Chapter 3
Lacey
After Carson and I came inside to eat lunch, he headed out with a load of hay for the Farmers Co-op in town.
Our ranch holds a contract with the Garrison’s, selling our hay for their business.
It is a nice income coming in, and honestly, between the hay sales and horse sales, that is the only thing keeping us afloat at times.
Add in mother’s hospice and medical bills from when she got sick—it took a toll on us financially. Still, I wouldn’t have had it any other way as long as she was cared for.
I jump when the noise of the phone ringing behind me on the wall gets my attention; I take it off the receiver and walk back to my seat at the kitchen table to pay the remaining monthly bills for the property.
The house phone still attached to the same place it has always been, the spiral cord long enough to walk around the kitchen comfortably.
We have around thirty cattlemen who work on the farm, plus the housekeepers, landscapers, and the overhead for water, electricity, feed, and vet bills—honestly, I could keep going.
Running a ranch is not cheap. It looks beautiful from the outside, but unless you’ve worked on one, you have no idea how hard it is to keep going.
My father showed me the operations side of the business at a young age, always taking me with him to handle bills, make important decisions, and more. I am grateful for the knowledge he made sure I had.
“Hello,” I say into the phone.
“Miss Taylor.” The voice of my mother’s friend and our Airbnb manager, Eloise Mabel, rings in my ears.
“Mrs. Mabel, please call me Lacey,” I tell her.
That name is for my mother and my mother only.
“I am so sorry, hun. I just wanted to let you know there has been a booking for the cottage for the entire weekend. Would you like me to cancel it since you have so much going on right now or let them come on?”
I sigh. Just what I need, another thing to add to my plate. But, we could use the money.
“No, let them stay. Do you know who it is?”
She must have me on speaker phone because she sounds farther away now, and I hear a keyboard typing, letting me know she is trying to pull it up.
“Um, a Miss Sarah Patterson. It shows it will be just her, and she is staying through Sunday, it looks like.”
I nod taking it all in. “Okay, thank you. Let her come on. I’ll go down in just a little bit and make sure it’s cleaned and fresh bed sheets and towels.”
“No, Lacey. I will do it. Please do not do more than you need. Mourn the loss of your mother and focus on tomorrow. I will take care of the guest.”
I fight back tears at the mention of my mother. God, how am I going to make it through tomorrow?
“Thank you, Eloise. Just tonight and tomorrow. I will need something to keep me busy this weekend, so I will check on the guest then.”
“If anything changes, just let me know. Love you, sweet girl. Hang in there.”
I nod but all I can do is mumble ‘I love you’ back before hanging up the phone and crying into the kitchen table. My best friend, my mother, the person I told everything to and did everything with has left me alone to handle all of this on my own.
I don’t know if I will survive this.