Cherish the Land by Ariel Tachna

Author:Ariel Tachna [Tachna, Ariel]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf

Thirteen

“ARE YOU sure you’re okay with this?” Sam asked as he and Jeremy got ready for dinner. It had been a week since Sam had brought up the idea of asking their friends to invest in the station. Caine and Macklin had agreed to come over, and Walker had shrugged and told them he didn’t care where he ate as long as he got food. “We can forget about it and just enjoy dinner with friends and our foreman. We can ask Caine and Macklin’s advice on all the things we still feel like we’re guessing about, and we can explain Walker’s presence because he’s the one who will help us carry out whatever plans we make.”

“No.” As much as Jeremy hated admitting he was in over his head, the other option was losing the station to the bank, and that would be even worse. “As hard as this will be, it’s still the best alternative we have. If they say no, we’ll consider other options, but we have to try.” Devlin wouldn’t agree, but it was Jeremy’s best choice for preserving some part of his family’s legacy. “We should go down. They’ll be here soon.”

“I’ll be down in just a minute,” Sam said. “I want to look through the numbers one more time, just to make sure I haven’t missed anything.”

Sam hadn’t missed anything. Jeremy knew that as surely as he knew his own name. That was nerves talking. Sam didn’t want to do this any more than Jeremy did, but they didn’t have a choice. Jeremy gave Sam a quick kiss and headed downstairs to the kitchen. Philippa, the station cook—nowhere near as creative as Kami but still a sight better than the station cook from before Jeremy had moved to Lang Downs—had left dinner warming in the oven so all Jeremy would have to do was serve. The food would be edible and filling, but he wondered what he’d have to bribe Caine with to get her lessons with Kami. Or maybe he could borrow Sarah for a week. She’d picked up all of Kami’s recipes by now. Most nights the Lang Downs jackaroos couldn’t guess who had actually made the meal anymore.

“Stop stalling,” he muttered to himself as he set the table. “Even if they say no, they’re still your friends and you can enjoy an evening together.”

He heard a car door close and booted feet on the veranda. “They’re here, Sam,” he called up the stairs as he went to open the door. “Hi, Caine, Macklin. Thanks for coming.”

“We’re glad to be here,” Caine said. “Is everything okay? You said you had something you wanted to talk about.”

“Dinner first, business later,” Sam said as he joined them in the foyer. “No need to spoil our appetites. We’re just waiting for Walker.”

“How’s he working out as foreman?” Macklin asked.

“Better than I could have hoped,” Jeremy replied. In the month Walker had been at Taylor Peak, Jeremy had already come to rely on him as much as he relied on Sam, albeit for different things.

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