“It just might be,” said Jake, “I’ll look into it.”
Fourteen
“Why is it that when we are together things get so intense,” asked Jake, as they were driving along in his truck on the way to Jim Lovejoy’s place. Jake had suggested the drive after he got his new help squared away on their jobs. “It’s like mayhem follows you around. Or is it me?”
“I guess it’s my fault,” Fiona said. “I can’t seem to stay away from a mystery. Or I attract them. Maybe you should re-consider your offer.”
“Which offer is that?”
“I’m thinking of the offer to move in and live with you.”
He glanced over. “You know the deal on Opal’s ranch is dead. There’s too much baggage attached to the ranch. I have no place for you to move into. If you stay here, you have no place to live since yours burned down.”
“That is why we are on the way to visit Mr. Lovejoy, who has a ranch for sale.”
Jake smiled out the window, watching the gravel road that led to Lovejoy ranch. He liked when she used we. It had a future in it. He liked the situation of the ranch. It was several ranch road miles off the highway and in an isolated setting. Maybe there was a future waiting for them here.
He pointed a finger off to the right. “This is part of his ranch. That field of rock and brush is where Doc said he thought a pivot would fit. Looks like mighty poor soil though. See all the greasewood, the tall, spiky stuff? Greasewood likes alkaline soil and alfalfa doesn’t. The soil would have to be amended and that will take some prep to get it to something that alfalfa likes.”
“Do you have to grow alfalfa?”
Jake shrugged. “Not necessarily. Could grow timothy or try meadow hay but it will all take preparation.”
“I don’t see how ranchers make any money.”
“Family ranchers often don’t. Most have second jobs and ranch at nights and on the weekends. Or the wife works or something like that. Opal is an exception. She’s worked years to get the H Bar O to a prime production ranch. That is why it is so valuable. Let me tell you, in her younger days Opal was a formidable worker. She’s slowed down a little now. I don’t know why I thought I might be able to work a deal with her. Half of the cattle on the ranch belong to me. Opal let me start my own herd years ago. At least, I’ll have some cows and bulls to start a new place.”
He stopped the truck. “It’s pretty along here. See the green along the base of the ridge? Those are cottonwoods, Russian olives, and river willows following that small tributary that runs through the ranch. It comes down off the mountains. That is the plus about this ranch, though it’s smaller than what I had in mind.”
Fiona followed his gaze. The green strip ran along the bottom of the ridge as far as the eye could see. “I don’t know much about ranch land but the green against the back drop of the buttes is beautiful. Are you giving up on the H Bar O entirely?”
Jake nodded, keeping his eyes on the vista. “You heard what Doc said. If Tillie and Howie entertain the thought of wind power on the ranch, I’ll be waiting three life times for the law suits to end. I’m not going through that. I’ll see what kind of a deal I can work with Lovejoy. Maybe he doesn’t want to sell. I’ve known him to run hot and cold.”
“At least we know the motive for driving Opal off her own ranch. Wind energy. We just don’t know who.”
“I don’t want to overly alarm you, but the situation is real dangerous. I’m going to put two guys out with the cows. We’ll move them tomorrow.”
He started up the truck again. “This is a quick trip to see Lovejoy. I want to sound him out. I would like to buy Opal’s bull breeding operation and take the bulls with me as well as my cattle. I love those bulls, and I don’t think Tillie or any of the rest would be interested in them.”
“The men who came this morning don’t seem interested in the H Bar O.”
“That’s what they say. Mac is a free loader and would latch onto anything he could. Doc isn’t. He’s got a nice ranch. I’m not sure about Bobby. He’s pretty far down the inheritance list.”
Fiona pulled a slip of paper out of her purse. “What about Reese Crawford?”
“What about him?”
“He’s one of the three guys on the unsavory list of employees and the only relative.”
Jake glanced at the list. “You’ve been doing your homework.”
“This morning while you were sleeping.”
He smiled. “Good girl. I haven’t heard of Reese in a while. I’ll ask Doc when we get back. Maybe he knows.”
They drove into a circular drive that swept along the east facing front of an old manufactured home.
Jake looked at Fiona. “The house isn’t much.”
She laughed. “No, it isn’t. I can’t say that I’ve ever even thought about tackling such a place.”
Jake laughed with her. “It is a little run down. Let’s see if Mr. Lovejoy is in.”
They got out of the truck and surveyed the setting. A pair of goats bleated at them from an enclosure to the left that led to a series of sheds open on one side that could be used for animal shelter or hay storage.
Fiona said, “This place could use a little fixing up.”
Jake smiled. “I can see you burning it down and starting over.”
“Please, no more mention of fires, I’ve had quite enough.” She walked back and forth in front of the house. “I’d have to bone up on manufactured home renovation.”
Jake smiled. “I like the sound of that statement. Maybe we could form a partnership.”
Fiona smiled back at him. “Maybe we could.”
A fixer-upper ranch might be the best thing that could happen to them.
A man appeared at the front door and peered out, cocking his head at an odd angle like he couldn’t see that well. Jake walked toward the door. “Hello, Mr. Lovejoy. It’s Jake from over at the H Bar O.”
Old man Lovejoy eased open the door and came out, leaning on a cane. “Jake, you say? I can’t walk so good. Come over so I can get a look at you.”
Jake and Fiona mounted a couple of steps onto an unpainted deck extending across the front of the house. The old man shuffled over to peer into Jake’s face.
“Now I recognize you. You’re Opal’s ranch hand.”
“That’s right. This is Fiona. She’s here visiting.”
The old man swung his squinty gaze in Fiona’s direction. “I see. Young thing. Pretty, too, far as I can tell. This your wife?”
“No, not yet.” Jake smiled at Fiona. “She’s visiting.”
“That’s right. You said visiting. I forgot.” He swiveled his gaze back to Jake on a head too stiff to turn. “What brings you over here?”
“I’m looking for a ranch to buy, and I heard you wanted to sell yours.”
The old man looked down at a splintering deck board. “I’m an old man. I can’t seem to keep things going like I used to, especially not since my wife passed.”
Jake waited. Sometimes it took patience listening to an old man. It took time to organize your thoughts, especially when they were colored by illness and old age. Fiona crossed her arms and looked at the weedy flower beds. Off to the south was a rusted fence around a weed grown garden that didn’t look like it had been worked in many years.
The old man’s head nodded like he might have fallen to sleep.
“Mr. Lovejoy, are you okay?” asked Jake.
He slowly raised his head. “I’d be more okay if I were six feet under.”
Jake didn’t know what to say. Fiona spoke up. “It must be hard living out here by yourself. Do you have anyone helping you?”