“That all depends. Are you still mad at Jaxon for getting you kicked off that cattle drive? Because if you are, I’m totally Dillon.”
Definitely Jaxon. She smiled despite herself. “I never blamed you for that.”
“Good,” he said.
“That’s not to say I don’t blame you for other things.”
“Oh?” He leaned his elbows on the handle of his cart. “Did I ruin you for other men? You couldn’t find one who kissed as well?”
“Sure, that,” she said. “But I was talking about the way everyone already knows about my grandfather’s will, and they’ve decided I’m horrible for not handing over Coyote Glen to your family. What have you guys told people?”
“Everyone knows?” Jaxon asked, challenging her on that point instead of answering the question. “And everyone, as a group, decided you’re horrible?”
“Dr. Rossi’s words, not mine.”
“Ah.” Jaxon nodded as though the accusation made sense now. “Angelina’s a bit prejudiced. She thinks she’s got a vested interest in the outcome. I’m guessing the rest of everyone isn’t quite as decided about your personality.”
Meaning, Kate supposed, Angelina was prejudiced because she was a vet and her livelihood was connected to taking care of cattle. Kate hadn’t considered that when she’d been angling for an invitation to that hypothetical book club.
“We would never badmouth you,” Jaxon went on. “We’re not that sort. We might take wagers on how long you’ll last, but that’s different.” He winked. “Forty percent think you’ll buckle when the temperature hits ninety-five.”
Kate sighed. The forty percent had a point. Really, why had her grandfather decided to raise cattle in such a hot place?
“So, how are you managing?” Jaxon asked. “Is ranch life living up to its glamorous reputation?”
“Oh, yes. Today the vet did pregnancy checks on the heifers. I’m supposed to decide whether to sell off the others for slaughter.”
“How many didn’t catch?”
Catch meant get pregnant, as though the whole thing was some sort of sporting event with a ball. “Nine.” A little worse than average.
Jaxon shrugged. “Your herd will grow after calving season, so you can sell those now and you won’t be down by ten percent at the end of the year.”
Dewayne basically told her the same thing, and she hadn’t liked it then either. “Slaughtering animals just because they didn’t conceive after three months seems harsh. What if the bull just wasn’t their type?”
“Or they might be infertile,” Jaxon said. “No point in feeding cattle who’ll never make you money.”
That made the decision feel worse. “My mother had infertility issues.” Although obviously not at first. “That’s why there’s so many years in between Libby and me. How could I slaughter cows for the same problem?”
Jaxon dipped his chin. “You realize Coyote Glen is a cattle ranch, not a charitable resort for animals.”
Landon walked up behind her and joined his brother, immediately stealing her attention. His blond hair had sun-kissed streaks, and his blue eyes looked darker, almost gray. They viewed her with patient amusement. “Don’t bother trying to talk her into killing animals. Most likely, she won’t sell off any of them. And I’m sure she’s happily feeding the pigeons too.”
She smiled at him. “Being an animal lover isn’t a bad thing.”
“It’s not a bad thing for me at all,” Landon agreed, “since you’ll end up running Coyote Glen into debt. I don’t mind liquidating the excess when I take over.”
“Fine,” she said with a resigned huff. “I’ll sell some.” When he put it like that, she didn’t have much of a choice. Her eyes lingered on him and flashes of memory surfaced: the way he’d gently held her hands and caressed ointment onto them, the way he’d carried her to the couch and looked at her with such concern. Had he thought of her at all since those events?
Landon took a large mineral block from the shelf and put it in Jaxon’s cart. “A rule of thumb when you’re culling cows is to get rid of the ones who are older or have difficulty calving first.”
She tilted her head. “How come you’re giving me advice when you don’t want me to succeed?”
Jaxon smirked. “Comes from too many years spent as an older brother. He can’t help himself. Advice just pops out of his mouth.”
“Right.” Landon motioned down the aisle. “Like right now I’m going to advise you to go load the feed onto the truck.”
“See what I mean?” Jaxon held up his hands to his brother in surrender. “I’m going. I’m going.”