Earth and Sky

words he needed to say.

    “You’re offering to sell him to me?” Hunter offered.

    “Oh, no!” Flynn was quick to respond. “Gable would skin me alive if I did that.”

    “Not to mention you don’t have his power of attorney either, I presume?”

    Flynn shook his head. “My offer is a little different.”

    Hunter nodded, trying hard not to tell him to get to the point.

    “We have a few young mares, and I thought about having Brenner sire a few foals.”

    It wasn’t lost on Hunter that Flynn wasn’t looking at him, as if he was afraid of Hunter’s reaction.

    “And you want to sell me Brenner’s foals?”

    Flynn nodded.

    “How will I know they’ll have Brenner’s good qualities?” Hunter asked, not wanting to put Flynn’s idea down but being a cautious businessman first, before letting his emotions take over. In all honesty, he’d kill to get his hands on Brenner, but since that wasn’t going to happen, he’d easily settle for the next best thing: his offspring.

    “There’s no guarantee,” Flynn answered honestly. “I just know that the mares are hard-working, easily trained, docile horses, and that I’ll sell you the foals for fifteen thousand each.”

    Hunter laughed. It was a lot of money, but he suspected Flynn wasn’t in it for personal gain. “Gable’s ranch isn’t a horse-breeding operation, Flynn. Gable’s always told me it was too much hassle and too risky, not to mention the vet bills had the potential to skyrocket quickly if anything was wrong with the little ones.”

    “Bill, Calley’s husband, is our vet and he assured me I could always call on him in an emergency. He said it was his way of helping Gable out.”

    Hunter thought about it for a moment. Was this everyone chipping in for Gable like they’d done when Gable first had his accident? That time, Gable’s ranch had been on the verge of bankruptcy, and he knew Calley and Bill had done a lot for Gable then too. Everyone had. Hunter had sent a ranch hand over every day to take care of the horses. He hadn’t done that this time, thinking Flynn would be able to manage, but last time Gable hadn’t been in the hospital for very long. Now it seemed his health was a lot worse.

    “Gable needs the money?” Hunter asked. “Obviously,” he added under his breath.

    Flynn raised his head, straightening his back with innate pride. “I’m not here to beg. I’m here to sell something.”

    “You’re asking for a loan with the foals as collateral.”

    Flynn shook his head. “It’s true that we need the money now, but if you give it to us, then the foals are yours. No discussion. So it’s a sale, not a loan.”

    “From my point of view, it’s a very risky loan. I don’t know if you’ll be able to pay me next year, and if you do, there are still no guarantees the payment is what I want.”

    Flynn sighed deeply and got up from the chair he was sitting in. “Listen. Forget it.” He started to turn around, but Hunter was quicker, grabbing his arm.

    “Stay, Flynn.” Hunter let go as soon as Flynn stopped walking away. “I’m more than willing to help out. Financially or logistically or both. I’d give you the money even without the collateral, but—”

    “But Gable would never accept charity,” Flynn interrupted.

    “Exactly,” Hunter agreed, smiling along with Flynn as he realized they were definitely on the same page. “I’m willing to take the risk on the foals if that’s what it takes for Gable to accept this money.”

    “He doesn’t know,” Flynn confessed. “Calley and I agreed not to tell him how deep in debt he is.”

    Hunter raised an eyebrow.

    “I almost lost him, Hunter. He’s still not well, and the doctors don’t know if he’ll recover fully. The ranch is his life. Even if he can never work it again, I want it to survive.”

    Hunter took a moment to look at Flynn. “That’s quite a sacrifice you’re making, tying yourself to the ranch that way.” Hunter knew more or less how long Flynn had worked at Gable’s, and it wasn’t even a full six months. Could Flynn have come to care for Gable that much in such a short time? He’d never seen this sort of dedication between two men. Then again, until recently he hadn’t really paid much attention to that sort of relationship anyway, trying very hard not to see things like that.

    “I’ll give you fifty thousand,” Hunter said suddenly.

    Flynn looked up at him, startled. “That’s—”

    “That’s thirty