Page 64 of Saving Veronica
“Not really, why?”
“You have a four stall barn, and ten horses. I know you’ve been busy, and probably haven’t seen the weather, but they are predicting snow within the next week.”
“Shit,” Ronnie sighed, and rubbed her forehead. “I guess, in a pinch we could board them over at grandpa’s.”
“He’s full. So’s Johnson and Patterson.”
“Shit, I’m sure as hell not going to sell them. I wouldn’t get a plug nickel for them, not being completely broke.” Ronnie paused. “Do you have any suggestions?”
“I’m not sure what your finances are like, but I think with help from Gerald’s men, we can come up with a lean-to big enough for them to get out of the weather. You have to admit, this is the first time in their lives that they’ve been captive during the winter. No clue what they do out in the wild.”
“Probably make do as best they can.” Ronnie sighed. “Show me where you’re talking.” Together they walked out behind the barn, and she listened to her foreman and nodded several times. She liked the way he had thought of everything. At one point, she looked at him and sighed. “I like that idea, could you come up with some numbers for the lumber and labor?” After Hector agreed, she rubbed the back of her neck and sighed.
“What is it?”
“How we doing on feed?”
“Feed is good. Hay maybe difficult. No one around here has any extra to spare this year. However,” Hector said as he held up her hand. “I had put in calls to farmers and ranches in the surrounding counties.”
“And?”
“The paperwork is in the house office. I put it on your desk, earlier this week.”
“Oh, sorry, I haven’t had time to know what day it is, let alone look at my mail. Let’s go in and check it out.” Together, the two of them walked around the house, and in the side door that led directly into her office. She had the door put in, because Hector had refused to go into her house when she wasn’t home. This way he could go into the office and not bother with the rest of the house. Hector let her sit in her chair and he bent over and pulled the file. After discussing it, she fired up the computer and sighed. She could afford what they were looking for.
“How long do you estimate our current amount of hay will last?”
“If it was just Sarge, Paige, and the filly, I’d say all winter. But with the extra maybe until January.”
“Will grandpa let you use his trucks?”
“Yes, I already checked with him.”
“Okay, contact both these people,” Ronnie said as she pulled the top two quotes. “See if you can come get the hay this weekend.” She opened a desk drawer, pulled her checkbook and signed the top two checks. After she tore them out, she handed them over. “Just bring back the receipts.”
“Will do, Miss Ronnie,” Hector said. “I’ll get that quote for the lumber to you later tonight.”
“I won’t be here,” she sighed. “Finn Larson asked me out on a date, so I’ll be going to dinner with him. I shouldn’t be long.”
“No problem,” he smirked. “I’ll get it to you tomorrow, then.”
“Thanks, Hector.” As the man left, Ronnie studied the quotes for the hay, and got lost in the paperwork on her desk. At one point she leaned back in her chair and stretched, then gave a squeak when she realized it was quarter after six. She shut everything down and rushed to her bedroom. The first thing she did was go through her closet, and sighed in relief when she found a little black dress that Lorna had told her every woman needed. After digging through her drawers, she gave a laugh when she found a pair of stockings. With a set of black lacy undergarments, she headed to the bathroom.
Ronnie was putting the finishing touches of her makeup on when she laughed as she heard Captain. “AWK! Come in! AWK!” She hurried out and down the hall to the back door. She opened it and stared in shock at the handsome man before her.
“Hey.”
“Hey, yourself. I head Captain, but I didn’t know if I should enter or not.”
Ronnie laughed. “Yeah, it’s a new one. Grandma stopped by earlier this week, I knew she was coming, so when she knocked I called, ‘come in’, as you can guess, Captain caught on. Now, every noise he hears, whether it’s an actual knock, or my banging around in the kitchen, he calls, ‘come in’.”
Finn laughed and stepped in the house and grinned when the bird spotted him.
“AWK! Finn! AWK!” And the bird flew right to his shoulder.
Finn smiled and said, “Don’t shit on me.”
“AWK! Don’t shit! AWK!”
