a wide, slow, brilliant smile. “What do we have here?”
Cat shakes her head up at the clear blue sky before blowing out a breath. She gestures toward the couple. “Caden Landry, this is my brother Jackson and his fiancée, Gwen Johnson.” She flips a hand back in my direction. “This is our new farm manager.”
Jackson’s face clears, and he sticks out a hand. “Nice to meet you, man.”
“You too.” We shake, grips firm and strong.
Gwen smiles at me in greeting. “Thank God. I was giving myself one more day before I allowed panic to set in.”
I chuckle. “Well, rest easy. I’m here to save the day.”
Cat mutters something that sounds an awful lot like, “Oh sweet Jesus.”
I glance down at her. “You say something, boss?”
“Nope.” She shakes her head, eyes glittering with not-so-repressed agitation.
Jackson rubs a hand over his jaw. “You know about the restaurant opening?”
“I do.”
“When are you starting? We need to review the crops as soon as possible.” Jackson’s tone carries the cadence of someone expecting to be obeyed, and I can respect that.
Gwen rolls her eyes. “At least give him a chance to get settled in.”
I’m eager to get started and get away from Cat so I say, “Not necessary. How about right now?”
Jackson’s expression flashes with surprise. “You sure?”
“I’ve got nothing else to do. Quicker we get on it, the better off we’ll be.”
Jackson flashes a smile at his sister. “I like him already.”
“Great.” A muscle in her jaw jumps, as I’m pretty sure she’s gritting her teeth.
I repress a smile.
She glares at me. “I was about to show you to the cabin.”
“I’ll come find you later.”
“Fine.”
Jackson looks down at his fiancée. “You coming, darlin’?”
Gwen glances around at the three of us before shaking her head. “I’ll catch up. I want to check on Natalie and talk to Cat first.”
He snakes an arm around her waist and pulls her close, kissing her firmly on the mouth before releasing her. He turns to me. “Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.” I shift my attention to Cat. “Later, boss.”
She smiles, but her eyes are giving me a big ol’ fuck you.
Well, I can’t win them all.
And with her, that’s probably not a bad thing.
2
Cat
Yes, I definitely hate him.
I glare at Caden’s departing form as he struts off with my brother. He left before I could argue with him about the irrigation schedule. His implication that it’s wrong scratches at me, like a mosquito bite.
He can’t tell anything from a distance. Right?
“Well, well, well, this is interesting.”
I jerk my attention away from the man in question at the sound of Gwen’s voice.
She’s beaming at me, all bright eyed and curious.
I love my future sister-in-law. She’s the ray of sunshine we all needed. Not only has she brought Jackson kicking and screaming into having the life he deserves, she is completely devoted to my six-year-old niece, Natalie, who has cerebral palsy and needs full-time care.
I couldn’t ask for a better momma for the little girl who’s the center of all our lives, and I’m grateful every day for the joy Gwen’s brought to both Jackson and Natalie, but right now I do not like the way she’s looking at me.
I’m going to ignore her comment, because I’m 100-percent sure I don’t want to know what she means.
“Jackson likes him,” I say.
She glances back at the two men disappearing around the bend. “Doesn’t surprise me one bit. They’re cut from the same cloth.”
“Both arrogant dickheads, huh?” The words are out before I can stop them.
Gwen laughs. “Yeah, something like that.”
I’m grinding my teeth, and I make a concerted effort to relax my jaw. “Gabe recommended him, and he knows how important this is to us.”
“I’ve got a good feeling about him,” Gwen says.
Everyone seems to have taken to Caden Landry but me. I brush off my irritation and focus on the win. I did my job and made two of the three bosses happy. If Wyatt’s on board, it’ll be a trifecta. My gaze darts back to the cane fields, and I squint against the sun to study the plants. They look perfectly healthy to me.
I return my attention to Gwen. “You just met him, but I’m glad you like him.”
She grins at me. “After years of hiring people, you get a sixth sense about these things.”
She’s from Chicago and still has a famous restaurant there, which has some of the best food I’ve ever had in my life. Considering my brother is a culinary genius, that’s saying something. At one point Jackson