A Place Of Our Own (Contemporary Cowboy Romance) (Texas Heat series: Book 3, Jim and Maddies story) (7 page)

Jim was just about to drive through the gates of the Circle O, when Red’s car came screaming down the drive with Andrew at the wheel. To avoid being sideswiped, he found he had to pull off the road in quick time. “Crazy bastard,” he said under his breath.

He drove up to the house to find Red and Penny on the porch, both visibly upset.

“What’s going on?”

“Oh, Andrew is having trouble facing a few home truths,” answered Red. “I expect he’ll need a few days to digest the discussion we just had about ethical business management. But he’ll see the sense of it when he calms down. He’s a good lad underneath but I think he’s been spending too much time listening to a few hard hitters in the Cattleman’s Association and its skewed his thinking to hell.”

“Well, he’d better not bring his skewed ideas in my direction. I won’t stand for him coming between Maddie and me again.”

“Sit down, Jim. Red, why don’t you go and take over the study for a while. It’s been a long while since I’ve had a good talk with Jim.”

“All right, I can tell when I’m not wanted. Come and see me, son, before you leave.”

“Sure, no problem, Dad.”

“So, Jim, I take it you’re pleased with being able to settle down with Maddie now?”

“Of course I am, Mom. It’s all I ever wanted.”

“Now don’t take this the wrong way, Jim, but I need to ask you why you left it to Maddie to make it happen? You’ve hardly been here for the last two years because you’ve been in such a funk and riding fences is the only thing you’ve been good for. Not that there’s anything wrong with riding fences, but it’s like you’ve been withdrawn from the world and suddenly you’ve joined the human race again.”

“I don’t really know, Mom. I guess I’d closed the door on having a future with Maddie. I had nothing to offer her and no way of buying a place of my own. It was hopeless, not to mention Andrew’s opposition to letting me buy part of the Circle O and his efforts to discredit me.”

“Well, I can understand how that made you feel, Jim, and being rejected by the woman you love is no easy thing to deal with either but I have to say, you went about it the wrong way. I’ve held off saying anything until now because you wouldn’t have wanted to listen, but now I have to say a few things to you. Now you have Maddie back, you need to keep her.”

“I have no intention of letting her go again, Mom.”

“Well, I’m pleased to hear you say that, Jim, because I don’t think that girl deserves anything less after what has happened. Look, what I’m trying to say is I think you handled what happened two years ago the wrong way and I’d be less than a good mother if I didn’t try to help you from putting yourself into that situation again.”

“I said I would never let her go, Mom.”

“Yes, you did. But what I’m talking about goes deeper. You’ve always been the kind of boy who doesn’t like to make a fuss when things go wrong. You’ve always preferred to go off on your own and let things sort themselves out. And that’s exactly what you did when things went wrong for you two years ago. But that’s not the only way to sort out a problem and I’m sure you have to agree it didn’t work.”

“But, you know I don’t like trouble.”

“Yes, but trouble is always going to be around the corner somewhere. Life happens. I blame myself for not setting you straight when you were a lad, but in a large family like ours it slipped through the cracks. Just because you fix a problem doesn’t mean another one won’t pop up, because it will and I don’t want you to fall into the habit of relying on Maddie to fix it all the time just because she can.”

“I don’t get it, Mom. What do you mean?”

“You’re a good lad, Jim, easy going and a hard worker, but sometimes you just have to fight for what you want and find a solution, no matter what. That’s not your way, but you have to start making it your way if you expect to keep Maddie by your side for the rest of your life.”

“But I couldn’t do anything two years ago because of Andrew.”

“I’d like to see you stop making that excuse. Andrew isn’t going anywhere and I’m sure he’ll keep pulling stunts because he’s the eldest and wired to think he’s the best. You have to learn how to handle things differently, not that I condone anything he’s done. What he did was wrong but your father and I aren’t going to be around forever to sort it out for you. You need to learn how to do it for yourself.”

“Well, I can see where you’re coming from but I don’t know how to do what you’re saying.”

“It’ll take a bit of practice, I expect, but you just need to understand that walking away isn’t always the best option, just because you’re reluctant to cause trouble. If you really believe in something and want it enough, you have to stand your ground and figure out a way to get it without ever giving up. A good way to put the process into action is to talk about the problem to someone else because sometimes, another perspective can help you to figure something out.”

Penny was trying hard not to sound critical and hoped Jim could understand her advice. She continued, “Besides, I don’t think I could bear to go through watching you turn into a depressed zombie again. It’s been like watching a piece of me slowly dying.”

Jim reached out and took his mother’s hand and gave her a rueful grin. “I’m sorry, Mom. I guess I’ve been so wrapped up in being miserable I’ve not given anyone else’s feelings a thought. And I understand what you’re saying. I’m going to give it my best shot, for you and Maddie.”

“You give it your best shot for your own sake too. You have plenty of backbone, put it to good use. Now, go and get your things and go start fixing up that cabin. I’ll come over for a visit on the weekend.”

Jim went inside and packed some clothes, thinking on what his mom had said. She was right of course, he did need to change his ways. It wouldn’t be easy, but he’d do it.

******

Andrew was angry and decided to stay in town for a couple of days. His father had just blown a great deal with the Dupont place and there was no chance of picking it up for a song now. Maybe he could try and buy it off his father at some stage in the future. What irked him the most was how his father had questioned his ability to manage the Circle O. That rankled because he knew he was the best ranch manager in the state of Texas.

Sure, he had to make tough decisions sometimes but that went with the territory. He was good at it and underneath he knew his father knew it too. But right now he was mad at his father for wrecking his deal. All he ever wanted to do was make the Circle O as big and as good as it could be. Nothing else mattered. His father felt that other things mattered though, like doing the right thing by family and neighbors.

And who cared about hurting Jim’s feelings? His brother knew jack shit about managing a ranch and what sort of a person spent two years riding fences and camping out in an old hut anyway? It just showed he didn’t know how to manage his life, let alone manage a ranch.

Andrew was hard pressed to decide what angered him the most, his father curbing his management activities at the Circle O, losing out on  the acquisition deal of his life, giving Jim twenty acres and the old cabin, or taking twenty acres to separate off from the Circle for a retirement cottage. Fair enough, it was only forty acres in total and not much in the overall scheme of things but where would it stop, especially if he had no say in how the Circle O was run any more.

No, he would have to do something about it and the first step was to regain his father’s trust. That should be too hard if he could get his father on his side again by asking for his advice and discussing all decisions with him. In the long run, that would be better than being on the outside. He wanted to run the Circle O, no matter what.

No one could stop him from having his own opinions though and that fool idea of running goats set him off laughing again. He couldn’t believe his father would support something like that, but he was. He must be going senile or something. Well, time would tell with that one too and he knew he’d get another shot at buying the Dupont place, if he was prepared to wait another year or two. And he’d be smarter about pulling off the deal next time. He’d do like his father did and take a contract and a lawyer with him.

The thought of buying the place off his father gave him something to ponder. It was one thing to offer a low price to a neighbor but he’d have to think carefully about how to do it to his father. Maybe it would need a different approach. No matter, he’d think of something. The Dupont sale was a done deal for now but the paperwork for separating and deeding off the two twenty acre lots was still a work in progress. Maybe there was room for him to do something there if he put his mind to it. There was a lot to be said for waiting for opportunities, after all.

Maddie woke up feeling refreshed from her sleep but regretted not having stayed awake long enough to have spent some time alone with Jim. She wanted him close enough to be able to exert a positive influence on him and not let him slip back into his old ways. He’d really impressed her with how he’d taken control of arrangements for turning Duponts' spread into a profitable ranch and for making the cabin comfortable. She wanted him to stay that way.

There was so much she loved about Jim, it fairly made her head swim but his tendency to shy away from trouble and let things work themselves out was a problem for her. After all, it was why she’d broken up with him two years ago. Instead of spurring him into action, he’d gone into a depressive funk she’d had to pull him out of. No matter how much she loved him, there was a part of her that wondered how long it would be before she had to step in again.

In Maddie’s mind, this was the only thing that had the potential to come between them and she decided then and there that she would do whatever it took to stop it. She knew she couldn’t change him but that didn’t mean he couldn’t learn some new problem solving techniques. With those thoughts running through her mind, she dressed and headed over to give her gran a hand with dinner and pick up some of her clothes to take back to the cabin.

When she arrived there though, her grandparents appeared to have things in hand. Francis had brought back flowers and dinner from town to celebrate the sale of the ranch with Jean.

“Just look at this, Maddie. Your grandfather hasn’t lost his romantic side and he’s brought a lovely dinner for us.” Jean was beaming with happiness.

“The flowers are beautiful, Gran. Roses always were your favorite. I came to give you a hand with dinner but it looks like you have it covered. I might just borrow the bathroom and pick up a few clothes from my room.”

“Sure, Maddie, and like I told you before, as far as I am concerned, this is your home and you are welcome here whenever you want.”

“Thanks, Gran. I really appreciate that. I think the lack of a bathroom and running water is going to be a problem until Jim can organize something. We’ll probably sit down tonight and workout how to move forward, but Jim really liked the idea of putting up a barn and putting a bathroom in the end closest to the cabin.”

“Well, just make sure you both come and take showers over here until you have something organized because it isn’t going to happen by tomorrow. The same goes for the washing machine. I don’t want you washing your clothes by hand.”

“I’ll take you up on that, Gran. I can live without a lot of things but a washing machine isn’t one of them.”

“Just take whatever you need to make yourself comfortable. I’m sure that there’ll be things you won’t even think about until you’ve been there for a few days.”

“You’re right about that. I can’t tell you how pleased I am that you’ll be able to stay on here. It’ll be so much better than being in town.”

“I wasn’t looking forward to leaving but so long as you don’t mind giving us a hand sometimes, I’m looking forward to seeing out my days here. Now this business with all the mortgages is finished, I know I’m going to sleep well tonight. Now, you should go and clean up and go and cook that man of yours some dinner.’

“Thanks, Gran, I’ll do that.”

******

Jim pulled up outside the front of the cabin and took his clothes inside and threw them on the bed, figuring there was time enough to put them away later. There was a note on the table from Maddie to let him know she was over at the Dupont house. He checked the fridge and noted that the beer was cold so he took one and went outside, wanting to think through how he was going to organize his life for the next few days.

He really wanted to organize his first herd of goats but realized some basic work on the cabin would need doing first. Running water and a septic tank were top of the list then there was some fence building and the matter of the barn. As he walked around the cabin, he realized that building another room onto the back of the cabin was something he could do for little cost and if he put an electric motor over by the well, he could pump water to a holding tank, which he could place on a tall stand outside the new back room.

Everything that needed water, like washing dishes, clothes, and people, could go in there and it’d save Maddie a lot of trips out to the barn for those essential tasks. He could get a prefab barn and still have a bathroom in there as well, but he wanted to make Maddie comfortable now. He wished she would come back soon because these were all ideas he wanted to talk over with her before he jumped in and did something that wouldn’t suit her needs.

As if he had conjured her up, she came through the fence, carrying a bag of what he assumed were clothes. He went over to her to carry the bag and gave her a kiss.

“I came back hoping you were still asleep because I thought of a good way to wake you up.”

“You’ll have to wait until later I’m afraid. There’s more to do than enjoying the delights of your wicked ways,” she teased him.

“Well, I wanted to talk to you, too, after I’d had my wicked way with you.”

He kissed the side of her neck, noticing how lovely she smelt as the scent of lavender soap wafted from her skin.

He offered her a swig of his beer and she enjoyed its cool passage down her throat.

“Take that one and I’ll grab another. I was just going to take the chairs outside so we could sit for a bit and talk through our plans. I want to get started, but not without you.”

They went in through the cabin’s one and only door and Jim tossed Maddie’s bag of things onto the bed with his own, before taking the two chairs and a fresh beer out to the back of the cabin.

When they were sitting comfortably, Jim started to tell Maddie about his idea for building a room onto the back of the cabin for tasks that required running water. “It would make sense to do that out here at the back and make it a good sized room with a porch running along the back of the cabin as well as along the front of the new room. You can see how much cooler it is on this side rather than on the front side of the cabin.”

“How would you organize the water though? The well is over there,” and she pointed out the obvious.

“I would put in an electric pump to move water up to a holding tank, which could sit up on a tower stand, outside the back of the new room. Gravity from the high tank would give us some water pressure too. Running the pump once a day would be enough to keep the tank constantly full.”

“It’s a great idea, Jim, and it would keep everything that needed water in the one area. Maybe a concrete floor, too, if it’s to be a full on wet area?”

“Yes. And I’ve been thinking about a toilet too. It wouldn’t hurt to put in a decent sized septic tank. It would mean I could put a toilet into the new room as well. Those things and a few repairs to the cabin would see us comfortably until I could do the major renovations. I want to go ahead with the barn too and I still think a bathroom in there would be a good idea. It’d be easy enough to hook up to the septic tank.”

“So you’re saying that, with those things in place, we could then focus on the goats. It means a lot to me that you want me to be comfortable, but I hope you’re not planning on working yourself to the bone to do all that.”

“I won’t. Not that I couldn’t but it would take too long if I did it all myself. I’m going to ask my brothers to help and Dad will likely pitch in too. They’re coming over early on Saturday morning to put a boundary fence around the forty acres. Michael asked me about if you’d like a picket fence around the cabin too, because if you would, he’s offering to do it.”

“That would look great. Yes, please. I was thinking about making a kitchen garden out here and was wondering how to keep the critters out.’

“Well, you can tell him on the weekend when he’s here. I’m also going to ask him to help build the new room with me. He’s really handy with the building type jobs. And for the barn, I’d like to go for prefab because I want to get a decent sized one and it will be a lot quicker than building it from scratch. I’ll ask Michael if he could see his way clear for some help with putting it together as well.”

“You know I’ll help too and there’s bound to be some jobs Frances can do. So do you think we have enough money to do all this right upfront?”

“Yes, so long as you don’t want a rock sized engagement ring, a fancy wedding, and a honeymoon in the Caribbean.”

“Not much chance of that as you haven’t even asked me yet.”

“Well, you can’t rush these things,” he teased. “I wanted to show you I could look after you first. You know I’ve been pretty hopeless the last couple of years and I don’t have a ring to give you yet.”

“Okay, then. I’m happy to wait until you’re ready, but you know my grandparents and your parents are going to give us a hard time about it.”

“Yes, but after we get settled properly, I’d like to ask you properly.”

“I’ll wait, I promise.”

“You know what would hurry the process along though?” He kept talking, without giving her the chance to answer. “Our respective families are intent on giving us things to make us comfortable so why don’t we make a list of things we actually need. Like in the cabin, for example, it would be handy to have a dresser with shelves and drawers so it’s easy to store dishes and utensils.”

“I see where you’re coming from. It would be really handy to have a tall cupboard we could put in the new room to keep the towels and sheets in. I could make a list and I don’t necessarily need brand new things either. Functional is more important.”

“Yep, you have the idea. Now, how about we go inside and see about dinner. I’m starving.”

They went inside, taking the chairs from the kitchen with them, and Jim pulled her lazily into his arms for a kiss once they were inside again. “I thought you said you were starving,” gasped Maddie, when she managed to break the contact between them.

“I am.” His eager lips claimed her mouth again and Maddie felt her body respond to his nearness, desire flooding her body as the kiss intensified. She loved the feel of his muscled body, hard and strong, fit from long hours in the saddle and physical work.

They moved into the bedroom, tossed aside the bags of clothes on the bed and began the age old ritual of love, each finding their equal in the other as their physical love took them into the bond of a joining that was equally spiritual in nature. Jim loved Maddie and silently vowed to heed the words of his mother earlier in the day and he would never again let anything get in the way of their life together. He would guard her with his life if needs be.