Raymond’s Forever (Broken Wheel Ranch #18)

Chapter 1

Raymond Morris looked down at the papers on his desk and sighed heavily as the words began to swim on the pages.

He tossed his pen down, propped his elbows on the edge of the desk, and rubbed his temples.

He slowly shook his head, and gave himself a massage, then moved his hands around to try to work the knots out of the back of his neck.

He jerked when an alarm sounded, quickly shut it off, drew in a deep breath, held it for the count of twenty, before he released it.

He reached into his center drawer to pull out another pad of paper, and reached for the phone with that special list before him.

Just to make sure of himself, he looked at his watch, did the math in his head, and lifted the receiver of his desk phone to dial.

“Erin’s Way, Julie speaking, how may I help you?”

“Hi, is Ms. Riceman available?”

“She is, may I ask who’s calling?”

“Raymond Morris. She doesn’t know me, this is sort of personal.”

“Okay, she’ll be right with you.”

“Thank you,” Raymond said as he leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temple again. He looked at his list, picked up the pen, and waited until the person he called answered. He didn’t have long to wait.

“Hello, this is Erin Riceman. How may I help you?”

“Ms. Riceman, I’m sorry for disturbing you, but I would like to ask you a few questions.”

“What’s that?”

“First, there is nothing wrong, but I am Opal’s father.”

“My Opal?”

Raymond grinned at that description of his daughter. “Actually, I thought she was Denver’s aside from being her own person.” He grinned harder when Erin laughed.

“Yeah, you got that right. What can I do for you, Mr. Morris?”

“Please, call me Raymond.”

“Alright, Raymond, what can I do for you? Call me Erin.”

“I’m going to get right to the point, Erin, I’m tired. I miss my daughter.”

“You’re always welcome to come here to visit.”

“That’s just it, I’m thinking of selling my practice to move to Fool’s Gold.

I’m calling you now to see if you have any positions available.

” The woman on the other end of the phone remained silent for almost a minute before she spoke.

Later, Raymond would recall that he had heard interest in her voice as they continued their conversation.

“What type of practice are you talking about?”

“I’m a lawyer.”

“What kind?” This time Raymond remained silent, and heard Erin sigh. “I already have two that are helping me with a case. One is a federal prosecutor, that has permission to work out of Colorado, the other was a criminal defense lawyer, but she’s now helping Jason.”

“Oh, I do estate planning, wills, probate, and if push comes to shove, I’ll advise, not represent, but advise about divorce. I’ve even taken on a few malpractice cases in my career.”

“Where are you located now?”

“North Carolina. I’m going to be honest here, Erin.

I’ve been thinking about moving closer to Opal for quite some time now.

I try to talk to her at least once a month, and honestly, I’m tired.

Because I’ve been thinking about moving closer to Opal and Denver, I’ve reached out about taking the bar for Colorado.

I have an appointment next week to fly in and take the test.” He paused, then sighed heavily and he switched hands and rubbed his other temple.

“It will take at least six weeks to get the results back. With your permission, I’d like to stop and see Opal while I’m out there. ”

“That won’t be a problem, just call me after your test. Here’s my personal cell number.” She gave it to him, then sighed. “I’ll be honest, I’ll have to talk with Ilsa and Jason, the lawyers, to see if there’s room for you. Even if you don’t practice law here in Colorado, I could always use hands.”

“Hands?”

“Farm hands. I have three ranches, and ranch number four is being built as we speak. Erin’s Way and The Broken Wheel are fully staffed. I need hands for New Double, and eventually RRR.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s going to be Riceman Rodeo Ranch. I would love to meet you when you come, Raymond.

We can talk with Jason and Ilsa, you can see Opal and Denver, and someone can show you around.

Hypothetically, if you pass the bar, and do decide to move out here, when are you talking about being here permanently? ”

“Four months. The exam is next month, then six weeks after that I get the results. I can finish up my life here, and be there in four months. Someone has been approaching me for years to buy my practice.” He chuckled as he picked up the proposal off the corner of his desk.

“He even sent me an actual proposal this time.”

Erin laughed. “Have you read it yet?”

“No, I was saving it for some light Saturday night reading.” They shared a laugh, and he sighed. “I’m going to tell you now, Erin, even if you don’t need a lawyer, I would like to come live there so I can be closer to my daughter. If you need me as a hand, then so be it.”

Erin laughed. “I’m so looking forward to meeting you, Raymond. One question.”

“What’s that?”

“Do you want me to inform Opal of your pending visit?”

“No. It’s not because I don’t want her to know, it’s just that I don’t want to distract myself before I take that bar in Colorado. I’m not a young man any longer.” He chuckled.

“I totally understand, Raymond. Again, call me after your exam, and I wish you luck. If you need anything in the meantime, please reach out to me. You can call the number you just did, or my cell, the number I just gave you. Oh, I don’t know what your living situation is, but if you come here to live permanently, then you will be provided with a cabin to live in.

It has two bedrooms, each bedroom has their own bathroom.

A fully furnished kitchen, including appliances, however, there is no food, you’ll have to provide that.

There is living room furniture, there is a fireplace, and a washer and dryer.

There are some dishes, but you might want to provide your own.

I have a storage building if you want to store your things there, or if you bring your own things, then we’ll store what’s already in the cabin in that building.

There is no pressure. I’ve had some people prefer their own bedroom sets. ”

“Is this cabin included even if I don’t take a job as a lawyer?”

“Yes. It’s for all my employees that work for me.

” She chuckled. “At first, I only had six women, five of them were former military, one a former rodeo rider. When the men started to arrive, I thought I’d have to have more cabins built.

However, love prevailed and they got together and moved in together.

I still have a few cabins left. I’m not saying you’ll meet someone, and move in with them, but if it happens, it happens. ”

“I’ve been alone since Opal’s accident. I had the love of my life with her mother. Melissa and her daughter, Amber, were just a weakness during my loneliness after the death of Opal’s mother. Trust me, I’m not looking for anything now. Besides I’m too old.”

Erin laughed, and it actually sent a thrill through him. Not for her, but for what she said next. “Never say never, you never know when love will smack you upside the head and you find your forever person.”

“Not going to happen.” They concluded their conversation, and Raymond felt better once he hung up.

He also realized his headache was going away.

The one he had had for weeks. He had gone to the doctor, but the tests showed nothing, and after several visits and tests, it was narrowed down to stress.

That was when the plan of moving to Colorado had started to form.

He didn’t want his daughter to get a phone call that he had collapsed at his desk due to a heart attack.

That eye-opening night, the night the doctor told him if he continued on the path he was going, he would be dead within five years, he started making plans to change his life.

He stared down at the papers he’d been reading before the alarm had gone off to remind him to make the call to Colorado.

Instead of returning to them, he gathered them, stuck them in his desk, and grabbed the pad with his lists of things to do before he moved.

He crossed off the line to call Erin, and studied it intently.

The next thing he did was grab the proposal, however, instead of reading there at his office desk, he tossed it in his brief case to take home.

Before turning the light off on his desk, he looked at his calendar for the next day, and realized that it was Friday, and he didn’t have any plans for the weekend.

He never did, at least not since his daughter had left to find her way in life.

After her horrific accident that took her arm, her fiancé, and military career.

He added another line of things on his to-do list, and tossed the pad of paper into his briefcase.

He turned the desk lamp off, rose, grabbed his suit jacket, and walked over to the windows.

Once he noticed the rain on the windows, he put the jacket on, picked up his briefcase, and grabbed an umbrella from the vase by the door.

The front office was empty, and he sighed as he realized he’d worked late again.

He couldn’t remember when his secretary had stopped telling him that it was getting late, and he should head home.

On the ride down in the elevator, he thought about what it might be like to work on a horse ranch in Colorado.

It might be relaxing for him, and maybe he could cut down on the stress the doctors warned him about.

He drove home by rote, and on the way, he called in his normal Friday night Thai order, and he didn’t know if he liked that they knew his name just by the sound of his voice.

He pulled into his driveway, and before he made it to his front door, the delivery driver pulled in, and brought him his food.

As usual, he gave the kid a generous tip, and took his food and briefcase into the house.

He sat at the kitchen counter, and instead of his normal two fingers of whiskey, he opted to drink water.

After dinner, he cleaned up, and decided to walk his house.

He went from room to room, and the memories of when Opal grew up there came rushing back.

When any memories of Melissa or Amber surfaced, he pushed them down.

As he walked the rooms, he made mental notes as to what he would do with the things in them.

Sell, donate, take, those were the only three words going through his mind.

When he reached the room that Amber had when she’d lived there, he slowly opened the door, looked inside, and saw all of her things, and everything of Melissa’s he’d thrown in there after they went to jail.

This room he knew would be tossed in the trash.

He didn’t know why he’d saved everything, but he now knew that it would be tossed in a dumpster.

He hadn’t realized he’d been taking notes on the pad of paper he’d been carrying, and he wrote the word dumpster, and underlined it three times.

He closed the door to the room, and went into his office.

By the time he went to bed that night, it was almost midnight, and it shocked him that he was able to fall asleep, and sleep peacefully for the entire night.

He hadn’t awakened several times during the night fretting about something, or unable to fall back asleep.

When he woke the next morning, it felt like he had a new lease on life.

The first thing he did after he made his breakfast was look up the number to have a dumpster delivered.

With the list of things he needed to do, his first priority was to read the proposal from the person that wanted to purchase his law firm.

Armed with a fresh cup of coffee, and the papers, he went into his office.

In his mind, when he sat behind his desk, he knew he would be in work mode.

He grinned as a thought struck him, and he sent a text message to Erin, not knowing if it was shock or admiration that she messaged him back immediately. With a nod, he settled down to read.

Three hours later, Raymond held his phone to his ear, waiting for the person he called to pick up.

“Richard, it’s Raymond Morris. I read your proposal.

” He didn’t beat around the bush when the other person answered.

He was never someone to hem and haw about a situation, and he wasn’t about to start now.

“Yeah, what did you think?”

“Good, except for a couple of sections. The wording is off.” Raymond read the wording as written, and shook his head. “If this stands, then the deal is off.”

“How should it read?” Richard asked.

Raymond read what he had written, and the two men went back and forth. Until Raymond shook his head, though it wasn’t seen. “Sorry, no deal. I’ll look for someone else to take the firm off my hands. I might even be able to see if the junior partners want to pool their money and buy me out.”

“Wait!” Richard shouted.

“Yes?”

“Fine, I’ll change the wording. Are you at the office?”

“No, I’m at my home.”

“I’ll get you a new proposal in a couple of hours. Expect a messenger service.”

“Have it delivered to the office on Monday. I’m going to be busy the rest of the weekend.”

“Can I ask you why you’re deciding to sell after all these years?”

“My doctors told me I’m facing a heart attack if I don’t step back and lower my stress. It’s time to go spend time with my little girl. I don’t know if or when it will happen, but I want to be around when the grandkids start coming.”

“I understand. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to buy you out. We’ll talk later, and I’ll get that new proposal to you on Monday.

” They rang off, and as soon as they hung up, the doorbell rang.

Raymond went to answer it, and went outside to tell the delivery man where he could drop off the dumpster.

As soon as he left, Raymond wasted no time cleaning out the one room upstairs that was long overdue.

He never even looked at anything, just grabbed boxes and bags and tossed them.

That night, when he climbed into bed, he felt lighter than he had in years.

He also had another great night of sleep, and didn’t move for seven hours, waking refreshed to start a new day, with a new look on life.