Stay With Me: BWWM Interracial Cowboy/Western Romance (Westbury Ranch Book 2) Read Online Free Page B

overburden the farm with too many animals because she’s aware that we need to keep the land fresh, so it keeps yielding more. That’s why she’s selective about the breed of animals she buys.”
    “She and Graeme went to look at sheep,” Shayne replied. “So, that’s next on the agenda.”
    “Graeme knows what he’s doing, and Cullen is a fast learner so I bet when they make the final purchase, it will be the right selection.” Juston tipped his hat a bit and used his index finger to flick away the bead of perspiration that was rolling down his forehead. “We should sit for a bit. It’s going to be a while before the animals are ready to be moved and we shouldn’t use up all our energy.”
    They sat under the same tree. Since all the other men were gone, it was quiet. She should have felt awkward, especially after that kiss, but Shayne felt just at ease as she did, ever since she met him. Some deep connection existed that she shared with this man, and no matter how hard she tried to deny it, it was right there. “Why did you move from the farm where you were born? You could have kept working there.”
    “I went away to college, and when I came back, there was no place there for me. My friend is running it now, and I thought it wasn’t fair to burden him with the responsibility of giving me a job.”
    “You went to college?”
    “Graduated with a degree in animal husbandry.”
    She blinked her eyes. She’d never imagined him as someone who spent four years slogging in classrooms. “Why didn’t you get a job in an office somewhere?”
    Juston shrugged his shoulders. “This is what I love doing. Going to college was just something my father wanted me to do. His requirement was that I get a degree and then if I didn’t want to use it, he wouldn’t say a word. But he wanted me to have options and to think about another lifestyle I could possibly have.”
    “Smart man, your father.”
    “Yeah, I think he did the right thing. Now I know for sure that this is what I want to do, and I make a decent living, so it’s all good. I do some research work on the side for the State’s Husbandry department. They hire me to do some legwork for them, which I can accommodate along with my regular job.”
    No wonder she felt attracted to him. He might look like someone who spent all his time on the land, but he was an intellectual. “I would like to see some of your papers.”
    “Sure, why not?” He glanced over at the cattle. The calf was running away from the mother but she bellowed a command and it came back obediently. “What are your plans for the farm?”
    “Oh, I’ve got some ideas. Now that Cullen is expanding at such a rapid pace, we need to have greater revenue coming in. So, I’m going to line up some buyers for the cattle, and then for the fleece that comes from the sheep. I’m also trying to convince her to get into organic dairy. We have enough cattle to do that, and all we need is some investment in equipment.”
    “That’s going to be a hard sell. Dairy is complicated.”
    Shayne nodded her head in agreement. “But very lucrative, especially if we go into organic milk. With the right marketing, we can start our own brand and sell it in the local markets for a premium. People love to feed their kids organic stuff, and if we offer that, I think we could go a long way.”
    He nodded. “You’re a marketer at heart.”
    “Is there something wrong with that?”
    “No, I think it’s damn sexy,” he admitted. “We need that in order to get this farm going, and I think you sister will do just fine.”
    She would’ve said something but the men came trudging back.
    After they let the animals go towards the stream to drink water, Blade and his company sat under the tree.
    “So, the fence is fixed?” Juston asked.
    “Ran into Max’s men over there. I swear they’re breaking the fences on purpose, knowing that it would rankle us because we have cattle now that can wander onto their