Free Peace River (Rockland Ranch Series) by Jaclyn Hawkes Page B

should figure out how to legally just sign the whole farm over to Eli and his family.  Judd and his buddies would finally leave her alone and she knew Eli would always see that she was taken care of.  She’d almost decided to do just that, but Eli wouldn’t be on board, and honestly, it felt like giving up and giving in.  Knowing this train of thought would do nothing more than discourage her, she tried to push the negative thoughts away and rest.
                  She could hear Slade and Rossen outside her curtain still moving around and talking quietly.  The more she came to know the two of them the more she genuinely liked them.  Rossen was a cut up and pretty much enjoyed life to the fullest no matter what he was up to, although sometimes she knew he was much more substantial under the surface than he appeared.  He loved to read, and had a deep, quiet inner core that inspired total confidence in spite of his happy-go-lucky attitude.  She hadn’t been surprised to find out in their conversations that he had a degree in petroleum engineering and was actively involved in his family’s oil drilling business back home on their Wyoming ranch.  He had several brothers and a sister, and they sounded down right entertaining from the stories he told.  He assured her she’d meet them as they traveled home sometimes between rodeos to tend to business. 
                  Although she’d been inexplicably drawn to him from their first meeting in the diner, Slade had been a little harder to get to know.  He never talked about his family, and Isabel didn’t feel comfortable asking.  Much quieter than Rossen, he didn’t seem to be shy, but was more naturally reserved.  It was a still-waters-run-deep kind of thing that was very intriguing.  He had a wicked sense of humor that blended beautifully with Rossen’s madcap goofing. 
    She’d never seen two humans who were better friends.  They seemed to be able to almost read each other’s minds.  In some ways they were complete opposites, but that only served to enhance their friendship.  Slade was absolutely competent and had an incredible grasp of a huge variety of interests, although it took awhile to come to know it.  He was calm and gentle around his horses, and they seemed to perform for him almost without being asked.  Slade was just quietly confident in a way that inspired confidence from those around him as well.  Isabel innately trusted him, and had from the get go. 
                  She’d started to help them with some of their paperwork and was amazed at what the two accomplished with a couple of cell phones and laptops. 
                  She’d found that along with his rodeo, Slade ran a several hundred acre ranch in Wyoming and had extensive other investments.  He had an older couple who stayed there and Rossen’s brothers helped to run the place when Slade wasn’t there, with occasional help from other locals. 
                  Isabel cooked, kept the trailer as straight as possible in the small space, helped in the “office” and had done a couple loads of shirts and jeans for them.  She’d found them interesting, resourceful, and completely incapable of a coherent schedule.  They could do anything it seemed, except keep an organized calendar.  How these two had been this successful on the road this long with their current system, or lack of one, amazed her. 
    She tried several ideas and finally they just came up with an oversized wall calendar that they both had room to write notes on and then together they would figure mileages, and purses, and pencil things in.  Quite by mistake they found a system with her taking the wheel, and then with their heads together, and both cell phones out, they kind of got into a zone that seemed to work beautifully.  After that it was a daily regimen, and both remarked several times how much smoother their lives ran under her