Chapter 3 #2
“Sage, darling. How nice to see you.” Joann gave her a friendly hug and kiss on the cheek. “I hope I’m not interrupting. Lyle and I are going to Hilde’s for lunch.” The diner on Main Street was the most popular eatery in town and served amazing food for a fair price.
Not ashamed of being a little crafty and underhanded if a situation called for it, Sage smiled at the older woman.
“No, Joann, you’re not interrupting at all.
Actually, I was just about to ask Lyle if he wouldn’t mind waiting until July twenty-first for me to catch up on my mortgage.
That’s when I’m selling my next foal. Things have been a little tight since last year’s stillborn. ”
Joann hoisted her purse higher on her shoulder.
“Of course, Lyle will do that for you. We small-town folks have to stick together, don’t we?
” Out of the corner of her eye, Sage saw Lyle’s frown as he rolled his eyes.
But a false smile spread across his face as his mother’s gaze shifted to him. “Isn’t that right, Lyle?”
“Yes, Mother, you’re absolutely right.” Annoyance was in his gaze as it shifted to Sage. “July twenty-first is fine. I’ll see you then.”
Batting her eyelashes at him, she let him know she’d won this battle between them and didn’t care how she’d done it. “Thank you so much, Lyle. I’ll be here bright and early on the first.”
Not wanting to push her luck, she said her goodbyes and hurried out to her truck.
With gloved hands, Adam unrolled the wire fencing while Evan secured it to the wooden post in the pasture at the west end of the ranch.
They’d been repairing the old fence line for the past few hours, and Adam had removed his T-shirt a short time after they’d started.
He wasn’t used to the high Oklahoma temperatures yet, having spent most of the time since his release in the cooler northern states during the spring.
It wasn’t even summer yet, and the forecasters predicted the season would be hotter than normal—if today were a clear indication, they were probably right.
Earlier, they’d patched the barn’s roof where the storm that’d blown through yesterday had ripped off a few shingles. After that, they’d come out to the pasture to take care of the fence.
Glancing to his left, Adam noted they had three more posts to go. The ranch’s border collie, Benji, had taken a break from keeping the sheep and llamas grouped together, away from the temporary opening in the fence, and rested in the shade of the pickup truck the men were using.
The ranch foreman worked beside Adam silently, which didn’t bother him at all—in fact, it was a contented camaraderie they’d found together.
Quietness was something Adam had missed a great deal while in prison.
Even in the dead of night, there had still been noises of the guards walking around, doors opening and closing, and any number of men moving around in their cells, snoring, or talking in their sleep.
After his release, Adam had discovered his newfound silence at night could be louder than a bomb going off, and it had taken him a while to get used to it.
When Evan had approached Adam on the porch a few hours ago, he’d asked several questions about his background, which Adam completely understood.
After all, he was a stranger in town. During the odd jobs he’d picked up here and there, he’d been selective about how much he divulged about himself.
If he were only staying a day or two to do some hard labor before moving on, there was no reason to tell his temporary employer about his past. He’d shared pieces of it with a few people he’d come to trust, but never all the details.
He didn’t know why he’d come right out and told Sage, then Evan, about his incarceration and what had led to it, but it had felt like the right thing to do.
The foreman had said he would’ve responded to the situation the same way, although he couldn’t swear the man’s death would’ve been an accident.
Adam suspected Evan had exaggerated, but then again, no one really knew what they were capable of until they faced that kind of evil.
While on top of the barn, Evan had filled him in on the ranch’s history and how it had been in Mark Hammond’s family for several generations.
Two and a half years ago, Mark had ridden a horse up the ridge on the north end of the property, something he did several times a week.
An hour later, the horse returned without him.
Sage and Evan had raced out to search for Mark and found him unconscious on one of the trails.
He’d fallen from the horse and struck his head on a rock.
Mark had remained in a coma for a month, never regaining consciousness.
For weeks, there had been enough brain activity to give them hope, but his condition gradually worsened until the doctors finally declared him brain dead.
Sage made the heartbreaking decision to take him off life support and donate his organs.
Adam couldn’t imagine how difficult that must have been for her, especially with two young children depending on her.
“That should do it for today.” Evan removed his straw cowboy hat and wiped his face with a bandana he’d pulled from his pocket.
The fifty-nine-year-old man was in excellent shape for his age, but years working in the sun had weathered his skin.
“By the time we put everything away and wash up, it’ll be dinnertime. ”
“Sounds good to me. If your wife’s dinner is as good as her breakfast, I would say you’re a very lucky man.”
“Oh, I’m a very lucky man indeed, and it has more to do with just Maddie’s cooking. She was my elementary school sweetheart, believe it or not. I think I fell in love with her when I was eight years old, and she hit a home run off me at recess. There’s been no other woman for me ever since.”
Adam laughed as they loaded the tools and leftover material into the bed of the pickup. “Love at first bat, huh?”
The older man grinned. “Something like that, yeah.”
After Benji jumped into the bed, Adam flipped the tailgate up, then rounded to the passenger door and climbed in. Evan started the truck and put it in drive.
Mulling over what had occurred that morning, Adam decided to ask about it. “What’s with that rancher, Bart, whatever-his-name-is? I spotted you in the background with the shotgun. Expecting trouble?”
Evan snorted. “Well, honestly, the shotgun was for you after I noticed you walking up to the house. Can’t be too careful these days.
” Adam nodded his agreement. “But Bart Sherman is a different kind of trouble altogether. He’s been after the Hammond property for years, wanting to buy it from Mark, but there was no way that boy would’ve sold it—to Bart or anybody else.
Mark was born and raised here—he loved this land, and I don’t blame him.
Either you’re a rancher, or you’re not. It can be a tough life, and it’s not for everybody. ”
“So, Bart is just looking to expand his own ranch?”
“I guess so. He’s got the three hundred acres on the other side of that fence we were working on. Cattle rancher.”
“Hmm. Will Sage be okay, or is selling something she’ll have to consider?” He hoped not. “I don’t know much about ranching, but from what I’ve heard, more owners than not are struggling to survive.”
“It’s been rough. The ranch had been mortgage-free for a few generations, but after Mark’s accident, Sage had to borrow against it to cover the medical bills.
He was in a coma for a month before he died, and she had to split her time between the hospital and here.
Maddie and I did what we could to help, but the kids needed her too.
Even with their insurance and the money she borrowed, some expenses weren’t covered.
By the time she lost Mark, she was in a lot of debt. ”
Adam shook his head. One disaster after another, and somehow she’d kept the ranch going while raising two kids on her own.
Evan continued, “She’s been scraping by ever since.
The ranch brings in enough to keep going, but there hasn’t been much left over to build her savings back up.
Then this past winter, feed and hay cost more than usual, and in January, one of our best breeding mares died during a difficult birth, and the foal was stillborn.
She lost thousands of dollars right there, plus a mare whose bloodline had been part of the Hammond breeding program for years.
That was pretty much the last straw for her finances. ”
“But the ranch itself is doing okay?”
“Oh, yeah. Don’t get me wrong. Heaven’s Pastures is a good operation.
The Hammonds have been breeding Appaloosas for generations, and their horses have a reputation.
Sage already has buyers lined up for some of this year’s foals and shouldn’t have any trouble selling the rest. She just needs to hang on until that money starts comes in.
Once it does, she’ll be able to catch up on the mortgage, cover the ranch expenses, and finally have a little breathing room again. ”
Parking the vehicle next to the barn, Evan glanced at his watch.
“The stuff can stay in the truck since we need to work on some more of the fence line on Monday. Sundays around here are basic chores only—been that way since Mark’s folks first took over the place.
If you want to go wash up, dinner will be at five-thirty.
Just let yourself into the kitchen through the back-porch door. ”