My Ranch My Way

by Misty Malone

  "For not making your sister do all the work in the house just because she's a girl. I think it's perfectly fine that she'd rather work out on the ranch, and I'm glad they gave her that opportunity."

  "I agree. Although the ironic part is today she'd much rather be inside, taking care of the house. She's married and has two little kids who keep her busy."

  "Maybe her priorities have changed," Cecelia said.

  "I think you're right there. She loves those two little ones, and she's a wonderful mom." He looked at her curiously a moment before saying, "I was going to say I take it you prefer being outside working on the ranch after seeing your familiarity with horses, but you're obviously a wonderful cook, too, so now I don't know. Which do you prefer?"

  He was surprised to see her considering the question. After several long moments she answered, "You know, I'm not real sure right now. Three months ago I would have said being in the house is where I'm more comfortable. But now that I'm back home I'm really enjoying the ranch again."

  "Did you miss it when you went off to college?"

  "I guess I did, but I was so busy with something new that I didn't realize just how much. I kind of started a career of sorts while I was in school, and I worked at it year round, more in the summer, and it was exciting enough that I guess I didn't miss the ranch that much. I didn't think I'd ever move back home."

  "So what changed your mind?"

  Cecelia's easy demeanor abruptly dissolved. "Oh, things change," she said in a monotone voice. "I graduated and the career didn't work out like I thought, so I came home for a while."

  "There's no better place to go than back home to regroup and decide what you want to do."

  "Yeah, I guess," Cecelia said with a sigh. "Well, I'd better go."

  Chase stood on his front porch and watched her drive away, wondering what had just happened. She'd turned from very warm to aloof, right before his eyes. It seemed to somehow involve her graduation. Maybe someday she'd be ready to talk about it, but for now he'd avoid bringing it up. He had enjoyed their evening up to that point, and would love to share more times like that.

  * * * * *

  Pete headed to the house for breakfast the next morning, anxious to find out how Cece's dinner with Chase had gone.

  "Did he ask you to stay for supper?"

  "Yep."

  "How did it go?"

  "Fine."

  "What do you think of our new neighbor?"

  "He seems okay."

  Frustrated, he asked, "So were you rude to him again or are you friends now?"

  "No, I wasn't rude. I apologized, and I think we're good now."

  He frowned, studying her face. "We didn't get a chance to talk last night. I'd still like to hear what happened with Tom."

  She froze. "I know. Maybe we can talk tonight."

  Cecelia did a lot of thinking that day. In reality she had enjoyed herself at Chase's, right up until she thought of Tom. Chase didn't seem like such a bad guy after all, and she eventually made herself admit it wasn't his fault her dad had sold her favorite part of their ranch to Chase. In fact, Chase had even told her she was welcome to ride there whenever she wanted, as long as she didn't swim alone.

  It still bothered her, though, that he said no swimming alone. He was admittedly being very generous letting her roam his land. But then he put that one restriction on her use of it, and unfortunately, in her mind it was a huge restriction. She often went swimming alone when it was hot, or if something was bothering her. The physical exertion helped clear her mind so she could think it through.

  But it was more than that; she hated having someone tell her what to do, or in this case, what not to do. She'd always had a problem with that, from the time she was a teenager. But it wasn't her land, and even she had to admit that Chase, as the landowner, had the right to set rules. That was a real dilemma.

  On top of fretting over Chase's rule, she also fretted about the impending talk with her father. He deserved to hear the story, and yesterday she was ready to share it. But now today she was again confused, fighting conflicting thoughts, and just wasn't ready to discuss it. She decided to make her dad's favorite meal and hope he'd understand that she needed a little more time. She put a pot roast with potatoes and carrots in the crock-pot after lunch, then made an apple pie. While it was cooling she thought about her new neighbor and how best to handle him. Maybe she could make him see how much she needed to be able to swim alone from time to time. She went to the barn and got Ginger. Maybe a nice casual ride would help her come up with a way to do that.

  As she rode, she pondered the best way to approach Chase. She could just go and tell him outright that she'd been swimming in the creek for years and would continue to do so. Or maybe she could take him an apple pie and sweet-talk him.

  Looking around her, she realized she hadn't been paying much attention to where she was going. Without meaning to she'd ended up at the exact swimming hole she'd been thinking about. She looked at the cool water, so inviting on what had become a hot spring day. It wouldn't hurt to wade, she decided. Wading wasn't technically swimming, after all.

  She tied Ginger to a nearby tree, and sat down to remove her boots and socks. Then she rolled her jeans up to her knees, and gingerly stepped into the edge of the water. The water was cold, but not as bad as she thought it might be, so she courageously took another step in, and yet another until she was knee deep.

  She was so caught up in the cool and comforting feeling that she almost fell into the water as she whirled around when she heard the low voice behind her. "Hello, Cecelia. Hot out today. I bet that feels good."

  Regaining her balance, she stood up straighter. "Hi, Chase. It does feel good. Come on in."

  He smiled, but declined. "Not today, but it's certainly tempting. I want to transfer some cattle to another pasture, and I need to check the fences before I do that. I got a late start this morning, though, so if I want to finish in daylight I need to keep at it. But I thought I saw your horse over here, and I wanted to stop and say hi.

  "That was nice," she said.

  "And if you're free tomorrow night I'd love to take you out for dinner. Could I talk you into that?"

  He looked so handsome sitting on his big horse, cowboy hat in his hand, having taken it off when he first spoke to her, but the big smile on his face was more than she could resist. "You could talk me into that," she said.

  "Great. Is 6:30 okay?"

  "That's fine."

  "Good. I'll see you then." He put his hat back on and turned to leave, but stopped. Looking at her again, he said, "Enjoy your walk in the cool water. Just don't go in any deeper than you are right now without someone here with you." His last comment shocked her. Before she could argue, though, he said, "See you tomorrow night at 6:30," and was gone. She stood there watching him ride off, her mouth hanging open.

  To say she was upset was an understatement. She was livid! She almost dove in, just to spite him. And she probably would have were it not for the light breeze. The thought of riding home in wet clothes with no towel helped her get her temper under control. She decided right then and there, though, that she was going to put a towel and a change of clothes in her saddlebags. How dare he issue an order and ride off!

  By the time she made it back to the house, Cece had forced herself to calm down. She knew if she was in a bad mood, or had any kind of attitude, her father would want her to tell him what happened with Tom and she didn't want to do that. She just didn't feel ready to talk about it yet, and was afraid her father would be ashamed of her when he heard the story.

  She put on a smile, and she and her father enjoyed the pot roast. She even told her father, "I took a ride today and saw Chase. He was out checking fences."

  "Oh," he asked, raising his eyebrows. "Did you two have a nice chat?"

  "We did," she assured him. "He's taking me out to dinner tomorrow evening."

  With a big smile on his face, he said, "That sounds like a wonderful idea."

  "I'll
make supper for you before I leave," she promised.

  "You don't need to do that, Cece. I'm sure there's some kind of leftovers in there I can heat up." By the end of the evening Pete had noted she hadn't said anything about Tom, but decided not to ask. Whatever had happened was obviously upsetting her. Maybe if she and Chase started seeing each other, Tom would be forgotten.

  Cece was doing some thinking of her own. After realizing how much Chase's warning upset her, she clearly wasn't even close to being able to trust a man again, and had no plans to start dating in the foreseeable future. If Chase had issued his warning before asking her out she never would have accepted. But as long as she was staying with her dad he was her neighbor, and she knew her dad would be upset if she didn't at least get along with him. So she would find a way to do that. Hopefully he wasn't usually as bossy as he had sounded that afternoon.

  Chapter 3

  The next morning Chase's Uncle Ralph made a surprise visit. He apologized to Chase for threatening to challenge the will to get possession of the ranch, admitting that Will did love it and would be proud to see Chase getting it back in good shape again.

  "I shouldn't have questioned Dad's intentions from the beginning," he admitted. "I'm staying with your aunt, and she made me realize what an ass I've been. I hope you'll forgive me, Chase. I didn't do much of the physical work on this ranch, but I ordered all the supplies and did the bookwork. If you have any questions I'll be happy to do what I can to help you."

  "Thank you, Uncle Ralph. That means a lot to me." Chase reached out, shaking his uncle's hand.

  Chase was at Pete and Cece's house at 6:30 that evening. She'd insisted on fixing supper for her father before she left, and was running a few minutes late. Chase assured her that it was no problem, and sat talking with Pete while he waited.

  "Uncle Ralph came over today and apologized," Chase told him. "He said he'd help me any way he could."

  Pete looked at Chase doubtfully. "Do you believe him?"

  "I'm not sure," Chase reluctantly admitted. "I want to. I hope he means it, but I guess I can't really say I'd put any money on it."

  Pete nodded. "I understand. We'll keep our eyes and ears open just to be sure. Thanks for telling me, though, Chase."

  Cece came into the room and they were soon on their way to a local restaurant.

  They quickly settled into easy conversation on the way to town. As they passed a neighboring ranch Chase asked, "Do you know if the name of that ranch has changed in the last ten, fifteen years?"

  She quickly answered, "Yes, it has. It used to be The Standing Elm years ago."

  "That's what it was! Thank you! Every time I drove by here that bothered me. I knew The Bar T didn't sound right. Do you know why it changed?"

  "Jack Elmwood and his wife owned it and they had called it The Standing Elm. Elm trees lined the lane going in, and I thought it was neat, with their name being Elmwood. But when they died they had two girls, and neither of them was interested in the ranch, so they sold it. The Taylors bought it and renamed it The Bar T. How did you know it used to be The Standing Elm?"

  "I used to come stay with Grandma and Grandpa a few weeks every summer when I was growing up. I loved it here. Grandpa would take me out with him and let me help him, while Grandma fussed every night. She was always afraid I was going to get hurt. I looked forward to my visit all year."

  "When did you stop coming here, and why?"

  "A couple years before I went to college Dad bought a ranch, and I helped him on that. Summers were really busy, so I didn't have time to leave and come here. Then once I left for college, I missed our ranch and was happy to get home for the summer to help Dad."

  "Then once you finished college you worked for your dad full time on his ranch?"

  "Yep. A neighboring ranch went up for sale, all but the house and ten acres, and Dad bought that just a few months before I graduated. We joined the two ranches. Neither one was very large, but when combined it was a pretty good size, about the same size Grandpa's. It took some work, though, combining them, with two sets of buildings and pastures and fields."

  "Did you know you were going to inherit this ranch when he bought that second one?" she asked.

  "Absolutely no idea," he said. "That was the biggest surprise of my life."

  "Really? You had no idea?"

  "None," he confirmed. "Although now that I've thought about it I understand why he did it, and I guess I shouldn't have been so shocked. I just never thought about it." He grew quiet for a moment. "I think I wanted Grandpa to live forever, so I never thought of the possibility of him dying. Once it happened and I had to face that fact, it makes perfect sense for him to give it to me. He was really proud of it and I know he wanted it to remain an operating ranch in the McDermott family. He'd planned on giving it to my dad until Dad bought his own."

  "Why didn't your dad just help him on this ranch?"

  "He used to, I guess, before I was born. But Grandpa said a man has to be a man. Whatever you do in life, do it your way. If you have a ranch, run it your way and be willing to take the credit, right or wrong. Dad agreed with that, and he bought his own ranch so he could run it his way. I could tell Grandpa was proud of him for doing that. The last time I talked to Grandpa I think he was trying to prepare me for this, but his words went in one ear and straight out the other."

  "What do you mean?"

  "He told me that story, that Dad bought his own ranch and was running it his way. You could see how proud Grandpa was of Dad for doing that. Then he said now that I'm out of college I should learn as much as I can from helping Dad because I'll soon be ready to run something on my own. He reminded me that when I do, it's important that I run it my way. Looking back on it I think he was trying to tell me I'd be running this ranch some day, but I was young then and his words of wisdom went right over my head."

  "I think it's really neat that he left it to you, though, especially now that you told me that story. He was obviously proud of you and thought you were ready to run it."

  "Well, I hope I can make him proud."

  "I have a feeling you will, Chase. As a matter of fact, I think you already have."

  "We'll see," Chase said, still deep in thought.

  During their meal Cecelia noticed again how easy it was to talk to Chase. After dinner he held her hand as they walked around town. He asked a few questions about the history of certain buildings or businesses. Having grown up there, she was able to answer most of them. She realized he was interested in the area and wanted not only to make it his home, but to be part of the community. That impressed her.

  He took Cecelia back home and thanked her for the wonderful evening and local history lesson. He gave her a quick kiss on her forehead as he left. She went inside, thinking back over their evening. She had really enjoyed herself. She found she enjoyed being with Chase, but that thought troubled her. She reminded herself he was a man, not to be trusted. She'd have to be sure to keep her guard up around him. This was, after all, the same man who didn't think she was capable of swimming in a creek.

  * * * * *

  Ralph showed up at Chase's ranch several times over the next few weeks, and Chase was beginning to trust him a little more. He offered advice, but not on how to run the ranch. He told Chase where he'd gotten some supplies, and why he didn't order from other places. He described problems he'd had in the past with one supplier or another. Chase tucked away the information, and thanked his uncle.

  Chase also ran into Cecelia a few times over that same time period, and she always seemed friendly, but he could tell she was keeping her distance. Although he wanted to, he was just too busy to ask her out again. He'd seen her a couple times on his land again, in her favorite spot, but he'd been too busy to go talk to her. He'd simply waved, and was happy when she returned the gesture.

  Cecelia kept busy on her dad's ranch. The cook was on vacation, so she was cooking not only for herself and her father, but for all the ranch hands as well.

  When the
cook returned, the first thing Cece did was slip something for supper in the oven shortly after lunch, and saddle up her mare. She felt the need to get away for a while and think about what she wanted to do with her life. She still had no plans for her future or a career. Maybe an afternoon of relaxing at the creek would help her put things in perspective.

  At the creek, she leaned against a tree and considered her possibilities. She had a rather eclectic education, with no obvious future career. She majored in what she liked, which was English. She loved to read and enjoyed the classes she took in English literature. Her English professor had talked her into getting her teaching certificate, saying she might decide down the road that she wanted to pass her love of literature along to kids.

  Cece knew that basically a degree in English and five dollars would get you a cup of coffee, and that pushing her to get her teaching certificate was the professor's way of assuring she could somehow use her English degree. It made sense, and getting the teaching certificate wasn't difficult for her, either. But she really had no desire to teach. She had a minor in art, and she took the art classes for the same reason she took the English classes—she enjoyed them. But now that she had these degrees, she had to decide what she wanted to do. Whether she actually used her degrees to do whatever she decided to do didn't matter to her. She just had to come up with a plan for her life.

  She easily ruled out teaching, but that was about all the headway she'd made. It was hot out and that made it hard to concentrate on something for long. Looking out over the creek, she decided to go wading. That would cool her off and then maybe she'd have better luck.

  The water was warmer this time and she soon found herself in up to her knees. It felt good, but the hot sun was still beating down on her. She looked over at Ginger, remembering the towel and change of clothes she'd tucked away in her saddlebags.

  Cece glanced around. She hadn't seen Chase or any of his men, so she assumed they were working on another part of the ranch. Just that quickly, in she went. It felt fantastic. Not only did it cool her off, but she knew a good workout would clear her mind. Things often were much clearer to her after some good exercise.