My Ranch My Way

by Misty Malone

  Joe and Chase decided to confront Ralph the next day about the recent acts of vandalism. They both felt he was behind all the incidents, and hoped if they talked to him - or threatened him with police action - he would stop. Neither one wanted Cece involved any more than necessary, and agreed not to mention her unless Ralph brought her up. If he did, they would tell him the truth - that she didn't rat him out until she'd been caught, and then only when they confronted her.

  The next evening Cece invited Chase and Joe to eat supper with her and her dad. They were both anxious to hear how their meeting went with Ralph. Unfortunately, Ralph had denied any responsibility for either event. He insisted he had nothing to do with either the vandalism or damming the creek, and even told Chase and Joe that they were welcome to go to the police if they thought they could prove he did it.

  "Do you believe him?" Pete asked.

  "I don't know him well enough to say," Chase said. "He seemed sincere to me, but like I said, I don't know him that well."

  Joe sighed. "To be honest, I don't know what to make of it. He looked sincere, but there have been a couple other times in the past that he's been less than honest with me. I'm hoping that if he was behind them, he'll stop now that he knows we're questioning his involvement."

  "Let's hope they stop," Pete said, shaking his head. "I'd hate to think you'd have to go to the police and it would turn out he was involved."

  "I'd hate that, too," Chase agreed.

  Joe planned to return home on Sunday. On Saturday Chase and Pete took off work a little early. Chase, Joe, Pete and Cece were visiting by the pool, about ready to grill some steaks, when Chase got a phone call from Ty.

  "Sorry to bother you, boss, but we have a problem. You guys might all want to come up and look at this. I'm at the northwest corner, the big cornfield."

  "Okay, we'll be up."

  "Bring the horses, not the truck," Ty added before hanging up.

  Chapter 10

  Chase relayed the message, and they quickly made their way to the barn and got horses saddled. Chase led the way to his biggest cornfield. As they topped the last knoll before the field he froze, as did the rest of them. On the other side of the knoll, close to half of the large field was under water.

  "What the heck happened?" Chase asked Ty, who was heading in their direction. "It hasn't even rained much at all lately. What caused the flood?"

  Ty pointed over to the creek that flowed just beyond the field in the distance. "The creek's been dammed up over there, right where it goes down in that dip," he said. "It's overflowed its banks and since it's low there it flooded this field."

  "That was the last field I planted," Chase said. "The seeds haven't even had enough time yet to germinate."

  Ty nodded. "I know. They'll all be washed away and you'll have to replant the whole thing. At the cost of seeds this year, that's a substantial amount."

  Chase nodded. "Plus the extra fuel to plant it again, and the corn will be getting a later start."

  Pete looked at Joe as he asked, "Do you think Ralph's responsible?"

  "I don't know. Let's go see how they did it," Joe answered.

  "We'll need to open this back up," Chase said wearily. "Ty, did you call the guys? Get them up here with the backhoe again. At least we have experience breaking up a dam this time."

  "I already called. The backhoe and four guys should be here shortly," Ty said.

  They went to the newly formed dam and started clearing the rocks. Cece wasn't happy when Chase told her she was to stay and watch. When she started to argue he told her, "I'm sorry, Sugar, this is not negotiable. These rocks are heavy. Call me sexist if you want, but God made men and women different. Men have more muscle for lifting heavy rocks. My girlfriend is not going to struggle with those heavy rocks when there's enough men around to do it."

  "If men got more muscle, what did women get?" she asked, not ready yet to give in to his command.

  "They're prettier," he answered quickly. Leaning in closer so only she could hear, he added, "And they have a nice padded bottom made for a good spanking if they don't listen." Turning to go back and help the rest of the men, he said louder, "Darlin', I don't want to have to worry about you. Thanks for staying there where I can see you're safe."

  Joe, Pete and Ty all had to hide smiles at the exchange, but they noticed she listened to him. That fact especially had Pete taking notice. He looked at Chase with a new appreciation. Chase was not only protecting his daughter, but had obviously earned her respect, as well, or she wouldn't even think of staying over there. He was impressed.

  Once the backhoe arrived, the men worked steadily until the dam was cleared away again. When they were done, they went back to the house, where Chase asked Ty to join the four of them on the patio, where they discussed the situation and decided something had to be done.

  "Why would anyone dam up all the creeks?" Cece asked.

  "I've wondered the same thing," Joe said.

  Chase took Cece's hand and said, "Honey, I know you don't want to talk about this, but I have to ask you, when Ralph approached you, what all did he ask you to do?"

  "He told me to unplug the refrigerator and to cut the fence, which I did. But I was feeling guilty then and told him I wouldn't do anything else. The only other thing he actually asked me to do was to dam up a creek."

  "Which creek?" asked the four men in unison.

  "I'm sorry," she said, "but I don't think he said which creek. If he did, I wasn't listening because I had already told him I wouldn't do it."

  "So what do you think we should do now, Dad?" Chase asked Joe.

  "I don't know, son. We can talk to him again, but unless we have something new - something that would point to him - he'll probably just deny it again."

  Ty looked over at his boss. "Speaking of something new, have you heard anything yet about that bracelet? Have you heard from the pharmacist?"

  "No, I haven't," Chase answered.

  Joe looked around at the group assembled. "What bracelet?"

  Chase explained about the Medic Alert bracelet that Cece found in the creek.

  Joe looked at Chase curiously. "Did you say it warned of an allergy to bee stings?"

  "Yeah. Why?"

  "Ralph has a friend who's allergic to bee stings. I've heard him tell a story about having to get him to the ER really quickly one time when he'd been stung.

  Pete sat up straighter. "Do you suppose he talked his friend into damming up the creek, and he lost his bracelet while he did it? That's the same creek. It could have gotten caught in the current, and washed up into the wide spot in your creek."

  "I think it's possible. I think we should take the bracelet over to talk to him tomorrow. If he still denies it I think we should talk to Sheriff Green."

  Everyone agreed that was a good plan.

  * * * * *

  The next morning after chores Chase and Joe set off to see Ralph. Joe noticed Chase glancing in his rear view mirror several times and asked about it. "Something wrong behind us?"

  "No, not really," Chase said. "When I looked back when we were at the stop sign, the guy behind us looked familiar."

  "Someone you've met here locally since you moved, or someone from Texas?"

  "I'm not sure."

  "There's another stop sign up here," Joe said. "When we stop, maybe you can get a better look."

  At the next stop sign Chase checked the mirror again, but couldn't get a good look at the driver. "Oh, well," he said. "It was probably just someone that looks like someone I know."

  At Ralph's house they asked him about the flooding, but Ralph maintained he was clueless. As they were about to leave, Joe turned back to his brother. "Hey, by the way, don't you have a friend who's allergic to bee stings?"

  "No, not that I can think of. Oh, yes, wait … I know who you're thinking of. George Spelding. Yes, he is allergic to bee stings."

  "How's he doing?" Joe asked his brother.

  "I don't know," Ralph answered. "I haven't seen him in
years. I should look him up."

  As Chase and Joe prepared to leave, Joe said, "Ralph, I'm going to ask you one more time, did you have anything to do with these things happening to Chase?"

  "No, I did not. I've told you that several times now."

  "I feel I need to warn you, Ralph, these things can't keep going on. They're costing Chase a lot of money, and they may end up costing him some cattle if they don't stop. If one more thing happens we're going to Sheriff Green with them and let him solve it. Once we do that it'll be out of our hands, and whatever the sheriff finds, he'll deal with."

  "I don't blame you a bit. Chase, if it were me I'd go to him now. I wouldn't wait for one more thing. It sounds to me like they're getting serious."

  Chase and Joe talked about Ralph's demeanor as they drove back to the ranch. "I don't know, Dad. He sounded convincing when he told me to call the sheriff now. Would he really challenge me like that if he'd done those things?"

  Joe considered the situation in silence for a few moments before answering. "Maybe, yes. If you think about it, what better way to convince you he didn't do it than to suggest you call the sheriff? He may be hoping you think exactly what you are - that he wouldn't suggest that if he had indeed done it. If you do go to the sheriff without thinking he did it, you won't name him as a suspect."

  Chase had to admit that theory made sense. "You could be right," he conceded. "So what now? Do I wait and see if they stop, or should I call the sheriff now, like Ralph suggested?"

  "I don't know. Let me think about that a little while. If he wasn't family we wouldn't even be debating."

  "I know," Chase agreed, "but he is family."

  As they neared the ranch, Chase said, "Dad, that looks like the same SUV that was following me this morning."

  Joe looked ahead and saw a dark-colored SUV parked along the side of the road, facing Chase's ranch. "Pull over behind him and see what he's doing there. Maybe he had car trouble."

  "Or maybe he's looking for me," Chase suggested. He got closer and put his turn signal on to pull in behind it, but the SUV took off down the road. "Now what? Should I follow it?" Chase asked.

  "I wouldn't," Joe answered. "But it's up to you. You don't know who it is, or even if he has any connection to you."

  Chase pulled into his lane, but said, "On the other hand, whoever he is could be the person behind these pranks."

  Joe turned to look at his son. "Boy, now I wish you would have gotten a better view of him. If it's someone you think you might know, I'd really like to know who it is."

  Chase spent the rest of his day trying to figure out who could have been following him. He had just quit working for the afternoon and was heading back to the barn for supper when he got a call from Cece.

  "Hi, pretty lady," he said.

  "Hey, handsome," she returned. "I know it's late notice, but could you come over here for supper? I have something I want to tell you and Dad."

  "Sure. You don't have to twist my arm to get me to eat your wonderful food. What is it you want to tell us?"

  "I'll tell you both during supper. Oh, bring your dad along, too."

  "Okay," Chase said with a chuckle. "Let me go shower and we'll be over."

  An hour later the four of them were enjoying Cece's culinary skills. "So what was Ralph's reaction when you talked to him today?" Pete asked.

  "I'll tell you all about that because, frankly, I'd like your thoughts," Chase said. He turned to look at Cece and said, "But first I want to know what it is you're eager to tell us, honey. I don't have a clue what it might be."

  "Okay, I'll tell you," she said with a smile. "First, Dad, I want to thank you for being patient with me and letting me stay here without getting a job right off."

  "Honey, this is your home. You're always welcome here. You've been very helpful and I'm glad you took some time to yourself before you started working."

  "I think you're right about that. I did need some time to get my head on straight again. And Chase helped a lot with that, too," she said with a big smile for him, which he returned. "I didn't tell either of you, but I've been working on another project, as well. I've been writing a book."

  "You've been what?" Chase was surprised she'd kept it a secret, but not surprised that she'd been working on something. "What kind of book is it?" he asked.

  "It's what they call a Chapter Book for beginning readers," she said proudly. "When I did my student teaching I worked with second and third graders, and it showed me a couple things. It showed me I really don't want to be a teacher, but it also showed me there's a shortage of books for kids just starting to really get the hang of reading. They can read well enough to start getting lost in a good book, but there aren't enough books like that that are easy enough for beginning readers. The books go from the picture books, or one or two repetitive-type sentences per page to books you can really sink your teeth into, that tell a good story, but they're too difficult for beginning readers. So I wrote one of those in between books."

  "Good for you," Chase beamed. He reached over and kissed her cheek. "I'm proud of you, Cece."

  "Me, too, Honey," Pete said.

  "So what's next?" Chase asked. "Do you submit it to a publisher and see if they like it?"

  She blushed as she said, "I already did that."

  Chase's eyebrows shot up. "And?"

  "And I got a letter today," she said, hardly able to contain her excitement. "They like it and want to publish it!"

  Chase stood to embrace her. "Congratulations, Sugar! I am so proud of you!"

  Pete got up and went to give her a hug next. "We're both proud of you, Honey."

  Cece could see the pride in Chase's eyes as he said, "You told me one time that a degree in English and teaching wasn't really good for much if you didn't want to teach, but I had a feeling you'd find a way to put them to good use. You used your student teaching experiences to find something there was a shortage of, and then used your English skills to write something to fill that void. How could we not be proud of you?"

  After another quick kiss he asked, "So when are we going to be able to see your book in school libraries?"

  "I'm not sure," she said. "This is all new to me, so I don't know much more than you do. I know they assigned an editor to my book, and then they have two other people read it who used to teach third grade. They know if something's too advanced for that age group. I don't really know how long that will take or what happens next. All I know is I feel like I'm starting an adventure, and I'm excited."

  They talked about her book a little longer. He asked what the book was about, and she proudly described it. She was happy to see the pride and excitement in Chase's eyes.

  As they started dessert Pete asked again about Ralph's reaction when they met with them. Joe and Chase relayed Ralph's response, and listened carefully to Pete and Cece's reactions.

  They really hadn't reached a decision as to their next move, when Chase remembered the SUV. "There is one other thing I wanted to tell you about," he said. "I don't know whether this is anything or not, but the more I've thought about it the more I want to warn you two about it."

  Pete's eyebrows shot up. "Warn us?"

  "Yes, possibly warn you," Chase confirmed. He went on to explain about the man that was following him earlier, and how he looked familiar at first glance. "Then he was sitting along the road close to my lane when we came home. When I started to pull in behind him and see if he needed help, he took off down the road and disappeared."

  Joe cautioned, "Now, you don't really know that it was the same person."

  "No, you're right, Dad, I don't," Chase admitted. "But I'm pretty sure it was the same vehicle. And if you think about it, there are things that fit together. For instance, he pulled out and left as soon as I put my turn signal on to pull in behind him. Not only that, but after I'd glanced back at him several times, when we came to a stop sign he put his visor down so I couldn't get a good view of him, and turned and looked out the window the whole time we were stop
ped. Doesn't that sound to you like he doesn't want me to get a good look at him?"

  They all agreed it did appear that way. Chase said, "I wanted to say something to you so you can watch for him. I didn't get the license plate, but it's out of state. Anyway, if you happen to see it around here—"

  Pete broke in and said, "If I see it around maybe I can talk to them, see if I can find anything out. I'll act completely natural, not let on that I'm at all suspicious."

  "Be careful if you do, Pete, and Cece, if you see a dark-colored SUV watching my ranch, you are not to stop. I want you to go on past without even giving him more than a quick glance."

  Cece sat up straight. "Oh, it's okay for Dad to stop and talk to him, but I can't?"

  "That's right," Chase said with no room for discussion.

  "And you call that fair?"

  "I never said it was fair, Cece, but I'm firm on it."

  "But why?"

  "Because I don't know who he is or what he wants. He and the things that are happening around here may not even be related, but they might be. If they are related, I don't trust him. Who is he and why is he doing these things to my ranch? I don't want you anywhere near someone that's doing this kind of thing."

  "But Chase, I don't see—"

  "Cece, we'll talk about this later. I'll be happy to explain my feelings to you, but let's do it in private. Besides," he said with a grin, "I really don't want to argue tonight. Not after the good news you gave us earlier."

  She studied his facial expression and gave in. It probably would be better discussed in private, and she didn't want to spoil tonight, either. "Okay," she said with her own little smile. She and Chase were smiling at each other, and neither saw the little knowing smiles Pete and Joe exchanged.

  Later that night, as Joe and Chase were getting ready to leave, Chase took Cece in his arms. "I'm so proud of you, my special little published author. Are you planning on writing more, or was this a one-time thing?"

  "Oh, I definitely want to write more. I was serious when I said I think there's a shortage of this type of books. Young readers should be encouraged to read, read, read, and I heard several kids complaining that they'd already read all the books like that in their library. I talked to the librarian, thinking it was a shortage of funds. I was going to see if we couldn't get some kind of money-raising event going to buy more, but the librarian said there just aren't enough out there to buy. Writing that book was fun. I never thought of being able to make money doing something I like and that will help kids."