It had been a few days since we were back from Vegas and married, and already, Curt and I weren’t speaking. Well, more like I avoided him because he’d been a jerk before and I was not in the mood for his bullshit.

We had both been busy, too, going around the ranch to check on the state of things. It hadn't been that long since Ben passed away, and I wondered if I’d just missed it before he died, but the whole ranch looked to be in a sorry state. In the times I’d spent with Ben, my sole focus had been looking after him, not the ranch.

Did I just miss that people were leaving, that work wasn’t getting done because I was too preoccupied with Ben’s failing health?

I kept thinking to myself all the things I could have done differently as I walked down the stairs, heading to the kitchen to get some food.

“Hope?”

I froze at the kitchen doorway. “Curt? What are you doing here?”

I probably shouldn’t have been so surprised. We’d been living together in the house, and I made meals for the both of us. But I was busy cleaning out the rooms of the house, and he was out talking to the few workers that stuck around.

Even though I’d made meals for the both of us, we never ate at the same time, and I had a feeling Curt had been avoiding me as well. It looked as though he’d been waiting for me, but upon a second glance, I noticed that it looked like he was cooking.

“Are you making breakfast?” I asked, my tone a pitch higher than I meant it to be.

He snorted, probably at my surprised tone. “Don’t sound so shocked. It’s not like I can't cook, Hope. I just can't be bothered with it most of the time.”

“That isn’t what I want to know, though,” I said slowly, walking further into the room. “Why are you here? You’re usually out early. Or late, I don’t know.”

He pursed his lips and turned back to the pancakes he was making. “I wanted to talk to you.”

“You mean that you came to insult me?” I said, my voice dry. “Or yell at me, or accuse me of more things that aren’t my fault or that I have no control—”

“All right,” he said impatiently, rolling his eyes. “I’ll admit that wasn’t one of my finest moments. But can you blame me? This place was fine when I left it, and I come back to find it looking half abandoned and practically in shambles.”

“It’s not like that’s my fault,” I retorted. “I was a little busy in my time here, all right? So I didn’t take the time to look over the grounds. I didn’t have the time, Curt!”

That last bit came close to a shout, and I was breathing a bit heavier than before. Curt didn’t say anything more, and after a moment of silence, I sighed and moved to sit down at the small dining table on the other side of the room. Not long after, Curt was serving food on plates and bringing them to the table.

He sat down opposite me and began to eat. I remained stubborn for a bit longer, but my stomach growled, and I brought my plate closer.

After a few moments of just eating, Curt broke the silence.

“Look, I know you probably don’t like me right now, but this place is going to need a lot of help.”

“I have been—” I started, growing angry again, but he stopped me with a slash of his hand.

“I know you’ve been doing your best. There’s less dust in the place, and it’s looking better, but the ranch is going to need a shit load of help, and I’ve been out of it too long, so I can't do it on my own.”

I cut a few the blueberry pancakes he’d made and felt a little jealous, envious even that they tasted so good when I wanted to hate him. I chewed and swallowed the bite, then sighed and put down my fork.

“What is it that you’re trying to say to me, Curt?”

“I’m saying…” he put his fork down as well and folded his arms on the table as he regarded me with a slight grin. “I’m going to need help on this, and I thought the two of us could work together.”

“The workers…”

“Most of them will be gone before too long,” he said with a wave of his hand. “They haven’t been paid in a while. I don’t know who was supposed to be paying attention to that, but they were careless. We were lucky to find people still around at all, and from what the foreman told me, it’s only because they were worried about leaving the animals alone.”

I frowned and looked away from his gaze. I could tell he was no longer judging me, but I didn’t know what he wanted from me. Yeah, I’d stayed to help Ben, but the most I could do was clean up around the house and prepare meals, do the laundry, and make sure I stayed on top of him taking his meds.

“What do you need from me?” I asked, my voice genuine.

I knew the farm was a lot of responsibility, but I’d never worked with animals or tended to the land. Curt wouldn’t get the kind of help he was looking for or wanted with me because I knew next to nothing when it came to that sort of stuff.

There was a short silence, then he sighed. “First I think… I need to…”

I frowned at him. “What?”

“I’m sorry,” he blurted out, making me widen my eyes. “About how I treated you when we got here. That was uncalled for, and I should have had a bit more control. As the situation currently is, we can't afford to keep fighting.”

“The way you’re saying that makes me think there’s more to this than you’ve already said.”

He cracked a small smile, picking up his fork. “You were always smart, you know. I always wondered what you were doing with a guy like me when we used to….you know.”

I felt a warmth in my chest that I immediately tried to kill. “I didn’t know either. What is it that you need to tell me?”

“We’re going to need some money to fix this place up. But I used up what Roger helped me with already, and my bank balance is currently at zero. Hell, it might be a negative number, at this point.”

“If you’re looking for money from me, you should know I don’t have any,” I reminded him.

“No, I know. Look, I need your help with the ranch, it doesn’t have to be about money from the get go. You need this place just as much as I do, and neither of us can deny it.”

He gazed at me, studying my appearance. For a moment, I felt self-conscious as he looked at me. He was right, of course, and I knew that we needed to work together to make any of this work. There was no use in constantly battling with each other because that would accomplish nothing. If anything, it would make things harder on both of us.

“Fine,” I muttered. “And you’re right. I need some money for my brother Trent, and the best way I can get enough is through this ranch. My brother is supposed to go to college in the fall, so you’re right, I need this, too.”

He smiled happily and began eating with gusto. I followed his example.

“So, what are we doing first?” I asked once we were done and finished washing up the dishes.

Curt hummed. “I talked to a few people already, but I wanted you to be on board with the idea before I went ahead of it.”

“Well?” I prompted. “Don’t leave me in suspense.”

He looked down at me out the corner of his eye. “I was thinking of selling one of the horses. Just one, and only for the funds we immediately need. Luckily, the family only kept the best breeds, so we should get a good price for it.”

“And will it be enough to cover expenses for everything?”

Curt shrugged. “We’re currently living here, so that adds to costs, too. Then there’s also a bunch of repairs that need to be made. The barn, especially, looks terrible and I want to start on it first, then we move onto the fences.…”

I sighed as he went on. “In other words, there’s a lot of work, right?”

Curt nodded. We finished the last of the dishes, and he turned to me as he dried his hands on a dish towel.

“I have the number of a guy willing to buy one of the stallions at a good price. I told him I’d give him the final decision on whether we’re selling or not today.”

I chewed on my bottom lip. “Can he come by today?”

“Yeah, he said he would come as early as we needed. Can I take that as the green light to call him up?” he arched his brow, hopeful that I’d agree.

I frowned up at him. “It’s a yes, but I am going to be at this meeting, Curt. If you’re going to seek my approval for things and we’re working together, I want in on all of the business deals.”

He shrugged, defenseless.

“Whatever you say, Hope. Come with me so I can make the call. I do appreciate you helping me out with all this.”

I followed him sheepishly as he made his phone call. I knew nothing about running a ranch, so my help might be minimal, but if I was going to start learning, the time was then. When he got off the phone, he told me the buyer would be coming by in half an hour’s time.

Part of me was grateful that the man was coming by soon so we could start making arrangements. Even though my previous position was always in the house, I hated seeing the farm being ran into the ground just as much as he did.

I hadn’t even thought about who was feeding or caring for the animals until he brought it up to me, and I was beginning to get concerned about them. If some of the workers had stayed behind to make sure the animals were at least fed, what if any of them were ill or had other issues? I’ve never been much of an animal person, but it saddened me to think that if those people hadn’t stayed and worked for free to take care of the ranch, those animals might have died.

Then came the issue of the condition of the land needing so many repairs. I had no clue that the farm needed so much work, but my concern was beginning to grow. After all, the land was part mine, now, so I had to help take care of it.