Chapter Eleven

Reba

Shane's father was at the breakfast table waiting for them when they got up the next morning. "So, Reba, how would you like to take a look at the herd today?"

"She's going to ride out with me, Dad." Shane laid a hand on his father's shoulder and gave him a warning squeeze. "She's here on a mini-vacation, not to work as a veterinarian."

"I wasn't about to put her to work," Bill sputtered.

Bullshit.Reba hid her smile behind her coffee cup.

After breakfast, she and Shane headed out to the barn. The ranch had Viking accents all around from the runes engraved on the doorframes to the Nordic artwork and wood carvings around the farm.

The weather was brisk this time of year, so she borrowed a sheepskin jacket from the barn. It smelled like Shane, and it wrapped around her like hug. She saddled up on a sturdy Morgan horse that had a disposition that was neither sweet nor surly. Reba got the impression that the horse couldn't care less if he had a rider on his back or not.

The Viking Ranch was impressive. She enjoyed the wide-open spaces and the bustling nature of the farm. They spent the day riding around, stopping for a picnic lunch from the basket that Mary had made them this morning.

"Does Lainey spend a lot of time here?" Reba asked when Rick passed by with a wave as he rode through, close by where they were sitting.

"Not as much time as she'd like. She runs a restaurant in town, but she'd rather be a rancher's wife. Unfortunately, Rick is not in a hurry to make that happen."

"I hope he doesn't wait too long," Reba said. "He might lose her. You can't expect a girl like that to wait around forever."

"Yeah, you're preaching to the choir. It's what my father and I have been saying for the past two years now. I don't know why he's hesitating. It's obvious he's crazy about her. And vice versa. I think he's waiting for my father to retire, though."

"Why?"

"With my father in charge, all decisions have to go through him. When he retires, Rick and I will be co-owners. We can get a lot of stuff done that we've been wanting to do. Rick, in particular, wants to take the ranch into the future or at least the twenty-first century. I think once he has the autonomy to do what he wants, he'll feel more settled and settle down."

"What about you?"

"I like the old ways. It's how we've always done it. It's how my great-grandfather built this ranch. It's not that I don't trust new technologies. I'm not an idiot. I can see how much easier machines and computers have made our lives. But on the other hand, the machines can't take the place of human intuition and human sweat and work ethic."

"Yeah, I can see that. But it's getting harder and harder to make ends meet. And if you can save some money off your bottom line by streamlining processes, it's a good idea to at least look into that."

"I know it. And I'm a little bit more reasonable about it than my father is. He just shuts Rick down without explanation, and Rick doesn't want to argue with him unless it's a life-or-death situation. So, the ranch has been floundering in the last couple years because my father's too stubborn to try something new, and my brother's not aggressive enough to force his hand."

"And you're caught in the middle?" she asked.

"I was never a part of all this until my accident forced me to be. Nowadays, I'm just trying to make sure that our bulls have a place to shine. Not only so they can be rodeo athletes in their own right, but also so we can attract other breeders who are looking to produce their own bloodlines from our championship bulls. I think that's where the future of this ranch is. Rick sees the bigger picture and has a good handle on making it all work."

"What is stopping your father from retiring?" Reba asked.

"I think he wants to see the ranch settled both in the rodeo as well as with selling cattle at auction. It's why it's going to be so hard to convince him to agree to the UPRC's exclusive terms. In the long run, I think it can only benefit us. In the short run, we might take a small monetary hit. But Rick and I have prepared for that. We've got enough of a nest egg that we could weather a few rough years."

"The contract is for five years," Reba said.

Shane winced. "Yeah, that's the problem. We're either going to suffer for a couple years, and then bounce back or we're going to tank completely. I'm hoping this may be the big break we're looking for. But it's a gamble, and my father is not a gambling man."

"What can I do to help?" she asked.

"Honestly just by you being in the room, it guarantees he's not going to fly off the handle. He'll be concentrating on making a good impression on you. Not because he thinks you and I are together, it's because he's hoping to pick your brains for some free veterinarian services."

"Are we together?" she teased.

"I think so."

Pleasure tickled up from her toes all the way to her ears and Reba wanted to wiggle with happiness. "I was hoping you'd said that."

"Good, because I don't want to be near you when you grab the castration tools."

Reba wished that they had a couple more days to spend on the farm. She would have liked to have gotten to know Lainey a little bit better. And she wouldn't even mind taking a look at some of the pregnant cows.

*

Shane

Later on thatnight, the whole family was sitting around the dinner table, eating the most delicious fried chicken and biscuits that Shane had ever experienced. Lainey had outdone herself.

"Lainey, this is amazing. You've got to give me the recipe for the spice blend. My dad will go crazy for this. He's a fried chicken connoisseur," Reba said.

Lainey flushed with delight. "I'd be glad to. So he's a big fan of fried chicken?"

"He dragged my mother to New Orleans one time, and all they did was eat fried chicken at every restaurant that served it. He had scoresheet that he kept in a notebook and took detailed notes on who had the best-tasting fried chicken New Orleans."

That didn't sound like a bad trip. Shane wondered when the rodeo season ended if Reba would be up for a trip like that.

"What was the verdict?" Bill asked.

"You'd have to ask him," Reba said. "All I know is my mother couldn't eat fried chicken for a whole year after that."

"I'll tell you what," Lainey said, "I'll give you my recipe for chicken fried steak, too. That way, she can change it up a bit."

"Speaking of steak," Bill said.

Shane caught Reba's gaze and rolled his eyes.

And because Bill couldn't help himself, they spent the next half an hour discussing care and prevention of his cattle from getting any of the common diseases.

"Dad." Rick groaned after about fifteen minutes more of cross-examination.

"All right, all right," Bill said. "Reba, you're a delight for indulging this old man. You're welcome back anytime. Don't bring kittens with you next time, though."

"Yeah," Lainey said. "Next time, we need bunnies and puppies."

"I'll keep my ear out," Reba said, delighted.

They thought she was joking. Shane had a feeling they were going to be in for a big surprise if someone dumped a litter of puppies near Reba.

But they had procrastinated this discussion long enough. Shane needed an answer to take to Jackson Blevins. He hoped it was going to be the correct one.

"So, Mom and Dad," Shane said. "You've had some time to review the contract. Rick and I have gone over any of the issues we think could come up with the exclusive contract. I think we should do it. So does Rick. Can we get you to sign off on it?"

"I don't have a problem with it," Mary said.

Shane smiled and did a small fist pump under the table.

Bill continued to eat his dinner and, for one annoying moment, Shane thought he was going to pretend that he hadn't heard Shane's question. But after he was done chewing his mouthful of chicken, he said, "I don't like it. The UPRC is too new of an organization to trust our bulls to exclusively. If they were willing to have us without being exclusive, of course, I'm all for that."

"They're getting away from non-exclusivity," Shane said.

"That's because of that doping scandal last year, right?" Bill asked.

They had gone over this. Shane gave a curt nod.

"I don't see what the problem is. Our bulls are clean. They've always been clean. We've never had a problem with our bulls. If the testing is becoming too expensive, all they have to do is stop testing our bulls. Right, Reba?"

"Right," Reba said. "However, their insurance company is not going to let that happen. Maybe in the future, but not right now." She shrugged. "At least, that's the scuttlebutt I've been hearing. My sister, Dolly, says that the UPRC is very concerned about getting their attendance numbers up. So they want the best bulls that they can get. The more exciting the bulls, the more people are going to come out to watch them. It's a great honor for the Viking Ranch to be chosen, especially since you're relative newcomers in the field."

Shane groaned. That was the wrong thing to say.

"Newcomers? My daddy's been doing this, and his daddy was doing it for generations now."

"That's not what I meant," Reba said hurriedly. "I meant new to the UPRC."

"Our reputation is spotless. Always has been. Always will be. We're a family-owned ranch. We don't do any of these new-fangled treatments that could be construed as altering bulls' performance with drugs."

"Of course not," Reba said soothingly, but she had opened up a can of worms.

"I don't think it's a good idea." Bill shook his head.

Shane set his jaw and looked at Rick, hoping for backup. Rick looked at his plate. Dammit, Rick! "If we don't sign with UPRC, we're not going to be able to command a higher price for our bulls at the other rodeos."

"So what?" Bill said. "We'll just apply to more rodeos, then."

That would make Shane's job a whole lot harder. "Even then, we're not guaranteed to get in those other rodeos. You want to negotiate from a position of strength. If we achieve the level of being an exclusive supplier to be UPRC, then in five years when our contract is up, that's going to make us more attractive to the other rodeos if we decide to diversify at that time."

"So you want me to hold my dick—sorry, ladies—sit on my hands for five years until this happens? I don't want to wait another five years to retire."

"Then don't," Shane said. "You've been training Rick and I to take over the business since we were kids. You know we're ready to take over. You just need to trust us enough to make the difficult decisions. Rick and I have talked about this, and we've considered all of the risks. Rick and I think we should do this. Don't we, Rick?" He gave his brother a significant look.

Now is the time to step the fuck up.

There was a tense moment when his father looked over at Rick, and Shane thought that Rick was going to capitulate and agree with his father. But Rick nodded and said, "Giving the UPRC exclusive rights for the next five years is the best decision we can make for the Viking Ranch's breeding program and for our stock trade."

Shane let out a slow breath and wanted to reach over and grip Reba's hand, but he didn't want to distract from what was going on at the table.

"Reba, do you think my sons are right and I should give the UPRC their exclusive?"

Reba looked uncomfortable and he was sorry that his father had put her in an awkward position, but she rallied and said, "Shane and Rick believe it is. And they have nothing but the best interests of the ranch in mind. They want it to succeed just as much as you do."

"It's their future," Bill said. "That's why it's so important."

Reba nodded.

Bill took a deep breath and crossed his arms over his chest. "All right, we'll do it your way. We'll see how it goes, and if I like what I see, maybe I'll retire down to Florida before next season."

"You don't have to go to Florida, if you don't want to," Shane said. "You can just retire on the ranch."

"What's the point of retiring, if you don't get to sit your butt on a boat and fish all day?"

"Amen," Mary said. "There's a marlin with my name on it."

Bill beamed at her.

Shane whooped and he and Rick high-fived across the table.

"All right, settle down," Mary said.

But then Rick went over and lifted their mom out of her chair and swung her around.

"Stop. I'm going to be dizzy," she said.

Dessert was a peach cobbler that Lainey had baked, and Shane thought again that Rick was a fool for not marrying her. But that was none of his business.

If the UPRC worked out for them they could all start looking to the future. Shane glanced over at Reba. And see about who they could spend it with. He and his ex-wife had already gotten hitched in Vegas before Shane had taken her home to meet his family. It hadn't started things off on the right foot. He and Reba were a long way away from marriage, but this could be the start of something great. Sure, he wasn't ever going to be a bull-riding rodeo star again, but a successful bull breeder wasn't bad boyfriend material.