Kent shrugged. “Said she tried to find you. She asked me.”
And Kent would never say no to their baby sister. She had him wrapped around her little finger. Clint knew he wouldn’t have told her no either. But he probably would have given her a talk first about his expectations for her behavior.
“Doubt she tried that hard,” Zeke muttered. “She’s irresponsible and rash. Used to getting her own way.”
Kent cleared his throat and gave Zeke a hard look. “That’s our sister you’re talking about.”
Zeke didn’t apologize. Clint sighed. He wasn’t exactly wrong about Eden. She was just a touch spoiled. But he and Kent could still remember how close they’d come to losing her. She’d nearly died in the same car accident that had taken their parents. She was precious to them.
“Enough talk about our sister,” Kent said, glancing over at Clint. “Since when do we hire females?”
“She can cook,” Zeke pointed out.
“Not arguing that,” Kent said mildly. “But we have that rule for a reason. We really going to change it? And without talking about it first?”
“I’m in charge,” Clint reminded him. Kent’s eyes narrowed. “Truth is, I was going to tell her that we couldn’t hire her but then I saw the state of her car.”
Kent’s eyebrow rose. “The state of her car?”
“Wouldn’t have made it back into town,” Zeke told him. “Leaking radiator fluid.”
“So, call Dave to come tow it.”
“Yep, that’s what I was going to do, chief,” Zeke said easily. “Until I saw the backseat. She’s been living in it.”
Kent had been a senior chief in the SEALs, and everyone who worked for him at JSI called him chief.
“What? Really?” Kent asked, looking worried.
Clint shrugged. “Appeared that way to me too.”
Kent sighed. “So, you felt sorry for her and offered her the job.”
“Wouldn’t you have done the same? You’re the one who’s always telling me I need to work on my empathy.”
“Yeah, but I was expecting you to start small. I didn’t think you would overturn rules that have existed since before we were born,” Kent pointed out.
Their great-great-grandfather had bought this ranch and hired on men who’d thought the same way as he did. He’d wanted a safe place for his wife, who he’d shared with his brother.
“I didn’t out and out offer her a job. Tonight is a trial to see if she can cook.”
“Which she can,” Zeke said with a contented sigh. He rubbed his belly. “Can’t wait to see what we get for breakfast.”
“If we hire her.” Kent sent Zeke a look.
“We have to hire her,” Clint told him. “Not only because we’re desperate but because I told her we would if she managed to cook a decent dinner.”
“She’s done that,” Zeke said.
“Haven’t you got somewhere else to be?” Kent asked him pointedly.
Zeke shrugged but rose. “Want me to unpack her car for her, boss man?”
“Yeah, put the luggage in the cabin but don’t leave her car there. I don’t want her driving it. If you can’t fix what’s wrong get Dave to come tow it back to the garage. Have him send me the bill.”
Kent sighed. “Clint, this isn’t a good idea—”
“She had a stuffed toy in the back seat among her bedding.”