He smiled over at her. “That’s right.”
While he’d been talking her body had responded to the sound of his voice as if it was on a mission to capture each and every nuance. She inhaled deeply and they began chatting again but this time about her family. He’d been honest about his family so she decided to be honest about hers.
“My parents and I aren’t all that close and I can’t remember a time that we were. They didn’t support my move out here,” she said and wondered why she’d wanted to share that little detail.
“Is it true that Kenneth is upset you didn’t sell the land to Myers Smith?” he asked.
She nodded slowly. “Yes, he told me himself that he thinks I made a mistake in deciding to move here and is looking forward to the day I fail so he can say, ‘I told you so.’”
Jason shook his head, finding it hard to believe this was a family member who was hoping for her failure. “Are he and your father close?”
Bella chuckled softly. “They barely know each other. According to Dad he was already in high school when Kenneth was born, although technically Kenneth is my father’s half uncle. My father’s grandfather married Kenneth’s mother who was twenty-five years his junior.”
“Do you have any other family, like cousins?”
She shook her head. “Both my parents were the only children. Of course, Uncle Kenneth has a son and daughter but they haven’t spoken to me since the reading of the will. Uncle Kenneth only spoke to me when he thought I’d be selling the ranch and livestock to his friend.”
By the time he had brought the truck to a stop in front of a huge building, she had to wipe tears of laughter from her eyes when he’d told her about all the trouble the younger Westmorelands had gotten into.
“I just can’t imagine your cousin Bailey—who has such an innocent look about her—being such a hell-raiser while growing up.”
Jason laughed. “Hey, don’t let the innocent act fool you. The cousins Aiden and Adrian are at Harvard and Bane joined the navy. We talked Bailey into hanging around here to attend college so we could keep an eye on her.”
He chuckled and then added, “It turned out to be a mistake when she began keeping an eye on us instead.”
When he turned off the truck’s engine she glanced through the windshield at the building looming in front of them and raised a brow. “This isn’t a restaurant.”
He glanced over at her. “No, it’s not. It’s the Blue Ridge Management, a company my father and uncle founded over forty years ago. After they were killed Dillon and Ramsey took over. Ramsey eventually left Dillon in charge to become a sheep rancher and Dillon is currently CEO.”
He glanced out the windshield to look up at the forty-story building with a pensive look on his face and moments later added, “My brother Riley holds an upper management position here. My cousins Zane and Derringer, as well as myself, worked for the company after college until last year when we decided to join the Montana Westmorelands in the horse training and breeding business.”
He smiled. “I guess you can say that nine-to-five gig was never our forte. Like Ramsey, we prefer being out doors.”
She nodded and followed his gaze to the building. “And we’re eating lunch here?”
He glanced over at her. “Yes, I have my office that I still use from time to time to conduct business. I called ahead and Dillon’s secretary took care of everything for me.”