Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 27632 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 138(@200wpm)___ 111(@250wpm)___ 92(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27632 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 138(@200wpm)___ 111(@250wpm)___ 92(@300wpm)
“Good.” I toss my tools in the back of the Gator and get in the driver's seat. Otis is slow, but I’m used to it and wait for him to catch up.
“You want to check out that fencing on the east side?” he asks as he gets in beside me.
“Yeah.”
Otis said I never like to waste words on small talk, and maybe he’s right. Why say more than a man needs to? I’m not one to chatter on just for the sake of it. I’ve got work to do, and I expect it to get done.
This ranch is over two hundred acres, and I’ve got a team of workers that make the place run. I could sit back and let them do it, but that’s not who I am. This land is in my blood, and it’s the reason I wake up before the sun and I’m the first one in the barn every morning. I’ve got some cattle and sheep that make enough money to pay the staff, but after striking oil when my grandfather was a young man, we’ve never had to worry about money.
When we get to the land by the stream, there’s a mama cow and her calf playing in the water. I grab my tools and go over to the fencing where something has knocked it over. Otis is slow to join me, but I wave him off when he tries to help. The old man doesn’t need to be out here lifting lumber when we both know his strengths lie in telling me what to do.
“Make sure you do that one from behind so it’s stronger than the way it was done before,” he says, and I shake my head.
“Pretty sure you were the one that did it before.” I do as he says because we both know he’s right.
“I was young and stupid once, just like you.” He laughs at his own joke as I nail the wood into place.
After I fix the fence, we both get into the Gator, but I don’t take off right away. For a moment we sit there and watch the baby calf with its mama drinking from the creek.
“Did you call that number I gave you?” Otis asks and I nod. “When is she supposed to be here?”
I check my watch and start the Gator up. “Soon.”
“You might not like that I found someone to clean your place, but you need it. That place is a pigsty.”
I grumble as I take off back to the barn and wave to the guys leaving for the day. It’s quitting time, and I know they’ve done all the chores before knocking off. I drive the extra trail to Otis’s cabin and let him off at the front so he doesn’t have to walk.
“Just try and be nice,” he warns me, and I look away.
“I am.”
“Okay then, try and be conversational.” He stands there staring until I shrug. “Clay, look at me.”
When I finally turn to face him, he’s got that look in his eyes like he’s upset. It’s the same look he gave me after my father died. “What?”
“You might think I’m an old lonely man, but I had your father and then you as family for all these years.” He reaches out and squeezes my arm. “Just don’t make up your mind too quickly, okay?”
My eyebrows pull together in confusion, and before I can ask what the hell that means, he’s gone. I sit there for a long moment trying to understand the ramblings of that old man and decide maybe he’s losing it. I put the Gator in gear and make my way to the big house. It’s the house my grandparents built after they got the land and struck it rich. It’s bigger than I need, but I think they’d hoped to fill it with children.
My grandmother died in childbirth and my grandfather never remarried. After my dad grew up he brought my mom out here, but she was a city girl and hated the farm the second she laid eyes on it. She ran out of here as fast as she could, but my dad made sure he got me in the divorce. Last I heard she’d remarried and moved out of the country, but I didn’t do much checking up on it.
The thing I love most about this house is the big wraparound porch that faces the sunset. My favorite thing to do at the end of the day is sit out here and watch the sky light up. I kick off my muddy boots and take a seat in the porch swing as the fall air turns crisp. I take my Stetson off and set it beside me as I brush the black hair out of my face. It’s so damn long it’s annoying, but I hate going into town for a cut.