Return to Marker Ranch by Claire McEwen Read Free Book Online

we get this figured out.”
    â€œThat’s an expensive choice.”
    His words stung with their truth. “Well, right now it’s my only choice, so I’ll just have to make it work.”
    â€œYou say you want to lead this ranch. But your dad wouldn’t have...”
    She cut him off before he could go further down that road. “My dad isn’t here anymore. I think we both wish he was sometimes. I’ll figure this out, Jim. I promise. And I’m sorry I messed up today.”
    He didn’t answer, and they drove the rest of the way back to the ranch in a clouded silence. Lori just hoped Jim didn’t mention any of this to the rest of the staff. The last thing she wanted was for her already skeptical ranch hands to know that she’d totally lost it and called their neighbor a thief. It wouldn’t help earn their respect. She knew that for certain, because right now she was having trouble respecting herself.
    Â 

CHAPTER SIX
    W ADE HANDED HIS sister the sheet of numbers he’d worked out. Units of water required. Current output from the well. Just like it said in his ranching books. “Thanks for coming by to take a look at this.”
    But Nora just set his spreadsheet facedown on the dining room table between them. “You don’t get it. It’s not about the numbers.”
    He stared at her in shock. “How can you say that? You’re a scientist. You’re all about the numbers!”
    â€œMostly, yes.” Nora nodded. “But in this case they don’t matter. You just need to do what’s right. You can’t quantify that.”
    He’d asked his sister over to look at the facts, not dish out morality. “So you’re saying I should just give her half of my well water?”
    â€œYes.” She gave him the calm smile he’d relied on for so much of his life. “I think it’s that simple.”
    Nerves twisted in his stomach. “But I can’t afford to. It says it right there on that paper.” Wade picked it up again. He’d done his homework last night—almost all night. “Look, I can’t afford to make a big mistake. We don’t have much capital left.”
    â€œThen find a way to make it work despite the numbers. This isn’t just about the water. It’s about being a good neighbor. It’s about being a part of the community.”
    â€œThose things won’t mean much if I fail and lose the ranch.”
    â€œSo don’t fail.”
    â€œHow?” He stood up, pacing the floor by the table. “How do I not fail if I make decisions based on being nice? This is water we’re talking about. A key ingredient for a ranch.”
    Nora gave him a long look. She’d given him the same look many times when he was a teenager and she wasn’t much older than that, and she was trying to raise him right. “Ranches here are failing left and right. Do you really want Lori to lose hers? After how hard she and her family have worked to keep it going all these years? Even after their mom died?”
    He remembered how devastated Lori had been. How she’d drifted, sad and empty, through her sophomore year of high school. How she’d grown up after that, become an adult way before the rest of them had, trying to take care of her father and her sister. He’d watched her back then, wishing he knew how to offer comfort. “Of course I don’t want them to lose their ranch. But it’s a business, right? Everything I’ve read about ranching says it’s a business. And we need that water to make our business a success.”
    â€œAny good book on business should also mention that out of hardship can come innovation. You need to let go of some of that water and then innovate. Figure out a way to get by with less.”
    â€œBut...”
    Nora cut him off. “Your books won’t help with this issue because they’re not written for people