“Just might,” his mama muttered.
Jace didn’t keep his mother waiting long the next morning. He showed up just after sunrise, wishing he’d been up earlier to help his father with the morning chores.
“You’re in some trouble,” he said to her when he walked into the kitchen.
“By the look on your face last night when I asked about your trip, I know you aren’t the slightest bit angry with me, Jace Rice. So don’t think you can intimidate me now.”
“Can’t fool you, can I?”
“How is she?”
“As amazing as she’s always been.”
“So forthcoming…I have to admit, I’m surprised. I expected you to be more tight-lipped about her.”
“No sense. Seems you know more about how I’m feeling than I do. Trying to keep it a secret from you is a waste of time.”
She laughed, but quickly grew serious again. “What’s next for you, Jace?”
“I have to figure out this thing with me and Tuck. I’m at a loss about how to, but I gotta.”
“If she had anything to do with you coming to that conclusion, I’ll love her until the day I die.”
“Some, I suppose. Mostly she convinced me there were a lot of good reasons I needed to try harder.”
“Oh! Before I forget, Billy Patterson called your daddy while you were gone. Said he’d been trying to reach you.”
“Wasn’t much cell coverage where I was, but I don’t remember getting a message from him.”
Jace told his mother about his time with Bree, the abridged version of it anyway, and then went in search of his father.
“What did Patterson want?” he asked when he found him.
“Wants to talk to us about partnering with the rough stock.”
“In what way?”
“Ben Rice and his brothers want to expand their rough stock business at the Flying R in Crested Butte. Given Billy’s experience on the rodeo circuit, and the contacts he ha
s, along with what we’re doing here, they think it would be better to partner rather than each of us trying to build it on our own.”
If anyone knew about broncs, it was Billy Patterson. It was almost as though Billy had read his mind from a distance. He’d been thinking about expanding their operation into horses while he was in Idaho. He hoped his cousins and Billy were interested in raising bulls too.
“They want us to come to Crested Butte in two weeks,” Jace told his father after he ended his call with Billy. “It won’t be easy for both of us to go, but if we fly, we can minimize our time away.”
“I’ve been givin’ this some thought, son, and I believe it’s time for us to hire a full-time ranch manager. Particularly if we can make a deal with Patterson, Ben, Matt, and Will. I can see you needing to be in Colorado on a regular basis, and while I can fill in for you in the short term, I’m gettin’ too old to do this kind of work day-in and day-out.”
Jace hadn’t considered that, even with a full-time staff of hands to help, the ranch work might be too much for his daddy. Now that he was paying attention, he could see the exhaustion on his father’s face.
He remembered the conversation he’d had with Tucker a couple of years ago when they went to Crested Butte for Thanksgiving. Tuck said he thought their father was winding down his life. Investing in this ranch was the antithesis.
“I’m sorry, Daddy, I didn’t—”
“Stop right there. Partnering with you was my idea, and I knew there’d be hard work involved. I’m still as committed as ever.”
“You got anybody in mind? You don’t need to talk to me about it. Whatever decision you make, I’ll be fine with.”
“I’ve mentioned it to Yance. Seems interested.”