King's Country (Oil Kings #4) - Marie Johnston Page 0,72

their wives had helped redeem me. I’d had nothing to do with it, but I owed them all. Not just for paying for the drinks that Bristol had accidentally knocked out of Danika’s hold. They weren’t nice to Bristol because she was my girlfriend. They were just decent people, and it showed in how they treated her. Same with their significant others.

The receptionist at the front desk in the bank grinned as I approached. “Dawson, he’s waiting for you.”

I wandered through the desks on the main floor of the bank. Richard was behind his desk, a pair of reading glasses on as he scrutinized his computer screen. I tapped on his doorframe.

His gaze popped up and he took his glasses off. “Come on in. Shut the door.”

Once I was sitting across from his wide desk, he slid a folder across the top. He was old school. If he could print it, he made five copies. Richard wasn’t just the bank president, he was a savvy financial planner. He’d taken over the bank but kept some financial planning accounts as clients. King Ranch was one of the few.

“Haying yet?”

He asked that whenever I was in. Didn’t matter if it was November when all the plants were going dormant or March when they hadn’t started to grow. “Soon.”

He brushed invisible crumbs off his chest and folded his hands across his belly. “I’ve had a look at everything. Your investments are growing nicely. I don’t think we need to move anything around. Your income continues to grow steadily.” He adjusted his hands. “It’s your call. What are your plans? We can make it happen.”

“I’d like to take on another employee.”

He sat up, interest gleaming in his pale blue eyes. “Oh, yeah? You’re thinking of expanding?”

“Eventually. I’d like more time off. The guys and I are making do, but I don’t want to burn them out. Maybe we’ll start with a part-timer and see how it goes.”

His interest changed to calculation. “I thought you’d be considering expanding. Like to a certain neighbor who’s struggling to get by.”

My blood ran cold at his suggestion, but as my irritation crept up, heat swept through my veins. “Bristol is quite capable of successfully running her ranch.”

“Or she could sell to you, move somewhere else, and have a fresh start.”

“Bristol’s not going anywhere.” That was her home. It’d been in her family for generations. I didn’t want her to go anywhere, but I didn’t have to worry. She wasn’t leaving. “That ranch is hers. To say it’s in her blood is putting it lightly.”

Richard tapped his fingers on his gut. Soft thumps filled the office. “It would be a good move on your part. The oil wells aren’t active; you can pasture that land. Expand your business. Hire more people.” He sucked his lips against his teeth. “It’d be a good move.”

“Regardless, it’s not for sale.”

“It will be. Just give it time.”

My eyes narrowed. He didn’t know that by next month, Bristol wouldn’t have to sell in her lifetime if she didn’t want to, but I couldn’t use that to make a point. “It wouldn’t be if companies in town quit making her pay for her dad’s illness.”

“Illness?” Richard scoffed. “Danny made his choices, none of them good. Bristol’s done the same.”

“But she hasn’t—hasn’t been given choices, I mean.” I leaned forward, put my elbows on my knees, and folded my hands together. “If she were to walk in the door right now, would you treat her fairly?”

A faint flush spread across Richard’s cheeks. “I didn’t think you were the type to get drawn into that stuff.”

“What stuff, Richard?” I enunciated each word and settled my weight into my elbows. And I waited.

He tipped forward in his chair, keeping his arms across his gut like a seat belt. “She’s a pretty girl. Despite all the . . .” He fluttered his fingers up and down his body. “You’re young. She’s been forbidden for so long.”

I barked out a laugh. “I’m young? Dad had four kids under the age of ten by the time he was my age. He worked on the ranch and for the oil company. I’m almost thirty.” Too damn close to twenty-nine to think about. “I’ve had plenty of time to think about what I want. I’ve had plenty of time to be distracted by a ‘pretty girl’ and whatever else you’re insinuating.”

“Now, Dawson, I wasn’t saying—”

“I don’t care what you were saying. I don’t want Cartwright Cattle. I want Bristol to have her place,