He and Rick settled into seats at the tavern not too far from the coffee shop where he’d dropped Zane off to hang out for a few hours with his friends.
Rick had texted right about the time he was going to head back to the ranch, so he’d decided to have a basket of onion rings and a beer with a switch to water with the guy so he could tell Rick what was what.
“Man, it has been brutal cold here, huh?” Rick looked at the menu, which was limited, mostly bar food, which was nice, because a lot of times in Aspen even the dive bars had crispy tofu and chicken tikka sliders.
“Yeah. Glad they finally got the roads clear. Look, I got about an hour. Then I have to hit the City Market and get some groceries and grab an order of stuff at the vet resource center.”
Rick frowned. “Sounds like you’re pretty entrenched at the ranch.”
“Yep. I’m only in town to get stuff and to takeZane to his coffee meetup. What are you doing in Aspen so much? I thought you were over in Denver mostly now.”
He poked that sore tooth a little because he knew Rick was hanging around hoping to get some traction. And to see Ichabod’s ranch.
“I am. I am. I got to tell you, though, there are some serious buyers interested in that land.” He leaned forward, lowering his voice, as if he were sharing a secret. “They’re willing to pay top dollar for it, and that’s not just good news for me. Think about it—this could set everybody up for life. You, me, those kids.”
He’d already heard enough about this. Vic had left the ranch to the kids because he hadn’t wanted it sold. He’d wanted it to stay in the family.
“I don’t think the land’s for sale, man. It belongs to those kids.”
“Those kids don’t know what the hell to do with it. Neither does their father. This is easy. All they have to do is transfer ownership to me; I’ll sell it. It’s not that big of a deal.”
It sort of felt like a big deal to him. And he had the idea it would seem like a fairly big deal to Ichabod. Hell, even Zane was getting settled here.
“Uprooting those kids again now would be seriously unfair, man.” He tried to appeal to Rick’s better nature that way. “They’re just setting in, and I got to tell you, at least one of them has ideas about being a rancher.”
Rick shook his head. “We’re not talking about a couple hundred dollars. We’re not talking about a couple thousand dollars. We’re talking about a few million dollars. Get him to sell the ranch.”
No, he didn’t think that was going to happen. In fact, he was going to do everything in his power to make sure that this ranch became a going thing for this little family.
Rick could fuck all the way the helloff.
“Buddy, you’re my brother, and I care about you, but I’m not going to do it.” The beers and food came, and he hoped he got to have them, but he was sure gonna leave if Rick got to being a real asshole. He could lose the money for this shit and walk right out.
“Why not? It’s not like those kids earned this land.” Rick’s face screwed up into an ugly sneer.
He blinked and then clapped back. “And you did? You’re his adult stepson.Werehis adult stepson. I mean, I don’t even know if you’re actually legally still a step after your mom broke up with him. I mean I’m sorry she died. But— Whoa.” This was weird and ridiculous. “Are you in some kind of trouble, man?”
“I have investors. I need to get this ball rolling.”
Ellis was totally calling his pop. Dad could call and find out what the fuck was going on with Rick, right?
“Well, you’re going to have to let them down easy.”
Rick’s face went red, and he looked like he was gritting his teeth, but then he sat back in his chair, a big fake smile appearing. “Sure. I get it. You’re being all cowboy code guy. You don’t want to help, no problem. I’ll find another way to talk with him about selling.”
That sounded ominous, but Ellis couldn’t call it a threat.
Yet.
“Honestly, I wouldn’t even want to get into that. It’s a huge production to relocate that many kids, you know? They’re in school now and doing well. Everyone’s happy.” Ellis pursed his lips and shot Rick a glare. “I know that Ichabod called you and talked to you about this.”
“Yeah, and thanks for selling me out there.”
“Dude!” Ellis stared at Rick. “This isn’t like some covert fucking operation. I got a job that I was qualified to do. I am not going to be all skulking around trying to screw up a man and his four kids’ lives so that you can get somemoney.” He waved his hand, making sure Rick got how serious he was.
“You and me, we’re the ones who are family. You should be helping me,” Rick snarled, leaning forward to poke a finger toward him. “Not those brats.”
“Hey, now.” He stood, opening his wallet to toss two twenties on the table. “That’s enough, Rick. You call me to apologize when you settle down.” Ellis grabbed the onion rings. He would take them to the bar and ask for a box, but he’d be damned if he would listen to Rick insult those babies.
