That makes him pause. A dark brow arches. He withdraws a small green notebook and flips through its pages. It’s the password notebook. Ransom updated it only as much as he was forced to. Calder tosses it onto the computer then lifts his gaze to mine. Once again, all the air is sucked out of the room. My heartbeat pounds in my ears, and warmth blooms across my skin. I’ve never had his full attention, not even back when he was raging at his dad about Sawyer and me moving into the house he grew up in—the house I still live in now. But it’s been twicein one day, and I’m going to need two to three business days to recover.
I don’t need this right now. “Well?”
He blinks. Did I catch him off-guard? He clenches his hard jaw. “The brewery is no longer your business.”
My mouth drops open, yet, at the same time, a growing wave of pleasure crashes over me. His deep growl is pure sin.
I push all that out of my mind. “Ignoring the fact I’m the brewmaster and the taproom manager, and that I worked morning, noon, and night with your dad, are you willing to bet on that?”
Ransom wouldn’t have left me out of the brewery. The doors of Jules Creek remain open because of me and all the hours I’ve put in over the past five years.
I do the same thing Calder did when he walked in: I give him a pointed and derisive once-over. “I would think a man in your position wouldn’t make assumptions without all the facts.”
He narrows his eyes and fine lines crinkle at the corners, giving him an even more devastating air of authority. A quiver works its way down my spine.
“Jules Creek isn’t yours.”
“Do you know if it’s yours?”
“He would’ve told me if he changed his will.”
“Oh? Talk to him that much, did you?” I ask sarcastically, but doubt creeps in. Did Ransom start talking to his kids and not tell me? What if he didn’t change his will after he married Holly? He mentioned a trust, said I’d be taken care of for all the help I’ve given him over the years, and I didn’t ask for specifics. It felt obtrusive, and I also thought we had time.
Calder’s right eye twitches. He picks up the laptop. “Until you can prove differently, I’m in charge.”
I don’t have much of an argument besides,Are not!“That has to stay here.” I hold my hands up as if I’m letting him knowthis is a neutral area. “Your dad didn’t like technology. I have no idea when he last backed that thing up, or if it can access a cloud other than if you carry it through fog.”
He looks down at the old laptop and dismay ripples across his face, as if he’s truly noticing its age. That thing is a brick. When it runs, it sounds like a jet plane, and the guy at the computer store in Williston hated to see Ransom coming. But Calder’s dad refused to buy a new one. There’s no memory left on the device itself, so the desk is cluttered with USBs and external hard drives.
Sadness wells inside me. It feels as if Ransom knew he’d only have to tolerate the outdated device for a little longer.
I finally spy a crack in Calder’s rigid façade.
“Goddammit,” he mutters.
THREE
CALDER
My frustration seems to bolster her, evident in the way she straightens. It’s a struggle to keep my gaze away from the lift of her breasts beneath that obnoxious blue polo with the Jules Creek emblem. Since when did employees wear branded shirts? Just one more question to chafe under my collar as fatigue battles with the edges of my patience.
It was a long fucking drive from Denver, and my day isn’t over yet. I wanted to get this task out of the way, but I don’t want to linger. This is my first time home in two decades, and I’m greeted by a grown version of the quiet girl I first met a long damn time ago. She still pulls her hair back, containing those loose curls that frame a strong face with pouty lips set in an irritated line. The dark lashes around her hazel eyes don’t dim the fire sparking from the flecks of green among the brown.
Meredith Winslow has grown into a beautiful woman. A fact I didn’t need to recognize as soon as I saw her. An acknowledgment that irritates me on an already trying day.
Her smart mouth doesn’t help either.
I’d be amused about it if I weren’t so damn tired. After I left the city, there was nothing but wide-open spaces, empty roads, and time to think. And questions. Always the fucking questions.What exactly is in the will? How soon can my brothers and I put this damn place up for sale? Will the brewery sell faster than Crossroads Ranch?
Did my father include Holly’ssisterin the goddamn trust?
“You might want ear protection when you use it, unless you enjoy white noise.”
It takes me a moment to realize she’s referring to the old computer.
“And it may be a laptop, but don’t rest it on your actual lap if you want kids in your future.”
I hold in my groan. My brother, Bowen, is the tech guy. He can get this thing updated, connected, or whatever it needs, but he isn’t here yet. I don’t know when he’ll arrive, nor do I know if my youngest brother, Landry, will bother to show up at all. I would start combing through the files here in the office to get a sense of where the financials are for the impending sale, but right now, I’m at risk of falling asleep and drooling on the desk.
