“Yeah,” Cash said, though he actually had no idea how many classes Lark had left.
“She’ll have tons of foundational knowledge,” Bailey said. “I’ve got two vet techs on board, but I could always use an assistant, and if she was doing animal science, she’s probably pretty comfortable with animals.”
“Yeah,” Cash said. “She is, and she’s looking for a job, because she just came home.”
“I can’t wait to text her,” Bailey said. “I’ve got her number. Thanks for sending it. I was just busy this afternoon.”
“What were you doing today, Bailey?” Bryce asked, and thankfully, the conversation move away from Cash.
“Well, I own five acres of land now,” she said. “And I know that’s not a lot for most of you, but it’s a heck of a lot more thanmy point-two-five acres in Butte. So I walked the property and made a list of everything that’s there: buildings, what’s in the buildings, what I think needs to be repaired, all of that.”
“Are you going to cultivate the land?” Harry asked. “Raise animals?”
“Heavens, no,” Bailey said with a laugh. “But I would like to be able to bring animals home from the clinic if I need to. So I need barns and enclosures, pastures and places to store feed that’s dry and protected from the elements.”
“You know who would be really good to help her with that?” Joey said, putting one hand on Adam’s arm.
“Who?” he asked. “I don’t know why you’re looking at me like that. I have someone mow our lawn.”
Cash chuckled along with a few others, and Joey shook her head.
“Not you, silly. Simon.”
“Oh, sure,” Adam said, and he looked over to Bailey. “He’s a young guy who lives up by us, who’s starting a jack-of-all-trades business. He’s good at construction, farming, handyman tasks, anything you need.”
“Great,” Bailey said. “I’m just getting everyone’s number today.” She grinned at Cash and then passed her phone to Adam for him to put Simon’s number in.
“All right,” Uncle Otis said over a microphone. “It’s time to sing Happy Birthday to OJ. And he has requested one thing for his party this year, and that is….” He trailed off and beamed at his almost-fourteen-year-old son.
OJ grabbed the mike and yelled into it. “A dance party!”
“Yep, here we go,” Bryce said, and he got up to go be one of the first to join OJ’s dance party.
CHAPTER
THIRTY-FIVE
Bailey drove the half mile down the highway. After making a left turn out of her place, she made another left turn onto the property of Reeves Durham.
She had the man’s phone number, and she’d texted him several times in the past two and a half weeks since she’d moved to town. He’d been cordial and polite in his responses, and today was the first time Bailey had set foot on his property or would see him in the flesh again.
His house also sat back off the highway, as he had a whole host of pine trees protecting the property from the road. It finally emerged from the snowy boughs, and Bailey brought her SUV to a stop.
“Holy cow,” she said right out loud. “His place is way nicer than mine.”
Her house was the original one built on the property, but there was no way that the stone and glass beauty in front of her was the original home on this property.
It was a house from the modern era, with beautiful white siding on the top half and a gorgeous gray stone on the bottom. Wood pillars held up the roof over the porch and matched the golden oak glow in the garage door.
She had no idea who Reeves Durham was or what he did for a living, and she suddenly wanted to look him up.
There were celebrities and wealthy businessmen who liked the privacy that Wyoming offered. Montana had them too—movie stars who owned big ranches so they could get away from the hustle and bustle of Hollywood, or tycoons who simply needed a mountain escape from their big city lives. Heck, Country Quad all lived here for a reason.
Yes, Bailey knew there was plenty of money to go around in this small town.Sure seems like Reeves has some, she thought as she put her car in park right at the end of the sidewalk leading to the front door.
She looked over to the homemade peppermint bark, about the only thing that Bailey could make without setting something on fire. Both her mother and Georgia had told her it was edible, and that boosted Bailey’s confidence enough to grab the little cellophane bag and get out of the car.
It had only gotten colder in the weeks since she’d been here, but at least it wasn’t snowing today. Still, she stood in front of Reeves’ door and rang the doorbell, hoping his living room was only a couple of feet away from the front door and he’d answer quickly.
