Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

JESS

A mused even as I still felt a bit shell-shocked, I brushed a kiss to my mom's cheek as I got up to follow after Slate and my dad. "I'd better go with them. I want to hear what he's got to say about all this."

Mom nodded, but laughter twinkled in her eyes as she watched me stand and walk around the table. "He's very handsome. You didn't mention Mira had such an attractive brother."

My face burst into flames, but I shrugged and hurried toward the door, sending her a teasing smile once I reached it. "I didn't mention it because I didn't notice. I was too busy doing bridesmaid-y things."

Like hooking up with the best man, but hey. It's the bridesmaid-iest of bridesmaid-y things to do.

Mom chuckled. "You're blushing, darling. Perhaps you should consider taking some deep breaths before you go after them."

I groaned but ignored her advice, jogging out of the house to catch up with them. They'd already reached the pickup outside, and while Dad seemed to have been expecting me, Slate certainly hadn't.

Surprise registered on his features when he saw my father motioning for me to climb into the truck ahead of him. I did, explaining the situation to a truly dumbfounded-looking Slate as he slid in beside me on the bench seat in the cab of Dad's truck.

"The farm is pretty big," I said, glancing at him from the corner of my eye and trying to ignore the fact that his shoulder was touching my own. "It's quite a distance from here to where we found it. In this heat, it's much better to drive."

Dad climbed in behind the steering wheel and nodded his agreement with what I'd said. "We try to save on fuel costs by walking when we can, but we don't want to waste your time and it's too hot out now anyway."

Dad turned over the engine and it sputtered to life, vibrating a bit until he shifted it into gear. The old truck bumped and bounced along the dirt road as he drove us away from the house, with me in the middle and the gearshift between my legs. I had half a mind to wrap my fingers around the thing and stroke it a few times just to see if I could get a rise out of Slate, but he wasn't here for me to toy with.

I'd sure enjoyed his company that night, but he was here to help us. Plus, the last thing I wanted was for my dad to find out what we'd done, so I refrained from any vulgar joking and sat back in my seat instead.

With Slate directly next to me though, I could smell his cologne drifting to my nostrils with every breath I took. It smelled damn good too, woodsy and masculine, but fresh at the same time. Also, who wears cologne to a farm? Or a suit for that matter? What. A. Dork.

A hot dork, to be fair, but clearly, he was going to have to get used to a few things if he was really going to be sticking around to guide us with this. I kept my helpful suggestions to myself for now though, tuning into the conversation they'd started up instead.

"How did you find it?" Slate asked my father, his voice polished and professional. "My sister mentioned something about digging for water, but I haven't heard the story yet. Did you really not have any idea what was there? Suspicions?"

Dad glanced at me with a knowing grin playing on his lips. "Jess is probably dying to tell you. I'll let her do it."

"We had no idea. No suspicions. It was all just a happy, stinking surprise." I smiled excitedly, launching into the story and ending it by rubbing my hands together. "How are you going to help make us rich because of it?"

"It's a lot of paperwork, checking boxes, and red tape, but we'll get there," he said.

Dad parked and we piled out of the truck. Slate had slipped his sunglasses back on after he'd left my parents' house, so I couldn't see his eyes as they swept across the field, but I could practically feel him assessing it all. For a long minute, his head moved slowly from side to side as he took it in. Then he glanced at my dad.

"You own this property, correct?"

Dad nodded. "Every last acre."

"Good," Slate said. "That will make things easier. You're absolutely sure there's no boundary with a neighbor nearby or anything like that?"

"No, there definitely isn't," I said, lifting a hand to point at the tree line in the distance. "The forest wraps around the farm. Our property's borders are on the outsides of those trees."

Slate dropped his chin in a curt nod, not physically scribbling down notes but certainly looking like he was taking them mentally. He also didn't produce a shred of paper or reach for his phone, but he seemed to be working his way through some kind of checklist.

"Does anyone else have any rights to this land?" he asked next. "Any encumbrances, easements, or a lease agreement for grazing, perhaps?"

"Nothing of the sort," Dad said confidently. "The Merricks have owned this property and farmed this land alone for only a couple of decades shy of a century. To the best of my knowledge, no one else has had any formal rights to any part of the property in all that time."

Slate smiled. It was just a slight curve of his lips, dragging the corners upward, but he seemed genuinely happy with my dad's answers so far. "Do you own the mineral rights to the land?"

Dad nodded. "We do."

"Can you prove it?" Slate removed his sunglasses to give my dad an apologetic look. "I'm sorry to have to ask, but I've seen it happen countless times that the documentation is lost and the state doesn't honor it. You have to have a physical copy."

Nerves shot through me when Dad didn't answer immediately. Instead, he blinked a few times fast and swiped his tongue across his lips. "I'm not sure about that, to be honest. I know for a fact that we own the mineral rights, but I've never had to look for the paperwork. It might be in the study at the house. All my father and grandfather's papers pertaining to the land should be in there."

"What happens if we can't find it?" I asked, all thoughts about teasing him and the memories of the night we spent together vanishing from my head. This was a potential disaster and it was making me feel sick to my stomach.

Especially when Slate glanced at me and grimaced. "Odds are that if you can't find it, the state will obtain the rights to the oil and everything else they might find under your land. As it sells the oil, you're likely to get a percentage of the profit, but that's it."

We all looked at him as he continued.

"It's not enough to make you rich," he added when he obviously saw the dollar signs flashing in my eyes.

I wasn't greedy. Personally, I didn't give a crap about money outside of what we needed to keep the farm and for my parents to grow old without having to worry. Discovering that oil had given me hope for the first time in a long time that an easy future was possible for them, golden years in which they wouldn't have to carry the weight of the farm in their hearts with every step they took.

My shoulders slumped when I realized that might not be the case. "Of course, the freaking government is going to rip us off at the first sign of a loophole."

Dad reached out and gave my arm a warm squeeze even as he cast a worried look at the ground. "Our first order of business is finding that documentation, then. Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Jessie. We'll take it one step at a time."

Slate's gorgeous but intense dark eyes found mine, and I saw a gleam of confidence in them that reassured me more than even Dad's squeeze. He and I had only had one night together, but I felt like I could trust him.

Not only because I trusted Mira and I knew her family's history in the industry, but also because Slate hadn't made me any promises he hadn't kept. He'd been perfectly transparent with me that night, honest and open to a fault.

While the expression on his face was definitely serious, I didn't see any doubt there. He wasn't suggesting that the government was going to swoop in and take it all from us, but he'd wanted us to be prepared and he was starting this process where it had to begin.

I respected that. Spinning out wasn't going to help anything, so I held his gaze and nodded. "One step at a time, it is."

"While you're looking for it, it would be a good idea to remove the digger and to cover the hole with soil for the time being so it doesn't draw any unwanted attention. While we're going through the steps of getting legal drilling rights, the last thing we need is some greedy asshole breathing down our necks to try and take it right out from underneath you."

"Okay," I said, accepting his advice without question. That was why I'd called Mira, after all. When it came to oil, their family knew what they were doing as well as we did when it came to farming. I wouldn't argue with a suggestion that made sense to even me. "How do we clean up the topsoil?"

"The soil will do it itself," he said. "The oil will seep back into the earth and the organic matter will absorb it. If left long enough, it will even be as if this never happened. If all goes well though, you'll be drilling again in no time. This is just a temporary measure."

Slate gave the digger a skeptical onceover. "Drilling with better equipment next time as well, I hope."

I put my hand on the old machine and gave it an affectionate pat. "Old Bessie here might be out of date, but she's well cared for. She's also all we can afford."

"I might be able to help with that," Slate said.

Dad grinned at him. "Do you need any more time out here, or should we head back?"

"In a few," he said. "If it's okay, I'd just like to take a quick walk around the site. Check it out."

Dad inclined his chin in a nod. "Of course. Jess and I will wait for you in the truck. Take all the time you need."

Slate slipped his sunglasses back over his eyes and took off, walking around to the far end of the tainted soil, cursing and shaking his foot when he got his shoe covered in mud. I sighed, wondering if I would ever be able to trust him as completely as Mira obviously did.

He was her brother, so obviously, she'd have all the faith in the world in him. I wouldn't question him arbitrarily and I really wouldn't argue with his advice or suggestions because I genuinely didn't know any better, but all I saw when I looked at him right now was a flashy guy who clearly cared a lot about profit.

Was he really doing this as a favor to his sister, like she'd told me he was? Or was he only doing it for personal gain? And if so, how much did he care about our land and ensuring that we kept it? When I phrased the question like that, it scared me to think that I didn't have the answer.

And yeah, his family were the experts. I did trust him to a certain extent. I also didn't want to cause unnecessary waves, but I had to be cautious. Something deep down inside was nagging at me as I watched him walk our land, checking that fancy watch every so often and finally trudging back to the truck.

There was trust, and then there was blind faith—the latter of which I just didn't have in him right now.

I needed to find out more about Slate Spieres and his intentions here. I just didn't quite know how to do it—not without stepping on any toes or pissing off the tired mother of a newborn son, anyway. I inhaled deeply, uncertain but knowing that I would find a way.

When it came to Merrick Meadows, I always did.