by C. C. Coburn
Chapter Sixteen
“Get up, Mom! Will’s got a surprise for us!” Nicolas jumped on her bed, followed by Dugald.
This was Saturday, so she’d been hoping to sleep in, but lately Nicolas was so full of energy, he was often up before her.
“I don’t think I could possibly eat another meal at Rusty’s,” she muttered.
“How does breakfast in bed sound?” Will was standing in her bedroom doorway, a tray in his hands.
“It sounds—and smells—wonderful,” she said. “But you don’t have to work weekends.”
Will set the tray on the bed beside her. “I’m not working, but I thought you might both enjoy a surprise.” He placed a bowl containing dry dog kibble on the floor for Dugald. With a bark of excitement he leaped off the bed and stuck his nose in his food.
Becky surveyed the tray. A mug of coffee for her and one of hot chocolate for Nicolas. Bagels, cream cheese, ham, two poached eggs, two bowls of diced fruit. “There’s only breakfast for two here.”
“Yup. Enjoy yourselves. I’m heading out to the ranch, then I’ll be back for the surprise.”
“I thought this was it.”
Will grinned. “Nope. Dress warmly and I’ll see you in forty-five minutes.” He whistled as he left the room.
“What do you suppose that’s about?” she asked.
Nicolas shrugged. “Beats me. He wouldn’t even tell me where we’re going. But knowing Will, it’s gonna be something really special.”
“Going to,” she corrected, bit into a piece of apple and wondered what this intriguing man was up to now.
“WHERE’S YOUR VEHICLE?” she asked as Will opened the passenger door of a battered old truck. Bales of hay were stacked in the truck bed. Nicolas scooted across and sat in the middle of the bench seat. Will put Dugald on his lap, then offered his hand to assist Becky into the truck.
“I don’t bite,” he said when she hesitated.
She settled onto the seat. “I just didn’t expect you to help me.”
“Get used to it, darlin’,” he said and closed the door firmly.
THE COUNTRYSIDE they drove through was breathtaking. Overnight snow carpeted the landscape, and it was so pristine, so achingly beautiful, Becky sighed with pleasure.
“It does that to me, too, sometimes,” Will said from across the cab. “I think you’ll enjoy our destination.”
Twenty minutes later, they turned into a narrow valley and continued along it for several miles. The valley widened as they drove farther and as the panorama opened up, the effect was as if someone had unwrapped a beautiful gift. Snowcapped mountains rose on either side of the valley. A river, partly iced over, burbled beside the road. Sunlight bathed the valley floor, and the snow glistened like billions of tiny diamonds spread across the land.
“I’ve never seen anywhere so beautiful,” Becky breathed in wonder.
Will grinned at her as he turned off the road, then lowered the plow on the truck’s front end. The vehicle easily pushed the fluffy powder snow aside as they drove into an open field.
Becky spotted a large, brown mass in the distance. “What’s that?” she asked, squinting. Dugald’s ears pricked up and he put his paws on the dashboard to steady himself while he sniffed at the air.
“It’s elk, Mom!” Nicolas shouted. “Oh, boy, oh, boy, oh, boy!”
Realization dawned on her. “And the hay is for the elk?”
“Uh-huh.”
Will climbed out and helped Nicolas down from the truck. Dugald leaped out and raced toward the elk, but the snow was so deep he disappeared in a white clump. All they could hear was muffled barking as the clump moved of its own accord.
Becky laughed so hard at the antics of her pint-size dog she had tears running down her face.
“Oh, dear, that’s about the funniest thing I’ve ever seen!” she cried, while Nicolas dug Dugald out.
The little dog shook off the snow and started barking to warn the humans of imminent danger.
“Hey there, buddy.” Will scooped him up and placed him in the truck bed. “You can guard the pickup, but you’ve gotta keep quiet, okay? Those elk aren’t going to hurt us.” He petted the dog and talked to him in soothing tones and soon Dugald relaxed and jumped atop one of the hay bales, keeping his eyes on the elk. Will hauled off the rest of the bales and threw them on the ground several yards from the truck. The elk lifted their noses to the wind, looking interested. Once all the bales—except Dugald’s—were arranged on the snow, he clipped the wire surrounding them to release the hay.
Several elk wandered toward them but halted when Dugald began to bark again.
“Dugald! Hush!” Will commanded and the dog sat in silence as the elk edged closer.
Becky held her hand to her mouth to quell her emotions at the sight of these wild animals walking toward them, sniffing at the hay, then tearing chunks off the bales. “I’ve never seen anything like this in my life. What a perfect surprise,” she said, placing her hand in the crook of Will’s arm. “Thank you for bringing us here.”
He covered her hand and squeezed it. “You’re welcome.”
“Why are you feeding them?”
“Elk lose around thirty percent of their body weight during normal winters. If it’s particularly harsh or long, then their survival is severely compromised. We’re expecting a big storm tonight and a lot of snow for the next few weeks. I like to give them a helping hand.”
Becky’s admiration for him took another leap forward. Will was not only a wonderful friend to her son, he was a complete humanitarian.
“Who owns the land?” she asked, unable to take her eyes off the animals.
“I do.”
She glanced up at him and stepped away. “And now you’re pulling my leg.”
Will dug his hands into his pockets and grinned down at her. “No, I’m serious. I bought it over ten years ago with my first paycheck from the movies.”
“You really like turning my preconceived notions about you upside down, don’t you?”
“I’m not doing it on purpose. Your misconceptions are based solely on the fact that I appeared in your court.”
“You’re absolutely right and I apologize for not only prejudging you but also misjudging you.”
“Apology accepted. Now, will you agree to come out on a date with me?”
“You don’t give up, do you?”
“Nope. Not when I want something this badly.”
“But you’re my employee.”
“So marry me and I’ll look after Nick for free.”
She laughed at his outrageous suggestion. “Don’t tempt me.”
Will reached out and pulled her closer. “Seriously?”
She batted his chest. “No, of course I’m not serious!”
“Mom! Look! The elk are coming to me,” Nicolas interrupted just as things could’ve gotten interesting. “What’ll I do, Will?”
“Stand your ground, buddy. You can grab a bunch of hay and feed them if they’ll take it from you.”
“Is it safe?” Becky asked, unable to ignore her motherly concerns. “They are wild animals.”
“Wild, but friendly. Look.”
A calf approached and tugged gently at the hay Nicolas proffered. “I wish I had a camera,” she said in wonder.
Will produced a small digital camera. “Snap away.”
She spent the next few minutes taking shots of Nicolas with the baby elk. Then Will took photos of her and Nicolas with the calf. Then Nicolas took photos of Becky, Will and the elk. Becky finished the photo shoot, concentrating on the valley scenery. “I want to remember this forever and I’d love to get some of these enlarged,” she said, handing the camera back to Will.
“Good idea.” He produced a thermos of hot chocolate and a box of cookies. “Care for a picnic among the elk?”
“Yeah!” Nicolas grabbed a cookie.
Touched by Will’s thoughtfulness, she helped take lawn chairs from the truck’s tray and set them up so they could wat
ch the elk feeding, with the snowy mountains as a backdrop.
Nicolas went off to throw a ball for Dugald in the plowed area, successfully distracting the little dog from the animals grazing so close to them.
Settled in the chairs, their hands wrapped around mugs of hot chocolate, she asked, “How much land do you own?”
“Only two hundred acres.”
Becky sputtered. “Only?” Although she was aware ranches were considerably larger than that in Colorado, two hundred acres sounded like an awful lot to her.
“What are you going to do with it?”
“I had planned on building a cabin and moving here. I love the serenity. And the views.”
“You’d raise cattle?”
“Nope. I planned to kick back on my porch and watch the wildlife roam. I get the occasional moose down by the river. Bears are hibernating in the hills, but they come out to forage for berries during the summer. There are foxes, lynx, lots of squirrels—all sorts of critters. Why spoil it with smelly old cows?”
“True!” She looked around at the vista again, taking in the river with steam rising off it into the chilled air. Away from the cleared flat bottom of the valley, pine, spruce and aspen stretched up the hillsides. And everywhere was the all-encompassing majesty of the mountains. “Oh, Will, how lucky you are to own a piece of paradise.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “But I might not own it for long.”
NICOLAS THREW THE BALL to Dugald while keeping an eye on his mom and Will. Everything was working out just the way he wanted it to. It made him feel good seeing them together. He’d seen how they looked at each other….
He loved Will and would be thrilled to have him as his dad. Then Sash and Daisy would be his cousins and they could hang out together all the time. He could stay in Spruce Lake instead of going back to Denver and that school his mom kept raving about. Didn’t she understand it was better to have real friends instead of competitors? His mom was happy when he’d aced the entrance exam. So what? He hadn’t even tried and he’d still got top marks, so what could the school teach him? Nothing he couldn’t read in books or learn online. But Will taught him new things every day, important things you couldn’t learn anywhere else.
And Will’s family treated him as if he was normal. He liked that. His mom’s colleagues in Denver were so patronizing, either talking about him as if he wasn’t there or he was fragile or something.
He loved fooling around with Matt and Jack, and although he’d been a bit scared of Luke at first, he’d studied some Internet sites on horse breeding and they’d had a long conversation about it over dinner the other night. Luke liked talking horses and had offered to teach him to ride since Will was allergic to horses. He couldn’t wait!
He was gonna have to choose his moment to talk to his mom about staying in Spruce Lake. Maybe she could set up a law practice here or the judge she was standing in for would decide she didn’t want to work now she had a little baby. Yeah, that would be perfect!
Except…his mom was frowning. That wasn’t good.
“WHY WON’T YOU OWN IT for much longer?” Becky asked and tightened her ponytail.
“Turns out this spread has increased in value over the years. Jack and Matt suggested I sell it and use the funds to buy back the old buildings.”
“It galls me that you’d have to give up this stunning piece of property. But realistically, do you think the development company would sell?”
He lifted a shoulder. “I’m hoping the strength of public opinion will make them rethink their plans. If they do pull out, then we need to have the funds available to step in and buy the property before another developer snaps it up. The way the town bylaws read at present, the buildings won’t be safe until someone who genuinely wants to preserve them actually owns them.”
“A noble idea, but the real estate they’re sitting on is worth a lot of money. I can’t see that leaving the old buildings as they are would be commercially viable.”
He tapped the side of his nose. “Jack and I have some ideas.”
“Want to share them with me?”
Will basked in her interest. “Okay. For starters, none of them have foundations. They’re just sitting on the ground they were built on. Lucky for us we don’t get tornadoes through here, otherwise half the town would’ve been over in another county long before now.”
Becky laughed and he savored the sound of it. “Now that’s an interesting visual!” she said.
“We plan on excavating new basements and moving the buildings onto them. They’re set out in a pretty haphazard way that doesn’t make the most of the site. By tidying it up and making access easier, we can build a small condo complex with a Victorian facade that complements the site. Once the old buildings are on their new foundations, we’ll renovate the siding and interiors. The houses and condos would fetch good prices since they’re within easy walking distance of the ski lifts. The other buildings would have shops on the first floors and apartments on the upper floors, much like Mrs. C. has over her shop. That’ll bring both commercial and residential life back to that end of town.”
Becky clapped her hands. “Brilliant!”
Delighted by her response, he said, “I need to get this land properly valued and find an interested buyer.”
“I admire your determination to save those buildings, but it would be such a shame to give up this beautiful land.”
“It isn’t big enough for a viable ranch, but it’s the perfect size to carve up into what they call ranchettes—around five to ten acres each.”
“That’s an appalling idea! All this beautiful open space covered in houses!”
Will couldn’t help grinning at her heartfelt dismay. “It’s not as bad as you think. There’s a huge demand for people wanting homes within a ten-mile drive of the town and ski area but who also want the wide-open spaces of Colorado around them. Jack took me to see a similar development in the next county. With strict building covenants regarding the style of homes, setbacks, natural landscaping and the need to preserve as much of the natural environment as possible, it could work well.”
“But what’ll happen to the elk and the other animals?”
“I plan on keeping back a hundred acres for a wildlife corridor.” At least that would ensure the vacant land couldn’t be used for any activities that would threaten the wildlife.
“If you keep half the land, I can’t see how it would be enough to buy the old buildings.”
“I didn’t think so, either. But according to Jack’s research, each ranchette property would sell for ten times what I initially paid for all the land.”
“Oh, my…”
Will had mixed feelings about selling but was thrilled the land had increased so much in value and he could put it to good use. “Exactly.” He smiled. “When he said I should be able to keep a hundred acres for myself, it was pretty much a no-brainer.”
“And if this all works out, what happens to the money that’s already been raised?”
“Any fundraising money will be put straight back into the community, with interest. There are plenty of projects needing funds.”
Impressed by the way he’d thought all this through, she said, “In that case, I can’t see anyone in the town objecting to your plans—apart from the mayor.”
“The mayor likes being mayor. If he gets the development company to sell to us, then he’ll benefit by appearing to be a great negotiator. Not to mention that the town benefits from a worthwhile project, and you can be sure he’ll be first in line to take the congratulations on that!”
She laughed. “You know him so well.”
“Unfortunately, yes. And as much as it annoys me to pander to his ego, if it serves my purpose, then I’ll schmooze the guy to get what I want.”
“Sounds like it’s time for a new mayor.”
“He’s been seduced by the development company. I told him if he doesn’t back down, I’ll run against him in the next election.”
“So he told me!” Becky
laughed.
“I’ll do just about anything to save those buildings.”
“Judging by how much the town’s behind you, you’d win. And what would you do then, Mr. Mayor?”
“Order you to marry me?”
She slapped him playfully, enjoying their banter. Will was entertaining company, intelligent, determined, ambitious—when it suited him. All the things she’d assumed he wasn’t, simply because he’d appeared before her on a misdemeanor. “Okay, I’ll agree to one date.” She held up her index finger. “But only when you’re no longer my employee.”
He grinned. “If I really want something, then I’ll find a way to get it. And I want you that badly.”
Her face suffused with heat at the insinuation in his words. To cover her discomfort, she got to her feet and said, “I think we should be getting back. Nicolas and I have Christmas shopping to do and I don’t want to keep you from relaxing on your day off.” Since they’d been invited to the O’Malley ranch for Christmas Day, there were more gifts to be purchased.
“Why do you do that?”
“What?”
He cocked his head and studied her. “Shut me out when I want to get close.”
“Will, we both know a long-term relationship between us isn’t going to work.”
He stood up to tower over her. “Only because you won’t give it a chance.”
She sighed. “Look, I come with a lot of personal baggage attached. You, on the other hand, have had an ideal upbringing. You’ve got a carefree nature and—”
“You’re sure about that?”
“What could you possibly have to worry about?”
“Ever wonder why Matt and I were on the kiddie slopes instead of up on the mountain skiing?”
“The thought had crossed my mind.” Becky couldn’t even begin to imagine where this was heading.
“Ever wonder why I quit a lucrative job in the movies?”
She folded her arms. “Yes. You’re at the peak of physical fitness. You seem born to ski, live an outdoor life. Why did you quit?”