by Zoe Matthews
He turned and headed to his office, thinking he would get some work done when Sheridan walked into his office. “Hey, you got a minute?”
Spencer turned around and nodded his head. “Sure, what’s up?”
Sheridan waved a piece of paper at him and then took a seat. “The latest budget numbers look really good.”
Spencer raised a brow, wondering why Sheridan was really here. It was unlike his brother to compliment him, he normally only heard about the things Sheridan thought needed changed or fixed. “Thanks.”
Sheridan sighed and then sat back. “I just wanted to let you know that. I know we’ve had a few setbacks, and I don’t always see things the way you do, but you’re doing a good job here.”
“Better with advertising than with the cows?” Spencer asked.
Sheridan laughed. “Better than with the cows. You never did like working with them, not even when we were kids.”
“There’s a reason for that,” Spencer reminded him, looking up at his brother and remembering being in the barn, cornered by a large cow that didn’t seem inclined to move any time soon.
Spencer hadn’t been scared as much as he’d really needed to use the bathroom, and every time he’d tried to skirt around the cow, she moved, tossing her head at him in defiance.
Sheridan had heard him yelling at the cow and come to his rescue, slapping the cow on the rump to get her attention and then shoving her back out into the middle of the barn.
Spencer had rushed for the house, barely making it in time, and exiting the house moments later to find Sheridan waiting for him. Wanting to make sure he was okay and not injured.
“That old cow was ornery up until the last.”
Spencer nodded his head and then looked at his brother. “I uh…I haven’t told anyone else about this, but I’m having an expert look at the wreckage from dad’s plane.”
Sheridan looked at him with a frown. “To what end?”
“I don’t buy that his plane just stalled out and his engine failed.”
“So what, you think someone tampered with his plane?” Sheridan asked.
“No. I don’t think that. I’m not sure what actually happened, but we know he was sick. You lived here with him. Didn’t you see anything that would have clued you in on how sick he was?”
“Dad kept to himself so much, I knew he’d been tired, but there really was nothing else that I saw. He did turn much of the running of the ranch over to me.”
Spencer heard the guilt in his brother’s voice and shook his head. “Don’t do that to yourself. Dad lived his life at arm’s length from the rest of the world.”
“He wasn’t always like that, you know?” Sheridan told him. “Before mom died, I can remember him playing with us and laughing. I loved to hear him laugh.”
Spencer tried not to feel jealous, “I don’t know that I ever heard him laugh.”
Sheridan became thoughtful. “He loved mom something fierce. When she died, a large part of him died with her. That’s the only thing about his death that actually made sense to me. He was finally with mom again.”
Sheridan shook his head and stood up. “I didn’t mean to make us all depressed. I just wanted you to know that I looked over the budget numbers and they looked good.” He nodded his head and then left the small office, leaving Spencer looking after him.
He turned back to his desk, intending to get some work done, but his eye landed on the unopened envelope sitting in the bottom tray of his organizer. The letter from dad.
At the reading of the will, each of the siblings had been given a letter, written to them by their father. Spencer knew that most of his siblings had opened their letters, but not him.
When he’d first started to suspect that his dad’s death was other than accidental, he’d put the letter to the side, promising himself he wouldn’t open it until he was comfortable with the explanation for his father’s plane crash.
He felt it was a fitting tribute to the man he’d called father and had idolized in so many ways. He’d even gone against his wishes and learned to fly. That was still a sticking point with Sheridan, but the rest of his siblings had accepted his love of flying and were reaping the benefits.
Turning his eyes away from where the letter lay, he picked up the phone and called the lead tech who was investigating his father’s accident.
“Trevor, it’s Spencer Collingsworth.”
“Hey, Mr. Collingsworth. I had you on my list of people to call today.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, sir. We’re putting the final touches on our investigation and you should have a report in your hands sometime next week.”
“Wonderful. I’ll look forward to reading it.” Spencer hung up the call and then sat back. Next week he’d have a report showing what had really happened when his father’s plane crashed into the side of that mountain.
He didn’t know what the report would reveal, but he was certain that whatever it said, he and his siblings would handle it. Together.
Chapter 7
Two days later…
“Spencer, that girl of yours is just full of ideas,” Sadie told him as she entered the kitchen, followed by Stephanie and Stella.
Spencer looked up from the sink where he was filling a glass with water and smiled at them. “What kind of ideas are we talking about here?”
“Well, she had this marvelous idea for the corner of the meadow. If we build a small gazebo there, she had some wonderful ideas about the types of plants and flowers we could put there to create an arbor effect.”
Stella grinned at him. “We could take some new pictures when it all was in bloom and you could use those for your advertising campaigns. We could offer all-inclusive wedding packages. And what if we built a few cabins up in the mountains? They could also be used as honeymoon getaways for the newly married couples.”
Spencer looked at the three women, saw the eager smiles upon their faces, and knew that before long, everything they wanted would be coming to fruition.
“The gazebo isn’t a bad idea, but I don’t know about the cabins…”
“Bridger said it could be done with partially pre-fabricated units. Just like our own homes,” Stephanie told him.
Spencer sat down on a nearby stool and encouraged the women to continue. “What else? I can see you’ve been talking about this for quite some time.”
The girls looked at each other and then Stella blurted out, “We want to grow Christmas trees and offer sleigh rides and ice skating on the pond…”
“Whoa! We don’t have a pond,” he reminded them.
“Not yet,” Sadie told him with a smug look. “We’ve got the perfect place to put one.”
“Put what?” Sheridan asked, wandering into the kitchen after hearing bits and pieces of their conversation. “Christmas trees?” he asked Spencer with a raised eyebrow.
“It seems they’ve all been talking with Emma,” he glanced at the girls. “Originally about a gazebo to use for weddings, and somehow honeymoon cabins, Christmas trees, and an ice skating pond entered their heads.”
Sheridan looked at his sisters, raising a hand when they all started talking at once. “How about we table this discussion until this evening? We can have a general planning session if you like and make some plans for the future.”
Spencer backed his decision up. “That sounds like a good idea. Why don’t you all bring your suggestions to dinner tonight and we’ll all talk about them?”
“Okay,” Sadie nodded. “Make sure Emma’s there, okay? She’s got some great ideas. I can already picture the gazebo.”
Sheridan nodded his head. “I’ll personally issue the invitation to her. See you all at dinner.”
The girls wandered off, already back into their plans and discussing the finer aspects of what type of flowers would look best around Mirror Lake.
“It’s a good thing we have so much property. I have a feeling our sisters are going to constantly be adding things.”
Spencer laughed.
“I like that they’re so enthusiastic. It’s nice seeing them get along so well and loving life.”
Sheridan patted him on the shoulder. “Unfortunately, I don’t know that either of us is capable of taking them all on. What if they come up with some idea that just won’t work?”
“Well, then we’ll appeal to their husbands and fiancé to help them see things our way. For now, let’s just hope all of their ideas are good ones.”
****
Dinner that evening was a very happy affair. With the exception of Emma, all of the guests had left late that afternoon, and everyone from the ranch had either driven into Pinedale for a night off, or they were partaking of the barbecue that had been set up on the back patio.
The children had picked up on the happiness and were playing in the piles of leaves Logan and Cade had raked up earlier that day. The sun was just beginning to go down when Kathy rang the dinner bell, and everyone descended upon the stone patio.
“Come and get it while it’s hot,” Kathy called out, handing out plates as each person arrived and got in line around the grill and the table laden with food.
“Kathy, you’ve outdone yourself tonight,” Stella told her, having spent the day cleaning up the kitchens in the lodge rather than cooking for the family.
“It’s nothing I haven’t done a thousand times before.”
“We know that,” added Sheridan, “but we still appreciate everything you do for this family.”
Once everyone was seated and the children had all been fed and then taken indoors by Kathy and Jed to watch the newest animated movie, Sheridan pulled a chair around the fire pit and encouraged everyone else to do the same.
He looked around the circle and took a moment to realize how lucky he truly was. Sierra was sitting with Logan, their hands intertwined and a very content look upon both of their faces. Combining their family units had been a life changing event for both of them.
He moved his eyes to the right and saw Stephanie sitting with Bridger on one of the loungers. She was leaning back against his chest, and his arms were wrapped loosely around her shoulders. She was currently in remission once again, her multiple sclerosis held at bay by a whole regimen of new drugs. At least for now.
Bridger was not only fully committed to Stephanie, but when her health had taken a turn for the worse, he’d immediately suggested they move up their wedding date so that he could be more fully involved in her healthcare. It had been with a huge sense of relief that Sheridan had welcomed him to the family and he slept easier at night knowing that Stephanie had someone to help her through the difficult days to come.
To his immediate right sat Sadie and Hunter and he narrowed his eyes at the smile Sadie was trying to hide. Not one for letting secrets exist between the family, he couldn’t help but ask, “What has you so happy?”
Sadie looked at him and then gave him an innocent look. “What?”
Sheridan shook his head at her, and then grinned back at her. “You’re hiding something.”
Chapter 8
Sadie looked at Hunter and then around the circle. “Well…it’s really too early to know for sure, but Hunter and I …”
“Are going to have another baby?” Sierra asked with a high pitched squeal to her voice.
Sadie nodded her head and accepted the hugs her sisters bestowed upon her. “Thanks.”
“Another baby? That’s wonderful,” Stephanie told her sister, staying put on the lounger.
Spencer grinned and looked at Sheridan. “Let’s hope this one’s a boy. I don’t think the ranch is ready for another Brooklyn.”
Everyone laughed good-naturedly. Everyone had loved the little girl ever since the day she arrived home from the hospital.
Spencer gave Hunter a high five and then took a seat next to Sheridan, pulling over a chair for Emma as well. “So, now that we have that good news out of the way, let’s talk about the future.”
“We have so many ideas…”
“We need to do some scouting…”
Sheridan held up a hand in the light of the campfire. “How about we take one or two ideas and work on those? We can always expand again.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Spencer added. “We don’t want to jeopardize our financial standing by taking on too much. We’re also getting ready to head into the winter months, so some of these ideas might have to wait until spring.”
“Not if we get moving on them right away,” Sierra told him.
“True. So what ideas could be put into motion this year?”
Stella looked at her twin and then around the circle at her sisters. “Do you mind?”
“No, go ahead,” Stephanie encouraged her.
“You tell them,” Sadie said with a grin.
Stella nodded and then leaned forward as she began to talk about the planting that needed to happen before the ground froze. “Emma suggested several different plants that will come up next spring if we get them planted now. She has several suppliers that would ship the plants to us, and we could get what we need here by the first of next week.”
“That’s quick. And probably a good thing. The weatherman is forecasting a cold spell to hit over the weekend. They’re forecasting snow about nine thousand feet,” Spencer commented.
“That’s why we need to do some scouting right away,” Sadie told everyone. “Bridger said he could have a pre-fab cabin up here in the next three weeks, but that would mean we need to find a place to set it up right away.”
Sheridan listened to their suggestions, and then decided to offer a suggestion that everyone seemed to have forgotten about. “I have an alternative in mind.”
“Really?” Stephanie asked.
“How about we makeover the line shacks?”
Silence settled over those around the fire pit. Spencer was the first one to break the silence. “Well…that’s definitely something I hadn’t considered. When was the last time you were actually at any of the line shacks?”
Sheridan shook his head. “I can’t say I’ve been in any of them in years. With winter bearing down upon us, I just thought they might be something we could work with. Since we’ve cut the herd down, we aren’t using all of them.”
Spencer looked at Bridger and asked, “Feel like taking a fly by a few of them tomorrow?”
Bridger nodded his head. “Sure. If any of them look promising, we could take the horses or gators up for a better look.”
“So, we’ll head up tomorrow morning. Anyone else want to tag along. I can take four more.”
Emma looked at him and nodded. “I’d love to go up again. That is, if your brother and sisters don’t want to go?”
“No, there’s plenty of room for you to go. Sheridan, do you want to go?”
“I wish I could but I’ve got a meeting in town tomorrow morning. How about you take Sadie and Hunter up? That would give them some insight to the travel required to get people to the cabins.”
“That sounds good. So, any other ideas we need to deal with right now?”
“Sierra and I think we should dedicate a portion of the eastern forest to a Christmas tree farm. We could plant some trees specifically with the goal of harvesting them in a few years, but for now, we could just thin some of the forest out and transport the trees to Pinedale.
“If guests wanted to come up for an overnight stay, they could choose their tree, spend the night, and take it home with them the next morning.”
“That’s a good idea. Didn’t I hear something about sleigh rides and such as well?” Spencer asked his sisters.
“There’s that old sleigh in the back of the barn. It might need a little work, but we have the horses to pull it and it would be another wintertime activity to help draw guests here.”
“And ice skating. Don’t forget that,” Sadie added.
“And where exactly were you thinking to do that?” Sheridan asked.
“The irrigation pond. It’s not that deep, and if we let it flood at the end of the year right before the temperature
dropped, there would still be plenty of water when it froze.”
Spencer listened as the idea was bandied about and then piped in, “Can I suggest we leave that until next year. We currently have no way of testing the ice thickness, we don’t have skates to rent out, nor do we have any way of grooming the ice. I think that is a great idea, but not for this year.”
Sheridan, Stephanie, and Stella immediately nodded their heads. His twin put voice to her thoughts. “Unfortunately, I think Spencer’s right. We don’t want to do something halfway and have people go away with a bad experience. We’ve all worked too hard this summer to make the Majestic Mountain Ranch a perfect getaway.”
“Then it’s agreed. We’ll check out the existing cabins to see if they could be redone into honeymoon getaways.” Spencer stood up and then extended a hand to Emma. “Want to take a walk?”
Emma smiled up at him and placed her hand in his own. “Sure.”
Spencer took her hand and led her towards the far pasture, away from the lights of the Ranch House and the prying eyes of his family. Emma had been at the ranch for five days now and he’d loved having her here, but their time together had been fairly limited and he was dying to get to know her on a deeper level before she headed back to New York and they lost this chance.
Chapter 9
Spencer and Emma stopped when they came to the fence line and they climbed up on the top rail and watched the stars come out.
“I can’t believe how many stars there are out here. I can actually see the Milky Way. You can’t hardly see the stars in New York,” she commented, leaning against the upright post and tipping her head back to watch the stars.
Spencer followed her gaze, watching for a moment and then raising his arm. “There’s Orion’s Belt.”
She followed his arm and then asked, “Where?”