking a sweat. I know it's not what you were hoping, but?—"

Doug shook his head at me. "A steady income like that without having big oil on our land and without selling the farm or losing our home?" He grinned like a schoolboy. "Sounds like a damn good plan to me, son. Are you sure your sister is onboard with it?"

"Absolutely," I assured him. "I was on the phone to her most of the afternoon. She's writing up a formal business plan for you as we speak, but she's willing to guarantee the amounts I mentioned in a year. The more access you're willing to provide, the higher you'll be on that scale. Obviously, it will also depend on pricing, but Mira's got the clients and she's not worried about the sales as much as she is about protecting your land."

"We'd be able to control who comes onto the farm and how often?" Jeanie asked. "No more cretins like Oden Sawyer or others just coming and going as they please?"

"No more cretins like Oden Sawyer," I said confidently. "You'd have complete control. I've spoken to this crew as well and most of them are willing to stay on the job. They know they'd be working for you and they're happy to do it."

I glanced at Jess. "I know you needed those fields for grazing, but unfortunately, if you decide to do this, there's no way the cows would be able to get anywhere near the site. We'd also have to cordon off sections of the farm for the transport vehicles."

I saw her swallowing hard, but she swiped her tongue across her lips and nodded, a slow smile spreading across her face. "We'll be able to afford feed to supplement the grazing area. The drilling would be contained to that area though, right?"

"Yep," I said. "The rest of the farm will remain untouched. All of the logistics would be up to you and it'll take some time for things to settle, but once it does, I really think this is your best shot at having it all."

"Thank you, Slate," Jeanie said warmly, getting up and coming over to embrace me. She wrapped her arms around me in one of those motherly hugs I'd come to crave, holding me tight. Her voice cracked when she spoke again. "I knew you could do it, you know. I knew you'd find a way to take care of everything. Thank you."

Doug sniffled, beaming at me from across the table with what I could swear were tears glistening in his eyes. "She's right. We knew you'd protect us. We're going to need some help getting things started, but handling the logistics doesn't sound impossible."

"Of course," I agreed as Jeanie pulled away. "I'm more than willing to help with whatever you need and I'll take care of the logistics on behalf of the family if you'll have me. Mira agreed to let me manage the project, so if it's alright with you, I'll oversee it to make sure everything goes according to plan."

" If it's alright with us." Jeanie scoffed, ruffling my hair before she went back to her chair and laughed. "We wouldn't have it any other way, honey."

"If my understanding is correct," Doug said slowly. "What this means is that we'll just be able to sit here, in our house, and go about business as usual while making money from the oil? We wouldn't need to take on anything extra ourselves, and we'd still be getting those profits?"

I nodded. "It's nice to be an oil baron, isn't it?"

He laughed, tipping his head back before he shook it. "I can't believe it. It feels too good to be true."

"It's not," I said, grinning as I finally picked up my cutlery. "It's all real, Doug. Mira promised she'd have the business plan ready for me by the morning. I'll review it and we'll sit down to discuss it before you sign. I've even got a lawyer ready to work through it with you."

Jeanie reached for her husband's hands again, scooting closer to him and turning so she could rest her forehead against his. He mirrored her movements, only his arms slid around her hips, and together, they just sat there for a moment.

I smiled. God, I want what they have.

Averting my gaze to give them some privacy, I glanced at Jess. She'd been surprisingly quiet through all of this, but when I looked at her, I realized why. Her eyes were wide, staring into the middle distance like she'd been stupefied, not even blinking. If it hadn't been for the rapid rising and falling of her chest, I'd have been afraid she wasn't breathing.

As I watched, however, she slowly seemed to come back to life, an apology in her eyes as they met mine. She dragged in a deep breath as she grimaced. "I ran into Oden in town earlier. He called me a sellout and I assumed the worst. I'm sorry, Slate. Thank you for this. You've just made all my dreams come true."

My heart jerked. All her dreams? Good to know.

Instead of being hurt about the fact that I clearly wasn't part of those dreams, I nodded and gave her a genuine smile. "I'm just happy I could help. You guys deserve this, Jess. I'm glad we could find a way to make it work."