Chadwick Ranch, Book 1: Winter Holiday Romance

by Bonnie Marlewski-Probert

  “I am ... I appreciate you making the drive out to the ranch for our first meeting. Once you have a chance to check things out, I’m happy to make the drive into San Antonio for our next meeting. I can bring the laptop and paperwork to save you the drive. Did you have any trouble finding us?”

  “Thanks. No trouble finding you, your directions were very good. I must admit, I enjoyed driving down the interstate with the top down. This time of year, it is so rare to be able to put the top down. However, it looks like there’s a storm brewing,” she said, leaning back into her car to get her briefcase. Carter appreciated the view.

  “Let me carry that for you,” he offered, taking her briefcase and placing his hand at the small of her back, leading her up the front stairs of the large ranch home through the front door.

  “Before we get started, let me introduce you to my brothers. Adam, this is Katherine Martin.”

  Adam got up from the sofa and shook Katherine’s hand, “Thanks for making the drive, we appreciate any help you can provide.”

  “I hope I can help,” she smiled, instantly liking Adam. She thought he had a soft, kind energy about him.

  “And this is Billy, the youngest of the Chadwick brothers,” Carter said, eyeing Billy warily, never sure what he would do when meeting a beautiful woman. Billy stood with his beer from the sofa and shook Katherine’s hand.

  “Good to meet you,” Billy said politely. “If you’re not doing anything tonight, I’d be happy to take you for a drink at the Silver Dollar.”

  “Thanks Billy but I have to get back to San Antonio tonight. Maybe some other time,” she smiled, noting that the look on Carter’s face was anything but pleased. “Isn’t there a fourth Chadwick brother?”

  “That would be Buck. He’s out working cattle or training horses,” Carter said politely, trying not to say what everyone already knew.

  “What Carter is trying to say diplomatically is that Buck doesn’t want you here. Doesn’t think we need any help with the books and he hates change of any kind so he opted to avoid meeting you entirely,” Billy said. Once again, the cringing look on Carter’s face said it all.

  “I’m sure Buck will come around. Buck has always worked the ranch with our father, so his recent death has thrown Buck for a loop. I’m sure he’ll eventually see the value in getting things organized around here. Just give him some time,” Adam said, trying to put a positive spin on things.

  “I can see Adam is the peacemaker on the Chadwick Ranch.”

  “You’re very observant. Before we go up, I want you to meet one more very important person on the ranch. Mary?” Carter called out toward the kitchen.

  “Yes,” she said, drying her hands as she exited the kitchen, coming through the dining room toward the great room where the brothers were relaxing.

  “Mary, I’d like you to meet Katherine Martin. Katherine, this is Mary Ferris, she is the glue that holds this house together.”

  “Katherine, it’s good to meet you. Did you drive in from San Antonio?” Mary asked, shaking her hand.

  “Good to meet you too. Yes, I just got here.”

  “Did you see the storm coming?”

  “I did. Hopefully, it will blow over before I leave.”

  “It’s a big one. I expect it to be storming for most of the night. The temperature is already dropping and they’re saying it could be a mix of rain and ice. You’ll stay for dinner and then we can see if it’s safe for you to drive home or not.” Katherine looked at Mary with surprise. She could surmise that they were both very close in age, but Mary spoke like an old soul.

  “I’m sure I can manage the drive back.”

  “Well, if it looks bad, you’re welcome to stay at my place with me and my son Beau. We have plenty of room.”

  “Thank you Mary. That’s very generous.” Again Katherine found herself surprised.

  Billy chimed in, “Katherine can stay here Mary!”

  “Not a chance Billy Chadwick. If Katherine has to spend the night, I want her to be able to sleep without worrying about you creeping around!” she laughed.

  “Katherine, let me take you upstairs so we can get started,” Carter suggested, leading the way, carrying her briefcase.

  “I’ll bring you up something to drink and a snack in a few minutes. Katherine do you prefer lemonade, sweet tea or coffee?”

  “Sweet tea would be wonderful,” she said, following Carter up the old staircase off the kitchen. As they walked down the long hallway on the second floor, Katherine noticed the floor boards creaking and smiled, noting that this home had sheltered three generations of Chadwicks already and would probably be standing for three more if the brothers decided not to sell the property off.

  “This is a lovely old home Carter,” she said, admiring the woodwork on the door frames and cornices as they made their way toward the office.

  “Thanks. My great-great-grandfather built it with my great-uncle. They weren’t home builders but they knew how to build something that would last.” Carter stopped at a closed door at the end of the hall, gesturing for Katherine to enter first. “This is our office ― brace yourself,” he warned with a smile as Katherine turned the knob and opened the door, only to find paper everywhere, boxes of unknown contents stacked up at the back of the small room, a very old desk and an equally old office chair pressed against the near wall with a nice window on the opposite wall that looked out over the expansive pastures.

  “Oh my. No one would need to tell me you run a cattle operation. It’s pretty clear from the smell.”

  “Sorry, I hadn’t even thought of that. Let me open the window to get some fresh air in here,” she smiled, noticing how hard Carter was trying to make her comfortable.

  “I see you made room for the laptop,” she laughed. It was clear that the only square foot of room that had been dusted in the last year or two was the square foot that was now occupied by that laptop, located in the center of the large, old desk.

  “It wasn’t easy. I spent quite a bit of time clearing that space,” he laughed.

  “I can see that. So, where do you want me to sit?”

  “I’m sorry, let me run downstairs and grab one of the chairs from the dining room. I don’t want you sitting in that old office chair. That thing has a mind of its own and you’re liable to get bucked off! I’ll be right back. In the meantime, make yourself comfortable.” Katherine looking around the room quickly realizing there was no way to make herself comfortable amid this mess.

  Carter returned a few minutes later with a dining room chair which he placed right next to the rickety old office chair. “Please sit down,” he invited, pulling the dining room chair out for Katherine.

  “Thanks.”

  Carter took his place next to her in the office chair, which creaked every time Carter moved. “That chair and the floor boards in your hallway are the best alarm system ever. No one could ever sneak around in this house without waking everyone.”

  “The irony is that none of us would probably notice the creaking because we’re so used to it,” Carter said and they both laughed. Katherine was already noticing that she liked Carter more than just as a client.

  “Okay, let’s get down to business. I would like to spend two hours working on the books today and then hightail it back to San Antonio before that storm moves in.”

  “Then, let’s get started.” Carter leaned over, opening the new laptop and turning it on. “I purchased the software you suggested for bookkeeping and it is already installed. I was hoping we could work on building the general ledger today so either I or one of my brothers could start loading the receipts.”

  “I’m going to suggest you hire someone who knows what they’re doing to handle that for you.”

  “Are you suggesting we should have you do it?”

  “No, I’m going to suggest you look for someone locally who can do that. It would be much less expensive than having me do it and having just one person do the whole job will ensure consistency, which is really what you
need at this stage of the game. Once everything is loaded and caught up, if you want to take over at that point, it would be up to you. In the meantime, I’d suggest you run an ad in the local paper or ask your chamber of commerce for a recommendation.”

  “That’s a good idea. Thanks.” The two soon settled in for some serious discussion about what types of general ledger accounts they would need for the ranch operation. Katherine pulled out a legal pad from her briefcase, pushed her chair back and crossed her legs in Carter’s direction as she didn’t need the laptop for this part of the process. Unfortunately, staring at her mile-long legs was creating a huge distraction for him.

  A few minutes later, Mary appeared at the door with a tray. “I brought you some goodies.”

  “Thanks Mary,” Carter said as Katherine finished making a notation on her legal pad.

  “I brought you sweet tea and some homemade coffee cake that I made this morning.”

  “Thanks, it looks great. I can see the benefit of making the drive from San Antonio already. No one ever brings me goodies like this in my office.”

  “Well, this is not the best-looking office in the world, but we’ll feed you well for sure,” Mary quipped and everyone laughed.

  After Carter and Katherine spent two hours in the ranch office working on building a general ledger, Mary came upstairs to say, “Carter, Katherine, dinner's going to be ready in about an hour.”

  “Mary I appreciate the invitation but I think I should get back to San Antonio before the storm hits,” Katherine said, placing her legal pad in her briefcase before standing.

  “I'm afraid it's too late, the storm is just a few minutes away now and as the temperature is dropping. It looks like it’s going to be a mix of rain and sleet,” Mary said.

  “Well then, you won't find a better meal in Texas than Mary's cooking,” Carter said smiling.

  “Thank you,” Mary said, smiling back at him.

  “As much as I'd like to head back to San Antonio, I appreciate your dinner invitation and I accept,” Katherine said. It was clear that she really wanted to go home for the night but circumstances being what they were, she was determined to make the most of an otherwise bad situation.

  “You'll stay at my house for the night with my seven-year-old son, Beau. He loves to have company.”

  “You sure it won't be an inconvenience?”

  “As long as you don't mind getting up at five-thirty in the morning, because I need to get Beau ready for school and get here to make breakfast, it won't be any trouble.”

  “Okay then, as long as you're sure. Thank you.” Katherine was once again astonished by Mary's open-hearted generosity.

  Katherine and Carter spent the next hour working on building the general ledger before heading downstairs to dinner.

  As the pair settled down at the dining room table for dinner, Katherine had her first opportunity to meet Buck.

  “Buck this is Katherine Martin. She'll be helping us with the bookkeeping,” Carter said cautiously knowing how adamant Buck was about hating change of any kind.

  Buck eyed her across the table warily before saying, “It's nice to meet you Ms. Martin.”

  “It's nice to meet you too, Buck. I know this is an unpleasant issue for you and that you would much rather I not be here. I want you to know that I appreciate your cordiality under the circumstances and that I'll do my best to make this as painless as possible.” She could see Buck’s gruffness soften and she was relieved.

  Later that night, Adam added to the journal he was keeping on his laptop:

  The shit hit the fan this week when Carter hired an accountant from San Antonio to come to the ranch and help computerize the books. I thought Buck was going to blow a gasket when he heard the news. As Carter pointed out, whether he likes the idea or not, it needs to be done, so Buck is going to have to cowboy-up and take it like a man.

  I met Katherine when she came to the farm. She’s very pretty and runs her own accounting business in San Antonio. I could see Carter is interested in her. Hopefully, she can help get the books in order so we know what the financial situation is on the ranch. If it turns out the place is in hock and there is no equity left, we’ll all have to re-evaluate our decisions to stick around. Either way, we won’t know for a couple of weeks until Katherine gets a handle on things.

  Turned out Katherine got stuck in town due to a winter storm. Mary was kind enough to insist she stay at her apartment. I’m sure they’ll have fun over there but I can’t wait until Mary packs up her things and moves into the in-law apartment here on the ranch. I want to spend as much time with her as I can and having her on the ranch will make that much easier.

  Chapter 15, Girl’s Night In

  Friday, December Twenty-Eighth

  After dinner, the two women drove to Mary's house in her vehicle, leaving the Mercedes behind at the ranch. The storm was strong and Mary was barely able to see the highway on her way home through the heavy rain. While the roads were slick, Mary handled the drive well; having been raised in the area, she was no stranger to driving in winter storms in Texas.

  When the two women arrived safely, Beau was there with the babysitter, waiting for them. “Mom, what did you think of that storm?”

  “It’s a bad one, isn't it? No tornado warnings though, just a lot of rain, lightning, thunder and some ice. Beau, I want you to meet a friend of mine, this is Katherine Martin from San Antonio.”

  “It's nice to meet you Ms. Martin.” Beau approached her, extending his hand to shake hers, looking her in the eye as he did so.

  Katherine smiled warmly, surprised at how grown up the seven-year-old was. She wondered if that was because he lost his father very young or possibly was because he had no choice. Either way, she found it endearing. “Beau it's lovely to meet you as well. I hope you don't mind that I'm spending the night.”

  “We can have a slumber party! I hope the power goes out, so we can light candles and tell ghost stories with the flashlight. That would be a great slumber party!”

  “Why don't we just turn the lights off and use our flashlights and then we can pretend the lights went out. That way I don't have to worry about everything in the freezer going bad,” said Mary, smiling knowingly at Katherine. “Besides young man, it's nearly your bedtime. We’ll need to arrange a slumber party another day. You have school in the morning so it's off to bed with you. Say good night to Ms. Martin.”

  “Good night, Ms. Martin. It was nice to meet you. You’re very pretty.” Beau said respectfully, once again shaking her hand and looking her in the eye as he did so. She smiled, thinking he reminded her of a very small, very grown-up man.

  “Good night Beau. I'll see you in the morning before you leave for school and I'll look forward to a slumber party in the future. It's been a long time since I was invited to one.” Both women smiled to each other before Beau turned and headed upstairs to his bedroom.

  “Can I get you a glass of wine?” Mary asked, heading into the small kitchen that was located off the living room. Katherine noted that her house was very compact but seemed to be overflowing with love. She found herself envying Mary.

  “I'd love one, thanks.” Katherine followed her into the kitchen.

  “I hope you don't mind boxed wine?” Mary said apologetically.

  “If it was made from grapes it's good enough for me,” Katherine said, laughing.

  “You're a woman after my own heart! Come and sit down in the kitchen, and we can get to know each other better, unless you're tired?”

  “No I'm wide awake,” she said, taking a chair at the small kitchen table that was just large enough for two people. Mary soon returned to the table with two glasses of wine and the box.

  “Just in case we need a refill!” Both women laughed.

  “I get the sense we probably will need a refill.”

  Mary remarked, “Carter sure does like you Katherine and it was really nice of you to help out with the books. They're all going through a pretty rough time right now, Carte
r and Adam especially. Their lives were turned upside down after the will was read. It's even going to get worse tonight.”

  “Why do you say that?” Katherine asked, sipping her wine.

  “This is calving season and the boys have the heifers that are ready to give birth any day now moved into a close pasture. The guys take turns every night keeping an eye on them just in case they need help calving.”

  “If they've been doing this for a while, how come tonight is worse than normal?” Katherine asked.

  “That particular pasture is the lowest ground on the ranch which tends to flood if the weather gets really bad and even though the weatherman said it was going to be light rain tonight, he was wrong. That field is going to flood so the boys are going to be out most of the night moving cattle and it's only going to get worse if any of those heifers decides tonight's the night to give birth. Either way, those boys are going to be soaked to the bone for most of the night, so I'll make sure that they have a hearty breakfast in the morning,” Mary said thoughtfully.

  “I'm glad I'm not in the cattle business. I can’t imagine working all day and then finding out you have to go spend the night out in the cold Texas rain moving cattle in the dark! That would suck.” Mary giggled hearing the learned accountant referred to moving cattle as sucking.

  “Yes, it's going to suck!”

  Katherine asked, “So, Mary why do you think their father put that codicil in the will? You knew the man, didn't you?”

  “I worked for Buck for several years before he died. He was a good man but a hard man. He was a man who didn’t recover after his wife died. I think that's why he was so hard on Billy because Billy reminded him that he too had lost his way since she passed. In answer to your question, I think I know why he put the codicil in the will.”

  “Why?”