by Raeann Blake
Both boys giggled and Timothy said, “No, Miz Hailey. I’m seven and Taylor’s six.”
“Oh. Boy I was way off wasn’t I?” she said with a wide smile.
Both boys nodded then Taylor pulled on Clay’s arm. “Grandpa Shack?”
“You wanna see Grandpa Shack? Okay. I guess I can carry you out. Let me check on these steaks,” he said then peeked at them once and nodded.
“We should be back before they’re done, but if you could keep an eye on them…”
“Go. I’ll watch them.”
Kathy watched them go silently then jumped like somebody had pinched her. “Oh—Clay, what did you do to Abraham Yates?”
Clay chuckled and pointed a finger at Hailey. “She’ll tell you. We’ll be back,” he said as he grabbed Timothy and slung him over one shoulder then picked up Taylor and carried him like a log pressed against the side of his waist.
“Who was that?” Kathy said quietly as she turned back to Hailey.
Hailey laughed and said, “Have a seat, Kathy. Would you like something to drink?”
“Sure some tea. Where’s Isobell?”
“Clay gave her the night off. He promised that if I could straighten out the mess his last business manager left him in that he would personally cook a steak for me. So he’s cooking and Isobell gets a night off.”
“So I guess you did.”
“Pretty close. I’m not there yet, but we’re caught up anyway.”
Kathy watched her as she poured the tea then brought it to her. “I’ve never seen Clay like that in my entire life. What did you do to him?”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“I think that’s probably not entirely true. Okay. What did you do to Yates? He was on the phone to me twice today screaming bloody murder. He said Clay was making a big mistake and I should tell him so.”
Hailey snorted and said, “He made the mistake. He’s been overcharging Clay by as much as fifty percent on several items for six months. When I called him on it, he refused to come down on the price. He claimed it was a fair price even though nobody else in town is charging that. I told him I expected a refund for the overcharges. He refused. I closed the account.”
“You what? You closed the Yates account?” Kathy asked quietly.
“Yeah. Why?”
Kathy watched her silently for several seconds then finally let the small smile show before it blossomed into full-blown laughter. “Oh, my God. Oh, finally. I can’t believe he’s out from under that old bastard’s thumb for the first time in his life. No wonder he’s smiling.”
“What do you mean?”
“Clay didn’t tell you? Oh, honey. Check those steaks. You deserve every last bite of it and I’ll tell you all about it.”
Hailey rose and checked the steaks then came back as Kathy started talking. “If you don’t already know it, our daddy was the biggest bastard to ever walk this earth. He never showed any affection to anybody and never paid Clay the least bit of attention, at least not the good kind. No matter how hard Clay tried, he could just never measure up in Clayton’s eyes. And it all blew up one night when I was seventeen and Clay was sixteen. Clayton refused to let me date. He wanted me to marry Isaac Yates. Isaac was nice enough, but I wanted to go out with Gage, my husband. Clayton refused to let me go and wouldn’t even let Gage on the property. Well, I snuck out one night. And when I got back, Clayton was waiting with a belt. He was going to show me the error of my ways, so to speak. Clay took the belt away from him and beat the hell out of him with it. Then he told me I needed to do whatever I had to do to get out of that house. And he went to his room, got a few clothes and went to the bunkhouse. He never set foot inside that house again until the day Clayton died. And he only went in it then to get the old man’s desk and take it outside and burn it.”
“Did you leave?”
“I didn’t. Not until I was eighteen and could get married. But he never laid a hand on me again. He tried to throw Clay off the ranch, but Shack put a stop to that.”
“Shack did? How?”
“He backed Clayton up in a corner and told him if he ever laid a hand on either one of us again or tried to make Clay leave the ranch that he’d call Child Protective Services on him. Then he tried to fire Shack and Shack laughed in his face. Told him to go ahead. He’d take both of us kids with him and go straight to the cops and tell them all about how he treated his kids. He never spoke to Shack again. But he damn sure did Clay. He never touched him. But he let him know every day how much he hated that Clay was his son.”
“That’s not right, Kathy.”
“No. Nothing about it was right. But to get back to Yates…you better check those steaks…to get back to Yates, he and Clayton set up a deal. If Yates died first, he was supposed to leave his store to Clayton. If Clayton died first, Yates was supposed to get this ranch. Clayton never changed his will. The last will he had, he left all of the ranch and everything he owned to me. Not because he wanted me to have it, but because he didn’t want Clay to have it. I guarantee you that he had every intention of changing it because he knew that there was no way I was coming back here and that I would give it Clay. So his plan was to give it to Yates to keep that from happening. But he had a heart attack and died before he did anything about it. Yates took us to court and fought us for it, but he didn’t even have a witness, much less a piece of paper. I did. The place came to me. I gave it Clay.
“Clayton bought all of his supplies from Yates. And after he died, when Clay started trying to buy supplies nobody would give him any credit and he didn’t have the money to buy them outright. Only one person extended a credit line to him.”
“Abraham Yates,” Hailey said quietly.
Kathy nodded and said, “He did. He never said it, but I know his hope was that Clay would get in over his head and he’d wind up with the ranch to pay off his debt. And now…you cut him off at the knees. He’s got nothing left to hang onto. And that last piece of rope that Clayton Cardell tied around Clay’s throat is finally gone.”
Hailey took in a deep breath and then finally smiled. “Oh, I’m so glad I told him off yesterday. And doubly glad I yanked that account. Thank you, Kathy. Clay would probably have never told me any of this.”
“I’m sure I wouldn’t have. But my sister has a big mouth,” Clay said as he came through the door with a boy slung under each arm. He grinned and gave Kathy a kiss on the cheek then set the boys on the floor before he checked the steaks.
“And what was my blabbermouth sister telling you?”
“I told her what pulling the Yates account means and why,” Kathy said brightly.
Clay dropped his head and shrugged his shoulders. “End of an era, I guess. Two in one day, that’s not bad.”
“What do you mean?”
“Gail showed up yesterday,” Clay said then stopped when the scowl immediately went across Kathy’s face.
“She came to ask for a divorce,” he added then smiled when Kathy’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.
“No shit? Oh…shoot, sugar, I mean,” as she glanced around to see where the boys were.
Clay nodded and said, “Yeah. She’s filing. She’s getting married.”
“Well, thank God. Snotty little…witch,” she said then quickly got a drink of tea when Hailey laughed and slid back down to the floor.
“So, did you see Grandpa Shack?”
“Yes, ma’am. And Uncle Laine, too.”
“Uncle Laine, too. Wow. You got ‘em all at one time? What grades will you guys be in next year?”
Kathy’s mouth curved into a small smile as she watched Clay’s face. His features softened and his eyes lit up as he watched Hailey sitting on the floor talking to the boys. She didn’t know if he’d ever been serious about any girl. None that she knew about. But she knew that she had never seen him look at anybody the way he was looking Hailey. When he took in a deep breath and let it back out then lifted his eyes to hers he narrowed his slightly when he found the grin on her face. He tilted
his head just a little then shook his finger at her and turned away to check on the steaks.
“Yep. I believe these are ready.”
“We should go, boys.”
“Aw, Mom.”
“We’ll come back real soon,” Kathy promised.
Hailey let a slow breath out when Clay turned back to them and looked down at the boys sadly then knelt and held his arms out. “You mind your mama now. And be good boys. If it’s okay with her, maybe you could come back and spend the night real soon. How would that be?” He asked as he hugged them close and squeezed his eyes shut. He pressed a kiss to each boy’s hair then finally let them go and swallowed hard.
He lifted solemn eyes to Kathy and said, “Kat, don’t keep them away so long, huh? Please. I’ll take care of them if you’ll bring them out. You and Gage come out and stay, too. I won’t let anything happen to them.”
Hailey flattened her lips and looked up at Kathy only to find tears in her eyes. “Clay, I love you, little brother. I promise. I’ll bring them back real soon. And we will come out and stay. They talk about you all the time, you know. I’ll do better about bringing them out here.”
“Okay. You boys be good. Love you, sis. Tell Gage I said hello.”
“I will. Hailey, it was a pleasure to meet you. I look forward to seeing you again real soon.”
“So do I. Bye, Timothy. Bye, Taylor,” she called then had to press her fingers against her lips when they both told her a sad good-bye.
“We’ll come back real soon. Daddy’s waiting on us. Bye, guys,” Kathy said then led the boys out. Hailey turned back to find Clay with his back turned, hands propped against the counter and his head down.
She couldn’t help herself. She rose and went to him and laid a hand on his arm.
“Clay,” she whispered.
He shook his head without picking it up. “I know she’s busy. It’s just so goddamned hard to just see them for a few minutes and then…” He stopped talking when his voice became so choked with emotion that he just couldn’t go on. He usually handled it much better than that. Maybe it was thinking so much about the baby the last couple of days. He finally cleared his throat and nodded his head slightly.
“Your steak’s getting cold. Let’s get these on the table,” he said without looking at her. When her hand finally moved from his arm he really missed it. But he made himself draw in a deep breath and moved the steaks onto a serving tray then pulled two baked potatoes out of the warmer in the oven.
“Oh, salad. It’s in the fridge. Can you get that?”
“Sure,” Hailey said and came back with it right away.
“M’lady. Your steak. Well-earned and much deserved. Enjoy,” he said then smiled softly at her when she immediately cut off a piece and stuck it in her mouth then closed her eyes and moaned softly.
“Oh, that’s good. I am so hungry,” she said then quickly took another bite.
“Is that why you were hanging out in here?”
Hailey laughed and nodded. “Sure it was. What? You thought I just wanted your company?”
“Oh, I see. I rank, but somewhere below coffee and food.”
“Well not just any food,” she said then burst out laughing then tried to stop and nod seriously but started laughing again.
Chapter Eight
“You were really good out there,” Clay said after he’d swallowed the first bite. He hated to bring it up now, but he might as well get started.
“Thanks, but he’s the one who was good. Did you see the way he set himself up as soon as he stepped in that gate? He surprised me,” she said then took another bite.
Clay nodded and said, “Yeah. I saw him. None of us have tried to work with him. He’s so damned ornery that I didn’t think there was any way that he’d be worth a damn. But he’s good. He’s not what I’d call tested yet, but he did fine.”
“Tested?” Hailey asked innocently.
Clay nodded slightly then chewed slowly trying to get his words just right. When he swallowed he didn’t have any choice but to keep going.
“Never been out with the herd. I know you’ve seen horses that do well in the yard or even with a small group, but when you get them out with a big herd they can be unpredictable. Especially if something happens. Stampede, anything. We don’t know how he’ll react to that yet.”
Hailey kept her face straight and nodded, taking her own time chewing. “That’s true. This will be a good test for him, don’t you think? Take him out and if he doesn’t work out put him with the remuda.”
“Hailey, I don’t think…”
“I know it won’t be a true test for him. I mean it’s not like we’re culling the herd or cutting out those that need branding. Just to test him to see how he’ll behave driving them. I guess that should be first before we actually try using him when we need to do some real cutting,” she said then lifted her eyes innocently to his.
He waited a few minutes then lost his nerve. He would tell her, but he did want her to finish her supper and he had no doubt she was going to get upset.
“We’ll talk about it. You’ve got everything ready to order supplies tomorrow?”
She set her teeth just slightly but nodded. “I do. We can get everything we need that we would have gotten at Yates’ at two places. When I’m there, I’ll talk to the managers and explain to them that we’re looking for a new supplier and this is their chance to show us what they can do. Then I’ll compile a list of everything that’s been ordered for the last six months. So I can get a good feel of what we buy, how often. Then I’ll go back to them and show them the list. This is what we’ll need. What can you do for us? If they want the business badly enough, they’ll stock what we need,” she said then took another bite.
Clay tried to pull the grin back down but didn’t quite manage it. He loved watching her face as she started talking about anything. No matter what it was, if she believed in it, she was absolutely animated.
“What?” she finally asked.
“You’re so much fun to watch. Do you get excited about everything?”
She laughed in surprise and thought for a few seconds then nodded. “I guess I do. Well…I guess that’s not true. I mean I can’t see myself having a lively discussion about how mold forms on bread among other things, but most things, yeah.”
Clay burst out laughing and leaned back in the chair to watch her eyes dance with amusement. When she stopped chewing and swallowed hard without breaking the gaze he finally dropped his eyes back to his plate and cleared his throat.
“Uh—about the ride…I know you don’t know the weather up here. You shouldn’t need a big coat, but you will need a heavy jacket. There will be about a fifteen degree difference in the temperature where they are now and where we’re taking them. That pasture is quite a bit higher up. If you don’t have one, you can pick it up in town tomorrow.”
“I have one. I have a heavy coat, too. But I’ve got a good jacket. Heavyweight, quilted lining. It’ll be good. What I don’t have is a sleeping bag or ground blanket. Do you have plenty?”
Clay nodded. “Yeah. Shack will take care of that. He’ll make sure everybody’s got what they need. He’ll drive the supply wagon and start out a couple of hours ahead of us. We’ll head out around five. It’ll take us a half a day to get to where they are. We’ll stop and eat lunch, take a break. Spend the rest of the day rounding them up and beating the bushes to find those that are hiding. Then we’ll start them moving the next day. It’ll take most of the day, but it’ll only take us a day to get back without the cattle so we’ll camp there then head back the next morning.”
“I can’t wait. It seems like it’s been so long since I’ve spent the night beside a campfire. I can’t believe how much I miss it. When I was little, I used to dream about building a little house somewhere. It didn’t have to be big, just so long as it had a place out back that I could go sleep under the stars when I couldn’t be out with the herd,” she said then laughed.
“I haven’t thought abo
ut that in years. But I am so looking forward to this.”
“Then I’m glad you’re going. That’s one of the things I like the most, too. Something about being able to lie down and look up at the millions of stars above you and drift off knowing they’re up there. It’s like being in your own special place, even with fifty people around you. It’s you and the sky,” Clay said quietly.