Page 44 of Holiday Heir

"But what about you?"

He grunts. "Somebody's got to keep this place running. Your mama fussing over me isn't going to fix a broken tractor or feed the animals."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure." He reaches across the table, same way Mama did all those months ago, and squeezes my hand. "I'll try to come see you all over the holidays. Christmas, if I can get away, or right after if the calving schedule doesn't cooperate. It's just a season."

Tears prick behind my eyes. I'm grateful and terrified in equal measure. It's the same tangled feeling that's followed me through most of this year. But I finally agree. "Okay."

"Okay," he echoes, and just like that, it's decided, the three of us sitting around a kitchen table figuring out how to hold a family together across three hours of Texas highway. But it's the same as we've figured out everything else since September.

"Now go figure out the numbers you want and don't sell yourself short," Daddy instructs.

I do as he says, spending several hours going back and forth, then feeling guilty about how much money I'm asking for. I add up what bills the farm owes, how much I'd get paid with a full workload in my business, and then add extra to cover the clients I might never get back.

I finally call Roy back before supper, my hands only slightly steadier than they were during our conversation. "I'll take it."

"Good, Lainey, that's good news." Relief floods his voice. "What's your number?"

My pulse races. I stare at my sheet with numbers written and crossed out and rewritten again. Doubling my normal rate feels excessive even knowing what Roy told me, and what it'll mean for my parents' farm.

Silence stretches a beat too long on the other end. Roy pushes, "Tell me the number, Lainey."

I clear my throat. "Two hundred thousand."

Roy laughs.

My heart beats harder. I grip the counter.

I got greedy.

"You're not doing this for that amount. I'll get back to you, Lainey," Roy says and hangs up before I can give him a lower number.

I blink hard.

"What did he say?" Mama asks.

I barely get out, "I went too high."