Page 3 of One Heated Summer

“Need a lift back to your ranch?” he asked.

“No…thanks. I have to see Mr. Hudson at the bank and take care of a couple of other errands in town. I’m sure I’ll be able to persuade someone to give me a ride.”

Jensen gave me a curt nod and climbed into his truck. As I watched him drive away, leaving me standing in the dust of Grantin, Texas, I couldn't shake the feeling that this was just the beginning. The beginning of a long, hot, and potentially very complicated Texas summer.

Chapter Three

Loud banging had me hurrying to see who was calling and what they might want. If they knocked any harder I feared the dilapidated building might surrender to the state of disrepair and collapse into a pile of rubble. I threw the door open and my foreman, Elijah, stood with his hat in hand. He appeared concerned. Or was he nervous?

“Elijah, is something wrong?” I asked, feeling the furrow between my eyes deepening.

“Miss Johnson, can we talk?” my foreman asked.

“Of course, come on in. I’ve been wanting to talk with you but the week flew past and it seems like I haven’t had the chanceto do anything other than introduce myself and say we’d catch up later.” I threw the door wide and stepped back.

Elijah crossed the threshold and made his way in the direction of the kitchen. He was obviously familiar with my home.

“Coffee? I just brewed a pot. I was planning to sand back the kitchen walls in readiness for painting and knew I’d need fortification,” I admitted

Elijah laughed, accepted my offer, and after placing his hat on the table he sat.

I placed two steaming mugs on the table along with a pot of sugar and jug of milk and sat opposite. After adding a dash of milk to my coffee, I took a sip and set it on the table in front of me, keeping both hands wrapped around the warm ceramic mug.

Elijah sipped his coffee, giving the impression he was contemplating how to articulate his thoughts.

“Elijah?”

“I know you’ve had a lot of stuff to go through, Miss Johnson, and it’s not like us men don’t know what needs doing, but…” Elijah swallowed hard before fixing his eyes on mine. “Me and the men had a talk.”

I stiffened. Surely they weren’t going to quit and leave me to manage the ranch on my own? Where the hell would I find others to replace them in the middle of Bumfuck, Nowhere?

When I stayed quiet, Elijah took another gulp of coffee and looked me direct in the eyes. “Bill used to help us a lot around the place but since he died, we’ve been having to pick up his chores, and it’s becoming too much, especially with the heat.”

“Do you want me to hire someone?” I asked, relieved he hadn’t come to the house to tell me they were all quitting.

Elijah shook his head. “Miss, this ranch can’t support the four men that are here, it’s been failing for a long while and the drought has made things a lot worse. Bill couldn’t see a light at the end of the tunnel which is why he took his own life. I loved your grandfather like a father, but he was a stubborn bastard and refused to take any advice. I figure we can only manage one more month if something doesn’t change. On top of everything else, we haven’t been paid for the past three months and it’s getting hard to survive. We talked about what needs doing and I’d like to explain.”

“Before you do…During the week I was kept busy wrapping up all the legal papers that required my signature so it wasn’t until the weekend that I got an opportunity to study grandfather’s books at length and see where the ranch is at financially. I saw you hadn’t been paid and yesterday morning I transferred money to your accounts as a priority. Betsy finally died when I reached town and by the time I caught a ride back it was late. I was coming to find you and let you know after I’d had a coffee this morning.”

Elijah tilted his head, looking confused. “How…isn’t the ranch broke?”

“Pretty much but I had a modest amount of money from a recent relationship breakup…my partner bought out my share of our home and business, and I also have a large inheritance from Mom and Dad. More than enough to pay you all, support myself, and keep the ranch going for a few years. Hopefully we’ll turn things around long before then. I need you to talk to me about what needs to be done apart from hiring an extra man which would severely impact how long we can remain viable.”

“Thanks, Miss…”

“Harlyn,” I corrected.

“Harlyn…Bill was set in his ways and refused to take any advice. He constantly blustered about always having run the ranch the same way since he’d inherited it from his grandfather. In the end, he wouldn’t…or couldn’t admit we needed to make changes and he saw ending his life as the best option. He was a stubborn, cantankerous old bastard but we all loved him just the same and it’s sad he preferred to end his life than let us help.”

“I didn’t know him but Dad used to say he was the most frustrating, arrogant prick one could ever meet.”

“Yeah, I remember them having one hell of an argument when he visited with you and your mom. You were only a little whippersnapper at the time. Your Dad wanted to come out here and help with the ranch. He had some great, innovative ideas, but your grandfather told him he’d lost any chance he had to ranch alongside him when he married your mother and ran off to start a computing business in Farrer.”

“I vaguely remember them fighting, I was about five at the time I think, but Dad would never say what caused the blow-up. I think dad missed his father and would have liked to heal their relationship.”

“Bill was too fucking stubborn to recognize Caleb only wanted to spend time with him and help. It was a sad situation and to be honest, I think Bill came to regret his attitude. After he learned of your father’s death, I found him in the barn sobbing his heart out. He told me he’d never get the opportunity to tell his son he was sorry and how much he loved him.”

“Why didn’t he reach out to me? Why didn’t he ask me to come out when I phoned him?”

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