“Mom. Calm down.”
“No one could find you. I asked all the nurses. They said you never came back yesterday.”
“At ease. I’m at the ranch.”
“Our ranch?” Her incredulity came through clearly.
“Paula flew me here yesterday.”
“When are you coming back?”
He grimaced, looking out the window. The storm still raged. “We’re having snow here right now. Could be a day or two.”
Anita’s voice was wobbly again. “Snow? Are you all right?”
“We’re all safe in the house, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“But how can you manage in the snow with your leg?”
He frowned. Was his injury all she thought he was anymore? “Mom, I can walk fine.”
“But you’re stuck there. What about your meds?”
“Don’t need any.”
She went on for a while.
“Mom, we’ll be fine. Miss Betty has us all under her thumb. Want to talk to her?” He desperately handed the phone to the housekeeper. He pointed at where she should listen.
The housekeeper accepted his smartphone gingerly. “How you holdin’ up, Anita? How’s that husband of yours?”
JD was happy to let someone else answer his mother’s questions for a change. Had she always been this pessimistic about his ability to cope? Or had his time in the hospital convinced her he was good at nothing? It wasn’t as if staying at the ranch instead of a hospital bed was such a change. He’d had a few awkward moments last night after he’d taken off his fake foot, but he knew how to handle himself on crutches, so no big deal. Showering this morning had taken a little ingenuity. A grab bar or two would have made it easier. He should talk to his dad about installing them in all the bathrooms. No, Dad wasn’t coming back. Who was in charge? Baron. He acted indifferent to anything that didn’t directly concern Addie. JD could order and install the grab bars himself. Not that he was staying here long-term or anything.
“Yes, ma’am. You know I’ll take good care of your boys,” Miss Betty said. “Here he is.” She handed the phone back to JD.
“Hi. You okay now?” he asked.
“I guess you’re safe there. But when are you coming back?”
“You already asked me that. After the storm’s over. Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.”
He had to reassure her some more before she finally clicked off.
Afterwards, Miss Betty said, “Got some pancakes hot in the oven, if you’re interested.”
For once, he had an appetite. “Deal me in.”
Baron showed up and grabbed some coffee. He looked out at the snow. “Once the storm subsides, we’ll get out the plows. I’ll tell Hoot to have his guys do the airstrip first.”
JD frowned. “Shouldn’t their priority be feeding the cattle? In weather like this, they can’t feed themselves.”
“If the storm keeps up, that may be true. The builders can’t do anything on our house for now, either.”
Seemed as if Baron wasn’t thinking about the ranch. “Have you called Hoot to see what’s up over there? It might be very deep in the valley. The cattle might be in big trouble.”
“Hoot will let me know if there’s a problem.”
Baron dismissed his ranch management very easily. JD asked, “Shouldn’t you ask him? Keep track of the situation?”
“Why? Hoot knows what he’s doing.”
“Thought you said he’s semi-retired.”
Baron rubbed the back of his neck. “He’s living in the compound where the ranch hands are, so directing their jobs is a natural. Addie took over running the stables, which lightened his load.” He smiled reminiscently. “I didn’t think one slip of a girl could handle them. Anyway, Hoot doesn’t have to come up to the house much anymore.”
“’Tain’t entirely Addie takin’ on the horses,” Miss Betty said. “He’s afraid of me. Don’t like me tellin’ him to go to church instead of hangin’ out in honkytonks. Since his wife died, he’s been all alone. ’Tain’t good for a man.”
JD hugged the housekeeper. “That’s his loss, darlin’.”
“Don’t you try to soft-soap me, boy.”
Addie and Paula arrived, with the air of having exchanged confidences. Which might account for the disapproving look Addie sent him. Who was she to judge him? Paula was trying to treat him the usual way, friendly but detached. Now he knew it was only an act. Just to rile them both, he went over to Paula and kissed her lips, making sure it was more than a mere peck. “Morning, sweetness.”
Paula’s eyes went wide. He loved when she did that. Knew he’d scored.
***
Paula tried to hide her reaction to JD’s kiss, but his cocky grin told her she’d failed.
“Uh, good morning.” She tried to look away from his knowing eyes. His intimate behavior had drawn the attention of the others. Heat rose in her cheeks. He’d given her a taste and then pulled back, leaving her openly wanting more. She’d told Addie long ago about her feelings for JD, but it was different to be so exposed, to have her helpless yearning for him revealed for all to see. Including JD. He had so much experience seducing women. He knew what he had done to her.
She made herself turn away from him. “Miss Betty, may I have some coffee?”
The older lady bustled toward her with a mug. “Now, child, you know you don’t have to ask. Treat this house as your home.” She turned to the others and indicated the big kitchen table. “Set you all down. Time to eat.”
Addie said to JD, “I thought you were angry at Paula for bringing you here?”
JD shrugged. “Her intentions were good, wanting to stop the sale of the ranch.”
“Why is not selling so important to you?” Addie asked. “People buy and sell property all the time. Isn’t that how the Selkirk ranch got to be so big?”
Baron said, “You know the story by now. Our granddaddy bought land from neighbors who gave up. Amassed a lot of acres that way.”
Addie was still looking at JD. “Yes, but my point is, if the ranch no longer serves the needs of the family, why keep it?”
JD said nothing. Paula wondered if he’d ever thought about it. She suspected he tried never to think about anything.
JD finally spoke. “Is selling the ranch the only answer?”
“You know I’ve tried to find a ranch manager.”
“You need two men,” JD said.
“Or a new owner who brings his own manager.” Baron cocked a head at the window. “That storm won’t last forever. He’s stuck in Salt Lake City right now but once the roads are cleared, he’ll come out and we can sign the papers.”
JD said, “Didn’t you read the power of attorney before you tore it up? You don’t have the legal right to sell the place anymore.”
“I dispute that,” his brother shot back angrily. “If you want to go to court over it, I’ll claim undue influence, since you apparently got Dad to sign that worthless paper right after his heart attack.”
Addie laid her hand on Baron’s, trying to cool him. JD looked suddenly angry as well.
“Now, calm down,” Miss Betty said. “No need to take this to the law.”
Baron had fire in his eye. “You haven’t been here running this place the last year. Don’t go telling me what I can and can’t do.”
Addie had confided to Paula that Baron was doing anger management therapy, but it looked as if it wasn’t working too well this morning. At least, not where the ranch was concerned.
After the scene at breakfast, the snowed-in group made a point of separating and retreating to far corners of the large house. Paula found herself looking out her bedroom window at the snow again. There was nothing to see. The winds still drove the snow sideways, making visibility zero. It was still snowing. Perhaps it had snowed all night, but unless Baron measured it again, she had no way of knowing how much had accumulated.
San Francisco never got snow. Cheyenne, a much smaller town, seldom got snow. Her life had not been
lived previously based on extreme weather, although there were days in Cheyenne when it was smart not to go out in the dust-laden wind.
Was there anything useful she could do here? Anything at all? She’d called her supervisor and her subordinates at the bank to let them know she wouldn’t be in the rest of the week. No big deal there, and anyway, she could do essential trades with her tablet.
She couldn’t raise Tess. That bothered her. It had been a risk to leave her behind in Cheyenne, but she didn’t want any family fallout to land on Tess. She was too vulnerable as it was. That was the problem. Tess was a mass of vulnerability.
She’d called the landline and the cell. Why wasn’t Tess answering either phone? Was she sleeping it off? Had she lost her cell phone?
Six months ago, when Baron had Addie on the ranch as his virtual prisoner, Tess had seemed to get it at last. She’d come back to Cheyenne determined to stop drinking. She’d supported Baron when he and Addie visited and he’d laid out his ultimatum.
Then nothing happened. Robert Selkirk refused to return and take up the reins at the ranch. JD was busy amazing the doctors and learning to walk again. He had conquered his body’s terrible injuries. That should have made Tess happy, kept her on her new goal of not drinking to excess. But JD’s bad attitude never changed after he was up on crutches. The doctors were thrilled, but JD was still surly. Tess had sunk back to drinking.
If only Tess would get on a plane and go to Hollywood. After that incident at Blackie’s the other night, it seemed she was so far gone that nothing Hollywood could do to her would be worse. Okay, she could die. Other young women went out there seeking fame and fortune in movies and television and couldn’t handle the rejection and stress. Some found relief in exactly what Tess did already.
All this speculation was pointless. Tess still hadn’t dared to go against her mother’s desire to keep her totally safe, or cross her father’s will to control her and keep her a child. She still hadn’t faced up to the fact that she was already a grown woman and should make her own decisions.
As for Paula herself, now that JD seemed to be pursuing her sexually, what should her response be? Loving him didn’t blind her to his faults. He was amusing himself with her because they were snowbound. If she had any willpower, she would resist him, but her body simply would not follow what her brain told her was wise. Every time he touched her, she was helpless with desire.
***
Miss Betty came into the den where JD was idly going through a collection of old CDs.
“Any idea where your brother is? Got a call from Hoot sayin’ there’s a problem. He needs to speak to the boss.”
JD shook his head. “Haven’t seen him. Nor Addie.” He grinned down at her. “What do you bet they’re back in their suite, having some X-rated fun?”
The housekeeper frowned. “Now that’s no way to talk about your future sister-in-law. She’s a lady, Addie is. And a good girl.”
Miss Betty was a churchgoer. He’d better not rile her anymore. “Don’t know where they are.”
She left. A few minutes later he heard Baron yelling. “Dammit, then appoint one of the men to see to it.” Silence. Then, “Absolutely not.” “No!”
JD followed the noise back to Baron’s office. He arrived in time to see Baron slam the phone down.
“Hey, what’s up?”
Baron looked at him. “Damn snow storm. Just when I thought I’d finally offloaded this albatross around my neck.”
“Talk. What’s the problem?”
“Hoot’s down with the flu. Came on suddenly. He’s in bed with a high fever. Can’t wrangle the men in that condition.”
JD narrowed his eyes. “That’s a problem because?”
“None of the men has any initiative. They have to be ordered to get the plows out, and someone has to tell which man to do what.”
“Hoot was able to call you. Why can’t he still do it from his bed?”
“He could barely talk. Constantly coughing. Kept apologizing for letting me down. He’s an old man. He isn’t in shape to be so sick and still do the job. Flu is highly contagious, if that’s what he has. The men might already have it. That means someone has to decide which of them should substitute for somebody else.”
JD said, “Nothing that difficult. You simply change assignments.” When Baron looked just as frustrated as before, he added, “Knowing what each of them is best at is the key.”
“Hoot is in charge of the men,” his brother said flatly.
“Okay, chain of command. You still know who substitutes for Hoot in a pinch. You know which are your strongest men for one kind of work or another.”
Baron shook his head. “They’re too busy refusing to take my orders for me to know that. I don’t care, either. I just want the work to get done. Maybe a while ago I had some ideas of doing things differently here. But the men wouldn’t deviate from Dad’s systems. I got very frustrated. You know I do anger management therapy, don’t you?”
“You’re kidding.” His big brother talked to a shrink?
Baron gave him a sour look. “Think it’s unmanly of me? Not proper macho cattleman behavior? It’s been eye-opening. Hear you could use some therapy yourself.”
“Let’s not go there.” JD kicked a chair rung restlessly.
“Fine with me. I’m not trying to run you life, just fix mine.”
Baron rose from the leather chair and fingered the map behind him that showed the vast Selkirk holdings.
“Look at how large this is. I’m supposed to run it all. Dad could do it, but I can’t. That doesn’t make me a failure as a man, but it makes me frustrated as hell. Part of my therapy is to openly express my anger with this situation. Get it out of my system. Purge myself of the need to maintain a ‘strong, silent type’ cowboy image of super competence. I’m fine with that. I’m a geologist. I’m not cut out to be a cattle baron. I don’t want to lead men.”
JD said, “How about I call over and talk to some of the guys, see what’s happening?”
Baron said, “Be my guest. I’m going to walk the treadmill and get out the frustration with exercise. Addie has the right idea about that.”
After his footsteps died away, JD sat in Baron’s wood and leather chair. Their dad’s chair. How many times had he come into this office as a boy, and watched his father with awe as he snapped out orders to his loyal ranch hands? Robert Selkirk was a leader of men. JD had seen many leaders in the Army. They had different styles. There was more than one way to lead men well, and there were just as many ways to do it badly.
The dog wandered in and lay down with his head on JD’s real foot again.
JD called Hoot, apologizing for bothering him. The old man didn’t sound good. JD got the names and contact numbers for his top men, and quickly let Hoot go back to resting up.
He made some calls, talked to a few of the guys, got the report. The snow on that side of the ridge was even worse than at the house. Over two feet and still climbing. The men were mostly healthy. None had the flu yet. The cattle would be very hungry by tomorrow. Today there was no chance of feeding them. The only good news was that a mere five thousand head were at risk.
A million dollars in profit was at risk. Baron had said he thought it was two or three thousand head. His brother didn’t seem to have a head for figures. Or cattle.
JD made a few more calls. The entire area was caught in the fierce storm. Not much to be done until the snow stopped falling. Even then, the unusually high winds would prevent air rescue or an air drop of hay to the cattle. Wyoming was known for its wind, but gusts to seventy miles an hour made using the family plane or helicopter a no go. Too much chance of wind shear while traversing these ridges and valleys.
The men had been courteous enough. They’d willingly told JD what he wanted to know about their capabilities for cleanup after the storm. What was Baron’s problem, anyway?
Anger couldn’t be the whole answer. Why had JD believed their father all these years about Baron being ideally suite
d to inherit the management of the ranch? He had always been the heir apparent, even though he’d insisted on obtaining geology degrees and working far from the ranch. They all knew he’d be back. Maybe they’d all been wrong.
Baron showed no personal affinity for cattle, or for leading men. He was much more interested in hanging around pretty Addie and digging rocks. Couldn’t blame him for that, but someone had to run this place.
JD had never thought he had a future on the ranch, not when their father insisted it was the firstborn son’s privilege. The Army had offered adventure and challenge, something important to do with all his youthful energy. JD had chosen what had turned out to be a hard, dangerous path, and he was not sorry. It had changed him from a boy to a man. Maybe he needed to rethink what came next.
Chapter 11
Lunch was mostly silent. Baron was sullen, which made Addie glance at him several times as if she wanted to shake him out of it.
JD was in a fine mood, the best Paula had seen him in since he was a teenager. He smiled that cocky grin, teased Miss Betty, and tried to steal another kiss from Paula. When she dodged him, he shrugged easily and ate his meal in peace.
Paula spent the time wishing she hadn’t evaded JD’s lips. She could have safely enjoyed the kiss since he couldn’t seduce her in the kitchen with everyone around. She wanted every one of his kisses, even though she didn’t trust his suddenly sunny disposition.
After lunch, she retreated to her room. Looking outside was pointless although she checked the window, anyway. The snow kept falling, and the wind kept driving it sideways. Nothing had changed. The wind gusts were amazing. Noisy, howling, the wind rattled bits of windows or roof. Lucky there weren’t any trees around the house to blow down. Just a few short ornamentals out by the pool, not that she could see them right now. Nobody had thought to tie down the patio furniture out there, but it didn’t matter now since it would be firmly anchored under so much snow. Otherwise, the wind could make it fly around.
The market would close in New York soon. She should finish up. There were other markets, but she kept her trading simple. Simple was best. She wished her feelings about JD were simple. She didn’t trust that public morning kiss.
Saving the Soldier (Selkirk Family Ranch Book 2) Page 9