Page 10 of More Than This Land

Claire stepped up beside him. “How many hands do you have during calving season?”

“Four full-time, two part-time.” He walked down the row of stalls, checking each cow in the process. “We used to have six full-time employees, but I streamlined operations two years ago. Turns out you don’t need as many people if you’ve got better systems.”

“Or you need as many people but you’re working a smaller staff harder than necessary.” Claire rubbed one of the cow’s head, grinning when the cow stuck out its long tongue and licked her hand. “That can ultimately lead to burnout much faster.”

“My hands are paid competitive wages and work reasonable hours.”

“I’m sure they are.” She didn’t back down, but she also avoided looking at him. “I’m just wondering if efficiency always equals improvement, or if at this point it means spreading people thinner.”

His mouth opened with an immediate protest.

“Luke, what’s going on? I didn’t know we were expecting company.” His younger brother Graham appeared in the doorway, grinning with his typical easy charm that made him everyone’s favorite Calloway.

“Graham, this is Claire. She’s the one doing the financial review of the ranch.”

Graham strode forward, hand extended. “The famous Claire. Dad’s been talking about you. You’re the one getting Luke all riled up.”

“I’m not riled up.” Annoyed at times but nothing else.

Claire laughed and shook Graham’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”

Graham winked at Claire. “This is Luke not being riled up. Just his relaxed, easygoing self.”

Claire’s grin widened, and she covered her mouth with one hand, struggling to compose her face. “I have that effect on some people. It’s not easy having a woman CPA.”

“That has nothing to do with it.” Luke moved toward the door, all too eager to escape his brother’s knowing look. “I was wrapping up showing Claire the calving operation.”

“Well, don’t let me interrupt.” Graham stepped aside, but his grin didn’t fade. “Mom saw you pull up. She wanted me to make sure Claire knew she’s invited to lunch.”

So Graham had known who she was all along but decided to turn this into his own personal entertainment. One of these days, he’d pay his brother back for making him look like a fool in front of Claire. “We’re not staying for lunch. Once I’ve walked Claire through the rest of the day-to-day stuff, I’m sure she’ll be ready to leave.” Ready to get out of the muck and mire of a working cattle operation.

Ready to get away from him.

“Good luck telling Mom that.” Graham tipped his hat at Claire. “Nice meeting you, Claire. He’ll talk spreadsheets till your ears bleed. If you need a break, give me a shout.”

After Graham disappeared around the corner, Claire turned to Luke. “He seems fun.”

“He’s a pain.” But he couldn’t help smiling as they continued their tour through the hay fields, past the line cabin that needed repairs, and around the irrigation system he’d upgraded last year.

“What happened to the community garden your grandfather started? Granny Mama told me about it yesterday. It sounded like a great benefit to the community.” She gestured toward a fallow plot near the main house.

Luke ignored the pinch in his chest. “Discontinued it. Wasn’t worth the water and maintenance costs and took up resources better allocated elsewhere.” He kept walking, avoiding looking at the empty spot where crops once thrived.

“And the equipment loan program?”

“Ended it when people started borrowing our equipment, then bringing it back broken, leaving us with all the repair bills.” He took off his hat and brushed invisible dust from the brim before setting it in place again. “Too much liability.”

“Even though it helped young ranchers get started without crippling debt?” Her voice came out flat, with zero inflection, but he felt the sucker punch to his solar plexus.

He stopped and faced her. “At what cost to us? The last time I loaned out our hay rake, it came back totaled. We were the ones forced to buy a brand-new piece of equipment, which sunk us so deep in debt we had to sell some of our stock to cover the payments.”

Claire winced. “Okay, I see where you’re coming from on that one. But it’s not always like that.”

“You’d be surprised.” He stopped before he gave away too much.

The screen door on the main house banged open. Mom stepped to the edge of the porch, hands on her hips and her eyes narrowed at him. “Luke Calloway, you bring that girl inside right now.” Her voice carried across the yard, bringing back years of memories. The woman who’d raised four sons and didn’t take arguments from any of them expected to be obeyed the first time. No questions asked.

Luke shook his head. “We’re not staying.”