Page 4 of Cole's Joy
Both women were lost in their own thoughts and while Lorissa followed Erin, Lois looked around the area to see whether she liked it or not. She knew she came with Lorissa to get a feel for the place, and she was happy for her granddaughter, but right now, she didn’t know if she’d have a place here. Before she could voice her concerns to Lorissa, they slowed down, and Lois frowned as they pulled into another ranch, or so she thought.
“What is this place?”
“Your guess is as good as mine, Nana. I’m not being mean, but I know about as much as you do. Let’s get out and see what Erin has to say.”
She parked, they exited the vehicle and stood there looking around. Lois was fascinated by the area. She didn’t know what it was, but being here felt like she was coming home, where being over at the cabins, she felt like she was just a visitor, or like she was on vacation. She turned and saw Erin studying her and she gave her a small smile.
“What is it?” Erin Riceman asked.
“It’s hard to describe, and I don’t want to offend you.”
“Lois, the only way you would offend me was if you didn’t tell me the absolute truth. I don’t offend easily.”
“Okay, but over at the cabin I felt like I was a guest, it doesn’t feel like home. But here, this feels like home.”
“I’m glad you feel that way,” Erin laughed. She turned to look at the two women before her and started walking backward as she talked. “A couple of months ago, my brother, Clark and I took possession of this ranch. There are three houses and five thousand acres. As soon as I heard about Lorissa and her farrier business, I immediately thought of her living here.” She had stopped and waved her arm to a building and they all looked.
“What is that?” Lois asked in confusion, but her granddaughter let out a small cry of delight and she went with Lorissa and Erin to check out what had made the younger woman excited.
“Are you for real?” Lorissa asked Erin, then turned to Lois. “This is a farrier’s dream come true. The fire pit is there, the bellows, the water bucket, the iron. It’s messy, and would need to have the area cleaned up, but it would be perfect for what I would need.”
“I thought so,” Erin said with pride. “See, the previous owner had lived here for decades. Not as long as us Ricemans havebeen here, but at least a hundred years. The family had always been farriers. I know I shouldn’t speak ill of the dead, but trust me, I am speaking the honest truth here when I tell you that Old Man Atherton was a mean-spirited bastard. Here’s the perfect example. He made his will out that if his living heirs didn’t run this business, and live on the property, for two years and two days after his death, then he would donate, at no cost I might add, all the land to a housing development.”
“NO!” Lois yelled, and held her hands out to try to stop Erin’s words. “That would be terrible.”
“I know. I don’t know whether this is luck or not, but the only surviving heir he had was a granddaughter. The second she moved here she came and asked me if I would want to buy her out once she worked the terms of the will. I told her yes, but to come to me when it was closer to the time. Thirty days before the end of the term, she came to me and we both went to my lawyer to draw up the papers. It took a little longer than we hoped, but thirty days after the terms of the will were met, I handed her a check for the purchase of everything you see here. First, there is the five thousand acres, and I can have my guys and men use that for hay and planting other things we will need to feed the horses. But not until they walk or ride the land to see what condition it is in. The only thing that worried me was what to do with the three houses. I didn’t want them to sit empty for much longer. I hate the thought of someone thinking they could squat in them, or break in and ruin them, like stealing from them, or tearing them up.”
“Three?” Lois asked in shock as she looked around with a frown. “I only see this house.”
Erin laughed as she turned to walk forward and had them follow her, talking the entire way. “It’s a little run-down, but with a little elbow grease, and determination, I think it can be brought back to its former glory.” They walked around the barnand Erin was looking directly at Lois as she spoke again. “I was thinking of you when I heard about Lorissa.”
“Me, why me?” Lois asked in confusion, then looked up and gave a gasp, then a small cry of excitement. She rushed forward to hug Erin, then she was off at practically a run to inspect the two greenhouses she saw.
Lorissa and Erin stood back and watched as the older woman first walked around the outside of the building, then went inside of them. They didn’t say a word as Lois actually pulled a small notebook from her purse and started taking notes. When she seemed to have her thoughts in order, she turned to Erin. “I can do anything with them?”
“Yep, you can clean them up to use them, or tear them down, I don’t care. Between you and me, I don’t have any use for them. Laurie and Duane told me that you used to have a nursery back home, and with the farrier barn, I thought of you for the greenhouses. On the other side of them is a double wide that you can use.” Erin stared walking and the other two ladies followed. When she stopped and pointed, both Lois and Lorissa were in awe.
“Clark and the men walked through the main house and the two doublewides, they didn’t find anything wrong other than needing a deep cleaning. While all the appliances are there, there is no furniture. You’re going to want to wipe down the walls, get a rug shampooer in there to clean the rugs, and just do a deep clean. Again, I haven’t been inside them, but Clark said there was nothing majorly wrong.”
“Can we go inside?” Lois asked in excitement and they made their way to the front door. Lois braced herself as she opened the unlocked door, but before she pushed it all the way open, she turned back to Erin. “Are there any keys?”
“Not that I have found. At the closing, Shelly only gave me a set of keys to what she called the main house. I don’t know if there are any inside that house.”
“Okay, and if you don’t mind, I’d like to replace this door with a more solid one. I’m not expecting trouble, but this door could blow in with a strong wind.”
“I agree,” Lorissa said, and they walked the entire house and when they met outside again, Lois was laughing.
“I’ll take it. I’m going to be brutally honest here. I was over at the cabin and trying to come up with a way to tell Lorissa that I wouldn’t be moving to Colorado with her or her mother. No offense to you, Erin, but that cabin and the area wasn’t for me. I felt like I wouldn’t have anything to do. But with these greenhouses and the ideas I have, I now want to move here.”
“Can you give me one example of what you want to do?” Erin asked.
“After I clean up the area in and around the greenhouses, then power wash the glass, I want to set up the benches and start growing herbs. If any of the women at Broken, or men too, want some, I can start plants for them. I start everything from seed, so it might be a year before I can get to them. However, they should last everyone a long, long time if they are taken care of properly.” She frowned when Lorissa started laughing.
“Trust me, Erin, I do not have a green thumb in my body, but Nana keeps me in spices. I’ve never run out of anything since I moved out of mom’s house at the age of eighteen. I mean Nana takes whatever she needs from the plant, dries it out, then grinds it up for me. I’m talking basil, oregano, rosemary, parsley, thyme, you name it, she can grow it.”
“Really? What about other things?” Erin asked in fascination. “I might want to buy some off you, I know how expensive it’s getting in stores.”
“If you follow my instructions, you’ll never have to purchase another spice in your life, unless it can’t be grown here. However, with the greenhouse, I think I can grow just about anything. I can start vegetable plants from seed and sell them to customers who want them.”
