“Toast?”
“I’ll fix it.” Breathing in the coffee aroma as if it were smelling salts, Cassie smiled and opened the bag of bread.
Footsteps smacked against the wooden stairs. Carson appearing a moment later.
“You’re up awfully early.” Now that they had a full staff of hired hands, her kids no longer had to suffer through two jobs, though Cassie liked working the ranch and opted to learn everything she could rather than going back to school—at least for now.
Standing at the beloved coffee pot, he nodded. “Filling in for the coach this morning. Early practice. Too early if you ask me.”
The back door eased open and Clint came inside. Hanging his hat on the hook and stomping his boots on the mat, his entire stance was relaxed and easy. “Morning’”
Without asking, Carson filled another mug and handed it to Clint. By now they all knew he drank it black no sugar.
“Thanks.” Smiling at Alice, the warmth in his eyes gave her goose bumps as though she were a teen being noticed by the captain of the football team.
Within minutes, everyone was seated at the table, food overflowing, conversation easy. There was no longer foreman and employers but ranchers with the same goal—uplifting the Sweet Ranch.
“I got a call from Sean Farraday last night.”
“Really?” Alice took a sip of her juice. “What was he wanting?”
“An update on Ray. I told him that the district attorney assured us there isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that he’s going to walk away from this. Same for the two idiots we caught with him.”
“Sounds like all the culprits are now where they belong.” Carson stabbed at his eggs. “Behind bars.”
“For a good long time,” Cassie said with a satisfied grin. The woman hadn’t been a Sweet family member for long, but she had family loyalty running in every vein of her body.
“As you know, his son Connor owns one of the best horse breeding ranches in the country.”
Alice nodded.
“It reminded me of something Preston said not long ago.” He set his gaze on Alice. “Charlie used to talk about breeding horses.”
“That’s right. I think after he updated the barns and all the other bases for the ranch, he wanted to expand.”
Clint toyed with his eggs. “I think we’re in a place where we can do that. What Charlie planned. If you’d like.”
If she didn’t already know that she loved Clint Gibbons, she would have figured it out right about now. The man was amazing. Honoring Charlie, loving her, caring for this ranch as if he too had been born to it. And never ever overstepping.
“I think it’s a great idea. If you’re sure, we can handle it.”
He nodded, turned to Carson. “And you.”
“I’m all for it.” Carson pushed away from the table. “I have to run. You guys let me know when we start the horse business.”
Another few minutes of finishing up breakfast and Clint and Alice were the only two left in the kitchen. Even though it wasn’t his job in any way shape or form, they had fallen into a routine. Clint joined them every day for meals, and when the family scattered after breakfast, they cleaned the kitchen together.
She’d washed and he dried the large pans she didn’t like putting in the dishwasher, the whole time wondering if she’d overstepped her limits, if she’d gone too far in her surprise. Shortly after Ray was in custody, Brooklyn had reached out to them again. One of his people had tracked down the neighbors on the opposite side of Clint’s former house, Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Baxter, and learned that a black truck had been parked in front of the house most of the day. Coming and going. Mrs. Baxter had actually written down the license plate just in case any of the neighbors turned up burglarized.
When Clint asked if she’d told the police, Brooklyn had sighed heavily, telling them that she didn’t report it. And when asked why, she easily said, they didn’t ask me.
It took Alice a long while and two glasses of wine to get over her fury at the woman’s nonchalance. Her neighbor’s home burned to the ground and the owner accused of murder and it never dawned on her to report what she’d seen. It had also helped appease her fury when Brooklyn explained that because of this, they were able to confirm their suspicions. The people his neighbor owed money to had indeed burned down the wrong house. Soon Clint would be officially cleared, and a nice fat check was coming his way for wrongful imprisonment. Not that it could come close to undoing the mess it had made of his life and relationship with his son.
She’d tried to talk Clint into calling Jason, but he’d shake his head and say not yet, he needs time to adjust, to decide if he wants me in his life again. Dutifully, she said nothing more. It struck her that perhaps they were both going to need time. Until she got the call. It was Jillian. She’d driven to Midland to meet the plane.ETA five minutes.
Five more minutes and she’d either be on top of the world or in the dog house and she had no idea which of the two it would be.
“Something wrong?” Clint continued to wipe the pans dry.
