Picking Up the Pieces

by Carolina Mac

  Broken Spur Roadhouse.

  MISS Jane met us at the door with a big smile on her face. “Hey, my boys are here.” She gave us all hugs as we came towards the bar. “And who are these lovely young ladies with y’all?”

  Is Miss Jane pretending she hasn’t seen them before or was Laney lying?

  I introduced them, and said, “We’re here for dinner, Miss Jane, and a pitcher of Lone Star.”

  “Y’all go find a table and I’ll send Maxine over with your beer and some chips and salsa to get y’all started.”

  After the dinner special of barbequed sausages, potato wedges and cornbread, the waitress brought around the coffee pot and filled our cups.

  “That was so good,” said Jack. “Wish Logy could cook like that.”

  “I can,” said Harper. “I’m fantastic in the kitchen.”

  Jack grinned. “I bet you are—in the kitchen and in other rooms too.”

  After dinner, and the table had been cleared I ordered more beer because we didn’t seem to be leaving and heading for home.

  Clay got to his feet and asked Laney to dance. They were spinning around the floor when Miss Carson made a beeline for our table.

  “Nuts,” I said under my breath. “Here comes trouble.” Just the person I didn’t want to talk to.

  She leaned on the end of our table and tossed me a disgusted look. “For three broke cowboys, y’all are spending a lot of money on these girls here at the roadhouse.”

  “That’s my business,” I said, “not yours.”

  “I think you might have lied to me about your Daddy’s will, Logan McKenna.”

  “Might have,” I said. “But my Daddy’s will is none of your business. We don’t need any outside help with our ranch. Thanks. Just leave us alone.”

  “I was only trying to help three idiots get their lives together,” she snarked.

  “You better not be calling the McKenna brothers idiots, ma’am,” said Harper, her face flushed and her long mane of red hair swishing around her.

  “I call em like I see em, girly. Nothing you can do about it.”

  Harper drew back and landed her fist in Carson’s face. “You stay away from my boss. Hear me?”

  “Your boss?” Carson turned with her hand over her bleeding nose and hollered, “You’re nothing but a liar, Logan McKenna.”

  Dozens of heads turned in the roadhouse and all eyes were focused on me. I stood up and reached for Kate’s hand. “Want to dance?”

  “Sure do, boss.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Thursday, April 9th.

  McKenna Ranch.

  I woke with a pounding headache and regretted ordering that last pitcher of Lone Star. Been a good while since I’d been hungover, and I was the least drunk of the McKenna brothers. Jacky was snoring next to me and Clay wouldn’t be up until noon.

  Facing chores alone again, I pulled on my dirty barn jeans, picked up my boots and yesterday’s shirt and headed downstairs.

  Aside from Jacky’s snoring, the old farmhouse was quiet. As I descended the creaky stairs I smelled coffee and thought I was dreaming. Black coffee was what I needed, but I figured it was a long way off. Nope. Fresh pot on the counter with mugs and cream sitting next to it.

  It was a miracle.

  After I drank the first cup down black, I dragged my tired butt onto the porch and the dogs jumped up, happy to see me. The barn seemed a long way off, but when I got there and pushed through the barn door, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

  Lights were on and three gorgeous girls were finishing up feeding the horses. Stalls were cleaned out, the smell of oats, hay and fresh straw filled the air and the job was done.

  “Morning, boss,” hollered Laney.

  “Morning, girls.” I plopped down on a bale of straw and watched the three of them whiz around with brooms and shovels flying. It was another miracle. My second one of the morning.

  “What about the bulls in the pasture, boss?” asked Harper. “Are you supplementing their feed?”

  “Yeah, the spring grass isn’t too plentiful yet. I’ve got a stack of bales back there under a shelter.”

  “Laney and I can take care of that while Kate starts breakfast.”

  I nodded, feeling a little dizzy from all the female energy swirling around me.

  “Did you take time for a cup of coffee, boss?” asked Kate. “You look a little peaked.” She touched my unshaven face and a shiver shot up my spine.

  “I appreciated the coffee being made,” I said, “but I could use another gallon.”

  “Let’s get breakfast rolling,” Kate held the barn door open for me. “We’ve got a busy day ahead of us.”

  We do?

  I shuffled to the house trying to keep up to the beautiful girl three steps ahead of me and I felt like an old man. I’d let my physical workouts go to hell since I’d quit the rodeo and that was a mistake. I needed to be in top shape… in case…just because it was the right thing to do.

  Resolution: I’m going to start working out today.

  Kate opened the fridge and nodded her head. “Uh huh. At least y’all have eggs and bacon. I’ll put grocery shopping on our list.”

  “Uh huh.” I sat at the table with my pounding head in my hands. “You do that.”

  A cup of coffee landed on the placemat next to my elbow along with two Advil. “Thanks,” I mumbled. And when Kate made that gesture, I had an uncontrollable urge to jump up and kiss her. Instead I said, “I didn’t know we had placemats.”

  “In the drawer.”

  Kate was moving so fast around the kitchen I could feel a breeze. And what was she wearing? Did she wear perfume to the barn? So many things I didn’t know about cowgirls.

  As soon as the bacon was sizzling in the pan and the smell of it made its way up the stairs, Jack appeared in a pair of torn jeans, all bleary-eyed with his long hair hanging in his face.

  “I smelled breakfast.”

  “You smelled right, Jackson Browne,” said Kate. “Sit yourself down and I’ll get you black coffee. You’re in worse shape than your big brother.”

  “Beautiful women never got us coffee before, Logy. I like having them here.”

  I nodded in agreement as I admired the blue and white placemat I’d never seen before. “It does take a load off, don’t it?”

  Harper and Laney soon came bursting in through the screen door, laughing and talking and full of energy. Roused by all the racket and unusual activity in the kitchen, Clay made it downstairs in time for the tail end of breakfast.

  WHILE the girls cleaned up after breakfast, I walked into the little room off the kitchen I had decided would be the head office for the new McKenna empire. Four bare walls, it was nothing more than a storage room with possibilities.

  “What are you doing in here, boss?” asked Kate.

  “This is going to be my office.”

  “Okay.” She stood in the middle of the emptiness and took it all in.

  While Kate took in the wide plank flooring and the bare walls, I stared at her and took her in. Her long dark hair was behind her this morning, wrapped with a blue bandana that matched her eyes. Her worn blue jeans were snug and outlined every curve of her luscious body.

  I turned away so she couldn’t see how tight my jeans had become and stood in front of the one small window trying to think of something sane to say. “There’s not a lot of light in here,” I mumbled.

  Her blue eyes looked up. “No ceiling fixture. I’ll make a list of what you need. We can scope out used office furniture in Preston.”

  “Right, we have shopping to do.”

  “Don’t look so worried, boss. I’m here to help you.”

  Clay stuck his head in the door and said, “Cattle auction tomorrow at a bull-breeding ranch outside of Lubbock. The Mayfield Ranch. We’ve got to get there early and scope out the best stock for our purposes.”

  “Breeding good bulls is in the bloodline,” said Kate. “The cows are most important. You can always use sperm from prove
n bulls, but you have to have the right cows.”

  I raised an eyebrow surprised at Kate’s expertise. “I’ve been reading up since we toured the Wynne operation.”

  “For starters we’ll use Daddy’s three champion bulls,” said Clay. “See what kind of results we get from Presto, Thor and Crusher.”

  “Those are the bulls in the pasture field?” asked Kate. “Are they worth a lot of money?”

  “Daddy always said they were priceless.” I laughed.

  “We’ve got it made,” said Clay. “All we need are the right mamas, and we’ll get them at the auction. Those three bulls should be able to handle between fifty and sixty cows.”

  “That’s what I thought,” I said. “I figured we’d start with fifty primo cows as our test herd.”

  “Uh huh,” said Kate. “How’s your fencing?”

  “Needs work,” said Clay. “I’ll saddle up and check it out today.”

  I turned and said, “Clay, you’re in charge of fencing and corrals. Take one of the girls to help you sort it out.”

  “Always wanted to be a fencing specialist.”

  Walmart. Preston.

  I parked in front of the Walmart in Preston slightly apprehensive about the whole shopping thing. Daddy always did our shopping for us after Momma died and I’d hardly bought a thing for myself except for the odd pair of jeans and my hat.

  “You have the list?” I asked Kate as she led the way inside.

  “Yep, and I brought a pen too. We’re bound to need more than we wrote down. That was only a guideline.”

  “Wonder how much this guideline is gonna cost me?”

  Kate stopped and turned around to face me. “If you’re going to do this thing, Logan, you can’t cheap out and do it half-assed. That will get you nowhere and you won’t get respect from potential customers.”

  I nodded thinking she was right. I just hated spending Daddy’s hard-earned money. Hard-earned? Was it hard-earned? We didn’t know for sure where the money had come from. Did Daddy rob a bank that we didn’t know about? How did he manage to have all that cash to leave us in his will? Questions that might never be answered—ever.

  I took a cart and was a little fearful when Kate took one too. “Do you think we’ll need two carts?”

  “We will if we get a few bigger items for your office. You push the office cart and I’ll handle household and food.”

  “Got it. Lead the way. I’m not familiar with this store or any other.”

  Kate smiled. “Most men don’t spend much time shopping.”

  While we walked up and down the aisles I did some thinking. “I have to set up a payroll account at the bank. We haven’t discussed how much y’all are getting paid or any details like that.”

  “Yep, but when you figure it out y’all are supplying the bunkhouse and our food, so you have to take that into account.”

  “Right. Good point.”

  “You can check into other ranches to get a feel for it,” said Kate. “Call around, see what other ranchers are paying and you’ll get a handle on it.”

  I nodded and stopped while Kate loaded her cart with potatoes, carrots, onions and a couple of other vegetables I wasn’t familiar with. We moved on to bread and then meat.

  Kate had her cart three quarters full and I had nothing in mine. She pointed to electronics and that was our next stop. She talked to a guy who knew computers and I soon had one in my cart along with a printer, two packs of paper, a notepad, two packs of pens, a power bar, a mouse pad and a mouse. My cart was full with one stop.

  With our load from Walmart filling the back of the cab, we moved on to the used office furniture store that I didn’t know existed and inside of fifteen minutes the store guy was helping me load a desk, a credenza and a swivel chair into the load bed of my truck.

  Kate put the desk lamp she’d selected into the back seat so it wouldn’t get broken.

  “Want to go to the diner for lunch?” I offered.

  “Let’s do a drive-through,” she said. “We’ve got a lot of frozen stuff in the back seat.”

  “I forgot about that. We better not skip off for too long.”

  On the way home as we drank our shakes and ate our burgers, Kate asked some probing questions. “How come you quit the rodeo, boss? You were the best there ever was. Broke all the records and set new ones.”

  I lost my biggest fan and couldn’t keep going.

  “I lost a few events and figured I was past my prime. Time to let the younger guys have at it.”

  “You should practice up and give lessons. Supplement your income.”

  “I was thinking of getting into better shape, although not for that reason.”

  “What’s the reason?”

  I shrugged and told a lie. “Feel better. Have more energy.”

  “That too. You still have your rodeo horse?”

  “Bowie?” I smiled thinking about how much I loved that horse. “Sure do. I need to ride him more.”

  “You should get out there this afternoon and ease into practicing a bit.”

  “You’re right, Kate. I should.”

  I should do a lot of things I haven’t been doing.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Friday, April 10th.

  Mayfield Ranch. Lubbock.

  AFTER the girls fed us a big breakfast, including home fries—a welcome surprise—I drove to the cattle auction outside of Lubbock.

  Jacky boy and I were the designated cattle buyers, leaving Clay behind at the ranch to work with the girls on the fences. Hadn’t been a decent sized herd on our ranch in years.

  With the amount of Daddy’s money I was going to fork out of our bank account, we didn’t want any of our new mamas wandering off and getting lost.

  “Lot of people here already,” said Jack. “I thought we were early.”

  I found a spot and parked behind a long line of pickups. We hopped out and wandered closer to the crowd wondering what to do next. “Better get a bidding number, Logy.”

  “Wonder where you get them?” I glanced around feeling like a lost sheep.

  “I’ll ask,” said Jack. He talked to a couple of ranchers leaning against the corral fence and came jogging back. “On the front porch of the ranch house.”

  I headed for the house and as soon as I got close enough, I saw a lady sitting behind a little table with a stack of numbers in front of her. “I’d like to have a bidding number, please.”

  She poised her pen on the next line of her list of buyers. “Name, please.”

  “Logan McKenna. McKenna Ranch.”

  She glanced up with eyes slightly glazed over. “Any relation to Kenny McKenna?”

  “My Daddy,” I said. “Did you know Daddy?”

  She smiled. “Sure did. Your Daddy and your Momma both. Haven’t seen you boys since you were in grade school.” She stared and said, “You do look a lot like him, son. You need breeding stock for Kenny’s bulls?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “I heard he bought the three he never could ride when he retired. Some said it was only a made up story, but knowing your Daddy like I did, I believed it was true.”

  “Yep, it’s a true story, ma’am. We have the three that’s never been rode—Presto, Thor and Crusher.”

  “Those three are worth a small fortune,” she said as she wrote my name down and gave me a number. “You try hard for lot number thirteen, Logan. Super cows in that pen. I put them in there myself.”

  “Thanks for the tip, ma’am. I’ll bid on lot thirteen.”

  “You need help with anything, you call my number.” She gave me a card. “This is me, Maisie Mayfield.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Mayfield. Appreciate it. Me and my brothers are flying by the seat of our pants on this endeavor and we might have a few questions as we go along.”

  “You get yourself a good vet, Logan, and you won’t lose any of those precious boys when the mamas deliver.”

  “I’ll remember that, ma’am.”

  “What took you so long?
” asked Jack when I found him. He had seats for us in the auction ring.

  “Mrs. Mayfield knew Daddy and Momma both and she was friendly and helpful.” I showed Jacky the card. “We can call her if we’re stuck on something.”

  “That’s a plus. We’re stuck already and we ain’t even started.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, how we gonna know which cows to bid on? They all look pretty much the same.”

  “We’re gonna listen to the bloodlines and guess on some, but we’re gonna buy pen thirteen for sure. Mrs. Mayfield said to go for it.”

  Jacky’s eyes brightened. “She did? That’s mighty nice of her. I feel better already.”

  By mid-afternoon, Jacky and I had purchased the twenty cows in pen thirteen plus two more lots of twenty. Our next step was arranging trucking to our ranch.

  Several cattle truckers were at the auction looking for business and we took advantage of Mel Carter, a fellow Jacky knew from the Spur.

  “Yep, we’ll get those beauties loaded first thing in the morning and I’ll bring them straight on over to your ranch.”

  “Dandy,” I said. “That’s a load off. I’ll tell the girls to get ready.”

  Mel raised a dark eyebrow. “Y’all have female hands?”

  “Sure do,” said Jacky with a wide grin on his face. “Wait until you get an eyeful of those cowgirls, Mel.”

  He grinned. “That’s one delivery I’ll be looking forward to. I’ll be early.”

  Broken Spur.

  ON the way home, Jack and I stopped in at Doctor Lonnigan’s office to apprise her of our progress. It was late in the day and she was about to put her closed sign in the window when we stepped into her newly painted waiting area.

  “The McKenna boys,” she said without a smile. “What can I do for y’all?”

  “We’ve got sixty head coming in the morning and I’d like you to give them a glance in the next day or two, Doctor Lonnigan.” I gave her my best smile and she stood like a stone statue in front of me, unfazed.

  “Can do, Logan. I’ll put you on my schedule, and I’ll call before I make the trip to your ranch.”

  “Good enough, ma’am.” I touched the brim of my hat and turned to go but Jacky boy had other ideas.