Melody's Next Christmas

by George H. McVey

  Melody looked at the girl. She was several years younger than Melody but her question confused Melody and her tears made Melody want to wrap her arms around her and soothe her spirit. “Am I who?”

  “The woman Brent Cole attacked today?”

  “Yes that’s me.”

  The girl sobbed and rushed to Melody. “I’m so sorry, can you ever forgive me?”

  Melody couldn’t stop herself, she reached out and drew this distraught girl into her arms. “Why should I have to forgive you? You had nothing to do with what happened to me.”

  The girl clutched at her and cried harder. “It’s my fault he hurt you. He hurt me a few months ago, last winter actually, and the sheriff asked me to press charges and I didn’t. My foster mom told me not to. She didn’t want her name dragged thru the mud of a trial. If I’d pressed charges he would have been in jail and you wouldn’t have been attacked.”

  A need to protect and nurture this wounded girl flared up inside Melody. “Oh honey, it’s still not your fault. You didn’t make him attack me. He did that himself. There’s nothing for me to forgive you for.”

  The girl slowly calmed and pulled away from Melody’s embrace. “Really, you don’t blame me?”

  Melody smiled “No, of course not. You can’t take responsibility for someone else’s choices. He decided to hurt me just like he decided to hurt you. You shouldn’t feel like it’s your fault.”

  “But if I’d pressed charges he wouldn’t have been able to hurt you.”

  “You don’t know that. He might have been set free or escaped. So you don’t know what would have happened.”

  “There was a noise from behind them and the girl turned around to see Sara standing in the door way. “I was just coming to see if you were dressed. I couldn’t help but overhear.” She looked at the young woman in nursing scrubs “What’s your name?”

  “Cynthia Cutler.”

  “Hello, Cynthia. I’m Sara Ryder and this is Melody Hughes. When did Brent attack you?”

  “New Year’s eve.”

  “And you reported it?”

  The girl nodded. “Yeah the sheriff had me brought here and a rape kit was done but my foster mom wouldn’t let me press charges. She said if I did she’d have CPS place me somewhere else.”

  “How old are you, Cynthia?”

  “I’ll be eighteen next month.”

  Sara came into the room. “You know you can still file charges against Brent, don’t you?”

  “But my foster mom will have me moved.”

  “Correct me if I’m wrong here, but don’t you age out of the system next month? Is your foster mom going to let you stay after that happens?”

  The girl shook her head. “No, she told me she would need my room for another foster child.”

  Melody couldn’t believe what she was hearing. After all this time didn’t people take better care of each other.

  Tallis knocked on the door and stepped inside. “Am I interrupting something.”

  When she saw Tallis she knew what she needed to do, she just prayed that he would be open to the idea. It was like something inside her whispered to her that this girl was hers to care for. She couldn’t let that go.

  “Cynthia, do you like working here?”

  The girl shook her head again. “No, but my foster mom told me to take the nursing track at the high school last year because it’s a good steady living. I hate it but she’s right about the living.”

  “How much do you make working here?”

  Tallis face wrinkled “What’s going on?”

  “Brent attacked Cynthia here at the end of the year last year. Her foster mother wouldn’t allow her to press charges. She’s turning eighteen next month and has to move and she’s working here because this is where her foster mom told her to come to work.”

  “Okay, but I feel it Melody; something important is happening. What are you doing?”

  “I want to offer her a job as my assistant and teach her to train horses. Starting the day after she turns eighteen.”

  Tallis laughed. “Of course you do.”

  The girl looked between them. “Oh no, I couldn’t let you do that. I mean, I’ll figure it out. Being a nurse isn’t so bad.”

  “You just told my future wife and head trainer you hate it and that you’ll be homeless in a month. How much do they pay you here?”

  “Ten dollars an hour.”

  “How are you going to live on ten dollars an hour?”

  “I don’t know, I’ll figure it out I guess.”

  “Tallis, help her.”

  He smiled at Melody. “Of course we are, love.”

  “Do you like horses, Cynthia?”

  “Oh yessir, I’ve always wanted one but I’m a foster kid; no-one buys a foster kid a horse.”

  You said you turn eighteen in a month?

  “Well three weeks actually. My Birthday is August first.”

  “Alright. Here’s the deal. My sister here has been acting as Melody’s assistant but the truth is she has a job already as the head of my guest relations department and social media manager. So in reality, Melody really needs an assistant trainer. She seems to want you. So I’ll pay you twenty-four hundred dollars month, give you a room as part of your salary and outfit you yearly with everything you need to work on the ranch. As a bonus, if you work hard and learn to train horses the way Melody does, I’ll give you the first horse you train on your own.”

  The girl’s eyes got big. “Really?”

  Tallis laughed. “Really, but be aware young lady. Melody works hard, everyone on my ranch works hard and there isn’t a lot of technology. We are a guest ranch offering a historically accurate experience, meaning not a lot of modern technology. There is a TV room in the welcome center but not on the actual ranch. Computer access is also limited. When guests are on the property you have to wear historically accurate clothes which are hot and heavy. So you’ll have to work hard.”

  “When can I start?”

  They all laughed at the girl’s enthusiasm. “Well you need to give at least two weeks’ notice here. So how about your first day of work officially is August the second. You can move in or start to move in anytime as long as your foster mom is okay with that, otherwise you can move in on your birthday.”

  “I’ll talk to her but she won’t care. She’s already gotten paid everything the state’s going to pay her and she’ll have my age out papers on my birthday.”

  Just then the nurse who had been taking care of Melody walked in. “Cynthia, your break is over. They’re looking for you up front. Plus I have Miss Hughes’ discharge papers.”

  Cynthia thanked Tallis and hugged Melody and Sara. “Come out anytime, Cynthia, and I’ll show you around,” Melody said to the girl as she left. They saw her stop as Sheriff Kinkade came into view. “Cynthia, how are you doing, sweetheart?”

  “I’m okay, sheriff. Listen, I was curious; is it too late for me to press charges?”

  “No, it’s not too late. I still have your evidence and statement. What changed your mind?”

  “My birthday is in three weeks.”

  The woman nodded. “I understand; the threat of being moved won’t matter after you have to move anyway.”

  “Yes and he really should have to pay for what he did. Maybe this way he won’t be able to hurt anyone else for a while.”

  “You come see me after your shift and I’ll start the paperwork, okay.”

  “I will.” Then the young woman went back to work.”

  Tallis looked at Melody as they walked out of the hospital and smiled. She looked at him, “What?”

  “Want to tell me why I just hired you a new assistant.”

  Melody bit her lip. “I don’t really know if I can explain it, Tall. I just knew I was supposed to take care of her and help her. It was like I could feel it deep inside of me.”

  Tallis looked at Sara and she nodded. “It’s already happening and you aren’t even married yet.”

  Melody frowned, “
What’s happening, what are you talking about?”

  “Remember I told you every Ryder has a form of the Calling?”

  “Yes, of course. But I’m not a Ryder.”

  “You will be once you marry Tallis,” Sara said with a smile. It happens to every Ryder wife, normally sometime after her wedding. Apparently you already believe you’re Tallis’ wife if it’s kicking in already.”

  “But..”

  Sara laughed. “But nothing, you ask Mom and my Aunt Debbie about it when you meet them. Neither of them were born Ryders but they both have their own version of the Calling. Yours appears to be like the original Ryder women. They all had what was referred to as ‘their girls’. Younger women who need their help and a godly mothering influence. I think you just got your first ‘girl,’ Melody.”

  Melody was quiet as she processed what Sara was telling her. Tallis had told her what was happening when he walked into the room was important. Who was she to deny what they all seemed so certain of?

  Chapter 13

  M onday arrived and so did the Ryders. Tallis had been up since dawn filling in for Cole. He was even more shorthanded as the two hands who always seemed to be in Cole’s back pocket had collected their pay along with all the belongings and Cole’s and left. Now Tallis not only needed to work on the problem about Melody’s contract, he also need to hire a new foreman and two hands. Tallis sent a prayer to God letting him know that he needed good reliable, godly help that was willing to learn to do things the way Melody was showing them. As the hands headed out to cover the assignments he gave them, one of them came up to him. “Boss, I just wanted to say I’m sorry about Miss Melody getting attacked. If I’d know that no account Brent was sniffing around her I’d have stayed close to the stable yesterday instead of going into town. I’m glad you let us know he ain’t coming back no matter what. I tried to tell old man Callahan that Cole was the reason the ranch wasn’t making the money it should and that the guy was bad news but he just didn’t want to hear it.”

  Tallis got it that once again that something important was happening. “You’re Dalton Hayes, right? Sorry, still trying to get everyone straight.”

  “It’s alright, Mr. Ryder. You’ve only been owner a couple of months and you’ve been busy with getting things ready for guests. It was really smart to figure out how to bring in a couple extra income streams. Seems cattle ranching ain’t as lucrative as it was back in the day your family got into it.”

  Tallis was shocked. “You know my family?”

  The man nodded. “Yes sir. Truth be told my ancestor was from Kentucky. He came west with Nugget Nate and Davy Crockett. He didn’t leave with Nate and go prospecting but he couldn’t get the warning Nugget Nate gave Davey out of his head, the family story goes, and he left before they got to the Alamo and headed north. Ended up in Colorado and bought a little piece of land. My family ranched it until about ten years ago when my mom got sick. Dad sold the ranch to pay her medical bills.”

  “That when you came to work here? For Mr. Callahan?”

  “Yes sir, cowboying is the only life I know. Was wandering looking for a steady place to hang my spurs when Callahan offered me a job. Problem was Brent Cole was already running things and Callahan had bought the ranch on a whim. He was a city fella and Cole talked a big game. Not the right game but it sounded right to a business man who knew nothing about ranching besides what he’d seen on TV and Netflix.”

  “Walk with me a minute, Hayes.” Tallis headed out to the stable for the ranch’s working horses. “So tell me what you think about the changes I’ve been trying to make.”

  The man shrugged. “Don’t seem like that big a deal to me, honestly. Cowboying is cowboying and ranching is ranching. Doing it all from horseback and wagons don’t really bother me. You didn’t ask us all to give up our comforts and you had new upgraded cabins built for us instead of making us live in an open bunk house. What rope I use or wearing canvas and denim instead of long sleeve t-shirts ain’t a problem with me, and asking us to keep our phones in our saddle bags when guest are with us ain’t that big a deal to me. As long as you don’t expect us to actually rely on urban cowboy wannabe’s to work the herd for real, then I ain’t gonna have a problem taking a few greenhorns out and talking about ranching traditions. Don’t reckon any of the boys left do either.”

  “Anything you’d do different?”

  “Don’t see anything off hand. Only suggestion I have is to pick about fifty head and start working them so they’re used to doing what you want when you want so the guest you have coming will think they’re doing cowboy work, when in reality, that small of a herd would be something a couple of hands could work on their own.”

  Tallis nodded. “That’s a good idea. You got kin around?”

  “Got three brothers that are working around as seasonal hands for any rancher that will take ‘em.”

  “Call ‘em up. Ask ‘em if they want permanent jobs at what you’re making, if you think they’re worth it.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yep and move yer stuff into the foreman’s cabin. You just got yourself a promotion and a raise. I’ll tell the hands tomorrow and you start right then. Today call your brothers, see if they want the jobs. If not, find me some men who do and who know what they’re doing and will learn how to do the stuff that’s different here.”

  “Thanks, Mister Ryder. I appreciate that.”

  “What’s your folks doing now?”

  “Mom passed a few years ago. Cancer. Dad, he’s working at the feed store.”

  “He healthy?”

  “Yes sir, getting older and slower but still healthy.”

  “Think he’d want a job watching over wannabe cowboys and ramrodding a small herd?”

  “Mr. Ryder, are you joking right now?”

  “I like to joke around, Dalton, but one thing you’ll learn is this: we Ryders never joke when it comes to family. Call him up, tell him I have a job for him. Let him know a large part of it will be telling those stories about your ancestors and mine to a bunch of pretend cowboys and trying to show ‘em how to cowboy up. Same pay as your brothers, and room and board.”

  “I’ll do it.”

  “You let me know tomorrow what they say and when they can all get here. Until then, just try to keep my cattle alive and the rest of my hands happy.”

  “Yes sir, thank you sir.”

  “Oh and Hayes, in case you didn’t figure it out, honor, respect and old-fashioned values are important to me and mine. Make sure all the men know that I mean it when I say women on this ranch are treated with respect and all cowboys will act like gentlemen. Along with that I ain’t opposed to married hands. If any of the men or you or your brothers find Mrs. Right, your jobs are secure and so is housing. I can always call the contractor and build more cabins.”

  “Boss you know you’re gonna end up with a line of cowboys looking to work here, don’t ya?”

  Tallis smiled at his new foreman. “That’s good, means we can hire the best of the best. Those we can’t hire, if they’re willing to move to New Mexico, might be able to get work with my Dad or Uncle.”

  The two men shook hands and Tallis headed to the stable to check on Melody just as his phone rang. It was Sara back up at the welcome center. “Hey kiddo, what’s up?”

  “The family is on their way. Mom wants to know if we have enough food and should they swing by the super center on the way in?’

  “Tell her no, we got a delivery coming in tomorrow and we’re stocked till then. I just need everyone here so we can get started on the plan.”

  “You gonna let us in on the plan?”

  “Yep after I tell everyone Melody’s secret and explain why they can’t talk to her about it.”

  “You going to let her in on the plan?”

  “She already knows it and she’ll have Cynthia to keep her busy; the two of them were looking at the two-year-olds dad brought last time. Trying to find the one Cynthia was gonna learn on.”

  “A
lright, you might want to warn them both though that the whole clan is coming. Might have to put the boys up in the bunkhouse. Mom and Dad and Uncle Sam and Aunt Debbie in the old foreman’s cabin, none of them will complain about the lack of modern conveniences.”

  “You’re guest services, you know what’s open; do what ya need to.”

  “Oh and Tallis. Reed’s with Nate. His summer job fell through. Thought you might like to know that the college heartthrob is in town with a young lady around.”

  “Well he’s a Ryder, he’ll behave himself.”

  “Says the man who keeps sending his trainer to bed with swollen lips.”

  Tallis laughed. “Your day’s coming, sis.”

  “Your lips to God’s ear, big brother.”

  It wasn’t long before the Ryder clan arrived on the ranch. Tallis watched as Sara drove them all down in the wagon they’d use to bring guest onto the historic part of the ranch. She dropped the guys off at the bunkhouse and their parents and aunt and uncle at the old foreman’s house. Finally she brought Hannah up to the main house. Hannah found Tallis. “Hey cousin, where’s your lady love?”

  “She’s working, you slacker. Some of us have to work for a living we don’t have cushy government jobs where we can just take vacation whenever we want. You know what your dad and mine always said, ‘A rancher’s work is never done’.”

  Hannah laughed. “Then what are you doing slacking off, college boy?”

  “I had to take the day off to welcome your sorry butt to my ranch.”

  They hugged. “Okay, there’re two options open for you here. The room next to mine which is down stairs here or the room next to Sara’s upstairs. There’s a room next to Melody’s but her new assistant is moving in there.”

  Hannah looked at him. “Seriously Tall, I know you’ve got trouble coming; do you need me upstairs in a defensible position or down here in a primitive one.”

  “I didn’t call you all here for the fight yet. Just to tell you what’s coming when and get help with the plan to stop the fight before it can even start.”