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“Just for being you,” I say truthfully. “I need to shut that damn thing off before your neighbors complain that you have your own herd.”

I give her another peck and carefully lean back so I can pull her into a seated position.

“Don’t go anywhere,” I say, dropping one more kiss on her lips before standing up and adjusting myself. The relief to my ears is immediate when I’m in the kitchen and I hit the button on my screen to silence the alert. I suppose nothing resets you from making out to eating soup like the sound of cattle.

“Who else works with the cattle besides Chuck? He can’t be the only one who goes out there.”

I ladle the soup into two bowls and add them to the tray with the rest of our dinner. “We hire some guys in the summer to stay in the buildings wherever the herd grazes near. I mean, there are houses stocked with non-perishables, but sometimes they move daily so it doesn’t feel like a home.”

“Have you done that?” she asks.

“Yeah, we’ve all done it over the years and when someone needs to be gone a few days or is sick, one of us goes out. Chuck is the one who usually goes though, since he’s the one who handles everything for them.”

“But you all work with horses, too?”

“Everyone but Chuck,” I say, carrying the tray to the low table. “He has his own horse, of course, and can step in when needed, but somehow, the cattle are his world. His personality and reputation might make him seem like a playboy and a goofball, but he’s dedicated to them year-round. If he has to travel for something, he has multiple contingency plans in place if something happens to one of his herd.”

“I don’t think I’ve heard someone talk about Chuck this much who wasn’t trying to recreate his dance moves.” Sam smiles. “You’re proud of him and it shows.”

Looking down at my bowl, I feel a blush hit my face. “Ask him about ‘his ladies’ sometime and, while he’ll sound completely cocky, you’ll see what I mean.”

“And you are clearly the one who handles the books for all the animals.” She dips her spoon in and lets a small bite cool.

Nodding, I blow on my own steaming spoonful. “Everyone tracks certain things, but I do the ordering, the taxes, the payroll, the bills, the calendars, and schedules. My brothers like to joke that I handle anything that has a number in it. But really, it saves us from bringing in some suit from the city.”

“That’s amazing you’re able to do that for the ranch. I know so many small businesses have to hire someone to handle it.” Her eyebrows furrow.

“What are you thinking?” I ask, taking a bite. It’s still hot as hell, but it’s my ultimate comfort food that both Courtney and Avery have requested since we were younger and they didn’t feel good.

“The co-op.” She pauses, her mind churning something over. “How many people here could use a central person to handle some of that, who truly understands the intricacies of farm- and ranch-life?”

“I couldn’t take on everyone’s finances.”

“Not you, though you would be amazing. But look at how Greenstone came together to bring Rebecca in and how we’re talking about a retainer system through the co-op so everyone has consistent costs and she has a consistent income. What if we had someone who could compile the needs of the ranches and the farms to get better deals on larger bulk orders, but who could also help handle other finance tracking and processing for taxes? It could be someone who lives around here and everyone could pay in just like with Rebecca while getting those services and benefits. And then they wouldn’t be paying a suit from the city, as you called it, who knows the tax breakdowns, but wouldn’t know all the little things making the ranch run that could be write-offs, for example.”

Sam pauses and looks up at me. I’ve just been staring at her in wonder. She’s constantly thinking about ways to preserve the great things about life here while making things better and easier.

“I love it,” I say.

She blushes. “A lot of details will have to be considered before we can even bring it to the members, but it might have enough merits for them to explore it.”

I put my hand on her knee and give it a little squeeze. “They’ll love it, too.”

She smiles while looking down at her soup. Taking her first bite, she lets out a sigh.

“This is amazing, Tommy. I don’t know what you did, but this beats Maybel’s.” Her eyes widen in horror. “Not that Maybel’s isn’t great!”

I peck her on the cheek and stand up to grab her notebook near the door. “Don’t panic. I always think staying in and having rice with anything is the best.”

“Okay, good. Because I mean it, this is perfect.”

I catch myself before telling her how perfect she is, thinking that I’ve made my feelings pretty clear already and I don’t need to make her feel smothered on our first date.

Chapter 23: Sam

There’s no way Tommy’s leaving already. I watch him walk to the door, completely curious. I’m still a little ruffled after potentially offending Maybel’s, but his response was so genuine that I believe him. I didn’t realize just how often I assume what I say or do will be a deal-breaker.

Of course he’s bringing me my notebook.