Chapter 18
Two days after returning from the rodeo, Lois answered the knock on her door and was shocked to see Cole, Erin, and Clark standing there.
She invited them in and caught Cole’s eye, and he looked scared.
They heard another knock and opened the door for Naomi to enter.
Lois invited them in and she and Cole quickly got drinks for everyone, and didn’t see the smirks exchanged between the other two women.
Once they all had a drink, Lois drew in a deep breath, let it out slowly, and asked, “What’s up? ”
“You know I’m not one to beat around the bush, so I’ll get right to the point.
After you gave me the information on the Montgomery boys, I immediately reached out to Jake over at Brotherhood.
” She shook her head, and held up her hand.
“Nothing yet. I don’t know if you know that I do this, but since hiring Duane, I still use Jake, but I also give the information to Duane so he can use his former FBI contacts to get information.
It's all above board. I would never ask anyone working for me to do anything illegal.”
“We understand,” Cole said.
“Well, when I was giving Duane the information, Clark walked in and heard that I wanted a background check on them. He asked me why, and it blew my mind.”
“Why?”
Erin looked at her brother with a wrinkled nose, then grinned as she turned back to the older couple.
“I have run Erin’s Way, Riceman Stallions, and Broken for so long all by myself, that I forget that Clark’s not only my brother, but he’s also now legally an equal partner in everything.
Naomi is the rightful owner of New Double, Clark and I only own the land and the buildings.
” She saw she had their attention then turned to Clark. He took over the conversation.
“After Rin told me what you wanted to do with New Double, Naomi and I sat down and had a very intense conversation. This was Sunday night. For the last two days, I’ve been doing some investigating.”
“On?” Cole held his breath as he waited for an answer.
“Before I answer that, I want to tell you that once the construction of Broken Two is complete, which it should be in two months’ time, I’ll have nothing to do.
As Rin said, she runs Erin’s Way, Riceman Stallions, though we own Broken, Naomi runs it, and Naomi owns New Double, but you run it.
I’m not one to step on any toes, and after hearing from Rin what you wanted to do, I did some investigating and I’m here to talk to you all about it. ”
“What?” Cole asked again.
“Please, don’t dismiss my suggestion until you hear everything.”
“Son, I can’t pass judgement on something I don’t know. Spit it out.”
Clark laughed and looked at Naomi with a grin.
“You’re right, Cole likes it straight.” He turned back to the older man.
“Okay, this is just a thought, but part of me working on Broken Two, I took the time to put in a race tack on the backside of New Double. It should be done within the next two weeks. I didn’t want to tell anyone, because I didn’t know if it would ever be finished. ”
“Really?”
“Yes, now onto what I’ve been doing in the last two days. I’ve been exploring this place.” He waved his hand and at their confused looks, he clarified, “The Old Atherton Spread.”
“What did you find?”
“Shit.”
“Excuse me?”
“Other than this space with the three houses, barn, greenhouses, and fairly significant sized lawns, there’s only one other spot on the entire ranch that is flat.
During my inspection, all I could think was what the hell was Rin thinking when she agreed to buy this place.
I knew she thought she could get some hay off it, but there is no way to do that.
There is no place to put in a hayfield, let along corn, oats, sorghum, or any other crop.
There are too many hills and valleys that it would be impossible.
” He shook his head and held up his hand.
“However, after talking it over with Naomi, then going to Rin with my thoughts, we’ve come up with a plan. ”
“What’s that?”
“You continue New Double as is.” He saw the disappointment on the other man’s face and smiled.
“For now. Let me finish the construction I’m doing now, then why don’t we take that one flat spot on this ranch and turn that into what you want to do.
When that’s up and running, you can take over managing that, and I’ll manage New Double. ”
Cole cocked his head to the side and stared at the younger man.
He shook his head and looked between the three people sitting before him.
“Let me get this straight. You want to keep everything Erin, sorry, both you and Erin own and operate, but add the rodeo stock, training arena, and boarding barns. In addition to bunktels, cabins, and possibly a main house?”
“Yes,” Erin spoke then, “Except for the main house. I might be talking out my ass here, and correct me if I’m wrong, but I feel that you and Lois are together, like as a couple.
You could have this place as the main house, and then the workers could have the cabins, like at Broken, and the people only coming in on the weekends to work their own animals can stay in the bunktels.
Like the clients would for their family that is being rehabilitated at Broken. ”
Cole shook his head again, scrubbed his face, then turned to Naomi. “Noomi, I have to ask you this. Did you think by my coming to you and wanting to change the racehorses to rodeo stock as a kick in the teeth to you?”
“No, absolutely not,” she said so quickly and firmly that he believed her. He saw her lean around Clark to look at Erin, then Erin gave her a nod, so she turned back to him. “I have been wracking my brain for a solution to a problem I thought I had.”
“What’s that?”
“As much as I love my job at Broken, I miss the racehorses. I love the horses at Broken, but feel that I belong at New Double. I didn’t want to tell Erin or Clark and have them think that now that my ranch was here, I would abandon them.
It’s going to take some time to get a new manager, but when you came to me about your idea, I knew there was a solution. ”
“I don’t understand,” Lois spoke then. “You want to add another ranch to your portfolio?” She shook her head, held out her hand, and started tapping the fingers.
“Erin’s Way, Riceman Stallions, The Broken Wheel, New Double, now a ranch with rodeo horses and bulls, along with a riding arena, and all that entails?
Like a mini rodeo area here on this land? ”
Erin grinned as she shrugged her shoulders and said nonchalantly. “Sure, why not. It would be a great investment, and we can get the word out.”
“I don’t know,” Cole said sadly as he leaned back in his chair and scratched his head in confusion.
“What don’t you know, Cole?” Naomi asked softly. “Talk to me.”
“It’s the money, I thought with the sale of the racehorses, we could use that to buy the rodeo stock.”
“Don’t worry about the cost,” Erin said quickly. “I mean it, Cole.” She waited until he looked at her and sighed heavily. “I’m assuming you do the books for New Double?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, think about those books and how much in taxes is paid out every quarter. Now, with Riceman Stallions, and Erin’s Way, I can balance the books, and even have a profit.
Same with Broken. If we put in this new area, then think of the tax write-offs I can have.
” She stopped when Clark cleared his throat, then laughed, “ We , the tax write-offs we can have by building everything new, from the hay to the bulls. As a business, this makes sense, and believe you me, there’s plenty of money to get what we want. ”
“Think of it this way, Cole,” Clark said with a chuckle. “Whatever Rin touches, it seems to turn to gold. I won’t get into the specifics, but one mounting from a stallion from Erin’s Way is roughly a hundred grand. That’s on the extreme low side, by the way.”
Cole felt his eyebrows disappear in his hairline. “Are you shitting me?”
“Nope, and I did a rough estimate, we’ve already done well over a hundred matings this year with more still to come.
Also, triple that number from Riceman Stallions.
Trust me, we have the money, and I love investing in new ideas.
As long as it has something to do with ranching, then there’s nothing I won’t look into. I really like the idea you have.”
“Okay, but I only see one problem.”
“What’s that?”
“We need help. I mean help. ” He drew the word out. “It seems like you’re set at Erin’s Way and Broken, however, if you don’t take Ducky into account, it’s only me, Clem, and Ann at New Double.”
“Are you sure?” Erin frowned at him.
“Definitely, the guys from Broken only come over when there’s a lull in their work.
I don’t have enough people to keep up with the day to day let alone taking the time to actually get the horses out somewhere to stretch their legs.
I only went to Noomi about this change because I was thinking that the horses weren’t living up to their potential. ”
“Damn,” Naomi said with a shake of her head. “I guess I should have made it over there more often. I know once there and I start taking over New Double, I want to see if Clark and I can’t move in with Ducky and you.”
“About that.” Cole laughed and leaned forward with a gigantic grin on his face. “Clem’s claimed one of the cabins Ryan’s building. I haven’t discussed it with her yet, but I’d like to move in here with Lois, and Ducky’s been making noise about something.”
“What?” Erin demanded.
“He wants to move back in with Pru and Ryan. I know he’s discussed it with them, but he doesn’t want to leave Clem or I, nor does he want to leave the house empty.
He said he enjoys us there, and he loves what we’re doing, and he’ll help Lois all he can with the garden and community pantry, but he feels better being in a smaller place. ”
Erin threw her head back and laughed at the surprise of everyone there.
“What?” Clark asked in confusion at his sister’s reaction.
“How much do you want to bet it’s because Pru has chickens?”
“Oh, shit, I never thought of it that way,” he laughed his answer and turned to Cole. “Ducky ever tell you how he ran his farm?”
“Yes, he always mentioned chickens.”
“Those horse stables were his chicken barns and each one housed at least fifty thousand chickens each.”
“Holy shit, that was a lot of chickens.”
“Yes, he kept them until they started laying, then moved them to barns for their egg production, then sold them to the major soup makers.” He looked at Erin with a frown. “When did he get out of the chicken business?”
“When his wife got really, really sick with her cancer. He was her primary caregiver and they both refused to go to the hospital. When he started caring for her twenty-four/seven, he sold them all. Probably ten years ago. Maybe more. I know it wasn’t much before Mom and Dad died.
She was still sick then, that’s why the Millers were able to do what they did and I was able to step in. ”
“Got it,” Clark nodded, then told Lois and Cole what had transpired and how Erin had come into possession of Ducky’s property.
“Please, tell me they’re in jail.”
“They are. They were denied bail, and we’re still waiting for a trial date. We were told it could take up to two years to get on the books.”
“Good. The longer they’re on the inside, the more they’ll rot.”
“Lois,” Erin said in shock. “I didn’t think you were so blood-thirsty.”
“I’m normally not, but when it comes to others hurting people, especially when someone is dealing with cancer, it gets my dander up.” She looked at Cole. “You’re sure I can still use the summer kitchen?”
“I’m going to say yes,” Clark answered instead. “I won’t pull rank and tell Ducky that Rin and I own it, but I think if the community pantry will be over there, it’s just fitting to be able to use the kitchen there.”
“I agree,” Cole said. “Ducky did say that it would give him an incentive to get up in the morning.” He shook his head and started laughing. He waved his hand in front of his face for several seconds to get himself under control.
“What on earth?” Lois asked.
“Ducky said that Ryan needed to put a road in between his cabin, Ryan and Pru’s, and the main house over at New Double.
Since he can’t drive a real vehicle, his words, he needs a road for the golf cart.
” All the people burst out laughing and as Lois refilled their cups with the freshly brewed coffee, they spent the next few hours discussing what Cole wanted to do with the rodeo stock.
When the two were alone, Cole looked at Lois with a sappy smile.
“Happy?”
“Yeah, I never imagined that Erin would want to start a separate ranch all together.”
“I can see why she’d want it here.”
“How?”
“Think about it, it’s going to be rough and ready animals, as well as people.
There won’t be alcohol involved like at the actual rodeo, but the people will be rough, as well as the animals.
If something goes wrong and they get loose, the chances of them getting to the other animals are diminished by them running over the hills and not across the road. ”
“True, and once I look at the area, depending on what it looks like, we might be able to make a mound of dirt so it blocks the view of what’s across the street.”
“Personally, I don’t think it will come to that, because we can’t see it from here, and according to Clark, it’s further off into the wilds.” She waved her hand in the direction she thought the field would be.
“You’re probably right.”
“Now, I have one question for you.”
“What’s that?” Cole picked up his mug to take a sip and grinned once he swallowed the hot brew.
“Would you like to move in here with me and Tim?” She looked at him sternly. “Into my bedroom, my bed?”
“I would love to. It might take a couple of days, but I can start getting my things together.”
“That’s fine, just bring something over each night when you come over for dinner.”
Since they’d returned from that first rodeo, Cole had been going there for dinner, and had even spent the night one night, and hadn’t wanted to leave her or their warm bed the next morning, but he did it anyway.