Duane’s Determination (Broken Wheel Ranch #9)

Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

Duane and Reid exchanged looks of confusion and looked at the siblings and Clark scowled, and Erin grinned.

“How the hell do you do it, Rin?” Clark sighed as he shook his head and turned to the two confused men. “First, a farrier is a person that works on the feet of equines. That’s horses, mules, donkeys. I’m sure, if it’s an emergency situation, they can even work on bovine, which is cows. By working on the feet, I’m talking shoeing the horses.”

“Oh, wow.” Duane shook his head in shock.

“Being AFA Certified means she went to an accredited school to learn everything. That school takes roughly two years to learn everything. And you said she is a DVM also?”

“Yes, is that what I think it is?”

“What do you think it is?”

“A veterinarian? Like Tom?”

“Correct. Because she is double certified with a PhD as a vet, and has AFA certification, then I’m sure she did both jobs at those boarding stables.” Clark shook his head and looked down the table at his sister. “Did you know?”

“No, not until two minutes ago.”

“Know what?” Reid asked.

“Have you been across the road to the Atherton place yet?” Clark asked Reid, then turned to Duane with a raised brow.

“No,” both men answered as one.

Clark shook his head and studied his sister. “I don’t know how you do it, but I want some of what you have.”

“What?” Reid asked.

“Before I signed the papers for Rin and me to purchase Old Man Atherton’s property, hell, I can’t remember his first name, I went over and talked to Shelly, his granddaughter.”

“You did?” Erin asked in shock. “His name was Benjamin. Benji was named after him.”

“Okay, thanks for reminding me. Anyway, I wanted to see the condition of the property before I signed on the bottom line.”

“That was smart of you.”

“Yes,” he said as he wrinkled his nose at his sister and turned to the other two men. “I don’t know the exact reasoning, but the original house is still sitting where it always has. I also don’t know why there are two double wide trailers on the property on either side of the barn.” He turned back to his sister with a raised brow.

“When both Benjamin and his wife, I forget her name now, was living in the main home, the wife’s mother became a widow. Instead of moving her into their house, they brought a double wide onto the property, so she had her own privacy. It has its own sewer system, electric, and I’m not sure, but it might even have propane for the stove. It was its own entity. She was close, but they weren’t on top of each other.” She finished off her juice and settled back with her coffee. “As far as I know, they brought the other double wide in when Benjamin had an apprentice. They lived out of state, and instead of driving into Fool’s Gold or Colorado Springs, Benjamin had the trailer brought in, with the same setup as he had for his mother-in-law. Totally self-sufficient.”

“Wow, that sounds pretty good,” Duane said. “What did Mr. Atherton do to need an apprentice?”

“He was our local farrier.”

“No shit,” Reid said in shock. “You’re telling me that the property across the road is all set up to have another farrier move in and start their own business?”

“Yes. The thought I had early this morning was to discuss it over with Clark to see if we should start looking for a farrier of our own. Oh, and also on the property are at least three greenhouses that I know of. Shelly grew plants throughout the winter, and sold them when it was time to plant outside.” She looked at Clark with a shrug. “I have no problem allowing the Gibson women to move in there. I would only ask that if they do something like a garden or something, they share with us. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like the idea of leaving it empty for too long.”

“I agree.” Clark nodded as he sipped his own coffee, he looked at Duane. “Can you communicate this with Laurie?”

“I can.” Duane stumbled over his reply and scowled at Erin when she snorted a laugh. “What?”

“The way you jumped at the chance makes me believe you like her.” She laughed when she saw Duane’s cheeks turn bright red, even the tips of his ears turned red. “Go for it, Duane. You’ve been divorced for a long time, and if I remember correctly, it’s been over a year since Laurie’s divorce. It’s not like her asshole of an ex-husband can accuse her of cheating on him. The divorce is final, and he’s in the wind. I’m not expecting them to move here tomorrow, because all three of them have lives to close up where they are.”

“I only have one question. I’m not saying it’s going to happen, but would you allow me to go there and help her pack up her house? And if something develops between the two of us, would you mind if I move in with her across the street?”

“The only problem I would have is if you neglect your duties here.”

“I wouldn’t.” Duane grinned, then cocked his head to the side to give Reid the stink eye as he started laughing. “What?”

“I know you don’t know this, but maybe with Ann wanting to put in a garden, and Lois wanting to do the same thing, what if they both grew carrots and it would save us all a lot of money.” He looked at the Riceman siblings as they burst out laughing, then turned to explain to Duane. “Every time someone goes to the grocery story, we have to buy carrots. The local grocery store calls Erin once a week when he places his order, to see how many cases we will need. We feed them to the horses.”

“Damn, and that community pantry with the walk-in cooler would be perfect to store them.”

“Correct.” Reid looked at Erin with a grin. “Hey, Babe, there wouldn’t happen to be any apple trees across the street by any chance.”

“NO!” Clark yelled and sat up straight. “We can go to the local farmers and get them for now. I am not planting any trees.”

Erin laughed. “Okay, I’m going to start putting out the annual feelers for fall crops for the apples. Luckily, because they’re going to the horses, we don’t need perfect ones, we can get the drops.”

“What is that?” Duane asked in confusion.

“The apples that drop on the ground. The last time I was in town I saw Marisal Brockman, she said that the pear trees they planted a few years ago are mature enough to yield a harvest this year. I didn’t ask to purchase bushels, because I don’t know if the horses would like them, but I did ask if I could get her drops. For a price, that is. I don’t expect them to give them to me for free.”

“I never thought of using pears,” Reid said as he started gathering the plates and sighed. “I don’t know about the rest of them, but Tom’s due around nine and we’ll be in the sex barn all day.” He grinned when Erin and Clark snorted a laugh as they took their dishes to the kitchen sink.

Duane stood, shaking his head. “If I didn’t know what you were talking about, I would question your sexuality by that statement. Not that it’s any of my business.” He grinned when Reid flipped him off. Laughing, Duane helped clean up, then quickly went to the barn that held his office. The first thing he did before checking his e-mails, he sent a message to Laurie stating that he had a place all lined up for her, her mother, and daughter. All he needed was a rough estimate as to when she might be moving there. He also said that if her family wanted to come early, then there was plenty of room. He then sent a message directly to Lorissa to tell her what she would need to do by filling out the attached application to be the farrier for Erin Riceman and the multiple ranches on the property.

“MOM!” Lorissa Gibson yelled at the top of the lungs as soon as she entered her childhood home. She tossed her keys and purse on the side table and rushed to the kitchen when he heard the tea kettle going off. She didn’t see her mother, as she turned off the flame and removed the pot from the hot burner. She turned and grinned as her mother walked into the kitchen wearing leggings, an oversized tee-shirt, and slippers on her feet. The only thing that ruined the relaxed affect was the bulky knee brace that went from mid-calf to mid-thigh.

“Is everything okay?” Laurie asked in concern. “I haven’t heard you enter this house like that in years.”

“Everything is perfect, or about to be.” She fixed them both a cup of tea, and settled onto the small table in the breakfast nook. “I have something to tell you.”

“Did you meet someone?” Laurie asked hopefully.

“No, Mom, you know I’m not looking until my career is solid, only then will I start looking. Besides, you know I’m not very religious, but I believe in the higher being.”

“Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?” Laurie settled into her chair and studied her daughter as her tea cooled enough for her to remove the tea bag.

Lorissa shrugged. “I believe that if there’s a guy out there for me, then the big guy will put him in my path. Until then, I’m going to concentrate on my career. That’s why I’m here. I need to talk to you.” She did a dance in her chair, and then laughed. “Since it’s Friday, can we order in?”

“Sure, do you want to invite Nana?”

“I already called her. She’s picked up both Chinese and Mexican. I know, it’s a lot, but I couldn’t decide.”

“As long as I don’t have to cook, I don’t care what it is.” Laurie laughed as she and her daughter caught up on small talk. Less than an hour later, the doorbell rang, and Lorissa rushed to open the door. At the last minute, she looked through the peep hole and whipped open the door to take several bags from her grandmother.

“Are we having a party?” Lois laughed as she entered, shut, and locked the door behind her, kicked off her shoes, and made her way into the kitchen. Once she was there, she took a bag out of her purse, and tossed her own slippers on the floor to wedge her feet in. The three women laughed as they got the food ready, and as they settled at the table with plates of a mixture from both cuisines.

“Okay, Lor, out with it, why all the excitement?”

“First, remember I said that I wanted to focus on my career before I settle down, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well, you also know that I work as a vet and farrier for three boarding stables. Don’t think I’m complaining, I’m not, but there’s not really enough business to keep me busy. Not like I want to be.”

“I can understand that. Have you come up with a solution?”

“I think so. It’s been two weeks since you returned from Colorado, and two days after you returned, I received an e-mail from Duane Manchester.”

“ My Duane?” Laurie asked in shock, trying not to be jealous of her daughter. She didn’t see her daughter and mother exchanged smirks.

“I don’t know about that, but it’s not like you think. Apparently, you sent him a message asking about a place to live for the three of us.”

“Oh, yeah, I did, and he told me he had found a place that would suit the three of us. I haven’t told you guys yet, because we’ve never said whether or not that we would definitely be moving.”

“Well, I’ve been exchanging e-mails and phone calls with Erin Riceman and Julie Truman.”

“That’s Erin’s assistant.”

“Right. Anyway, Duane sent me an e-mail with an application attached. He told me to fill it out and get it back to him. He also asked me to send in a resumé if I had one. I don’t know why, but the weekend you were in Colorado, I sat down and made one out. There’s nothing much on it, just those three boarding stables.”

“But it’s experience,” Lois said. “So, what happened?”

“After I sent it back, the communication between Duane and I stopped. It changed to between Erin, Julie, and me.”

“Stop stalling, Lor,” Laurie laughed.

“I got hired!” she crowed and laughed. “Erin Riceman said that there is a property that she and her brother recently purchased that used to belong to a farrier. She said all the equipment was there, but it hadn’t been used in over two years. She said I was hired, however, she wants to meet me in person before it’s official.”

“Why?” Lois asked.

“Because she doesn’t want to offer me a job before I check out the area I would be working. Apparently, she wants me to use the former farrier’s equipment. But she doesn’t want me to come, look around, and not like the setup. She says that before the offer is official, I need to go check it out.”

“What would you be doing?” Lois asked, then laughed as she held up her hand and shook her head. “Sorry, that was a stupid question, of course you would be doing your farrier business. What I meant was where would you be working.”

“For Erin.” Lorissa cocked her head and frowned at her mother when she started laughing. “What?”

“You won’t be bored, that’s for sure.”

“What do you know?”

“I don’t know it all, but I know that Erin’s Way if a stallion ranch. Don’t quote me, but there are stallions and brood mares. Again, don’t quote me, but it’s close to three hundred head in the herd. The Broken Wheel has twenty-seven horses, two donkeys, and one mule. New Double has close to thirty horses. They were transferred over from Wyoming. I’m not sure of the exact numbers, so if you take the job, you’ll be working on close to four hundred horses. What about vet services? Will you be doing them?”

“I don’t know. She, Erin, said she has a vet already, but he has his own practice in town and only comes out for routine visits, or emergencies. Sometimes it takes a few days for him to arrive, unless it’s a dire emergency.”

“I’m not saying you have to, but what if you offer your vet services to Erin to give this other vet a break. You know, just the routine stuff.”

“It’s an option, I’d have to talk to Erin about it.”

“When would you be going out there?” Lois asked.

“I can’t get the weekend off for another two weeks. I’m on duty this weekend and next, so it’ll be the following one. I need to book my flight for that Friday and come back on Sunday. Oh, and I’ll have to rent a vehicle.”

“Can I go with you?” Lois asked.

“I don’t see why not. Mom, would you be going with us?”

“Can I let you know by Wednesday of next week? I have a board meeting on Tuesday. I’ll definitely be moving but I need to work on dissolving/selling my part in Gibson Associates.”

“Well, if you need my vote for anything, let me know.”

“I shouldn’t, and I’m not being mean, but I own ninety percent of all the shares. You have five as does Nana. Bottom line, all decisions I make are final.”

“Okay, I wish you luck.” Lorissa picked up a fortune cookie and cracked it open. As she had as a little girl, she opened it, read it, then stuck the small piece of paper in her pocket.

“Well?”

“It said that I am to embrace the new path I’m about to embark on.”

Laurie nodded and opened her own, then grinned at her daughter. “The thing you have been missing is right around the corner.”

Lois did the same, and frowned, “The wait is over.” She looked at her family and shook her head. “What wait?”

“No clue,” they said, and finished eating and making plans for ending their lives in New York and what Colorado might hold for them.