Chapter 11 #2
“Correct. Anyway, as I said, I was still sixteen when I arrived there, and I worked twelve to fourteen hours a day from the second day. The manager wouldn’t allow me to work when I arrived because I had already helped load up the truck, and unload it from the run to town.
He wanted me to get settled and get my bearings before I jumped in.
I don’t think I took a sick day or even a vacation day the entire four years I was there.
The manager, goodness, I forget his name now, it’s been so long, but he assigned me to work with a guy everyone called Petey.
He was a grisly old dude, I swore he was at least a hundred years old when I first met him.
” Cole shook his head as he looked over at her, then removed his hand from hers as he saw they were approaching their exit.
“How old was he?”
“Somewhere between thirty-eight and forty-two. But again, to a sixteen-year-old boy, that was old.” He kept talking as he drove the streets to their destination.
“Anyway, he was grisly, rough, chewed tobacco, and spat it everywhere, and he was so bull-legged when he walked, I swear you could put two basketballs together and toss them between his legs and they wouldn’t touch.
He was that bull-legged. Later I found out he had been in the saddle since he was two, and had been a rodeo rider for years.
Not that you’d get that bowed from being a rider. ”
“I didn’t expect anyone would. Was he mean to you?”
“Not really, once I got around my initial fear, I realized he was just gruff around the edges. He never married, never had kids, and always worked with animals. I think that’s why his voice was so gruff, he never talked to humans.
” He pulled into the parking lot, and looked at her with a small smile and chuckle. “Finish the conversation inside?”
“Oh my, I hadn’t realized we had arrived.
Yes, that’s fine.” She waited as he got out and he came around and helped her from the truck.
They walked in and within five minutes of entering, they were ushered to a table, and Lois liked that it was away from a lot of the other diners, but the corner wasn’t dark either.
She smiled as he pulled her chair out for her, and they settled at the table.
The hostess said their waitress would be right over.
“Do you want alcohol?” Cole asked quietly before he even picked up the menu.
“Not really, you?”
“Not with me driving back home.”
Lois liked his answer, not that there was anything wrong with him wanting an alcoholic beverage, but she liked that he was thoughtful enough to know that he would be driving later and didn’t want to hinder his driving.
They looked at the menu, and she gave him her order, by the time the waitress arrived, he told them their entire order, except for dessert, and when she walked away, he looked at her with a smile.
“I can’t thank you enough for agreeing to come out with me tonight.”
“It’s not a hardship, Cole. You are a wonderful man, and it’s a pleasure to be in your presence. I’m just surprised you haven’t stopped over at my house more. Like you did when I first moved here.”
“Ah, well, that’s what I started to tell you, but I was side tracked by my past. I can sum that up in a few sentences.
” He laughed and shook his head. “After I started working on that ranch in Idaho, I worked every single day until I was almost twenty-one. A gentleman came looking for a horse he had heard about. It was a horse for his granddaughter.” He looked at Lois with a smirk.
“It was Naomi’s grandfather. He had Clem with him, Clem was the one that recommended the ranch, and though Naomi was only about three at the time, he wanted to start looking.
I don’t know how it happened, but he stayed in the area for a week, and before he left, he asked me if I would like to come work for him.
He quoted me a price, and listed the benefits.
I told him I’d give him my answer before he left. ”
“I take it you said yes?”
“Yes, but not before being yelled at by Petey.”
“Why would Petey yell at you.”
“Because I didn’t jump on the job offer right then and there. He told me I was stupid for not doing that.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Honestly? I thought I should talk it over with Petey first. I know in my brain it wasn’t logical, but in my heart, I considered Petey as a father figure.
I don’t know if it was because I was so young, or what, but I took everything he said to heart.
I wanted to talk it over with him to get his opinion about the job offer.
As soon as he yelled at me for not jumping on it, I went to find Mr. Alcott and told him I’d take the job.
I didn’t leave with Clem and Mr. A, I worked out my two weeks, and by then, with Petey’s help, I had my driver’s license, and because everything I needed was provided for me, and I never went to town, I saved my money.
I had already purchased a truck. After I worked my notice, I drove myself over to Wyoming, and got the shock of my life. ”
“What was that?”
He sat back as their meals were delivered and after they spiced their meal, they dug in. Neither of them said anything until most of the meal had been consumed, and only then did he take up his story.
“The shock was that there was one word I hadn’t heard Mr. A speak. That’s when I realized why Petey had yelled at me. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I had heard it, but it didn’t register with me until after I arrived at The Double A.”
“Which word was that?”
“Manager.”
Lois looked at him in shock. “As in the person in charge of the entire operation?”
“Yes, see, Naomi was young enough that she was still racing sheep,” he said with a smirk and laughed at her expression.
“Yes, it’s a thing, that’s how the young ‘ens get started. They ride sheep. Anyway, while Mr. A and Clem were with her, they needed someone to watch over the ranch. It was only a five hundred acre spread, but Naomi’s father wasn’t to know anything about what went on.
Once I arrived, both Mr. and Mrs. A sat me down and told me how bad their son was. ”
“How bad?”
“He never lifted a finger to earn his monthly allowance, and he was always at the track. Horse race track. His father, Mr. A., had an owner’s box, but never used it. However, their son, Benson did.”
“Why would he have a space like that if he never used it?”
“Because his ranch raised and started training racehorses. Benson Alcott thought that as the son of the breeder of those types of horses, it would be better for him to take control of the box. I know, it’s messed up, but it kept him out of our hair.
Mr. A. concentrated all his efforts on Naomi.
” He finished his meal, wiped his mouth, and shook his head in wonder and awe.
“So, yeah, at the age of twenty-one, I became the ranch manager at The Double A Ranch out of Wyoming.”
“Now, you’re still the manager, but it’s in a new location and renamed to New Double?”
“That is correct.” He looked around, then asked quietly. “Would you like dessert?”
“Not really, but go ahead?”
“Naw, I don’t like a lot of sweets, and I didn’t see any apple pie on the menu, so I’ll go without.
That’s fine though, I had a wonderful meal and got to spend all this time with a terrific woman.
” He took her hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze.
“Thank you for giving me joy on this day.” They paid the bill, and as they were getting ready to leave, someone called out loudly.
Both Cole and Lois looked, but didn’t pay any attention to them, since neither of their names were called.