Page 59 of More Than This Land

The hammer dropped onto the step with a soft thud. Luke turned toward her, stretched his arm behind her back so they faced each other with nowhere to go, and stared at her. “Then stay.” The usual gruffness in his voice deepened. “Not because of Granny Mama or the hospitality work or because it makes sense. Stay because you want to. Stay here with me.”

Her breath caught.

He raised his other hand, his knuckles trailing down her jaw. “I know I’m asking you to take a risk.”

“That’s not—” She stopped short, unable to continue. She never wanted to kiss anyone more than she did right this instant. Luke. Always Luke. She pulled back just enough to break the spell. “I can’t do this halfway, when I haven’t made up my mind for sure. If I’m going to do this, it needs to happen when I’m clear-headed. If I fall into it because a porch step got fixed and the night was the right kind of dark and I kissed you because my heart is begging me to let go, then I’ll wonder tomorrow if any of it was real.”

Luke’s hand stayed where it was for a moment. “Okay. You’re right.” He stood and picked up the tool bag. His back stayed toward her for a long moment, shoulders squared against whatever he was working through. Then he turned and looked at her on the step. The unguarded look in his eyes gouged into her ribs, driving the pain straight to her heart. He looked so vulnerable, and she’d shut him down again. “Goodnight, Claire.”

Chapter Fifteen

Luke had been awake since four-thirty, lying in the dark with his hands folded behind his head, running through Claire’s implementation timeline until he’d memorized the pattern in the ceiling.

He was out of bed by five and in the office by five-fifteen. The binder Claire had put together sat open on his desk, and the sight of her handwriting in the margins of the pages she’d annotated during their working sessions caused his pulse to skip. She’d even drawn small arrows and question marks and underlined phrases where she’d wanted to flag something for discussion.

Graham came into the office at eight carrying two mugs and set one on the desk. “Your text at five was entirely unnecessary. I had another half hour of sleep.”

“Brody Kessler.” Luke ignored his brother’s comment and turned the partnership proposal around, tapping it to bring Graham’s attention into focus. “I want to ride out and talk with him this morning. The grazing access piece needs to be discussed in person.”

Graham looked at the proposal. “You’re going to drive out to a twenty-four-year-old’s property on a Monday morning to discuss a partnership agreement.”

“That’s what I said.”

“Luke.” Graham’s hands wrapped around his mug. “Six months ago, you conducted every vendor relationship by email and made Eli handle anything that required a face-to-face conversation. Or one of us if you thought it needed a personal ‘Calloway’ touch.”

He stood. “That’s why I’m going in person.” Minutes later, he climbed into his truck and headed out. His brothers would take care of the ranch. They knew their jobs and didn’t need him breathing down their necks.

The old Garrett place sat back from the main road behind a cattle gate that needed paint but hung plumb and closed properly, which told Luke something about the man who’d taken it over. Fences in decent repair. Equipment shed with the doors closed and latched. A garden plot near the house that someone had already turned over for spring planting. Nice, solid steps in bringing a ranch back to life.

Brody came out of the barn when Luke’s truck pulled in, a pair of bolt cutters in his hand and a German shepherd moving at his left knee. Neither looked anywhere except at Luke. He respected that.

“Mr. Calloway. Wasn’t expecting you.” Brody’s firm handshake revealed scarred knuckles and callused palms.

The dog circled Luke, sniffing him all over. Luke let him do his job. “Sorry about that. I tried calling ahead, but figured you’d already be out for the day, and I never got your cell number.” He nodded toward the barn. “Finish what you’re doing. I’ll wait.”

“I’m done.” Brody set the bolt cutters against the fence post. “Come in. I’ll get coffee.” He led the way to a functional and undecorated kitchen. A topographic map of the property covered most of the table, held flat at the corners by a coffee mug, a pair of fencing pliers, a library book, and a rock. The dog settled in the doorway and watched Luke with his head on his paws.

Coffee bubbled and hissed, and Brody stood across the kitchen with his arms crossed.

Luke set the folder on the clear corner of the table. “I have a proposal for you. Grazing access in exchange for operational support during our peak seasons. It’s outlined here but the short version is we both get something we need.”

The tenseness that had invaded Brody’s stature when Luke first started talking relaxed a tiny bit. He opened the folder and read, his eyes scanning the page slowly.

Luke didn’t blame him. Poor guy had been through the wringer already, and no doubt he’d thought Luke hoped to claim a favor of some sort after the auction ordeal.

It wasn’t like most of them to be cautious of help, but Brody had every reason to.

Luke drank coffee that was better than he’d expected and examined the topographic map. “Love the detail here. Is this the original land claim?”

“Yep.” Brody didn’t look up for several minutes. When he did, he met Luke’s gaze squarely. “The access acreage here.” He tapped a section of the proposal. “You’re asking for spring and fall rotation only. Seems too good to be true, if I’m being honest.”

“Your summer pasture is yours. We don’t need it, and you do.” Luke leaned over the map, tracing the relevant sections. “What we’re after is the creek corridor in May and the east bench in October. Keeps our rotation from overloading our south pasture. We have a water issue sometimes if the rain doesn’t keep it filled. I’d hoped this would help with that, give us another option.” He’d never told anyone outside of his brothers about a single problem at the ranch, but it felt right to admit their shortcoming to a fellow rancher of Brody’s caliber.

“And in exchange?”

“Calloway crew for your branding day. Equipment access during hay season. First call on our portable working chutes.” He ticked off each one with a tap of his fingers on the table. “And if you want it, a standing invitation to the 4H mentorship program we’re relaunching. You’re young enough that it might feel redundant, but the network it builds isn’t, and once you’re ready, you might even want to host the event.”

Brody closed the folder. He looked at the map for a moment, then at Luke. “Why are you doing this?”