The Rancher's Daughter (2 page)

             
Heath listened to his dad on the phone. He heard the wheeze in his cough again.  He wouldn’t be surprised if the old man hadn’t gotten pneumonia. Then there was all this talk about dying on the ranch, and not having anywhere to go when it was gone. It had him thinking.  “Dad what do you mean by When the ranc
h is gone? What’s going on?”  “
Oh it ain’t nothing to worry yourself over boy.  Ole Josey will come up with something.  The bank ain’t gone take it.  Atleast I hope it don’t. Now that ain’t nothing to concern you though, boy.  I just called to ask you about Christmas.” He knew he had put the seed into play and let it dangle before pretending to change the subject.  He hoped it would work.  He needed Heath here. Josey needed him too and he needed her even if they didn’t realize it.  He didn’t know what had happened between those two, but he hadn’t seen either of them happy since that day. 

             
He knew Heath had been saving up for his own ranch but this was home and he knew Heath would do anything he could to save it. He just had to find a way to get those two back together. “Dad what’s she, what I mean is How is…” he stumbled over his words.  It was always hard for him to talk about Josey.  “How is Josey?”  He asked.  Sam noted his stumble and he heard the tear in his voice. He heard him swallow the knot in his throat and then clear it. 

             
Sam really hated to do it like this.  He had been asking him to come home for some time hoping he would discover for himself the condition the ranch was in.  He answered his son “She’s tired to the bone.  She’s losing weight.  She doesn’t get enough sleep and I know she’s paying all the staff but herself.  She works from dawn to dusk and at night she sits behind her desk
until
all hours of the night, just staring at her paper work and trying to find a way to save the ranch.  I found her asleep at her desk the other morning still wearing the same clothes she
wore the night before.”  He was finally telling the truth and he felt like it was a weight lifted off his shoulders. 

             
Heath grew silent for a little while.  “I’ll be home for Christmas.” He said.  Sam heard the phone click as he hung up.  He hung up his end and with his elbows propped on his
desk,
he laid his head in his hands.  He rubbed his eyes and stood up.  He stretched, his old bones cracking in relief.  He turned to the door and strode out to the barn.  He was just checking on the young horse that, had been given to Hilary, when the lunch bell chimed up at the house.  He recognized Hilary at the kitchen door ringing the old bell that looked like the head of a longhorn.  He watched as a few of the men came running to the house from all directions.  He really didn’t know how they could afford to feed any of them anymore.  Oh well, his stomach was growling anyway, so he headed toward the house too.  He greeted Hilary with the tip of his hat before entering the door.

             
All the hands, gathered round the table hanging their hats on their chairs.  It had become a custom since Hilary came here for the men to now bow their heads and take turns saying a prayer before they eat.  It was J.W.s turn and he knew there was a lot to be praying about these days.  He listened, head bowed and eyes closed as J.W. prayed for rain and thanked God for the food and the hands. He also thanked him for keeping the land in his family for so long.  “Amen” they all said in unison.  He looked at J.W.   The old man was looking full of worry these days.  He hurt for his friend, but he would not let him know it.  He didn’t want J.W. to think he felt pity for him. 

             
“Hey Sam, you heard from Heath lately?” J.W asked.  He glanced at Josey before turning to J.W and answering.  “Sure, just got off the phone with him, before heading over here.  He’s worked his way up to foreman at the ranch he’s at.  Been saving himself up a little nest egg too, says he wants a ranch of his own.”  J.W. scratched his face with his index finger.  “Sure would be good to see him again.  It’s been a long time.”  “Says he’s coming home for Christmas” Sam said.  He heard the gasp as it escaped Josey’s lips.  He turned her direction and caught her with her mouth open.  She caught herself and shoved a piece of roast in it.  Everyone stared at her a minute and then J.W. spoke again, “Sure would like to talk to him about a few things.  Sure he can’t come any sooner?” Josey gulped down her roast and chased it with a glass of tea.  She nearly drank the whole glass. “Excuse me,” she said. She grabbed her glass then carried it to the fridge and poured herself another glass of tea. “He didn’t say.” Sam said.  “To tell you the truth, I was too scared to ask.  I haven’t gotten him home for Christmas since he left.  This will be a first.”  

             
Heath stared at the picture in h
is wallet.  He
held onto it for so long that it was ready to fall apart now.  It was a picture of Josey on her favorite old horse Legend.  It was just after she’d won a buckle at the Rodeo finals.  She won first place and he was so proud of her.  On the back there was a letter written in her handwriting.  At the very bottom, it said, “I’ll always love you! Love, Josey.”  After all these years, he still kept it and though he’d been with other women.  He’d never found one who got to him the way she had.  No one else had ever made him want to spend the rest of his life with them. 
Nevertheless,
that was a long time ago.  She was probably in love with some other man by now.  He never asked and his dad never volunteered any information.  To tell the truth he didn’t want to know.  He didn’t want to picture
her,
as anyone else’s Josey.  This way she would always be his.  He realized now that she was grieving and she probably didn’t mean the things she said.   He was blind to his own grief and refused to see it.  After being gone so long, it kind of felt useless coming home now and telling her he still loved her.  Especially since she was not the girl, he knew anymore and he was not the boy she knew.  They were both, grown now, no longer kids. 

             
He pulled his hat off and scratched his head.  There was a knock at the door so he put the picture back in its little place in his wallet and replaced his hat on his head. “Come in.”  His boss came in and sat down.  “Oh good, I needed to see you about something.” Heath said.  “I need some time off.”  “Time off, I can’t believe it. You haven’t taken a day off since you got here.  What’s done crawled up your hide, to make you get the urge, now?”

             
“Yeah, well it’s been a long time since I been home. My dad sounds bad.  He also seems to think that he won’t have a home much longer, on account of” he swallowed. “On account of, Josey’s losing the ranch.”  Just saying her name had been a challenge for him.  It also hurt knowing the place he grew up calling home might be gone forever if the bank got their greedy hands on it. 

             
Josey sat deep in the saddle as she chased a yearling that got away from the herd.  She turned it back to the herd.  The yearling joined the rest of the cattle and Josey took her turn at roping a calf and dragging it to the men who were on the ground with vaccinations.  It was then that an idea popped in her head. 

“Dad!” she yelled.  She looked around searching the men on horseback
until
she found her father. 
The men released the calf and Josey wound up her lasso and rode toward her father who was looking at her wondering why she was yelling. 
She could see that she had upset him by yelling.  She hadn’t meant to be so loud and anxious.  He would not scold her in front of the men and she knew it but she could see the look on his
face, which
said he wanted to. 
She galloped her mount toward him coming to a skidding stop. 
Old legend handled it like a pro.  “Sorry!” she said.  “I’ve got an idea.  I mean it probably won’t be enough to cover it all but it’s a start.” J.W. looked at his daughter who was now a beautiful woman in her twenties. His eyebrows questioned without speaking.  “What would you think about having an old time cowboy competition?  I know it’s not
very
common around here. 
However,
we could get a hold of some of our contacts in Louisiana,
West
Texas and Oklahoma.  They could send out some of their best cowboys. Folks around here would think it a treat to see something like that.  I mean think about it.” 

             
J.W. thought a minute.  “It might just work.”  He said.  Hilary rode over to see what all the excitement was about.  “Baby, can you get a hold of your brothers.  We may need their help with something.  Josey here has an idea that might help save the ranch.” J.W. reached out for his wife’s hand.  He rattled off what he needed to Hilary and she rode to the ranch pickup and got her cell out.  She found Willy’s number and pressed send.  “Will this is Hilary, I need you to get the guys rounded up.  We need
y'all
to get your butts up here.  We’re
going to
put on an old time rodeo.”  She had only recently told her brothers about their problems but they were not in a position to help even though they all wanted to desperately.  This would ease their conscience to be able to help the sister they were all so protective of and she knew she could depend on them. 

             
They showed up two days later with horses in tow and a million ideas on how to make it successful.  Sam had been on the phone with the foreman’s of ranches in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and one ranch up in Arkansas.  He had a few men and women lined up for the rodeo.  Although a date was not set yet, people seemed to be interested or they just wanted to
help
.  It didn’t really matter to Sam which one it was, as long as they showed up. There were a few others that needed to have more details first. 
In addition,
there were some who just weren’t interested. 

             
He called the ranch where Heath worked, and w
as told that Heath was not
there. 
He wondered where he was but figured the boss probably had him running around somewhere.  He asked that they give him the message and spread the word around to see if anyone was interested in competing. 

             
Later that night they were all gathered around in the ranch house living room discussing ideas.  They came up with a few good ones such as wild cow milking and mounted shooting.  They figured on a race and a roping event.  The ideas just kept coming.  Then they discussed what kind of permits and things would be needed and what to do about injuries.  They would have to line up an emergency crew that would probably cost money.  They discussed how much money they would have to collect at the gate and how many people they thought they could get to come.  They discussed how to advertise it.  They were on a budget and could only do so much with what they had.  It cost plenty of money to put one of these things on but hopefully they would make enough back to cover it and make a little extra. 

             
They hadn’t heard the knock or the door opening nor did any of them see the figure standing there in the shadows of the
hallway
listening to their discussions. “Where are we going to get the money to cover all that?” Josey asked.  “I hadn’t thought this through we can’t take out another loan.  This is crazy what are we
going to
do? Even if we put all our money together, we would probably still be short.  We’d have to sell some more of the stock.  Where else are we going to get the money?” she said. 

             
“From me,” Heath said.  Everyone turned in surprise at the voice of the man they hadn’t known was in the room.  The instant their eyes met Josey and Heath both swallowed and forced their eyes away.  The look that flickered across their eyes was enough to tell them both that they still longed for each other. Heath looked at his father and J.W. I have the money to put up for the event.  You can pay me back afterward.”  J.W. nodded his thanks.  Sam jumped up and locked his son in a bear hug.  Josey felt like the room was spinning. She excused herself from the room and Hilary watched her go.  She grabbed J.W.s knee and squeezed it telling him with her eyes, what she could not say aloud.  She got up to go check on Josey.  It was after all something only a mother could understand.

             
Josey was in the bathroom washing her face.  She was crying and Hilary pulled her into her arms.  “It seems all I do these days is cry.” Josey said.   Hilary rubbed her back and leaned back to look at her.  “You are just under a lot of stress.  This is a man’s world Josey.  Trying to carry the weight of a hundred people is not usually, what we women do.  At least not women like you and me.  You and I are the kind of women that work beside our men but never lead them.  You’re so much like me.  It’s amazing to me that you’re not my own flesh and blood. Even if we didn’t have this ranch, we’d still be that way.  I’d be a homemaker and you would be too, if you were married.  We are not meant to be business, women and that’s not as bad as
people make it out to be these days. Oh, I know I gave it a go with the horses. Truth be, told that was the only thing I wanted to do, until I married your father. There is nothing wrong with that.  We are the kind of women that puts our family, our friends and our homes before everything else. You are just overwhelmed.  Your father can barely get around some days and you have taken his role on the ranch.  You need a man to take up the reins.  And who knows maybe that man just walked through the front door.”