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Her dad laughed, lightening the mood until he chimed back in, “Anyway, I was just saying nothin’ makes a parent prouder than their kid’s success. Believe it or not, we raised ya to spread your wings.”

She only half believed him. Her folks didn’t want things to change, and she couldn’t blame them. They’d grown close as a family as she dabbled part-time behind the scenes of Henley. But she’d always be their daughter, and if Maggie officially offered her half the company—something Jill had less-than-subtly hinted at wanting—she could run things from the city as she’d been doing all along. She and her parents could still do weekly dinners, concerts in the park, art galleries followed by brunch—all the things they’d only just started to enjoy together.

“I love you, Dad. And I promise things will be the same as always. It’s not like I’m moving here. It’s just a couple days to finalize some details for some pretty big shifts in the company and then I’ll be back to help you plant those squash seeds you’re procrastinating putting outside.”

What she didn’t say? A couple days from now and she’d be coming back to San Antonio with proof her tireless dedication and hard work for Maggie had paid off. It was a big enough blow that she hadn’t taken the mantle at Henley, her namesake and family’s company. That she gave it up for ownership stake in a company her friend had helped build, a company worth a tenth of what Henley was, would crush her dad.

Better to let him think what he wanted and keep the details to herself.

Still… The thought sent a shiver of excitement across Jill’s skin. Maggie’s request to come to Deer Creek had been a long time coming. She’d finally earned a seat at the table she’d designed.

“No, I get it, and no one’s faultin’ ya for choosing your own way. But—” Jill closed her eyes, bracing for what came next. Her excitement evaporated in the warm desert air. “You’ve still got a spot with Henley, and a good one at that. Danny said he’ll gladly keep you on as VP. Captaining a multimillion-dollar company’s nothing to shake a fist at, honey.”

And there it was. Nothing would ever be good enough if it wasn’t the family business.

Not her own multimillion-dollar deal she helped broker on behalf of Steel Born, not the company she helped build completely from scratch. Not even the fact that when Maggie signed her on as a partner, they would be at the helm of the second-largest ranching supply business in the country, the only one that was female owned and operated.

It was why she’d broken her connection to Henley, or so she’d thought. If she knew she had a tie there, who was to say she’d give Steel Born—her true love—her undivided attention? No, she needed to be on her own, without the safety net of her father’s work to keep her afloat.

“I love you, Dad. But Steel Born is my future.”

“It’s not even your company.”

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Not yet it wasn’t, but wasn’t that why Maggie called her to Deer Creek rather than sending an email or setting up a video chat? To ask her to take her share of the company they’d more or less built together? Nothing her dad needed to know until it was done, though.

“You’re right, but I get creative input here like I never could with you and Mom. What you’ve built is incredible, but the rodeo life isn’t … it isn’t me.”

“I seem to recall it used to be.”

“Touché. Turns out your boyfriend spending more time in the hospital than with you is a quick way to fall out of love with the sport.” How many sponsored athletes had they visited in the hospital after a bad fall? The rodeo equaled danger and uncertainty and she’d had enough of that for a lifetime.

“What happened to Liam was awful, honey, but how’s ranching any different?”

“You know good and well that ranching and rodeo are as different as driving a car to get to work and racing in the Indy 500. Besides, I work in the city for a ranching company. Not at all the same.”

The sigh on the other end permeated the silence.

“I just wanna see you living your own life, not someone else’s. Your mom and I are worried you’ll look back after catapultin’ your friend’s company to fame and wish you’d done something for yourself.”

That was exactly what she was doing, but it was a little more complicated than her dad was aware of. She might have started as an assistant, but she’d proven herself to Maggie and it had paid off. They’d brokered a deal with Orin Mechanics that would set her up with her own branch of the company. Orin had the clientele, from multimillion-dollar operations like MBE to amateur ranches, while Maggie and Jill had a superior product to outfit all of them, largely thanks to Jill’s input. She’d made her own stronghold in Texas—without the Henley name.

Well, mostly. The name helped in getting the Deer Creek warehouse rezoned to house ranch equipment waiting to be delivered to clients, but she couldn’t help that part of her birthright, could she?

“Hey, sweetie. It’s Mom.”

Of course, her mom had been listening in.

“Hi, Mom.”

“I told your father about the conversation you and I had the other day, about you finding your own way and wanting more than Henley Apparel and Gear.”

“Okay, then why are you both—”

“So, what if—”

“Now, Ella, we said we would wait till she got back and talk to her in person,” her dad interrupted.

Stress accumulated in Jill’s chest like fallen snow—slowly at first but enough to build up and block traffic.