"You're not supposed to be making decisions without my input. You made this agreement without consulting me," Jessie snapped at him.
Brady was losing patience. "You can't micromanage every little thing that needs to be done. I told you about the two guys who were coming to talk about making the hay. You didn't have any objection to either of them. I'm not going to come and ask your permission for everything I need to do."
Jessie was pissed. "Jake said—"
"Jake said I was to keep you in the loop and make sure you always know what's going on. You were in the loop. You knew it needed to be done, and now it will be. You're going to have hay for your livestock. Far as I'm concerned, the subject is closed."
Jessie fumed about it over the next couple of hours and then vowed to keep a close eye on whatever Brady did. That night, Jake came to her in her dreams again and scolded her for making a mountain out of a molehill. He reminded her that she had promised to trust Brady, and in the morning, she thought about the dream and then let her anger go.
"Jake," she mused out loud, "I hope you knew what you were doing. It scares me to death to see all this happen and not know if it's the right stuff. I hope you're keeping a close eye on him."
When Brady came in at the end of the day, he washed up at the kitchen sink and said, "Are you ready to get your first cows?"
Jessie's mouth dropped open and her heart pounded. "Really? We're ready for cows?"
"Well, we're not ready for a hundred cows, but since you're not starting that way, there's no reason why you shouldn't get your first few."
Jessie was a little panicked. "Like, how many?"
"I think we can handle a dozen heifers with calves and bred for next year. It's conservative, but it's a good start for a small ranch."
"Oh my God. But everything we need—"
"The fencing is good. We're going to have plenty of good alfalfa and clover hay. First cutting has already begun. The feed is ordered. We need time to make sure the cows and calves are in good body condition before winter. There are good clean ponds for water. So we need to do it."
Jessie looked blank. "But where do we get them from?"
"Do you think I'm just a pretty face? I've looked at several places with good heifer pairs. But, honestly, the best stock I know is from my parents' place. It's a little more than five hours from here, and my dad could deliver. Plus, I could trust him to pick out top quality stock for you."
"That sounds smart. I did some reading about your parents' ranch. They have a really good reputation."
"You read up on my parents' ranch?"
"Well, yeah, they know what they're doing, and I have a helluva lot to learn."
"Huh. You never fail to surprise me, Jess."
"Well. That's probably good."
"So, should I call my dad? Get it set up?"
Jessie stirred uneasily. "It's going to be expensive, isn't it?"
"Good stock isn't cheap."
"How much do you think it's going to come to?" Jessie was anxious.
"I'd say roughly twenty-four grand or a little more. Dad will give us a price after he sorts them out."
"Oh, God." Now, she looked really panicked.
"Jessie, this isn't any surprise to you. Jake actually wanted to start with twenty pairs, but since he's gone, I thought scaling it back some would be a good idea. You can add more next year after you see how it goes. It's going to be okay. This is what you both wanted, right?"
"Yes," Jessie said weakly. "It's just, when it was Jake's decision, it would have been his fault if it went wrong too. Now it's all on me. It's just so scary."
"Think about cows and calves in your pasture. Think about how proud Jake would have been to stand out there and look at them."
Now she had tears in her eyes. "Okay. Let's do it. It's for Jake."
Brady had a long telephone conversation with his dad, who insisted on talking to Jessie personally. He answered all her questions, described the cattle to her, and made her laugh several times. When she hung up, she was smiling.
"Your dad is pretty awesome," she said.
"Yeah, I always liked him." Brady grinned at her. "So he'll call me again tomorrow with a firm price after he sorts out your stock, and then he'll let us know when he's coming."
"Okay," Jessie said with a long sigh. "This is really going to happen, isn't it?"
"Yeah." Brady smiled at her. "It really is."
A few days later, a truck pulling a stock trailer rolled into Jessie's driveway. A tall man, unmistakably Brady's father, climbed out of the truck. Brady broke into a grin and the two men shared a hug, thumping each other on the back. Jessie was walking across the yard from the chicken coop, her dog on her heels, smiling at the two of them.
"Jessie, meet my dad, Pete Jensen."
Jessie held out her hand, but Brady's dad swept her into a big hug. "It's good to meet you in person, Jessie."
"I'm glad to meet you, Mr. Jensen. I really appreciate you delivering the cows."
"Now, you call me Pete. And I'm glad to do it. Your brother was a fine man, and any way I can offer a little help, I'm proud to do it."
Jessie cleared her throat, blinking back the tears that wanted to come.
"So, which way to the pasture? These girls are tired of riding in this trailer, I'm sure."
"I'll get the four wheeler and you can follow me. Jessie, why don't you hop in the truck and ride down with Dad?"
"Just let me put Indy in the house."
Pete laughed at her. "Just bring her along. My wife rarely goes anywhere without a dog or two riding with her."
Jessie put Indy up in the truck and climbed in herself. Brady led them to the pasture, where he had built a loading chute off the front gate. Pete backed the trailer up to the chute and they got out. Within minutes, there were twelve cows and twelve calves in the pasture. Jessie watched them with a radiant smile on her face.
"Hey." Brady nudged her with his elbow. "Looks good, doesn't it?"
She turned her smile on him, and he had that feeling of being punched in the gut again. "It sure does. Jake would have been so proud."
"Yeah. He'd have been buying the beer."
Jessie laughed. "He would have. He'd have been celebrating."
Brady opened a little cooler he had stuck in the four-wheeler and pulled out three bottles of beer. The three of them toasted the new herd and drank to Jake. For the first time, Jessie felt some confidence that Jake's Dusty Dreams Ranch was going to become reality. When she handed the check over to Pete, the expected rush of panic didn't come.
"I've got some paperwork for you," Pete said. "And I want to take a look at your feed plan and your hayfield."
They drove back to the barnyard and got out to check out the feed and hay they had bought to get them by until they had their first cutting in the barn.
Pete nodded approvingly, and Brady cocked an eyebrow at him. "So we did okay, huh?"
Pete said, "Yep. I guess I taught you well. I do still want to look at your hayfield."
Jessie said, "You two do that. I've got a pot of soup on the stove, and I'll make some sandwiches. And fresh baked chocolate chip cookies for dessert."
"That sounds great," Pete said. "I've got a weakness for chocolate chip cookies."
Jessie winked at him. "Brady told me."
She went to the house with Indy, and the two men headed out to the hayfield. Jessie stopped for a minute to take a long look around. She could see the new herd in the pasture and her chickens in the newly built coop. Her garden was flourishing, and she was getting eggs every day. The ache of missing Jake was stronger than ever, but it was a good feeling to look around and see the ranch taking shape.
The three of them talked and laughed over lunch, and then Pete got ready to leave. "I've got to get back home. We're making hay tomorrow, and you know what kind of job that is. Jessie, you've got a nice place here. The bones are good. Jake knew what he was doing when the two of you picked it. You're going to have a place to be proud of."
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Jessie gave him a heartfelt hug. "Thank you so much for your help."
"Anytime. You need anything or have any questions, you feel free to call anytime."
Brady and Jessie waved as he started down the road, and then Brady nudged her again. "So, how does it feel?"
She grinned at him. "It feels great. I didn't even panic when I gave him the check."
"I saw that. I had a paper bag ready in case you needed to breathe into it."
Jessie laughed. "Jerk."
"Well, I'd like to stand here and celebrate, but work's waiting. I will take a couple more of those cookies with me, though."
"Help yourself. I've got work too."
As Brady drove off on the four-wheeler, he wondered how Jessie was going to take the news that she needed to buy a tractor soon, along with the implements she would need. He sent a silent request to Jake to smooth the way for him.
* * *
Jessie sang while she worked in the kitchen. She could see her cows and calves from the kitchen window. She baked a chocolate cake and put together a meatloaf. Checking the time, she put the meatloaf in the oven and went out to the garden to do some weeding. Indy played for a while, chasing the ball Jessie tossed for her and finally flopped down in the sun for a nap. Jessie looked around at her place and marveled at the progress that had been made in a few short weeks. For a change, she felt remarkably at peace when she thought of Jake. The sadness was still there, but so was a conviction that she was finally doing what he had wanted.
* * *
After dinner that evening, Jessie and Brady took a walk out to the pasture to look at the new herd. Once again, Indy was fascinated by the big creatures. Brady watched Jessie and reflected that this was the happiest he had seen her since they had met. He thought about the list he had been making of things they were going to have to buy. Her happy mood was probably going to take a big hit once she saw it. He knew her bank account was healthy and there was no problem with her being able to afford it, but he also knew she was going to have a hard time parting with the money.
A few days went by, busy with work and livestock. Jessie sang while she worked in the garden or fed her chickens and gathered her eggs. She made her asparagus quiche and Brady had to admit that it was good. She cooked and baked and slept well at night. Then Brady came in for lunch one day with a notebook in his hand.
"What's that?" Jessie asked as she set a plateful of sandwiches on the table along with a bowl of salad from her own garden.
"It's a list of things we need to discuss. We can do it after we eat."
"Okay." Jessie put a pitcher of lemonade on the table and they sat down to lunch.
After they were finished, Brady opened the notebook and said, "I've been making a list of things we need and we're going to be needing them soon, so we need to do some shopping."
Jessie held out her hand for the list with a wary look on her face. She looked more and more upset as she read down the long list. Finally, she looked up at Brady and said, "You've got to be kidding. I thought the idea was to start small and grow gradually."
"It is. But that pertains mostly to the stock. These are things you're going to have to have to get through the daily routine."
"But a tractor with a bucket and all these attachments. That's a major investment! And round bale feeders. We're not even using round bales. How much do those cost? And why do we need them?"
"We don't have round bales now, but as soon as our second cutting is in, we'll have round bales from there on out. Feeding hay on the ground is really wasteful. And you're going to need this equipment for a lot more than just moving hay."
"Why two feeders?"
"You alternate where you feed because it gets muddy and churned up around the feeder."
"How much are feeders?"
When he told her, she was shocked. The more she looked at the list, the angrier she got. "How much is a tractor going to cost?" she demanded.
"New, they're a lot. You don't have to have new. There are a couple of auctions coming up with equipment for sale. There'll be a lot of people there, but we could get lucky. And there are dealers who sell used too."
"This is thousands and thousands of dollars you're expecting to spend! No. No, you're going to have to figure something else out." Jessie stuck her chin out stubbornly.
Now Brady was losing patience. "Jessie. You can't run a ranch with half assed equipment. If you don't put what you need into it, you'll run it into the ground in no time."
"That's real fucking easy for you to say, isn't it? You're not the one forking out the money. You're not the one watching somebody else drain your bank account!"
That pissed him off. "No! I'm not the one putting out the money. I'm the one working my ass off for someone else. I'm the one sitting up late finding the very best deals I can to minimize the money you have to put out. I'm the one putting my heart into this place because I promised my best friend that I'd take care of his sister."
Jessie was furious. "Oh, yeah, that's what you always do when you want something, isn't it? You bring up Jake and how I need to do it for Jake's sake. How do I know you're not doing it for your own sake?"
"How the hell would I be doing that? This isn't my place! When I get this place running smoothly and making money for you, I walk away with nothing! How the hell is that for my sake? It's for your sake!"
Jessie was yelling back at him. "That's bullshit! Maybe you ought to tell me what's really in it for you! What are you really planning to get out of this?"
Brady stared unbelievingly at her. "Now I get what your brother was warning me about. You really are a stubborn, spoiled brat, aren't you?"
Jessie took a swing at him, and he caught her hand easily. He gritted his teeth and said, "That's it. I didn't want it to go this way, but I was told it would."
In one quick movement, Brady pulled out his chair and jerked Jessie across his lap. She gasped in shock and began struggling to get up. Brady held her firmly and swatted her butt hard. She squirmed and kicked and loosed a string of curse words at him while he smacked her with his big, hard hand. The harder she struggled, the harder he spanked her. Each smack felt more like a paddle than a hand, setting her bottom on fire. She yelled and cussed at him, ordering him to stop.
Brady said, "You act like a brat, you get treated like a brat. Jake told me I'd end up having to do this."
Jessie was momentarily speechless with rage. "Jake never…you bastard! Stop it now! Ow, ow, that hurts!"
"It's supposed to hurt," Brady said cheerfully. "Doesn't do any good if it doesn't."
He kept right on spanking her, concentrating on the tender sit spot right at the top of her thighs. When her struggles finally slowed, the pace of his spanking slowed. After she lay still across his lap, he stopped. Her bottom burned and throbbed, and his hand ached.
"Now, are you ready to talk about this reasonably?" he asked.
She was silent. He waited a moment and then gave her another hard smack.
"I asked you a question."
"Yes! Yes, we can talk about it."
Brady cautiously helped her off his lap. She stood facing him and rubbing her scorched butt. Her lower lip was stuck out and she really did look like a spanked child. For just a second, he had to work to keep from grinning at her.
"I'm sorry I had to do that."
"You don't look sorry," she said, her lip still out in an adorable pout.
"You're right," he said cheerfully. "You had it coming, and now the air is cleared and we can have a real conversation."
"Did Jake really tell you to spank me?" she asked, looking a little shocked.
"He sure did. He told me you were stubborn and hot tempered and that you'd really lose your temper when I had to tell you something you wouldn't like."
"God, Jake, you're such an asshole sometimes," Jessie said mutinously.
"He was right, wasn't he?"
"I'm not saying that. He always loved being right. And thanks to him, my butt hurts."
&n
bsp; Brady actually laughed. "Come on; that's really thanks to you."
Jessie sighed. "You're both assholes."
"Have a seat, and let's figure out how to do this."
* * *
Jessie looked dubiously at the chair and then gingerly sat down. Brady pulled his chair over beside her and laid the list down between them. He put down the newspaper classified ads, with several large ads circled. Brady began to tell her about the auctions that were coming up that had promising equipment for sale. Jessie listened, a little distracted by the heat in her bottom. As Brady talked, she began to realize just how hard he was working to save her money. She knew perfectly well that they needed the things on his list. They had been in Jake's notes too.
Gradually, Jessie began to realize that her butt wasn't the only place she was feeling heat. She found herself thinking about Brady's hand coming down on her butt and wondering what it would have felt like if her butt had been bare. There was a rush of heat across her groin and, shocked, she jumped up.
"What?" Brady asked.
"I-I need something cold to drink," she stammered, turning away from him to hide her flushed face. "Would you like something?"
Brady shrugged and said, "Sure. Is it too early for a beer?"
Jessie busied herself at the refrigerator, letting the rush of cool air when she opened the door cool her face. She said flippantly, "It's five o'clock somewhere, right?"
Brady laughed. "No doubt." He was relieved that the battle was over, at least for the time being.
Jessie came back to the table with two beers and took a big gulp as soon as she sat down. Brady cocked an eyebrow at her but refrained from commenting. By the time they finished their beers, they had a plan.
"Tonight, I'll call Dad and see if he knows of anyone who's selling any of the stuff we're looking for. He knows all kinds of people in the cattle business."
"Okay, I'd be grateful. And, Brady, I can see how hard you've worked on this. I'm sorry for the things I said." Jessie was honestly ashamed of the tantrum she had thrown.
Jessie’s Dusty Dreams Page 5