The Rancher Meets His Match (The Millers of Morgan Valley #4) - Kate Pearce Page 0,80
him.
“Are you okay if I go into the house ahead of you?”
“Sure. I don’t think I’m going to be assassinated just yet.”
“Tell Cameron I’m checking for bugs or something,” Kaiden added before heading up the steps to the porch where he paused to pat the dog.
He knocked politely on the door and wasn’t surprised when it swung open. Ranch hospitality was usually informal and, as long as he wiped his boots on the mat, he was probably good to proceed.
He found Mr. Evans in the kitchen sitting at the table reading the local newspaper. He glanced up briefly at Kaiden and gestured at the refrigerator. “Lemonade’s in there if you’d like some.”
“Thank you.” Kaiden helped himself. “Excuse me for bothering you, sir, but are you related to a Jennifer Evans Hollister?”
“I have a granddaughter named Jennifer.” Mr. Evans looked him up and down. “She’s probably around your age.”
“I think I know her,” Kaiden said slowly. “In fact, I think we dated about ten years ago when we were both taking evening classes at Bridgeport College.”
“She did go there to get her associate degree. She’s a nurse now. Works in the hospital in Mammoth.” Mr. Evans set down his paper. “And what’s your name, son?”
“Kaiden Miller.”
A brief look of horror passed over Mr. Evans’s face. “Not one of Jeff Miller’s boys?”
“Yeah, sorry about that.” Kaiden had to smile. “I think Jennifer decided to stop dating me the first time she met my dad. I didn’t blame her. He’s something else.”
“I’m glad you said that first, son.” Mr. Evans nodded. “He’s a hard man to get along with. We had a few spats in the Cattlemen’s Association over the years.”
Seeing as his dad had been politely asked to leave that organization, Kaiden wasn’t surprised to hear that.
Mr. Evans jerked his head in the direction of the door. “What are you doing hanging around with those ghouls?”
“Ghouls?” Kaiden took the chair his host indicated at the table.
“Well, to be fair, I don’t know about the lady, but Cameron Stravinsky is working for my daughters, not me.”
“You don’t want to sell the place?” Kaiden asked.
“Hell no.” Mr. Evans sat back. “I don’t care how much they think it’s worth. It’s my home, and I don’t want to see it go to strangers.”
“I know how you feel. We’ve had a couple of similar issues in Morgan Valley recently with legacy families either dying out or not having anyone interested in taking the place on. I guess your daughters aren’t interested?”
“My middle daughter would take the place on, but her husband and family aren’t willing to make the move out here.” Mr. Evans grimaced. “It’s a damned shame.”
“Maybe if you have to sell, you could ask the new owners if you could stay here and run it for them?” Kaiden asked.
“Like I’d want to stay here under those circumstances. I don’t want to be a hired hand on the land my father bequeathed to me.” Mr. Evans sighed. “It’s the first time in my life I ever envied your father anything—having all those boys.”
“That brings its own problems,” Kaiden said. “Dad decided to leave it all to Adam, which means the rest of us are out of luck.”
“Sounds just like Jeff. Is your brother going to make you all leave?”
“No, he’s already promised we can either stay and build our own places on the ranch or he’ll buy us out. He’s a good guy.”
“It’s not the same though, is it? You’re no longer part of the land.”
Kaiden took a long drink of his lemonade as he considered that painful truth and tried to make the best of it. “Yeah, I suppose I’ve never thought of the place as mine anyway—what with being the third son, and my dad looking like he would go on forever. But, he recently had a mild heart attack, and the world feels like a very different place right now.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, Kaiden. Give him my best, won’t you?”
“I will.” Kaiden finished his lemonade. “Can your daughters sell the place if you don’t want them to?”
“Pretty much.” Mr. Evans scowled. “A couple of years ago I had prostate cancer, and I made the decision to set up a trust with my girls having power of attorney so they could make medical choices for me. Since the damn disease has come back, they keep telling me it’s for my own good, that I’ll have less to worry about while I recover, but what’s the point of recovering if my ranch is