More Drama #2
“All right, Grandma Austin.” Maria went out.
Grandma Austin sure had a way of rearranging everybody’s plans around here, and everybody had to go along with what she wanted.
That was another consideration. If Maria were to stay here on the ranch, she’d be just like all the others, her life controlled by the family matriarch.
It wasn’t total control—for instance, Annabelle and Elijah could go into town whenever they wanted—but it was a lot more than Maria was comfortable with.
§
Grandma Austin must have gotten hold of Tim, because he showed up at the ranch house right as Maria came out.
He took off his hat. “I hear I’m your tour guide for the afternoon.”
“I’m so sorry to pull you away from your work,” Maria said. “It was Grandma Austin’s idea.”
“I believe it. Especially since you didn’t want my ranch tour in the first place.
” Tim raised an eyebrow. “Well, your grandma’s word is law.
The men are mostly out rounding up cattle and mending fences.
I’d been looking for clues to the sabotage, but I don’t think those guys are going to hang around the place in broad daylight.
More than likely, they’ve got day jobs.”
“You think they’re cowboys?” Maria asked.
“Most guys around here are,” Tim said. “Shall we get started? I’d take you on horseback, but I hear you’ve only had one riding lesson. Let’s take your ATV.”
Both Grandma Austin and Tim seemed to know a lot about Maria’s doings that she hadn’t told them. “Yeah, I don’t think I would be ready to ride all over the ranch on a horse,” Maria said. “I want to ask Annabelle or Elijah for another riding lesson.”
“You can always ask me too,” Tim said. “I’d be happy to help.”
“Thanks.” Maria smiled.
Tim took a route Maria had never taken, out to the northwest over the hills, slowly going upward.
The tall grass rushed around the ATV. The whole Yellowstone River valley, in a glory of blue and green, stretched ahead of them, with the huge blue sky above.
So that’s why Montana was called the Big Sky State.
Maria couldn’t understand why Mom had wanted to leave Montana. The views were breathtaking. How could you exchange that for a suburb in flat, woodsy Michigan? Mom must have cared very much about Dad.
Now Maria had to make the same choice. In a way, it was easier for her than for Mom, because she’d grown up in Michigan.
Her family, the ones who really cared about her, were all there.
At the end of the summer, Maria could go back to a good and familiar life.
But after a glimpse of the paradise that was the Rocker A, it was going to be hard to leave.
“You’re quiet today.” Tim looked sideways at Maria while still driving the ATV at top speed over the prairie grass.
Maria flushed. “Did Grandma Austin tell you why she talked to me earlier?”
“Yes. She was going to offer you a share of the ranch if you wanted to stay here. You want to go back to your dad and grandma, don’t you?”
She nodded. “Yeah. I can’t imagine myself not being close to them. But I’m getting to love this place, too. It’s funny. You can’t be in two places at once, but sometimes that’s what I want.”
He smiled. “I can see that. I guess it’s different for me. I grew up here, but my whole family went away.”
“That’s rough,” Maria said. “Do you think they would ever come back?”
“Probably not. But maybe we could work out a way to see each other more often. I know I’d like that.
” He pointed into the hills ahead. “See the cattle? That’s their summer grazing.
They’ve been up there a few weeks now. Right before you came, we had to move ‘em all up there and let the lower grass grow for hay.”
“So what do you cowboys do while the cattle are up there?” Maria asked.
“Different things,” Tim said. “We’ve gotta check on them all the time, make sure they’re okay, and bring them minerals to supplement the grass they’re eating. We also do haying, mend fences and fix ranch equipment, plan for winter feed—there’s always a lot to do on a ranch.”
They were coming closer to the cattle. A lone cowboy on a horse waved from a distance. “Blaise,” Tim told Maria, waving back. “He’s been up here all day, checking the herd and fixing a broken water tank.”
“Do you know where everybody is all the time?”
“Most of the time,” Tim said. “As long as they’re where they’re supposed to be. That’s another reason this sabotage business is so frustrating. I shouldn’t have let Pat tell me what to do yesterday. I should have kept an eye out for funny business.”
The frustrated expression was back on his face. “Don’t feel bad,” Maria said. “You’re just one guy. You can’t be everywhere at once—you’ll run yourself into the ground.”
“I know,” Tim said. “But somebody’s gotta do it. And Elijah isn’t the man. He wasn’t born to be tough.”
They had reached the cattle, much bigger up close. The herd was mostly black cattle.
“Back in the day, this ranch had longhorns,” Tim said. “But nowadays, everybody wants black Angus.”
“What about Wagyu beef?” Maria asked.
Tim laughed. “People like Wagyu. But US Wagyu aren’t the same cows they’ve got in Japan. They’re only half Wagyu, and the meat doesn’t have such a high fat content. Pat says she’s gonna stick with Angus—it was good enough for her dad, and it’s good enough for her.”
They drove around the cattle, with Tim pointing things out, and then down to the creek. Here the creek ran through a field, almost invisible unless you were on top of it. A wild turkey scuttled away as the ATV approached.
“Good spot to cool off,” Tim said. “I’m gonna wade. The creek’s clear here.”
He got out of the ATV, and Maria followed him to the creek. She sat on a rock, untying her sneakers.
“We’ve gotta get you some boots,” Tim said, “if you’re gonna be a cowgirl.” He took off his own boots and rolled up his pant legs, wading out into the creek. He had left his hat in the ATV, and the sun shone off his blond hair. His sleeves were rolled up to the elbows, showing strong forearms.
Maria’s pulse did a weird little flutter. What was that? Nothing. She just hadn’t spent a lot of time around good-looking guys since Seth’s breakup with her, that’s what.
“I’m not sure about the cowgirl thing,” Maria said. “I’m going back to Michigan in the fall. Is it worth it to teach me riding?”
Tim laughed. “It’s still fun to learn, isn’t it? I think it’s a good experience, even if you won’t do it again.”
“I guess you’re right,” Maria said. “Like my dad taking me on ride-alongs, even when I wasn’t planning to join the police.”
“Exactly,” Tim said. “You oughtta get to experience the ranch. It’ll be a nice break before you go back to whatever you do in Michigan.”
“Cooking,” Maria said. “I still have to figure out where I’m going to work when I get back.”
She splashed her feet in the water. The creek was cold, but not painfully so.
Tim sat down on a rock opposite her, feet in the water. “I heard the restaurant you used to work at closed down,” he said. “Got any leads on another place?”
Maria shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said.
“I tried to work at a place called Rick’s Diner, where one of my friends from the Virginian worked, but they didn’t hire me.
Maybe they were full, or they didn’t like my resume.
My other options for nice restaurants are slim.
There’s a place called Rover’s Restaurant, where you can’t get a job if you don’t have connections, and there’s a place called Greg’s, but my ex-boyfriend works there. ”
From the flicker of Tim’s eyelids she could tell that interested him, but he didn’t say anything. Maria hadn’t meant to talk about Seth.
“Anyway,” she said, “I don’t know what I’m going to do. I wish there were places as fun and well managed as the kitchen here.”
“Are you considering Pat’s offer at all?” Tim asked. “I don’t mean to pry, but if you’re set on having your dad and grandma live nearby, is there a chance they’d move to Montana?”
Maria shook her head. “I don’t know. Grandma Austin and my dad don’t get along, and I doubt Dad and Grandma would want to leave Michigan.”
Dad had spent his whole career there. Maria had grown up in that house. He’d never want to come all the way out here and live close to the mother-in-law who couldn’t stand him.
“Well, it’s always worth considering all your options, even the ones you don’t think will work,” Tim said.
“When my parents sold the ranch, I didn’t think I’d find somebody else who cared about the land and ranching here in Montana.
But I found the Rocker A, and the younger family members don’t care, but Pat does. ”
“Yeah, but she puts it ahead of her family,” Maria said.
“I know. I think she needs somebody to show her where her priorities are. But to her credit, she may be tough to her family, but she does try to be fair.”
“Maybe.” After this afternoon’s huge news, Maria wasn’t sure what she thought of Patricia—her opinion of her clearly needed some revising. “I was surprised my whole family wasn’t cut out of the inheritance. Although, if I don’t move here, I don’t get any of it. And I’m not sure how fair that is.”
Tim was listening intently, his blue eyes serious, and Maria felt a tinge of embarrassment. Tim was trying to give her a nice time showing her around, and here she was oversharing about her family problems again.
“Anyway,” she said hastily, tucking an errant strand of hair behind her ear, “we don’t have to keep talking about this—it isn’t a fun topic. Let’s talk about something else.”
“You don’t have to apologize for your topic choices.” A little smile quirked Tim’s mouth. “But we can change the subject if you want. What would you like to talk about?”