by Denise Irwin
Daniella smiled at him. As a small child she loved her grandfather’s office. She did her homework on the corner of his massive oak desk while he conducted his own business. She pretended that she was working alongside him rather than doing homework. She’d heard somewhere that he’d given up his cigars years earlier, but the scent of them was meshed into the wood panels that covered the wall.
“I spoke with my grandfather this morning. He was adamant that I return to the States to take over the ranch. He also told me that you have taken charge of the day-to-day operations and that you would tutor me.”
Daniella waited for him to say something, so when he didn’t, she went on. “Garrett, can I count on you to help me learn the business?”
When he sat forward, resting his arms on his legs, twirling his hat between his hands, she reached over and grabbed the hat from him. “Have you heard a word of what I just said to you?” She arrogantly continued, “It’s becoming quite apparent that you are as displeased to hear this just as I was when I promised Gramps I would do it.”
Garrett reached over and took his hat back. “Ms. McPherson, my pleasure or displeasure, in your grandfather’s request is not what’s important. Do you want to run the ranch or do you want to flee back to Paris, the first chance you get?”
She sat in front of him searching for the words to answer that question. Her life was in Paris while her roots were in Colorado. “Garret, no I don’t want to run the ranch. My heart lives in Paris, but I made a promise that I intend to keep. Once Grandpa passes away, I will need to return to Paris to help my staff find new jobs.”
He looked her in the eyes, and quietly told her, “If your heart remains in Paris, you will never love this ranch the way a McPherson should.”
“Then I guess the two of us are in a pickle.”
“Danny, ranching is hard work and if you’re not up to it, the ranch will fail along with your dreams for living in Paris. What do you know about Matt’s business?”
She shook her head, “Very little, which is why he told me to defer to your knowledge. That is of course if you stay on after he’s gone. I tried to get him to put the ranch in a trust, but he wouldn’t hear of it. I wanted to ask him if I could divide my time between my life in Paris and here on the ranch, but I knew that he’d tell me it was a very bad idea.”
“You know he’s right. If you tried that, when you were on the ranch, you’d be thinking of Paris. That same thing would happen when you were in Paris. If you aren’t willing to dive in with both feet, you’ll lose both sides of the battle.”
“Well, now that you’ve dragged out my inability to make sound decisions, I will ask you once more. Will you tutor me on the day-to-day operations of the business?”
“Yes ma’am, I will.”
“Good, we’ll start this afternoon. I’d like a high level overview of my family’s holdings. Shall I meet you in your office this afternoon?”
“No, we’ll start tomorrow. The vet is coming in this afternoon.”
“Is one of the horses sick?”
“Nope, he’s coming for routine checkups on the herd.”
“I see. I’d like to have breakfast with Grandpa in the morning, so we’ll start tomorrow afternoon that is of course if you aren’t already booked.”
Garrett stood. “See you at dinner.” He put on his hat and left the office. Daniella needed a few moments to ponder the decision she’d just made, before she dealt with Nana. She didn’t know jack shit about running a ranch. She left when she went off to college and vowed to never return to the Wild West.
She started toward the door when her cell phone indicated there was a message waiting. When she listened to it, the only thought she had was, fuck no, not now.
Chapter Five
Franktown, Colorado
Nana was waiting for her in the kitchen. “Since the vet’s coming, we’ll do the grocery shopping. Your grandfather believes that I’m too old to drive the truck anymore, so here take the keys. I’ll navigate while you drive.”
Daniella stopped and looked at Nana as if she’d been asked to parachute out of a plane without the chute. “Nana, I’ve never driven a truck.”
“Well then child, today is your lucky day. Go on, take these keys.”
Daniella reluctantly took the keys and stared at them as if she’d never seen a set of keys before. Nana got her attention when she said, “You’re gonna need to help me up.”
Still in shock that Nana wanted her to drive. Her feet felt as if she were wearing lead boots as she walked to the passenger door. She opened the door and looked up to the seat. She had managed to get herself into the truck the night before, but getting Nana in was a horse of a different color. The dark green Dodge Ram Charger became a monster in her mind as she planned how to get Nana up and into it safely.
She eyed the distance between the ground and the passenger seat. While Nana was on the plump side, she thought she’d be able to pick Nana up and help her into the truck. So, she put her arms around Nana’s waist and started to lift her off the ground. Nana let out a painful cry, “Danny, put me down this minute.”
“I was gonna pick you up and put you in the truck.”
“It’ll be a whole lot safer if you just get the step-ladder out from behind the seat.”
When Daniella pushed the back of the passenger seat forward, sure enough there was a small step-ladder behind it. She pulled it out and opened it for Nana. “Just take a-hold of my arm and make sure I don’t fall.”
“Yes ma’am.”
When Nana was safely seat-belted in; Daniella walked around the truck to the driver’s door. She took a moment to size up the situation. There was just no way in hell that she’d be able to just hop up in the driver’s seat. Nana leaned over and looked at her.
“What are you doing child? The day’s wasting away.”
Daniella grabbed the seat cushion and tried to pull her body up. Just when she thought she was up, her fingers cramped and she lost hold of the cushion. Determined to do her part, she walked around the truck, “Nana, can you lean forward for just a moment?”
Nana wasn’t sure what Danny planned to do, but she complied with the request. “Sure honey.”
Daniella took hold of the step-ladder and walked it around to the driver’s side. Once it was in place, she went up the two steps and into the truck. Now that she was in the truck, she just needed to figure out how to get the step-ladder from the ground to the truck. She wrapped her arm around one of the steering wheel spokes and leaned as far as she could toward the ladder. Damn it, I’m a few inches too short.
She un-wrapped her arm from the steering wheel and grabbed it with her hand. She then leaned over toward her antagonist, the freaking step-ladder. She was able to reach far enough that her finger tips were able to wrap around the ridge of the top step.
“Let me go get Garrett, so he can help you up.”
Her voice sounded like a growl, “No, I will do this myself.”
After almost falling out of the truck twice, she won the battle. She folded the ladder up and as she went to put it behind the passenger seat, whacked Nana in the shoulder.
“Nana, I am so sorry, did I hurt you?”
“Not enough to worry about; let’s get going. We’re wasting time and an old person like me just can’t afford to waste time.”
“Well, I still have to figure out how to handle this bastard.”
“Mind your tongue child. You’re in the presence of your elder, and I raised you to speak properly when addressing your elders. I won’t have you swearing.”
The little girl in the driver’s seat simply said, “Yes ma’am”. Daniella adjusted her seat forward, so that her feet could reach the pedals, checked the mirrors, put that green monster into drive and away they went. They bounced a bit, but once they were on the road to town, she found it drove like a car.
“I ordered all the food this morning, so once it’s packed into the truck bed, we’ll be on our way home.”
“That sou
nds good to me. I can’t believe that I’m starting to like driving a truck. We’re sitting high enough that I can see everything around us.”
“That’s good, ‘cause Garrett usually has to take time away from his job to take me shopping. We can free up his time now that you’re here.”
She kept her eyes on the road, making sure that she stayed in her lane as Daniella asked, “How often do you go shopping?”
“Well, it depends on what we’re running low on. We have some garden vegetables that are ready to harvest. Garrett’s already put twenty-four chickens in the freezer, along with the twelve pigs he slaughtered last week. Four cows are at the butchers, so today we just need the everyday stuff.”
Daniella wasn’t sure what the everyday stuff was, and she didn’t want to appear totally stupid, so she didn’t ask about it. When they pulled onto the grocery store parking lot, she told Nana, “I’ll pull up in front of the door and help you out, then I’ll go park the truck and meet you in front of the store.”
“Don’t bother, like I told you, I ordered everything this morning, so pull the truck around back of the store to the loading dock.”
When she saw the dock, Daniella panicked, “Do I have to back this truck to that dock?”
Nana sounded perturbed when she answered, “Of course you do. It’s no different than going forward, you’re just gonna be doing the same thing in reverse. Heavens child, I drove that old truck we had for years. There isn’t anything to worry about.”
So, you say. You won’t be saying that when I crash the truck into the loading dock.
Nana navigated while Daniella drove. She told Daniella, “Just drive forward to give yourself enough room to turn the truck so you can drive straight back.”
Daniella made a wide turn, keeping sight of the dock in her side mirrors. She straightened the tires and put the truck in reverse. “You’re doing just fine child.”
That’s so easy to say if you’re the passenger.
“Just go slow.”
Some guy came onto the dock to guide the truck. Daniella focused on his hands in the truck’s mirrors. She hadn’t realized how much she was sweating from fear until he put his hands up indicating that it was time to stop. Her sweaty hands had a death grip on the steering wheel.
“See that, you did just fine. Now, go on up onto that dock and make sure everything I ordered is there. Now-a-days, ya just can’t trust people to do their job right.”
“Do you have a list of what you ordered?”
Nana chuckled, “That would help, wouldn’t it? I tucked it here in my pocketbook.” She reached deep into the oversized purse and retrieved it. Danny laughed when she took the list from her Nana.
“What is so darn funny about a shopping list?”
“I wasn’t laughing about the list. I haven’t heard a purse referred to as a pocketbook since I left the ranch. It just sounded funny.”
Perturbed with Danny’s humor, she said, “Is that right? Well, I’m just too old to change what I call it.”
“I wasn’t making fun of you.”
The task assigned to her meant that Daniella had to get out of the truck to sign for the items Nana had purchased. She tentatively opened the truck door. When she looked at how far down the ground was, she became dizzy. She was determined to get out of that fucking truck without using the step-ladder. She just needed a good plan.
If she held onto the steering wheel with her right hand, she could use her left hand to hold onto the driver’s door. That seemed like a good start. She could then turn herself toward the truck and step down to the running board. The rest should be a snap. When she started to execute her plan she caught a glimpse of an odd look on Nana’s face. She didn’t have time to ask about that look; so, holding onto the steering wheel and the door’s armrest, she made her move. Her feet ended up dangling in the air while her arms were stretched between the door and the steering wheel. She ended up looking as though she was attempting to pose as a religious cross. She tried to swing her legs to the running board. It took several attempts, but she finally got a toe hold. Terrified to let go of her hand holds, she just hung there trying to plan her next move. It felt to her that her shoulders had come out of their sockets.
She then felt someone put hands on her waist and lift her up and set her down on the pavement.
He was laughing when he asked, “You don’t drive trucks much, do you?”
“No I don’t, but that beast isn’t going to break me. My name is Daniella McPherson, and Betty Schaffer and I are here to pick up the McPherson order.”
He tried to hide his grin as he led her up the stairs to the dock. “Ms. McPherson, I’m sure that Betty told you to watch us load the truck, so take this receipt for her order and check the items off as I call them out.”
When everything was transferred from the dock to the truck, the guy handed her a receipt for her signature. After she signed it, he offered, “Ms. McPherson, it’s none of my business, but I can show you a way to get in and out of the truck that won’t have you dangling like a stuck pig.”
Daniella was about to tell him she would do just fine without his help, but she knew she couldn’t get back into the truck without it. She chuckled, “Did I really look like a stuck pig?”
“I’m sorry to tell you, but yes ma’am you did, Ms. McPherson.”
“Please call me Danny.” She couldn’t believe she’d just said for him to call her Danny and not Daniella.
“My name’s Bill. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Now let’s get you into that truck. I’ll go first then you just do what I do.”
“Okay Bill, lead on.”
“First ya open the door. Put your left leg up on the running board, like this.”
Danny watched him. “Next, ya stand up on your left leg, like this. If ya need to hold onto something, hold onto the back of the seat, like this. Place your right leg on the running board. Once you’re standing, swing your right leg into the truck, and grab the hand hold just above the door inside.” Danny craned her neck and damn if there wasn’t a hand hold. “Then you just take hold on the steering wheel, lift your left leg in and you’re all set. Let me get out, I’ll show you how to get out, then you can give it a try. Take your left foot and lower it to the running board. If you need to hold onto the steering wheel, that’s okay. Bring down your right foot, and then you can just step down, like this.”
“Bill, promise me that you’ll catch me when I fall.”
“You ain’t gonna fall.”
“I wouldn’t place a bet on that.” Danny put her left foot on the running board; she then stood on her left leg and lifted her right leg to join her left leg. Standing on both legs, she reached for the hand hold inside the truck. When she had a good hand grip, she swung her right leg in and lifted her left leg in.
“That’s good. Now, come on down out of the truck.”
She reversed the process by reaching down with her left leg. When she felt the running board, she swung her right leg down. She then stood and stepped down.
“Danny, you did that real good.”
She chuckled, “Thanks for the lesson.”
When she climbed back into the truck, Nana told her, “See child, you’re getting the hang of it.”
“Yeah, I looked like a total fool. Nana, that receipt I signed was for over a thousand dollars worth of goods.”
“We feed a lot of folks these days. I do my own baking, so I needed flour, cornmeal, sugar and such. We get a better price on most things by buying them in bulk.”
“Wow, so that means business is good?”
“It’s better than good. Now, let’s get going, so the boys can get these supplies into the pantry.”
When the truck pulled onto the road, Nana looked over at Danny who had a worried look on her face, “You okay?”
“I am, but there’s something I need to tell you about.”
“Go on, I’m listening.” Nana always listened when Danny needed to talk. When she was a child, Nana was a trusted confidant
, who rarely told her grandfather about their private conversations.
“There might be someone at the house when we get home.”
“Who might this someone be?”
“He’s a fashion magazine editor from Paris. He left a voice mail on my phone that he was flying in today.”
“We have plenty of room, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“No, it’s not that. This man is a weasel and can’t be trusted. I did not invite him into our home. It appears to me that he believes he has earned the right to barge into our home uninvited.”
“Tell me about this man who you do not want in our home.”
Danny wasn’t sure telling Nana about Michal was a good idea. Before she could create a dam to hold in her emotions, the tragedy of their relationship gushed out of her mouth.
“When I was in Paris, I became infatuated with the editor of a fashion magazine. I thought I loved him. I practically moved in with him, while I’d held onto my apartment. I came home one evening to find the scent of another woman’s perfume on his pillow.”
Nana interrupted her, “Who was the woman?”
“That’s not the important part.” She let out a small laugh before continuing. “I was angry and I broke off our relationship. He asked me to forgive him, and promised to never do it again. I trusted that promise. To prove his love he proposed marriage. I accepted that proposal, until I came home one evening to find him in bed with yet another woman.”
Nana’s voice was full of concern. “Oh, Danny, that must have been awful.”
“It was definitely a good lesson about men for me.”
“Danny, I’ll just march him off the porch with my shotgun. Nobody’s gonna hurt my baby and get away with it.”
Danny laughed, “Nana, you have a shotgun?”
“I sure do, and I know how to use it, so don’t you worry about a thing.”
This situation was going to turn into a fiasco that she didn’t have the strength to get through. Why couldn’t he leave well enough alone until she returned to France?
There weren’t any cars in the driveway when they pulled in, so Danny let out a sigh of relief.