Kelly joined in Burt’s soft laughter, picturing the shock of those greedy relatives.
Fourteen
Kelly heard the familiar sound of a piano riff coming from her smartphone on the granite kitchen counter. A new text message was coming in. She quickly poured the last of the coffeepot’s black liquid into her travel mug.
“Jack, it’s time to pick out a book you’d like Cassie or Eric to read today in preschool,” Kelly called to her son who was leaning over another wooden block construction project on the great room floor.
“Okay . . .” Jack answered, his attention still captured by the new building he was working on.
Kelly checked her phone text messages and saw the new one was from Cassie. Clicking onto her Messages symbol, Kelly read: “Kelly, can Eric and I stop by this evening? We want to share how our parents responded to our ‘summer plans.’”
Clicking onto her phone’s keyboard, Kelly sent a quick reply, “Sure.” Steve had already told her he would be coming home earlier today from his Denver suburbs construction site. Kelly dropped the phone into her bulky briefcase bag, which was already filled with her laptop and file folders.
“Jack, grab a book and come along. Mommy needs to get to work.”
“Okaaaaaay . . .” Jack said as he rose from his spot on the great room floor, his reluctance to leave obvious.
Kelly opened the front door and stood beside it, watching her son scurry over to the child-sized bookcase in the corner of the room, and after a cursory glance, he pulled a book out of the filled shelves then hurried over to the front door.
Spotting the book’s title, Kelly held the screen door open. “That’s one of your favorites, right? Didn’t you bring it a couple of weeks ago?”
“Uh-huh. I like it a lot,” Jack said with a nod, then he sprinted for the family sports wagon in the driveway.
Kelly had to smile. Clearly, Jack knew what he wanted.
* * *
• • •
“Is Jack asleep?” Steve asked as he set out a platter of sliced meats and crackers on their kitchen counter.
“Yes. He’s snoozing soundly,” Kelly answered as she placed the ever-present fruit basket next to the other platter. Then she looked up suddenly. “Oh, did you tell Eric not to press the doorbell?”
“Oh yeah. I sure did. If Jack saw Eric and Cassie, he’d think it was playtime all over again.”
“That’s for sure. I’m amazed he’s still going down for a nap in the afternoons. Molly dropped her nap time two years ago. Much to Megan’s dismay.” Kelly grinned at the memory of Megan describing Nonstop Molly discovering whole new things to play with every afternoon.
“One time Molly decided to do some gardening. Megan gave her one of her smaller garden spades and told Molly she could plant some flowers. There were a few small containers of beginning marigolds left, so Megan figured Molly could plant those.” Kelly gave a little laugh. “Well, when Megan checked in the garden a few minutes later, Molly had put all the small plants in one pot . . . after she’d removed the pothos vine that was already growing there. Then, Molly used the garden clippers and snipped off all the heads of the flowers that were already blooming in the garden.”
“You’re kidding,” Steve said with a laugh. “What’d Megan do?”
“Well, she’s gotten used to Molly’s ‘creative pursuits,’ as she calls them. Then Marty snapped a photo of the garden filled with tall green stems jutting out of the ground, but no flowers.”
“He took a photo?”
“Yes, Megan says Marty’s recording the results of all of Miss Molly’s ‘creative pursuits.’ He’d already taken a photo the week before of Megan’s garden with all the flowers blooming.”
“Marty should start an album entitled ‘Miss Molly’s Misadventures,’” Steve said with a grin as he snitched a thin slice of roast beef.
“With a whole section devoted to ‘Before and After,’” Kelly added.
A knock sounded on their front door, and Steve walked over to answer it. “Hey there, Cassie and Eric,” he greeted when he opened the door. “Come on in. We’ve been expecting you.”
“Hey, you two,” Kelly greeted them as she carried the two platters over to the coffee table in front of the long sofa. “Why don’t you both make yourselves comfortable on the sofa so you can snack. Help yourselves.”
“Whoa, thanks so much, Kelly,” Cassie said with a big smile. “We’ve been so busy lately we often forget to eat until later at night.”
“This looks great. How’d you know we were hungry?” Eric asked with a grin as he sat on the sofa.
“Because you guys are super busy, from what I hear,” Steve said, reaching for another thin slice of roast beef.
“Hey, you’ve already eaten,” Kelly teased her husband. “Let them dive in.”
“Just sampling,” Steve said with a good-natured grin. “By the way, we’ve got bottles of Fat Tire and Guinness in the fridge.”
“Great,” Eric said, selecting a slice of ham to go with the cracker he’d chosen. “We thought we’d stop for a pizza later.”
“This is way better than the pizza,” Kelly said with a grin.
“Oh yeah,” Steve agreed. “So how’s it going, guys?”
Cassie and Eric exchanged a look, then smiled. “Shall we tell them about our conversation with your parents?”
“Yep,” Eric agreed with a nod.
“How’d that go?” Kelly asked as she took a sip of Fort Connor’s well-known Fat Tire ale.
“Yeah, what’d they think of your plans?” Steve asked as he leaned back into the comfy armchair.
“They were a little, uh . . . skeptical, wouldn’t you say?” Cassie glanced to Eric.
“Oh yeah,” he said with a nod. “Their main worry wasn’t about us getting married. They figured we would eventually, but they always assumed we’d wait until we finished college first. So they got their worried looks on. I can always tell.” Eric smiled. “So we did our best to reassure them.”
“We showed them the schedules we drew up showing what both our course loads would be with classes and the times we’ve allotted for studying.”
“Wow, that’s pretty organized,” Kelly said in admiration.
“Don’t forget, you’ll be juniors at the university this year,” Steve added. “And you’ll be concentrating on your major subjects. Consequently, the courses will require more work. So you’ll have to budget more time for that, too.”
“Yeah,” both Cassie and Eric nodded together. “We’ve been warned about that, too.”
Kelly smiled at the earnest young couple. “Well, if anyone can accomplish this kind of schedule, I’ll put my money on you two.”
“Thanks, Kelly,” Cassie said with a grin. “We’re both going to work for our families on the weekends, so we can earn some extra money.”
“Spending money,” Eric said with a grin. “I’ll work on Saturdays at my family’s ranch and work for Grandpa Curt on Sundays.”
“And, I’ll work at the café for breakfast and lunch, Saturday and Sunday,” Cassie added. “Thanks to all you guys, our joint childcare job with the kids will earn us both enough money for our tuition, fees, and books, and that takes a ton of worry off our minds.”
“Like I said once before, if you get any extra time, you’ll sleep,” Steve added with a wry grin.
“It’s certainly an ambitious schedule, that’s for sure,” Kelly said with a smile. “I’m reminded of one of Jayleen’s old sayings. It looks like both of you will become ‘working fools.’” Then Kelly remembered something. “Oh yes, what did Pete and Jennifer think of your plans?”
Once again, Cassie and Eric exchanged a look. Then Cassie spoke. “They both got kind of halfway worried expressions for a couple of minutes until we showed them our study and work schedule. They relaxed after that, I could tell.” Cassie gave an
authoritative nod. “And Pete said if we ever wanted to take a weekend off, to let them know ahead of time, so he could schedule an extra waitress,” she added.
Eric smiled. “Jennifer told us we should definitely schedule some time off before we jump right back into classes. A long weekend or something. Jen worries, you can tell.”
“Oh yeah.” Cassie nodded.
Kelly and Steve exchanged a glance and started to smile. “Well, Steve and I aren’t going to worry about you. We’ve watched how carefully you two have gone about accomplishing everything else you’ve set your minds to. I’m sure you’ll pull this off as well.”
“Oh yeah,” Steve said with a nod. “I don’t doubt it.” Then, he held up his bottle of Fat Tire in salute. “To Cassie and Eric. The most organized young couple in all of Fort Connor.”
Both Cassie and Eric laughed at that.
Fifteen
Kelly nosed her sports wagon into the one remaining space in the Lambspun driveway. Lots of customers were here early, she noticed, and she wondered if a new class was scheduled this morning. Of course, there were classes on some fiber subject going on throughout the year at the popular knitting shop. Then she remembered that Mimi was starting a new class on wet felting this week.
Climbing out of the car, Kelly grabbed her briefcase bag and travel mug, then headed across the driveway toward Lambspun’s front door. The noise of an approaching truck engine sounded at the entrance to the driveway, so Kelly stopped on the sidewalk outside Pete’s Porch Café. Her ears had learned to distinguish the sound of a larger vehicle engine since living in Northern Colorado.
Pickup trucks of all sizes and dimensions populated the area’s highways and neighborhood streets. It was obvious that Coloradoans loved owning and driving trucks. Whether they were actually employed in construction projects or merely loading up potted plants, bags of mulch, and potting soil alongside their groceries, pickup trucks had proved very useful. Of course, another compelling reason was the truck’s superior traction on snow-covered roadways. Winter could be warm and mild in Northern Colorado, or it could blow in icy cold with lots of snow. Either way, Coloradoans liked to be prepared.
Kelly recognized the “serious truck” as belonging to Colorado rancher Curt Stackhouse. Curt slowed down in front of Kelly and leaned out the window.
“Grab one of those outside tables for us, why don’t you.”
“You got it,” Kelly replied and switched direction toward the side entrance to the café’s garden patio.
Curt drove to one of the empty spots on the café side of the driveway and parked as Kelly chose an empty table in a corner of the partially sunny garden patio. No customers were sitting close by.
Kelly settled into one of the wrought-iron chairs as Curt approached. “How’re you doing, Curt?” Kelly greeted her mentor on all things ranching.
“Jayleen and I are both doing fine,” Curt responded as he pulled out a chair across the patio table.
“I can tell from your expression that you’ve got something on your mind, Curt,” Kelly said in a teasing tone. “What’s up?”
“We know each other too well, Kelly-girl,” Curt said, eying her with a smile. “I just wanted to thank both you and Steve for giving those kids such good advice the other day. My daughter called me and said both Eric and Cassie presented their ‘action plan,’ as they called it. She and my son-in-law were impressed.”
Kelly relaxed back into the patio chair, glad both families knew that Cassie and Eric had already updated both Kelly and Steve on their future plans.
“I am so glad to hear it, Curt. Both Steve and I thought Cassie and Eric were approaching this life-changing decision in a serious manner. That’s why we suggested they write down a schedule of how they would accomplish their goals. It was clear they had put a lot of thought into the matter.” She took a deep drink from her coffee mug, almost draining it.
“Well, our family is grateful to you and Steve for giving the kids such sound advice. It was no surprise to us that those two would pair off. They were both totally comfortable in each other’s company and worked well together, no matter what the chore. Rounding up livestock as well as putting out canyon wildfires.”
“They sure do,” Kelly agreed. “Both Cassie and Eric get on with whatever needs to be done, and they’ll have their hands full managing Jayleen’s alpaca ranch and your big cattle spread outside town.”
“Well, they’ll have plenty of time to adjust. Neither Jayleen nor I are planning to shuffle off this mortal coil anytime soon.” He gave Kelly a wink.
“Oh my, that was one of Aunt Helen’s favorite old sayings,” Kelly said with little laugh, remembering.
“I know. That’s why I said it. I knew you would get a kick out of it.” He glanced around the deep green patio garden. “Memories are everywhere around here, aren’t they?” Curt mused out loud.
Kelly heard a slightly wistful tone in Curt’s voice. “Oh yes. They certainly are, Curt, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Deciding to chase away any melancholy atmosphere before it settled, Kelly gently shifted the topic slightly. “Can you believe it, Curt? I’ve been here in Fort Connor for thirteen years . . . maybe more, I lose track.” She grinned at her mentor on all things ranching related.
Curt started a slow smile. “Sure enough, Kelly-girl. I still remember when you first showed up at my ranch that one weekend years ago. With Steve, as I recall. Barbie and Stevie, you called yourselves.” He started to chuckle. “That was right after you arrived here, if I remember correctly. You started asking me all sorts of questions. Even asked me about raising alpaca, and I didn’t have any alpaca. Not a one.” He laughed again.
Kelly nodded, remembering. “That was when I was trying to figure out who killed my aunt Helen, and I was interrogating everyone who knew her. I’m embarrassed to admit it now, but I actually thought you might be responsible. That was until I learned you and Aunt Helen had been in love when you were both in high school.”
“Good Lord . . .” Curt said in a quiet voice as he stared out into the garden greenery. “That was so long ago, I can barely remember.” He paused. “That was before I met my Ruthie in college. Talk about memories.”
Pleased that she’d chased away any sad memories that might have floated around Curt, Kelly continued with some of her own remembered funny moments at the first Estes Park Wool Market she ever attended. She fell in love with the scenic mountain town from the moment she saw it.
“Oh yes. That was when Steve showed up and followed me around the Wool Market. He was convinced I was going to get into trouble.”
“Imagine that,” Curt said with a wry smile.
Kelly laughed. “Steve was being protective, and that annoyed the living daylights out of me. I wasn’t used to someone looking out for me.”
“We noticed.”
Kelly gave a short laugh. “Anyway, it drove me crazy. I couldn’t shake him. He started showing up at Lambspun whenever I was over there. Doing chores for Mimi, he said. But he always started talking to me while he was there.”
“Steve told me he had his eye on you from the moment you two met. I guess you met over at the shop one day,” Curt said.
“No, we met when I first saw him rolling around on the ground in the cottage backyard, playing with Carl. He was supposedly checking the fence for me, but he swore Carl stole his glove from his back pocket. So he had to chase him to get it back.” She laughed softly.
“That’s as good an excuse as any to get your attention,” Curt said with a grin. “Steve said you were always ignoring him. So he tried everything he could think of.”
“Oh boy, did he ever,” Kelly agreed. “Remember when a whole bunch of us went up to Aunt Helen’s ranch in Wyoming?”
“You bet. That was quite a trip as I recall.”
“You can say that again. You and Steve came up to take a look at the cattle that Aunt Hele
n owned. She had left everything to me in her will, and you told me I needed to go up to Wyoming and take a look at the property. Including the cattle. Well, I was completely overwhelmed, if you recall. Mimi and Burt suggested that I take Jennifer and Megan with me, and when I met Jayleen and learned she raised alpaca, I invited her, too. I’d just learned there were alpaca at Aunt Helen’s ranch, too.” Kelly shook her head, remembering. “And I knew even less about raising alpaca than I knew about raising cattle.”
Curt started to chuckle. “That’s why I volunteered to come along and invited Steve, too. The two of us could get a good idea what shape that herd was in and get some ideas about managing it. That young cowboy, Chet, who was living there and managing the ranch was doing a good job of maintaining everything.”
More memories rushed in, crowding Kelly’s mind, demanding to be noticed. “Remember that bull, Cujo?”
“Oh yes. He would be hard to forget.”
Kelly grinned. “Remember when Megan’s hat blew off and landed in the fenced area with Cujo?”
Curt closed his eyes. “Now that’s one memory I will never forget.”
“Megan didn’t notice the bull until he snorted and started pawing the ground. Then, she froze. We all panicked. That’s when Steve threw his hat into the corral to distract Cujo. Then he climbed in and pushed Megan up and over the fence, then grabbed his hat and barely escaped over the fence before Cujo charged.” Those memories danced in front of Kelly’s eyes. “Wow, that was scary.”
“Steve took a risk, but it paid off,” Curt said. “Except for his hat. Old Cujo stomped it flat.”
Kelly had to laugh. “Yes, he did, and it was Steve’s brand-new Stetson.”
“That was a fine-looking hat, as I recall.”
“Yes, it was, and it looked really good on Steve, too. Even after old Cujo stomped it. Steve got it back in shape. A little worse for wear.”
“There’s an old saying that some men can wear the Stetson. Other men, the Stetson wears them.” Curt gave her a wink.
Dyeing Up Loose Ends Page 15