Get your next glimpse of A PLACE TO CALL OUR OWN!  Book 28 in The Friessens series is on the way, but you can preview Chapter 3 now! 

Finding a cheap, rundown house to rent wasn’t in the cards for Katy and Steven, nor has it been easy for either to be practical when their dream of having a ranch of their own to run, to raise a family on, seems to be moving ever further out of reach.

As the countdown begins to the date they have to leave, to the sale of the one place they’ve all called home for what’s seemed like forever, Katy and Steven, Brad and Emily, and the rest of the Friessen family might just be crazy enough to find a way for them all to have what they truly want.

A PLACE TO CALL OUR OWN (The Friessens, Book 28) is available for pre-sale at:

AMAZON  I  NOOK   I   iBOOKS   I   KOBO   I   GOOGLE PLAY

Did you miss your sneak peek of Chapter 2?  If so, click here.

_____

Chapter 3

Steven was dragging his heels after their long night of tossing and turning. Well, actually, he was the one who’d been tossing and turning, which had kept her from having a deep and restful sleep. She sighed. He was now upstairs in the shower, and she was downstairs in the kitchen with her mom. Fletcher and Jack were at the table, shoveling spoonfuls of cereal into their mouths.

“So what’s going on with you? You’re awfully quiet this morning,” Emily said from where she stirred a pot of oatmeal on the stove. Katy knew her dad was still outside with the cattle. She should wait for Steven, but there was just something about having a second with her mom, without her dad hearing, and she couldn’t stop herself from feeling out the situation. Jack looked over at her, but Fletcher didn’t bother looking up from his bowl. When she heard the door open at the top of the stairs, she knew Steven was now out of the shower.

“So what did Dad decide about the ranch? I mean, has he decided whether he’s going to take the offer?”

Her mom stopped stirring the oatmeal and put the wooden spoon down on a side plate. The kitchen was still unusually neat, and she took in the look her mom gave her. Of course she knew something was up, because Katy had never been really good at hiding anything from her. “Your dad is still thinking about it, and yes, we did talk about it, Katy. It’s all we talked about last night. This is a pretty major decision that affects all of us. Is that what you want to know? Rest assured, we’re still talking, and your dad hasn’t decided yet. There’s a lot to consider, and it is your dad’s decision.”

Katy squeezed her mug of coffee, glancing once at it just as she heard footsteps on the stairs, knowing Steven was on his way down. She shrugged in answer just as he walked into the kitchen, and she heard her dad’s footsteps on the back stairs, too, just before the screen door squeaked and he entered the kitchen behind her. Boy, talk about timing.

“What’s going on?” Steven turned to her mom and then back to her.

She just looked at her mom and then her dad as he strode past her. She didn’t miss his curious glance as he moved beside her mom, and his hand ran over her side, her back. It was always the same, the closeness between them after so many years of marriage. He reached in the cupboard for a coffee mug.

“Was just asking Mom if you considered taking the offer.” She took a swallow of coffee, feeling the way her dad and Steven stilled.

The look Steven gave her said everything, and he shook his head. “Couldn’t wait, could you?” he said. Even for him, it came out a little too sharply.

The exchange between her mom and dad was priceless. Her mom rolled her eyes, and her dad gave her the oddest look, as if he knew she’d done something. “Well, I didn’t ask him anything else, if that’s what you’re implying, so in a manner of speaking, I kind of did wait,” she said. Okay, even to her, that sounded pathetic, so she shrugged again before glancing over to Fletcher and Jack, who didn’t seem to get the gist of the conversation.

“So now that we’re all here, why don’t we just ask?” Katy said. She shuffled a bit and then gestured to Steven, seeing the way her dad leveled his dark, brooding gaze on her. She wondered for a minute what he thought she would say.

“Ask what?” he finally replied while reaching for the pot of coffee. He poured some into a mug before gesturing to the oatmeal on the stove. Of course, he was hungry. It wasn’t lost on her how neat and tidy the kitchen was, so maybe they really hadn’t decided one way or another about the house.

“Steven and I were talking last night about this house, the ranch, the offer you got, and this may sound absolutely crazy and stupid…” She glanced over to Steven, who was now leaning against the counter, his expression amused. He seemed ready to just let her ramble on and on and jam her foot in her mouth. It would likely be better if he talked, considering there were times she was sure her parents really didn’t take her seriously. “You know what? I should let Steven tell you.” Katy gave him all her attention.

Annoyance filled his expression. Obviously, he hadn’t expected that. “No, by all means, you finish. This should be good. Seriously, Katy, I thought we were going to do this together.” He was shaking his head, then stepped around her mom and dad to the coffee and poured himself one. She took in the way her parents glanced over to Steven and then back to her.

“Why doesn’t one of you just ask or tell us? Whatever it is, it shouldn’t be this painful,” her dad cut in.

Steven took a swallow of his coffee and stepped around Brad again, over to the boys, who were unusually quiet. Of course, everyone was now curious as to what was going on.

“Fine, I’ll just ask,” Katy said. “Dad, Mom, Steven and I love this ranch. I don’t want you to take the offer. In fact, I have a lot of objections to some corporate guy coming in and destroying all this.” She gestured to the kitchen. “They would tear down this house! I love this house. I grew up here, Fletcher grew up here, and then there are all the outbuildings, the barn, and what about all the livestock? I mean, Dad, you put everything into this place—love, sweat, tears, us. And now some guy wants to come in and wipe it all away as if it never existed?

“I understand, Dad, that you want to sell the place, and I get it to a point, especially with what he’s offering,” she continued. “The money is a lot…but I love this place. Steven loves this place. We love this place. I know you want to move, and I understand, but isn’t there some way that…” Katy stopped talking. Everyone just stared at her, and for a second, she wondered if her parents thought she’d lost her mind. Steven raised a brow, and she wondered how stupid it sounded. Even to her own ears, it sounded pathetic. Her dad looked away, raising a brow as well, and then exchanged another look with her mom.

“What Katy is trying to say,” Steven cut in, “is that we’ve always wanted this kind of life. I think you both know that, but your nine million plus price will never be in our price range. It had us both kind of realizing we’ll never have something like this.”

She couldn’t remember ever seeing her dad appear so confused as he dragged his gaze from Steven to her and back. The way her mom frowned, though, made her think this entire idea was out there.

Steven pushed away from the counter and set his mug down, then brushed his hands together. “But we wondered on the idea of having just a piece of this. I mean, this guy or whoever he is, as you said last night, doesn’t want the house or any of this. He just wants the land, to milk it of everything, so I guess Katy and I had the crazy idea that maybe, somehow, we could figure out a way to keep some part that this guy doesn’t want…” He stopped talking. This time she was positive by the way her parents were looking at them that they thought they’d lost their minds.

“You want to buy the ranch?” Fletcher finally jumped in. The expression on his face was priceless. Yeah, everyone was confused, so she shrugged.

“Well, no.” She laughed, because the millions it would take to buy this, even though she was family, were out of their reach. “The thing is, honey, as I said to your dad last night, it was our worst fear come true last night to hear that someone wants all this, but not really. They want this place with none of what makes it so special. I think everyone knows how much we love this place, all of us, and I know it may sound ridiculous, because we can’t afford this, but Steven and I talked last night, and we realized if we didn’t ask, if we didn’t tell you how we feel, then there would always be a what-if. If I’ve learned anything, it’s that it’s not a good idea to leave things unsaid. So there, I’ve said it. We’ve said it,” she added, and Steven inclined his head.

The way her mom and dad looked at each other, she dreaded what they’d say.

“Great, okay then,” Brad replied, then turned to the boys. “Who’s taking you two to school?”

“You are,” Jack said, so her dad gestured to the front door, and she listened to the scrape of their chairs. Steven shook his head, tired, dismissed. It seemed like they hadn’t been heard.

When her dad started out of the kitchen, he stopped in front of her and took her in. For a second, she didn’t have a clue what he’d say. Then he turned back to the boys. “Come on, shake a leg, you two.” He started to the door, the boys following, and that left Steven and her mom and an empty house.

Just then, Trevor walked in the back door and wiped his shoes. “Oh, I’m hungry,” he stated, and he walked right to the stove.

Katy watched as her mom handed him a bowl so he could dish up some oatmeal. “What was that, Mom?” she said.

“That was us listening. The boys have to go to school. Steven, don’t you have to get to your jobsite, and, Katy, are you watching Gilly again this morning?”

There she went, organizing everyone and not answering.

“Yup, see you tonight,” Steven said. As he walked over to her, he caught in one hand the granola bar her mom tossed him. “Thanks,” he added before he turned to kiss Katy, his gaze lingering on her. She didn’t want to hear what he was likely thinking, which was what a waste of time that had been.

“Well, I guess I’d better go, too,” she said, walking over to the dishwasher and then putting in her mug.

“Katy, you know we heard you, right?” Emily said.

Katy glanced over to Trevor, who was now sitting at the table, eating the hot cereal and not paying them any attention. “I suppose,” she replied. “It’s just that Dad left and didn’t say anything, so there you have it.” She had her answer, and the sinking feeling in her stomach really took hold.

“Katy, I told you already that your dad hasn’t made any decisions yet. There’s a lot to consider. Let him think on it. And, Katy, your dad knows how much this place means to both you and Steven. He didn’t dismiss you. He’s figuring out a lot, and none of this is easy for him. Giving up this place was something your dad never considered. As long as I’ve known Brad, this ranch has been who he is.” Her mom just let her gaze linger.

“So what you’re saying is to give Dad some time to sort all this out?”

Emily inclined her head. “Yup, now you’d better get going before Becky calls, wondering where you are.”

Katy took in Trevor again. He seemed as if he didn’t have a care in the world, but then, he didn’t worry about things the way she did. Maybe she needed to take a page from his book, looking at what she had instead of worrying about what she couldn’t have.

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Who wants another sneak peek of A PLACE TO CALL OUR OWN?  The next installment in The Friessens family saga will be released this week, but you can read Chapter 2 now!

Finding a cheap, rundown house to rent wasn’t in the cards for Katy and Steven, nor has it been easy for either to be practical when their dream of having a ranch of their own to run, to raise a family on, seems to be moving ever further out of reach.

As the countdown begins to the date they have to leave, to the sale of the one place they’ve all called home for what’s seemed like forever, Katy and Steven, Brad and Emily, and the rest of the Friessen family might just be crazy enough to find a way for them all to have what they truly want.

A PLACE TO CALL OUR OWN (The Friessens, Book 28) is available for pre-sale at:

AMAZON   I   NOOK   I   iBOOKS  I   KOBO   I   GOOGLE PLAY

Did you miss your sneak peek of Chapter 1?  If so, click here.

____

Chapter 2

“I still can’t believe this is happening,” Katy said, pacing at the foot of the bed in the same bedroom she’d grown up in, only now Steven’s clothes were crammed into the dated closet with hers. “I mean, how can my dad even consider selling to someone like that? He loves this place, I love this place, we love this place. It’s a desecration, that’s what this is. How can he consider money over the knowledge that someone is going to come in and bulldoze everything, destroy everything he loved in this place? What about the horses, all the cattle, this house, our bedroom?”

Katy was gorgeous in a pink nightgown with spaghetti straps, which showed a generous amount of breast. She was barefoot, her blond hair hanging loose just past her shoulders. He could see their image in the mirrored glass of the sliding closet doors from where he was in bed, two pillows propped behind him, the duvet pulled up, his arms crossed over his bare chest.

“Steven, you haven’t said anything else. How can you not be upset?” Katy stopped pacing and stared at him, and he wondered for a minute what she expected him to do.

“This is your dad’s place, not ours, and ultimately, it comes down to his decision. What do you want me to say, that I would rather he didn’t sell and we could keep living here? Sure, but that isn’t realistic.” He lifted his hands and pulled up his knees, feeling the sheet run over his bare skin.

“No, but you have an opinion. You always have an opinion, Steven…” Katy crawled onto the bed on her stomach, and just the way she was looking at him, he had an idea what she was going to say. “I mean, I never expected this place to sell. When dad listed it for nine million plus, I thought he was out of his mind. Who has that kind of money in their back pocket?”

There they went with this conversation again, the same one he was still trying to wrap his head around. “Katy, it’s kind of a moot point. Why don’t you just say it, that you wanted this place?”

She reached over and touched his wrist. “We both wanted this place, or someplace like it. This has always been our dream.” She sighed.

What could he say? Yeah, he loved this place, even though it wasn’t theirs and it never would be. They had lived there longer than he’d ever expected.

“And then we move where?” she continued. “In two weeks? This is crazy.” She dropped her head into her hands, into the mattress, and groaned.

“One, you’re getting ahead of yourself,” Steven started. “Brad just had an offer…”

Katy lifted her head, and her look reached out to him. He knew his words were just that, just empty assurances.

“Fine, you want me to say it?” he said. “He’d be a fool not to take that money. That’s once-in-a-lifetime cash, the kind of offer you don’t get every day. Of course he’s going to take it, but are you happy? Because I’m not.”

Katy groaned and reached out to him, then ran her hand over his arm. “You should talk to my dad and convince him not to sell, or even just keep a piece of it, like…”

He tossed back the covers and pulled away, stepping out of bed naked. “Katy, stop, seriously. I’m not going to tell your dad not to sell. Come on, that’s crazy. You and I both knew this was going to happen, although I didn’t expect it to happen so soon. We’re going to have to get our heads around the fact that he’s going to sell, and a two-week deadline leaves very little time to find something for us. And keeping a piece…? No, that’s not even realistic. That requires subdivision and applying for all kinds of permits, and then you need to add in the everlasting hoops to jump through. It would take years to make that happen.”

She was really looking at him, her gaze heavy, as she sat up and patted the spot on the bed where he’d been, but he just stood there a second, stubbornly, as he tried to figure out what to say.

“Look, I should have been looking for a house, something for us,” he said, “but I didn’t. If I’m being honest, I was dragging my heels because I knew you and Fletcher were happy here, and yeah, it’s easier here. I knew you didn’t want to leave, and you know what? I don’t want to move either. I mean, your dad has made it really easy for us to stay, and I’ll admit I love this ranch. I love helping your dad out on weekends when I’m not working my own job. I know you love this ranch, and yes, Katy, way back when, before we even got married, this was always our dream, to have something like this.

“But then shit completely hit the fan for us,” he continued. “We made different choices…and nine freaking million dollars? No, wait, I’m sorry. It’ll be over ten million once your dad finishes negotiating. I mean, prices are through the roof. We can’t afford anything like this. This is not the kind of place we can ever have, not anymore. I’d have to buy one of those Powerball tickets for any hope of buying this, and then what? I love being an electrician and taking the jobs I do. Maybe that’s what I’ve been trying to get my head around. I’ve looked at some properties, but even a small, manageable five acres isn’t in the budget. We’d be looking at a starter home or a condo. Sorry, but that’s just the way it is. I think we both need to get our heads around the fact that the ranch is going to sell, and your dad’s right about one thing: We can’t think of what we can’t have.”

He didn’t miss the twist of her lips, the hint of a smile. She patted the spot in bed again, and this time he walked over and climbed in, and Katy ran her hand up his thigh and settled her gaze on him. He couldn’t fight the feeling that she had something else in mind.

“Well, it’s not sold yet,” she said. “I know my dad wants to sell, but even Becky was a little bothered by the offer and the fact that some wealthy foreigner is planning on tearing all of this down. Something doesn’t sit right. I think if we give my dad some time to think about it, he might just decide he can’t sell it for any price if it’s going to be destroyed. I know he wants to sell, but do you really think, even after what happened in Cancun, he’d be okay with letting someone come in and destroy all this?”

He just took in Katy. He knew this wouldn’t be an easy decision for Brad, but at the same time, with his need to sell and the fact that this kind of money wasn’t going to come again any time soon… He just shrugged, and Katy scooted closer as he said, “One way or another, we’re going to have to find our own place. I think you and I both know Brad’s not okay with someone coming in and taking this apart, but it’s time that I pull my head out of the ground. If he takes the offer, we have two weeks. If he doesn’t, there’s going to be something else down the road. Katy, any ideas you have for this place, I think you need to get them out of your head. We can’t afford this.”

“But what if you just talk to my dad and see if there’s something…” she started again.

He knew what she wanted to make happen, for her dad to realize the mistake he’d made in deciding to sell this place. “Katy, stop. Even if your dad has a change of heart and decides not to sell, this was never going to be yours anyway. It was going to go to Jack, and you know that—even though you love this place more than anyone.”

This time when Katy pulled back, he didn’t reach out to her. “Maybe so, and maybe Brad isn’t my real father, but he’s still my dad. I love this place, all of it. It doesn’t hurt to ask.”

He just stared at her as if she’d lost her mind. “Ask him what, to sell us the ranch?” He couldn’t fight the laugh that burst out, and he could see how that set Katy on edge, as she moved to leave. He reached for her arm and pulled back. “Wait. Seriously, Katy?”

“Steven, don’t laugh at me. I’m serious. All I’m asking is for a conversation with my dad, because I don’t think he realizes how much we love this place and how much we both want it. I think if we sit him down and tell him what it means to us, maybe we can figure something out, some way we can buy this place or find a way to have just a piece of it. It could make us and my parents happy.”

As he stared at Katy another minute, he realized she was serious. He was about to say no way, but he took in the imploring look she gave him. “Fine,” he said. “I’ll talk to Brad tomorrow—”

“We’ll both talk to my mom and dad tomorrow,” she interrupted him, scooting closer again.

“Yes, we’ll both talk to your parents tomorrow and tell them how we feel about this place, but realistically, Katy, I don’t know what your dad is going to say or if he’s going to laugh us out of the house.”

She leaned in and kissed him, looping her arms around his shoulders. “He won’t laugh at us.”

“No, he’ll think we’re crazy, absolutely, certifiably crazy, because we have no money other than enough for a down payment for some old condo that’s not even on the good side of town.”

“What’s the worst that can happen?” Katy said. “Steven, if my dad takes this offer and we don’t say anything, we’ll regret it down the road.”

He took in how gorgeous she was and knew that in some ways, she was right, so he just shook his head and then leaned in. He kissed her again and rolled with her until she was under him, and she giggled. “Shh, don’t wake everyone,” he said. He kissed her again before pulling back. “So tomorrow we talk to your parents, and then we need to start looking for a place.”

“Oh, have some faith, Steven. You just never know what my dad will say.”

He took her in, his wife, the love of his life, and wondered at what point she’d realize that they were all going to have to say goodbye to this place they loved.

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Can't wait till release day?  The newest addition to The Friessens big family romance series is coming soon, but you can grab a sneak peek of A PLACE TO CALL OUR OWN today! 

Finding a cheap, rundown house to rent wasn’t in the cards for Katy and Steven, nor has it been easy for either to be practical when their dream of having a ranch of their own to run, to raise a family on, seems to be moving ever further out of reach.

As the countdown begins to the date they have to leave, to the sale of the one place they’ve all called home for what’s seemed like forever, Katy and Steven, Brad and Emily, and the rest of the Friessen family might just be crazy enough to find a way for them all to have what they truly want.

A PLACE TO CALL OUR OWN (The Friessens, Book 28) is available for pre-sale at:

AMAZON  I  NOOK   I   iBOOKS   I   KOBO   I   GOOGLE PLAY

_____

Chapter 1

If Brad were anyone else, he would likely have understood why people assumed that he was being forced to sell as a result of having had a gun to his head, that this was nothing but a knee-jerk reaction to protect his family. But they were wrong.

Selling the Friessen ranch felt akin to stepping off the dock without a life jacket, not knowing what would be next for them. It was exciting, terrifying, and something he’d never planned for. If this had happened ten or even twenty years earlier, he likely wouldn’t have been so inclined to sell and walk, considering this was all he’d known, but for the first time in Brad’s life, he truly believed he was now completely, one hundred percent in charge of his future, his direction, and the choices he made for his family. He now had a blank canvas and no idea where he and his family would go.

It was chaotic. There would be a monetary windfall, but not everyone in his family was as open to the adventure or to what was yet to come. They weren’t ready to accept the unknown and just go with it. But then, how many years had it taken him to get to a point where he was comfortable with just letting things be as they were?

“So you think that’s the last of it today?” Emily said. “Because seriously, Brad, I’m getting tired of keeping the house this ridiculously show-home freaking clean, with not even a glass on the counter or in the sink. Do you have any idea how difficult that is, considering everyone who lives here? You know, I’d like to walk into my living room and relax, curl up with a book and a tea, and not worry about leaving a mark on the coffee table—which has never been this polished. Then I’d like to walk up the stairs and see all the family photos, the personal touches that make this our home.

“I still can’t believe you listened to that ridiculous realtor who insisted we had to stage the place,” she continued. “There’s no personalization, and it’s so impossibly neat that no one is comfortable. I mean, what difference is this really going to make for people coming in here? They should see it as a home, our home. I’ve had enough. I just want my house back, without the endless interruptions and strangers going through our—no, my personal things.” Emily pulled in a breath, and he could see the toll this was taking on her, having a bunch of strangers parading through their house, their property, day in and day out. Worse, they had to keep the kids from touching or moving anything.

He knew Emily was rattled, and he just watched her as she pulled open the fridge and then closed it, tossing her hands in the air. He took in her red and black flannel shirt and faded blue jeans. Her hair was clipped up in a messy bun, which had dried with a little more natural wave than she liked, but then, she’d had to hurry out of the shower after he received a call from their realtor about a last-minute showing for someone who was in town only briefly.

“We got an offer,” he finally said. He should have interrupted Emily earlier, but he was still considering what the realtor had said to him about it being almost perfect. What was it about that word, “almost”?

“What?”

He had expected shock, but instead she seemed confused. He shrugged, hearing the sound of a car door outside and knowing Steven was home. He recognized the sound of his pickup. He said nothing, instead pulling his hand over his chin and feeling the scrape of whiskers. He hadn’t had time to shave after checking on the cattle and seeing that Emily and the kids were out of the house so Pam, their realtor, could show the house without anyone breathing down her client’s neck. That was something she insisted on, the one thing that had truly bothered Emily.

She gestured toward him. “Brad, come on. You can’t just say something like that and then nothing at all.”

He walked over to the fridge, taking in the kitchen, which was the same as it had been when he was a little kid. Pam had said the dated layout would make this place a tough sell. He pulled open the fridge and reached for a can of beer, then took his time popping the top. He knew his wife would likely snatch it from his hands if he didn’t tell her what he was thinking soon.

“That last-minute showing, apparently they made an offer.” He lifted the can and took a swallow of the light lager, seeing the shock on Emily’s face. He wasn’t sure if she was happy, sad, or what. It was exactly what he was feeling.

“Shoes off or on?” Steven called out. Of course, Brad hadn’t heard the familiar squeak of the screen door at the front, as that was one of the first things the realtor had insisted he take care of. After some WD-40, it was good to go, though he knew she’d expected him to replace the old door with something new and shiny.

“Off!” Emily called out without pulling her gaze from him.

“What kind of offer?” Emily crossed her arms. He could see the tension that had seemed to be part of her since he’d listed the ranch.

“A decent one that comes with a lot of strings, a lot of everything. I’m still trying to get my head around it.”

“Wow, you wouldn’t believe what happened today,” Steven said as he joined them in the kitchen. “I’m driving down the road, and since switching to that new cell phone provider, I’ve been getting endless wrong numbers, which has totally pissed me off, since they assured me it was a new number and not a recycled one. Anyway, I kind of decided to have some fun with it. This guy phones with a Montana area code and says, ‘Hey, Ger, this is Fred,’ in that Midwestern accent. Instead of saying he’s got the wrong number, I say, ‘Yeah?’ with a ton of that Montana attitude. So he says, ‘Hey, listen, I kind of have a problem here. I wonder if you saw this invoice that just came across my desk that says we owe a balloon payment of $14,500 in interest on that business line of credit when it was supposed to be only $8,000. You know someone’s ass is on the line for this, because this kind of expenditure was never accounted for, so what the hell happened? Did Fran approve this? I don’t want this blowing up in my face and having to explain to the boss why Sales is way over budget again.’

“So by now I’m in this, and I just couldn’t resist. As I’m pulling up to a red light, I can either come clean and tell the guy I’m messing with him or keep going, so I think to myself, I need a little fun today, and I decide to just go with it. I shrug and say, ‘Hey, no idea. Listen, Fred, I know the bank originally wanted $15,600, which was highway robbery, so I made them rework the numbers and got them down to $8,012. With last year’s overage, they agreed to write off those twelve dollars, in typical big-bank generosity, and say we owe an even eight thousand, so I don’t know what to tell you.’”

Brad stared at Steven, who was now in the fridge and pulling out a can of beer, construction debris all over his dingy blue T-shirt, his work khakis covered in sawdust. He half expected Emily to tell him to go outside and brush it off, but she too was staring at him, amused by his twisty sense of humor, which often came out of nowhere.

“The guy is still on the phone and hasn’t figured out I’m not this mysterious Ger, so he says to me, ‘Well, sounds like you have a handle on this. You take care of it, and call Fran and fix this, and then call me back and let me know it’s all straightened out.’” Steven took a swallow of his beer and started laughing. “And I’m thinking to myself, like, there’s no way I’m letting this guy toss Ger under the bus to save his own ass, even though I don’t have a clue who Ger is. I’m doing my very best not to bust a gut laughing, too, because I realize this guy has no idea who he’s talking to or what’s going on. So I say to him, ‘No, Fred, you listen up. I’m not having this crap fall back on me. You go talk to Fran, work it out with her, and find out who screwed up, and then you call me back.’ When the light turns green, the guy grumbles a bit but finally says fine and hangs up, and I just kill myself laughing. Now some guy named Fred has no clue what’s going on in his company, and I’m imagining the conversation with Fran and this mysterious Ger, who I feel personally owes me because I’ve just saved his ass…” Steven trailed off with the beer halfway to his mouth. He pulled the can away and gestured. “What’s going on?”

There it was. Emily blinked, pulled in a breath, and gave her head a shake. “Brad was just saying he had an offer on the ranch.” She shifted her gaze between Steven and him, then inclined her head and really took him in with her blue eyes.

“What? You sold the ranch.”

Yup, “shock” was an understatement.

He heard the door and more footsteps. “No, I had an offer, is all, and was just considering all the aspects of it, as it comes with some things I didn’t expect.”

“Our home sold?” Becky said as she came in, her hair long and loose. She wore her trademark leggings and a tank with a hoodie, as if she had taken up jogging again, but he knew she hadn’t. Then there was Katy, who was carrying his granddaughter, Gilly. She was a little more put together in blue jeans and a fall coat, her blond hair pulled back in a ponytail. Gilly was quiet, as if she’d just woken up, and then there were Fletcher and Jack, who were now rummaging in the cupboard for anything to eat, their after-school ritual.

“I kind of wanted to have a chance to discuss this with your mom first,” Brad said, taking in Emily, who was reaching for the bag of cookies Jack had grabbed and swatted his hand. He was almost as tall as Emily now, and Brad could see so much of himself in his son. Fletcher was still a few inches shorter. At least they’d all taken off their shoes, a first.

“I’m starting dinner soon,” she said.

“And I’ll be starving by the time we eat,” Jack said. “What’s for dinner, anyway?” he added, reaching for the cookies again.

This time Emily let out a breath, giving in, and handed him the bag as she turned her gaze back to Brad. “Evidently, that’s not going to happen,” she said. “So what about this offer? Is it a lowball?”

He took in how quiet everyone was, even Jack and Fletcher, two dark-haired boys in their jeans and T-shirts, shoving cookies in their mouths. “Well, no,” he said. “It’s actually more than I asked.”

A lot more, especially considering he’d listed the ranch at almost ten million dollars, with the expectation it would likely take a long time to sell. He wondered if Emily had stopped breathing. Everyone was trying to wrap their head around him getting his asking price.

“You were offered more than 9.9 million?” Steven said. Meanwhile, Katy was quiet, and the two exchanged a glance that reached out to each other.

“I was offered an extra five hundred thousand for quick possession,” Brad said. It would make up for him having to pay off all the ranch hands, because whoever wanted his land was some corporate guy who didn’t want a working ranch.

“How quick are we talking?” Emily jumped in, but Brad was stuck on the shock on Becky’s face, and he wasn’t sure what to make of the expression on Katy’s, considering she and Steven were the two who had never been happy about him selling.

“Two weeks,” Brad said. “All we’d have to do is pack up our clothes and furniture, find a place, and move.”

The prospective buyer had even offered to take care of getting rid of anything they didn’t want to take with them. Maybe that was what bothered him so much, having everything that was theirs reduced to something someone saw as disposable.

This time, Emily glanced over at the kids. Steven was leaning against the fridge, and his expression seemed off. He was likely considering the possible sale, as he hadn’t said anything yet.

“Well, that sounds like the perfect offer, so what’s the problem?” Emily said. Brad had never been able to hide anything from her. She always knew when he was having trouble with something.

“Maybe I expected a family to buy it,” he said. “I expected someone to run this ranch the way it’s always been run, someone who wants all of this and sees it the way I do. This is big business, a good business, a good life—but that’s not what they want, not in that way.”

He still couldn’t figure out how to explain to his family that the buyer was some corporate foreign national who wanted to bulldoze everything, sell the livestock and the horses. All of this that he loved, that his family had loved, would be gone. It had taken a lifetime to build and would be gone in an instant.

“Well, what would they want the ranch for, then?” Steven finally jumped in, and Brad could see he wasn’t happy about the offer.

“For the land,” he replied. “They’d lease it out, use the timber and water rights. Take your pick. It wouldn’t be about this working ranch.”

Everyone looked at each other, and he could see the minute they understood what he was saying.

“So they don’t want this ranch to run. They want to tear it down,” Steven said.

Brad didn’t miss the shock on Emily’s face. Even Becky, who’d never really loved this place the way he did, the way the rest of them did, looked startled. Katy was giving all her attention to Gilly as if she wasn’t really interested, but he knew better. “Yeah, everything,” he replied.

“The house, the barn?” Jack cut in.

He took in his son and nodded. “They would tear it down.”

“What about the horses, all the cows? Grandpa, what will happen to all of them?” Fletcher said. He had chocolate at the side of his mouth from the cookie.

Brad wasn’t sure he wanted to answer. He just shook his head. Emily hissed. This was the one thing he hadn’t expected. “It’s not for sure yet. It’s just an offer,” he said—but at the same time, this kind of offer might not come around again.

“But you’re considering it,” Katy said. She was looking at her mom but then dragged her bright blue eyes over to him. There it was, her attachment to this place. He had always known Katy loved the ranch. This was the life he knew she’d always wanted.

“I am,” he replied. “I have to, because as I told all of you, it’s time to move on. But before you all go off about what’s going to happen to the ranch, let me point out that I haven’t agreed to the offer. At the same time, you need to understand that whoever buys this isn’t going to run the place as I do. It will become their place to run as they see fit. And we, all of us, will move on and start a new life, a new era, someplace else. We need to cut the cord, so to speak. We can’t have one foot still here while trying to build a new life.”

That sounded great, but he wished he could get past his own vision of someone else loving this place the way he had, as all he could see was everything he loved about the ranch being completely destroyed.

If you aren’t already an Audible listener, did you know that you can try audiobooks with a FREE trial?  No risk for 30 days.  Seriously, this is a super hot deal with Audible and a great way to have a listen to some of my books on audio for FREE in the FREE trial.  And if you cancel, you pay nothing.  What are you waiting for?  Click on your Audible country of choice below and try it out.  Then shoot me an email to let me know which audible narrator is your favorite!

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And did you know... if you already own one of my eBooks on Kindle, you can pick up the audiobook at a reduced price with Whispersync? Whispersync allows you to both read and listen, and you can even switch back and forth between reading the book on Kindle and listening to the book on Audible without losing your place.

Don't forget to check out my eBookstore where there are more ways to save and be rewarded--from refer a friend, to share on social media for a 25% discount, to my new affiliate program! More of my books will be added soon, so be sure to check back often. 

xxxx 

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IT'S AUDIOBOOK MANIA PLUS A ONE-DAY SALE!

Calling all reviewers!  Get your FREE Audible copy of IN THE FAMILY!  

Receive your free audio code for Book 10 in The Friessens series in exchange for an honest online review.  E-mail me at LorhainneEckhart.LE@gmail.com to request your code and indicate whether you need a US or UK code.  A limited number of codes are available; one code per person, please.  Reviews should be posted within seven days after completion.

If you have previously requested an Audible code, please be sure to redeem your code in a timely fashion (check your spam folder if you have not received your requested code) and kindly drop me an e-mail along with your reviewer name to direct me to your honest online review so that I can continue to receive complimentary codes to share with my fans!  A great big THANK YOU to all who continue to listen to my stories and post a review!  Please note that unfortunately additional code requests cannot be honored if previous codes have not been redeemed and your honest review posted; reviews for this title can be posted here.  As always, thank you so much for your support and happy listening! 

CALLING ALL AMAZON READERS! If you've enjoyed IN THE FAMILY and wouldn't mind leaving an honest review here, I'd truly appreciate it!  The number of reviews a book accumulates on a daily basis has a direct impact on its success at Amazon, so leaving a review--no matter how short--helps make it possible for me to continue to do what I do.  Again, thank you so much for your consideration and support--I am extremely grateful!

Need to catch up with everyone's favorite family?  The Friessen Legacy boxed set collections make it a breeze!  Click here for the wide selection of sets from The Outsider, The Friessens: A New Beginning and The Friessens big family romance series, and fall in love with the Friessens!

GET YOUR AUDIO ON 

If you aren’t already an Audible listener, did you know that you can try audiobooks with a FREE trial?  No risk for 30 days.  Seriously, this is a super hot deal with Audible and a great way to have a listen to some of my books on audio for FREE in the FREE trial.  And if you cancel, you pay nothing.  What are you waiting for?  Click on your Audible country of choice below and try it out.  Then shoot me an email to let me know which audible narrator is your favorite!

Audible US   Audible Australia   Audible Canada 
Audible UK   Audible Germany   Audible France

And did you know... if you already own one of my eBooks on Kindle, you can pick up the audiobook at a reduced price with Whispersync?  Whispersync allows you to both read and listen, and you can even switch back and forth between reading the book on Kindle and listening to the book on Audible without losing your place.

Don't forget to check out my eBookstore where there are more ways to save and be rewarded--from refer a friend, to share on social media for a 25% discount, to my new affiliate program! More of my books will be added soon, so be sure to check back often. 

IT'S AUDIOBOOK MANIA PLUS A ONE-DAY SALE!

Calling all reviewers!  Get your FREE Audible copy of IN THE MOMENT!  

Receive your free audio code for Book 9 in The Friessens series in exchange for an honest online review.  E-mail me at LorhainneEckhart.LE@gmail.com to request your code and indicate whether you need a US or UK code.  A limited number of codes are available; one code per person, please.  Reviews should be posted within seven days after completion.

If you have previously requested an Audible code, please be sure to redeem your code in a timely fashion (check your spam folder if you have not received your requested code) and kindly drop me an e-mail along with your reviewer name to direct me to your honest online review so that I can continue to receive complimentary codes to share with my fans!  A great big THANK YOU to all who continue to listen to my stories and post a review!  Please note that unfortunately additional code requests cannot be honored if previous codes have not been redeemed and your honest review posted; reviews for this title can be posted here.  As always, thank you so much for your support and happy listening! 

CALLING ALL AMAZON READERS! If you've enjoyed IN THE MOMENT and wouldn't mind leaving an honest review here, I'd truly appreciate it!  The number of reviews a book accumulates on a daily basis has a direct impact on its success at Amazon, so leaving a review--no matter how short--helps make it possible for me to continue to do what I do.  Again, thank you so much for your consideration and support--I am extremely grateful!

GET YOUR AUDIO ON 

If you aren’t already an Audible listener, did you know that you can try audiobooks with a FREE trial?  No risk for 30 days.  Seriously, this is a super hot deal with Audible and a great way to have a listen to some of my books on audio for FREE in the FREE trial.  And if you cancel, you pay nothing.  What are you waiting for?  Click on your Audible country of choice below and try it out.  Then shoot me an email to let me know which audible narrator is your favorite!

Audible US   Audible Australia   Audible Canada 
Audible UK   Audible Germany   Audible France

And did you know... if you already own one of my eBooks on Kindle, you can pick up the audiobook at a reduced price with Whispersync?  Whispersync allows you to both read and listen, and you can even switch back and forth between reading the book on Kindle and listening to the book on Audible without losing your place.

Don't forget to check out my eBookstore where there are more ways to save and be rewarded--from refer a friend, to share on social media for a 25% discount, to my new affiliate program! More of my books will be added soon, so be sure to check back often.