I snatch my hand free and take his empty glass, along with the bottle of whiskey.“Talk to your sister, Maddox.Don’t make the same mistake twice.”
ChapterFourteen
Maddox
“You okay, man?”Tyler asks as we watch Wyatt and Grant wrangle the herd.“You seem out of it today.”
“Just got a lot on my mind,” I reply, bracing my hands on the fence.
“Saw Della is home.That must be a relief.”
I nod.It was for about ten seconds.Instead of calling me, her only brother, to pick her up from the hospital after they discharged her, she took a cab, claiming she didn’t want to bother me.The shit thing is, I believed her, and the relief I felt quickly morphed into remorse.
Amelia’s words rang in the back of my head, and I haven’t been able to shake them since.She made a valid point last night.Shutting Della out, making decisions without consulting her—it’s exactly what I did to Amelia, and that backfired in my face.
I need to talk to Della.
No yelling.
No pointing fingers.
Just the two of us speaking calmly and with respect for one another.I think she’ll agree to the deal when I lay everything out in the open, and I won’t have to go over her head, or make it seem as if I’m deciding for her.
I turn to Tyler.“I’ve got to go back to the house and do payroll.You can handle this, right?”
“That’s why you pay me the big bucks.”
I shake my head.“I don’t pay you nearly enough.”
But hopefully that will change soon.
I leave him in charge of managing the herd and make my way back to the main house.There is no sign of Della anywhere.
I thought I was the only Meadows skilled in avoidance, but it appears my sister is a master too.
Scrubbing a hand over my face, I start for my office.I wasn’t lying when I told Tyler I had to do payroll.To my surprise, I find the door slightly ajar.I toe it open with the tip of my boot, and my eyes go wide when I spot my sister sitting behind my desk, papers strewn on top of it.
“What the hell are you doing in here?”I roar, stalking toward her.
She jerks, her head snapping up.Fear flits across her features but it quickly fades.“I’m going through the books.”She rises from the chair.“We seriously need to talk about them.”
“The books aren’t your concern, Della,” I snap, planting my hands on my hips as I shoot her a glare.Where the fuck does she get off going through my shit?
“This is my ranch as well, Maddox.”Her voice trembles, but there is a sense of conviction in her tone.
This isn’t how I wanted to do this, but I can’t control myself.
“Not for long,” I sneer.“I’m buying you out.”
She blanches, her face turning white.“What?How?There’s no way you can buy me out.You’re tapped out.You have no capital.Hell, I don’t even know how you’re paying the staff.”
Those words only fuel my anger.How very on point of her to throw my failures in my face.Well, the joke is on her.
I cross my arms against my chest, a smug expression working its way across my face.
“I have an investor.They are going to buy your share.”
“You have an investor,” she parrots.“Who?”
