He shrugged off Olivia’s words, saying, “Hey, he didn’t have anybody, and he’d been there to help out when my parents died in that car accident. I think Uncle Patrick would have been completely at a loss as to what to do about the funeral and—to be honest—us, if it hadn’t been for Earl.
“And then when Uncle Patrick passed on,” he recalled, “Earl was there to make sure that my brothers and I were okay. He told me that if there was ever anything that I needed, to be sure to come to him. I was just sixteen and determined to look after Finn and Liam. I don’t have to tell you that I was pretty damn grateful that there was someone to catch me if I fell.” He shrugged as if his own actions were no big deal. “I was just trying to pay him back a little.”
Olivia nodded. Brett’s summary was in keeping with what she knew. “Well, Mr. Robertson apparently remembered that.”
There was something in the lawyer’s tone that caught his attention. “Where’s this going, Olivia?”
Olivia smiled, obviously happy to be the bearer of good news. “It seems that Earl Robertson left his ranch to you.”
Brett stared at her. Although Forever was surrounded by ranches, the thought of him owning one had never crossed his mind. He knew that Earl had the ranch, but he’d never wondered who it would go to if the man didn’t return from New Mexico.
“You’re kidding,” he all but whispered, somewhat stunned by the news.
“Not during office hours,” Olivia replied with an exceptionally straight face.
Numb, he asked, “Did Earl say what he wanted me to do with it?”
Olivia finished the last of her ginger ale, placed the empty glass on the bar and then said, “Anything you want would be my guess. Looks like you’re finally a cowboy, Brett.”
He thought about the plot of land that had belonged to Earl. As far as he knew, it hadn’t been worked since the man had left. For that matter, it hadn’t really been worked for a year before that, either. That was about the time when the man’s health had begun to take a turn for the worse. He did recall that during the man’s final days in Forever, Earl had him sell off his stock. After Earl left for Taos, the place remained abandoned.
What the hell was he supposed to do with an abandoned ranch? Brett wondered.
“You sure about this?” he asked Olivia. “I’ve got enough on my hands just running this place.” Then, in the next breath, he asked, “Can I sell it?”
“Sure. You can do anything you want with it,” she reminded him. “But if I were you, I wouldn’t sell it just yet. You might want to consider doing something with the spread down the line. After all, you and your brothers take turns running the bar. Can’t see why you can’t do the same thing with the ranch. Maybe turn it back into a working spread again. Rick told me that’s what it was before Earl got sick.”
Brett laughed shortly. “What the hell do I know about running a ranch?” he asked her.
“I don’t know. I do know that despite that laid-back charm of yours, you’re actually a very determined man, accomplishing anything you set your mind to. Learning how to run a ranch would come easy to you. Besides, you’ve got friends, and they’re probably more than willing to pitch in and help you out.
“And,” she continued logically, “if, after a while, you decide you still don’t want to be a cowboy, then I’ll help you locate a buyer. I’m sure we can find someone who’ll be happy to take it off your hands. The property’s just outside the north border of the town. Being that close, there’re endless possibilities for it if ranching doesn’t appeal to you. Town needs a hotel. You could build one on the property and still have enough left to have a small spread, or anything else that presents itself to you.”
She leaned back on the stool for a minute, studying him. Her smile widened.
“What?”
“Just picturing you riding around your property.” She cocked her head, thinking. “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you on a horse, Brett.”
Brett began to dust off some of the bottles that hadn’t been pressed into service for a while. He believed in running a relatively pristine establishment. “There’s a reason for that.”
“You don’t ride?” she guessed.
“I don’t own a horse,” he corrected. “Don’t have a reason to.”
Her curiosity aroused, she pressed for an answer. “But you can ride?”
“Everyone can ride in Forever,” he told her. “Some of us just choose not to.” He stuck the dust cloth in his back pocket while he rearranged a few of the bottles.
“Understandable.” Olivia slid off her stool in a single fluid movement. “Well, I’ve got to be getting back. Come by the office when you get a chance so I can officially show you the will. I should have the deed transfer all squared away and notarized for you in a couple of days.”
Brett nodded, still trying to come to terms with what she’d just told him. Owning Murphy’s was something he’d just accepted as part of his heritage. Owning property—a ranch, no less—was something he was going to have to get used to.
“Will do,” he told her. And then a thought hit him. “Oh, Olivia?”
About to cross to the front door, Olivia turned to look at him, waiting. “Yes?”
He tried to make his question sound like a casual one. “What do you know about the new doc?”
Olivia smiled. “Other than the fact that Dan’s overjoyed she’s here, and Tina is now hopeful that she’ll see Dan sitting across from her at dinner at least a few times a week?”
Brett laughed. “Yes, other than that.”
“Not much,” she admitted.
The new doctor had been in town for a couple of weeks, and no one had struck up a casual conversation with her, as far as he knew.
“Dan says her credentials are impeccable, she graduated at close to the top of her class and her letters of recommendation are glowing, although I have a feeling that he would have hired her even if the letters had been only a tad better than mediocre. Right now she’s staying with Tina and Dan until she can find a place of her own, and according to Tina, she’s not exactly very talkative. Why?” she asked as it suddenly dawned on her why Brett was asking. “Are you interested?”
“I’m always interested in a pretty woman,” he answered. “Especially when I can’t figure out what she’s doing here.” He saw Olivia raise an eyebrow quizzically in response to his words. “Someone who looks like that doesn’t just pick up and move out to the middle of nowhere.”
Olivia pretended to be insulted. “Are you telling me that I’m not attractive?”
“You didn’t move out into the middle of nowhere. You came looking for your runaway sister,” he reminded her. “And while you were looking, you fell in love with Rick. Then you decided to stay. That’s different.”
Olivia considered his narrative. “Maybe she came here looking for something, too,” she suggested.
“Like what?” he asked.
“That would be something for an enterprising cowboy to find out,” Olivia told him with a knowing wink, looking at him significantly. “I’ll see you later.”
“Later,” Brett echoed.
Brett paused, thoughtfully watching Olivia leave. The last part of their conversation had intrigued him more than the first part of it had, despite the fact that he had apparently just inherited an entire ranch that he hadn’t a clue what to do with.
As