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But he took Bix and marched her right over to the Garretts. “Sawyer, Evelyn, Wolf, Violet, this is Bix.”

Bix’s eyes widened. “Hi.”

“Bix, this is the Garrett family. They run Garrett’s Watch. This is one of our new ranch hands. She’s been with us about a month, but she hasn’t really gotten out into the ranch yet.”

“Nice to meet you,” said Evelyn warmly. They made small talk for a few moments before he marched her over to the McClouds, where he made introductions to that whole group. They already had a concept of who she was because of Alaina, who was married to Gus, and was Fia’s younger sister.

After that, he took her to meet the rest of the Sullivans. They already knew who she was too. And it was clearly a relief to her that he didn’t go saying he had found her in a van down by the river, and that she was making moonshine on the property. Whatever anybody else knew about her, he couldn’t control that. Fia might’ve told her whole story, and he wouldn’t blame her. But nobody had said anything. It was clear Bix was happy about that.

After that, they took their seats. She sat next to him, and he knew that there were people in the barn who would find that somewhat remarkable, but he didn’t care.

He didn’t want Bix to feel uncomfortable. And yes, she could’ve sat with his brothers, but she hadn’t. She had sat with him. She was his... project. Anyway.

She was his.

Not likethat. It was just that he did feel a little bit possessive of her in this bigger environment, and clearly, she felt the need to stay close to him.

So, who was he to deny her that?

Everybody got up to say a piece of their business. There was an update on McCloud’s Landing, and the work they were doing with horses there. An update on Sullivan’s Point, and their farm store. The Garrettswere moving along as they ever had, much the same as King’s Crest. In many ways, they were set to have easier profitability. Beef was mainstream, and valuable. But he didn’t think that they could rest on it forever. And that was where the expansion was coming in. There were more of them; that was the thing.

While Sawyer and Evelyn now had two children and another on the way, and Wolf and Violet had two kids, Wolf and Sawyer’s youngest sister, Elsie, had married into the McCloud clan, and was working there. The McClouds also had a lot of people to sustain. Five brothers, their wives and their children. The Sullivan sisters were all married now too, and as Landry had married Fia, his base was more Sullivan’s Point now than it was King’s Crest.

But Landry took very seriously that both ranches were a legacy for his daughter, Lila, and for the baby he had on the way.

And while the King family wasn’t as prolific as far as marriage and children as the rest of the ranches were, Arizona and Micah were planning on having children, and they had their teenage son.

The fact was, they had to keep making money.

Keep making the place profitable.

It was Landry that got up to speak about the expansion work happening at King’s. Everybody seemed on board. They’d had everyone go in on investing in the project pretty early. Much to Fia’s chagrin at the time. It had created a bit of conflict between her and Landry, but then, at that point, what didn’t?

When the meeting was done, Bix leaned over. “That was interesting.”

“Really?”

“I think it’s fascinating the way you all run the ranch like a business. That was like a board meeting.”

He thought about her self-help books. He wondered if she had read about corporations and businesses and the way they ran.

“It’s not unlike that.”

“It’s kind of like a publicly traded company,” she said.

“Kind of,” he said. “Except of course, we don’t really have a stock market that we’re involved in. But everybody here is kind of a shareholder.”

“It’s smart,” she said. “Because of course there’s always going to be dips in the market. And you can all cover each other.”

“That is the idea.”

She looked pleased that she understood it. And he realized how hungry she was for information. That was probably the root of those kinds of books. Of nonfiction.

She wanted to learn things. She had been denied that.

“Have you ever thought about going back to school?”

“Yes. I have also thought about going to the moon.”