“Wow. Don’t you know who that is, Nanna? They’re like the biggest tech company in the country.” Jess took one last sip of her cocoa and rinsed her mug out.
“Bucky and I don’t exactly keep up with new stuff.” Nanna swept her hand around the kitchen, which looked exactly the same as Jessica’s childhood memories. “Cord came out to the ranch the week after the funeral and talked to Bucky and me for two hours. He seemed to want an excuse to hang around, and we gave him one.”
“What do you mean?”
“We hired him.” Nanna continued her explanation as she opened the dishwasher and loaded it. “As Cord puts it, he’s going to bring Sage Valley Ranch into the twenty-first century. He’s revamping our entire computer system—the accounting, the webpage, the payroll software… everything. And he promised to teach us how to keep it going when he’s gone.”
“That’s nice of him.” Jess knew they couldn’t be paying him much.
“To be honest, we’re counting on him to get us back in the black.” Nanna loaded the last plate and shut the dishwasher, turning to face Jess. “Cord’s doing some kind of profit and loss analysis on the ranch. We’ve been running half empty the past few years, even in the summer, and Bucky had to take out an operating loan. If we don’t turn things around, we’ll have to close the doors.”
“Shut down Sage Valley Ranch?” Jess jumped to her feet and marched to stand nose to nose with her grandmother. “Why didn’t you tell me things were tight, Nanna? Listen to me… I’m working free this summer. I absolutely insist.”
Nanna’s finger wagged in Jessica’s face. “This is exactly why Bucky and I didn’t tell you. We knew you’d throw a fit about being paid. But the truth is we really need you. I had to bribe your mother with one of my antique quilts to let you spend the summer here instead of with them in Oklahoma.”
“She traded me for an old blanket. I see what I’m really worth,” Jess teased.
“I’m counting on you to lead the trail rides. Cord saved us a lot of money, staffing the summer positions with volunteers.” Nanna bent to check the contents of the oven. “Unfortunately, none of them know much about horses.”
“What are they good for?” In Jessica’s opinion, nothing else was important.
“Lots of other stuff. He put his head together with Charlotte, and they came up with some creative ideas. Two girls are leading daily outdoor yoga and workout classes. Cord has a couple of the guys in charge of water sports.” With a clean sponge, Nanna wiped her already spotless counters. “He’s also set up daily activities aimed at elementary-aged kids, to give parents a chance to go off on their own.”
“That sounds pretty good,” Jess admitted. Jess liked Charlotte, or Charlie as she liked to be called, who was in charge of guest relations at the ranch.
“He’s already got us booked solid for the summer. I think we’ll be out of the red in no time, although Cord’s still worried about the cattle production end of things.”
Jessica’s mind churned. “I’ll let you pay me at the end of the summer, but only if Sage Valley is making a profit.”
“It’s a deal,” Nanna said. “Cord’s dropping by this morning.”
“He is?” Jess peeled her tongue from the roof of her suddenly parched mouth. She wasn’t ready to face her childhood crush. Her hand rose to touch her hair, pulled up in a hasty bun. She hadn’t even bothered to put on makeup.
I’m probably worried for nothing. He can’t possibly be as cute as the boy from my seventh-grade memories. No one in real life has eyes that blue or shoulders that broad.
“When is he coming?”
Before Nanna could answer, the doorknob rattled, sending Jessica’s stomach into her throat. She whipped around as the door opened. A long, boot-clad leg entered, followed by another. Her eyes traveled upward, past narrow hips and the muscles straining against a black t-shirt, to a strong jaw with a short growth of beard and a full-lipped mouth that set hers to watering. This was not the charming boy of her childhood dreams. Cord Dennison was rugged, handsome, and 100% man. His dark close-cropped hair set off widening crystal blue eyes, the color more intense than any of her faded memories. No wonder she’d been so smitten all those years.
Nanna leaned close and whispered in her ear, jerking her back to reality. “You might want to close your mouth before it gets stuck open.”
2
Before Cord stepped into the Buchanan’s kitchen, he stopped to complete his phone conversation in private.
“But I don’t want to take advantage of your generosity, Mr. Anderson.”
“The way I see it, you’ve stayed right on target with this project, and it’s only costing us half your salary.”
Cord wasn’t surprised at his boss’ good-natured laugh. Finn Anderson, one of the four kingpins at Phantom Enterprises, had proven his compassion as often as his intellect. Cord had been working sixteen hours a day trying to juggle all his responsibiliti
es and keep everyone happy. If only he wasn’t fighting a growing desire to stay in Sage Valley, all would be good.
“I really appreciate you letting me work online.” Cord hesitated. Anderson deserved nothing short of complete honesty. “But I need to tell you something else. Since I’ve been back, I feel like… like maybe I belong here, instead of New York.”
The blood pulsed like a bass drum in Cord’s ears as the seconds ticked by.
“Cord, you have to do what’s best for you, but I won’t give up easy. I recruited you away from Abrams-Madison because I thought your background in creative software development made you perfect for this job. And I was right. As usual.” He chuckled. “Let’s keep this dialogue open. When you call each week, you can tell me what you’re thinking.”