Page 76 of The Rancher’s One and Only

He could see Ernestine took that with no small measure of affection. He was glad.

“Ernestine has the idea that we might want to open a museum here.”

Rowdy and Dakota exchanged glances. “A museum? On our property?”

“Yes. On our property. We can make it easier to access from the main highway, open to the public, and she thinks it’s possible that the museum might partner with us. Fund the actual museum bit.”

“Well, I don’t really see a downside,” Dakota said. “Mind you, I haven’t thought about it for more than two seconds.”

“Deep thought has never served any of us all that well,” Rowdy said. “We’re spontaneous. So we might as well be spontaneous about this. Let’s see if we can get it off the ground.”

“Yes,” Ernestine said, nodding enthusiastically. “It will take time. A few years, I’m sure. But we can get the ball rolling.”

That was strange, because it meant that he and Ernestine really would be tied together for more time than just this. Of course, only in the sense that she was heading up the beginning of the project. That’s all.

“I’m going to inform my director that I’m going to return to the museum for a few days, to provide her with an update, and also to pitch a couple new projects.”

“Would it be…helpful if I went with you?”

She looked at him, and blinked rather intensely. “Yes,” she said. “I think it would be.”

Chapter Fifteen

Jax had insisted that they take his truck. He’d said that he wasn’t going to cram himself into her Geo Metro for a six-hour drive. That was fair enough. But she did think that he was being a little bit dramatic. Still, she didn’t mind being driven the whole way back to the city. It was an experience, because usually she was the one in charge of the trip. In the car by herself. And instead, she had the whole road trip to make with somebody that she actually enjoyed talking to.

They hadn’t really discussed lodging, but she assumed that he would stay at her town house with her.

She sighed. It would be nice to be home for a couple of days. But she didn’t exactly remember the state that she had left it in, and bringing him into her house felt like a whole different step of intimacy. She’d never slept with him in his room, after all. They’d just been in the guest cabin. Which meant that she hadn’t been on his mattress, on his sheets, in a place that he had personal items that said things about him.

Her town house was hers. She never had people over. It was quirky, and odd, and she liked it, but she’d never had to worry before what somebody else would think. Or what they would glean from it. Because what conclusions would he draw about her framed photos of raccoons and rabbits? Her collection of fossils and crystals that she had in shadow boxes covering the entire wall in the living room? The skeletons in her room? Which she quite liked, but she realized that hanging bird skeletons and a dinosaur skull were very specific.

She supposed none of it would surprise him. He had spent time with her, after all.

“You’re not talking,” he said. “Which is strange.”

“Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking about…” It was weird that she felt the urge not to say what she was thinking. But it was becoming more and more important that he think highly of her. She had gotten to a space in her life where she just sort of figured people could deal with her the way that she was. She’d had so many bad experiences socially, and with her family, that it just seemed easier. But he made her want to try. And it was weird that he made her both the most confident version of herself she’d ever been, and made her a little bit insecure. “I don’t exactly remember how tidy I left my apartment. And I realize you’ll be staying there with me.”

“I was wondering when we would get around to the lodging conversation. I can stay in a hotel if you’d rather.”

“No,” she said, realizing that what she was really afraid of wasn’t bringing him there at all, but that she wanted to, and she felt like she was unveiling a special treasure to show him. And if he didn’t like it she would be devastated.

“Okay. Well, don’t worry about the state of it. I don’t mind.”

“Oh, good. I thought that maybe we would order takeout and have it brought to the house.”

“That sounds good.”

Okay. So now they had a plan.

“The meeting with the director will only include you in part. We’ll do the pitch for the museum first. You can explain your ranch. And then, I can finish up the rest, and you can look at the displays in the museum if you want. Or you can wait in my office.”

“Your office?”

“Well. It’s more of a cubby, really. In the basement. One thing that would be nice is if I get a promotion I could get moved to an office upstairs. They’re all glass, views of the city, the mountains and the river. That would be nice.”

“Is that more important than the promotion itself? The better view?”

“Yes,” she said. “Because I don’t really care about the external validation. I already know that my work is valuable, and that what I bring to the museum is valuable.”