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He grinned. “If you’re looking for Hallie, she’s not here. She went back to the ranch last night.”

“I know. I just came from there. She told me you stayed here last night. That’s why I’m here. I wanted to come over and talk to you about something before you left.”

If Jace had been friends with Corbin, he wouldn’t have thought anything of it. But they weren’t friends. Jace had already left for college when Corbin and his sister arrived to live with their uncle. The first time they had met was at the wedding. So what could he want to talk to him about?

Unless Hallie had told him about their night together.

It seemed doubtful. Hallie had made it clear she didn’t want her sisters finding out. Still, she might have said something to make Corbin suspicious. If he came out and asked, Jace didn’t think he could straight-faced lie.

“Come on inside and I’ll get you a beer,” he said as he turned for the house.

George and Dixie greeted Corbin with enthusiasm while Jace took two of Hallie’s beers out of the refrigerator and opened them.

“I see Hallie left you some of her beer,” Corbin said when Jace handed him a bottle.

Jace sat down at the table. “I hear you’re going to invest in her brewing business.”

Corbin nodded as he took the opposite chair. “But it was a mistake to make the offer.”

Jace lifted his eyebrows. “How so?”

“Mimi read me the riot act once she found out and the rest of the Holidays aren’t too happy either. They want Hallie to stay here and not move back to Austin.”

“So are you going to withdraw the offer?”

“No. I’m not a man who goes back on his word . . . even if I end up ticking off my wife and her grandmother.” He took another drink of beer. “But I didn’t come here to talk about Hallie’s brewery.” He set the bottle down on the table and looked at Jace. “Hallie mentioned you might be a good candidate for foreman of the Holiday Ranch.”

Jace choked on the sip of beer he’d just taken. It took a lot of coughing to clear his throat enough to speak. “Where did she get that idea?”

“I guess she thinks you need something to do now that you’re not playing football anymore and she thinks you’d make one helluva foreman.”

He stared at Corbin and couldn’t help the warm glow that settled in his stomach. “She said that?”

Corbin nodded. “And coming from Hallie that means something. Since you get along with Hank—something that isn’t easy to do—and used to work the ranch, I’m here to offer you the job if you want it.”

Jace didn’t know what to say. He was stunned Hallie had talked to Corbin about hiring him, especially when she had just told him they needed to stay away from each other.

Although maybe she hadn’t been talking about him staying away.

“Is Hallie leaving?”

Corbin looked surprised by the subject change, but recovered quickly. “She’s heading back to Austin this weekend to start looking for a building for her brewery. She suddenly seems in quite the hurry to get her plans started.”

The pain that punched Jace in the chest was unexplainable.

Or maybe it wasn’t.

“You can’t let her go.”

Corbin blinked at him. “Excuse me?”

“You can’t let Hallie leave. And not because her family doesn’t want her to. This has nothing to do with anyone else but Hallie. She loves the ranch. She’s always loved it. It’s more than just a home to her. It’s a way of life. I didn’t realize that until last night when we were talking. When I saw the look in her eyes when she was telling me her plans to make the ranch more successful, I realized how much she wanted to run it herself.”

Corbin stared at him. “Hallie? But she wants to start a brewery.” He hesitated. “Although she couldn’t seem to answer me when I asked her for a deeper purpose for wanting to brew beer.” He looked at Jace. “She has plans for the ranch?”

“Good ones.”

“Why didn’t she say anything?”