“If you write something and don’t send it, what’s the point?”
He muttered, “That’s definitely the Oxford way of looking at it.”
All three of them waited for the truck and trailer to stop. Greg shut off the truck, and he and Beverly got out. A young man jumped out of the seat behind them.
“Hey, Greg,” Melissa said. “Hey, Bev. This is a surprise.”
Beverly was looking at Abby. “We came to a decision this morning, and we didn’t want to wait.”
Melissa and Cary stood behind Abby, their hands on her small shoulders.
“Just so you and Greg know,” Melissa said, “I am just now hearing about the letter Abby sent you. But just because I didn’t know about it doesn’t mean I don’t approve of Abby expressing her feelings in a respectful way.”
Cary put his hand on the small of Melissa’s back. “It was very respectful.”
Greg looked at Cary and Melissa. “You two seeing each other now?”
“Yep,” Cary said.
Greg and Beverly didn’t say a word.
Greg came to stand in front of Abby. “Princess, I’m sorry.”
“Mr. Rhodes,” Cary said, “she told you she doesn’t like that nickname.”
Greg’s face was tight, but he kept his eyes on Abby.
“You used to call Aunt Audrey that,” Abby said. “She told me. And now you say mean things to her.”
Beverly flinched, and Cary wondered if someone had called her princess in the past, only to discard the affection once its usefulness had run out. But worrying about Beverly wasn’t his job.
“I’m sorry,” Greg said. “I forgot. I will try not to call you that anymore, Abby.”
The back of the horse trailer levered down, and Cary heard hooves on metal.
“We brought Sunny,” Greg said. “He’ll be living here at the ranch with you from now on, and you’ll be responsible for his upkeep. The points you listed in your letter were all valid and very well thought out.” The corner of his mouth turned up. “I think I remember receiving a similar organized list from your father when he was around your age.”
Abby beamed. “About what?”
“About his desire to ride on the ranch without a chaperone,” Greg said. “It’s what made me think he would make an excellent attorney someday.”
Cary felt Melissa tense under his hand.
“But instead of doing what I expected,” Greg said. “He followed his own dreams. And if he hadn’t followed those dreams, we wouldn’t have you, Abby.” He cleared his throat. “And your grandmother and I would not trade you for anything.”
The young man in the Rhodes Cattle Company polo shirt led the tallest horse Cary had ever seen. He blinked.
Seeing Abby next to the Thoroughbred was enough to have him feeling as nervous as his mother. “Is she big enough to ride that horse?”
Melissa looked at him like he was crazy. “Yeah, it’s totally fine.”
“Sunny!” Abby ran over to her horse, who immediately lowered his head and nickered. She put her arms around his neck. “I missed you every day.” She turned to her grandparents. “Thank you. I promise I will take very good care of him. I promise.”
Beverly said, “We still want you to take jumping lessons. Antonio says you have so much potential and you’re a natural horsewoman.”
Greg cleared his throat. “Obviously it runs in the family.”
Melissa softened. “Thanks, Greg.” She walked over to Sunny and held out her hand for the big horse to sniff. “Hey buddy. How much do you like horse trailers?”
“He’s very comfortable in them,” Greg said. “And we’re paying Antonio to come from Los Angeles twice a month anyway. I suppose it’s just as easy to have him come here.” Greg looked around at the serviceable corrals.
“You know,” Melissa said. “I have an old friend in town who breeds warmbloods. She’s got a wonderful stable and training arena for her school. I’m sure we can work something out.”
Greg nodded. “That would be… good.”
“Maybe Audrey could come over and check it out,” Melissa said. “Make sure it’ll work for Abby and Sunny.”
Stu, Ox, and Emmie had wandered over, drawn by the spectacle of the giant horse in the front yard.
“Grandpa and Grandma, this is Stu—Mr. Hagman,” Abby said. “He works on the ranch with Mom and he has the coolest dog. Dex is almost as smart as a goat.”
Stu tipped his hat at the Rhodeses. “How you doing?”
Bev smiled tightly. “It’s very nice to meet you.”
“Well, Miss Abby”—Stu held his hand out to the horse, and Sunny immediately responded to him—“I suppose it’s a good thing we have three more stalls in that barn, huh?”
“Sunny, you’re going to meet so many new friends!” Abby hugged his neck again. “You’re gonna meet Moxie and PJ. And Magnum and Lucy. Uncle Ox, isn’t he the most handsome horse ever?”
Greg left Abby introducing Sunny to Ox and Emmie. He drew Melissa to the side, and she grabbed Cary’s hand to come with her. Greg cut his eyes toward Cary but didn’t say a word.
“I’m glad the ranch is doing well enough to hire some help,” Greg said.
“Tell your lawyers they can expect a check next week. It’ll be coming from my bank.”
“Melissa—”
“No.” She raised a hand. “I should have paid off the note long before this. If I’d known I could, I would have. It’s left this… thing between us. And it’s better that it’s gone.”
Greg crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the ground. “Fair enough.”
“I want you to take that house out of mine and Calvin’s name,” Melissa said. “If you want to put it in Abby’s name to do what she wants with it when she’d older, that’s up to you. But it’s not my house. It’s not my home. This place is my home, and it always will be.”
Greg nodded slightly. “Yes, Abby made that point in the letter she sent us.”
“Gifts aren’t gifts when they come wrapped up in strings, Greg.”
Greg looked at Abby and Sunny. “That’s why we brought the girl her horse.”
Cary rubbed Melissa’s shoulder. “Can I offer a suggestion as someone who loves Abby and sat with her while she wrote that letter?”
Melissa nodded. “Yeah.”
He looked at Greg. Then Melissa. Two very stubborn and opinionated people who would probably never see eye to eye in their entire lives. But Cary could also see the love on Greg’s and Beverly’s faces. They might have had their issues, but they adored their granddaughter.
He looked at Melissa. “I think you should let Abby get a phone. She’s a smart, responsible girl. It doesn’t have to be a fancy one, just one so she can call her grandparents directly without asking you. And they can call her.”
“But—”
“You’re busy, and she knows the three of you don’t always get along. She needs to be able to call them without asking you for permission.”
Melissa took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I think we can work something out.”
Greg smiled. “Thank you.”
“Just know that I will be checking that phone, Greg,” Melissa said. “No subtle suggestions about moving. No hints about school at Saint Anne’s.”
He held up a hand. “I get the idea.” He glanced over his shoulder. “She’s an extraordinary girl, Melissa. You’ve done so well with her.” Greg grimaced. “It kills me that Calvin can’t…” He took a rough breath.
Melissa dropped Cary’s hand and put her arms around Greg. The older man hesitated for a moment before he hugged her back hard.
“I miss him every day,” Melissa said. “But he’s here. He’ll always be here.”
God, she was tough. Cary watched her hugging the man who’d threatened her ranch and her community with his arrogance and selfish intentions. He was also the man who had raised Melissa’s husband, lost his own son, and loved his granddaughter fiercely. He wanted the absolute best for her, as m
isguided as his methods could be.
Cary asked, “Why don’t you and Bev and your guy stay for dinner? I promise there’s plenty of food.”
The groom was saddling Sunny as Abby held the reins. She was patiently explaining the differences between English and Western saddles to Leigh, who had come over to see what was going on. In short order, Abby was on Sunny’s back and Stu had ridden PJ over, mounting up so he could ride with the little girl.
“She’s surrounded by people who love her,” Greg said. “That’s the best you can ever hope to have for your children.” He nodded at Cary. “We can stay.”
“If it gets too late, the guesthouse is done,” Melissa said. “You and Bev are welcome to stay. It really turned out nice.”
“We’ll see,” Greg said. “The trailer has living quarters too.”
He walked over to the horse corral and stood next to Bev, the two of them watching Abby show Sunny around his new home. PJ was as excited as Abby. He was the most social of the Oxford horses and the only one Cary felt comfortable riding.
Melissa leaned against the fence. Cary put his arm around her.
“You changed the sheets in the bunkhouse, right?”
She smiled. “Yes. Definitely.”
“Good.”
Melissa leaned her chin on the fence post. “What did she write in that letter, Cary?”
“I can’t remember the exact words, but it was along the lines of what she just told you. She said she was angry at them for trying to hurt the ranch because it was her home. She was angry that they bought her a horse, but she couldn’t keep it even though she could take care of him.”
“She made a list for that one?”
“Five points with additional subpoints, including approximate yearly cost of feed and her projected income from goat-milk soap.”
“Yeah, that sounds like my daughter.”
“I can’t decide whether I should hire her or just hand her to the keys to my office now.”
Melissa smiled. “What else?”
“Just that.” He kissed the top of her head. “There was one bit that I remember exactly.”
“What was it?”
“She wrote, ‘If you take my home away, I will know you don’t love me. Your mouth can’t say one thing when your actions say something else.’”
Melissa let out an audible groan. “Oh, that’s harsh.”
“But true.” He watched Abby ride around the ring, strength, determination, and joy written across her face. “That’s your daughter, Missy. Be so damn proud.”
“I am.” She looked up at him. “I know why Abby thinks we’ve been in love for so long.”
“Oh yeah? Why?”
“Because of that. Because of what she wrote. Our actions were talking even when our mouths were arguing.”
Cary wrapped both his arms around her waist and leaned his chin on her shoulder, watching their golden girl gallop in the afternoon sun. “I love you, Miss Melissa Oxford. Thanks for always knowing where you are.”
Epilogue
Five months later…
“I hope you don’t mind the noise too much!” Melissa cringed at the sound of an electric saw as she helped a couple from Switzerland carry their bags from their rental car into the bunkhouse. “My fiancé and my brother are working on the deck, but I promise it’s only during the day and they don’t start too early. They both have day jobs.”
“I think we will be at the park most of the time they will be working?” the young man said. “So I think it will not be a problem.”
“Wow,” the young woman said. “Is this house very old?”
“It’s around one hundred years old,” Melissa said. “Fixed up recently, of course. It was here when my family first bought the ranch. When I was a kid, it was the bunkhouse for the cowboys. It’s been a guesthouse for a few months now.”
A hammer was pounding on wood, and Melissa could hear Cary shouting at Ox to bring him more screws.
The young man’s face lit up. “Real cowboys lived here?”
“You bet. This is a working cattle ranch. If either of you two ride, we can put you up on a horse and give you a tour of the place if you like.”
Both of them laughed.
“Oh no!” the woman said. “We are hikers only, but we will walk around if that is okay.”
“Just keep to the roads and you’ll be fine,” Melissa said. “And my daughter will try to show you her goats. All the soap in the bathroom and kitchen she makes from goat milk, and you’re welcome to take that with you.”
The woman looked around the tidy guest cottage. “This is very nice.”
Melissa, Joan, and Emmie had spent two months making everything in the old bunkhouse feel fresh and clean, with just a hint of California ranch. They’d painted the walls and trim, hung some of Cary’s best pictures of the Sierra Nevadas and the foothills on the walls, along with some original touches to make the bunkhouse feel like an updated, down-home hideaway. A line of old horseshoes hung over the door. They’d turned a vintage water pump into a lamp. And warm Pendleton blankets hung on a rack near the freshly blacked wood-burning stove.
It was March at the ranch, and the winter had been a wet one. From the bunkhouse, guests could hear the rushing creek flowing down from the mountains as the snow melted in the warming temperatures. Wildflowers were beginning to peek out in the meadows, and the orange trees spread the heavenly scent of their blossoms on the wind.
Traffic to the park had been steady, even through the winter, and once Melissa earned her first three reviews, the bunkhouse had stayed busy through much of January and February. If occupancy kept up, it was set to bring in as much as Melissa paid Stu, which meant Melissa could give him a raise or hire Leigh on the ranch permanently. Since Leigh was doing a lot of the guest welcome and cleaning, she was leaning toward the latter.
“Your nightly rate comes with dinner included,” Melissa said. “We serve that up on the porch about six thirty this time of year. And no food allergies for either of you?”
“No,” the man said. “We eat everything. We travel a lot.”
“Make yourself at home. My number is on the wall there, and make sure you put a pin in the map.” Melissa pointed to the hanging map on the wall where dozens of pins had already been added. “We love keeping track of where our guests are visiting from.”
Gold pins had already been stuck in the East Coast, the Pacific Northwest, Southern California, Australia, a few scattered across Europe, and even two in India! It was fun and Abby always asked a million questions if guests were up for a visit.
She handed over the keys and walked back into the trees where Ox and Cary were muttering back and forth about screws versus nails.
Once they were finished, a raised wooden deck would run along the creek, weaving through the trees, with a wide dance floor stretching into the small meadow near the bunkhouse and a pavilion near the creek. Ox and Cary were facing the creek, arms braced on a table where materials and plans were laid out along with Coke cans, a couple of beer bottles, and a stack of old paper plates.
“You guys good?” She glanced at the table. “You need a trash bag?”
“I’ll grab one in a bit.” Cary glanced at the bunkhouse. “They gonna complain about the noise?”
She shook her head. “Don’t think so. Dinner tonight, Ox?”
“Can’t. I’m heading back to Metlin in another hour. Emmie’s hosting book club tonight.”
“Tell her to bring more cards the next time she’s up. And those coupons. I’m out of them for the welcome baskets.”
“Sure thing.” He wiped his forehead. “Back to work. I want to get the rest of these brackets screwed in so we can put the last boards down tomorrow.”
She squinted up at Cary, who was wearing a loose tank top that showed off his arms. “Things are looking good.”
The corner of his mouth turned up. “You talking about the deck?”
“That too.”
Ox said, “Walking away now.” He di
sappeared around the corner, leaving Melissa and Cary alone at the creek bank.
Cary sat on the edge of the raised deck and spread his legs. Melissa stepped between them, and he immediately put his arms around her, sliding his big hands into the back pockets of her jeans.
“Hey, Missy.”
“Hey, Cary.”
He leaned forward and took her mouth in a long, lingering kiss. “You taste good.”
“I just ate an orange.” She breathed deeply, enjoying the sound of the water and the feel of Cary’s arms around her and the taste of his lips on hers. “Did you get lunch?”
“I did. Your mom brought sandwiches out.” He nudged her chin up and began kissing her neck. “I’m still hungry though.”
“Yeah?”
“It’s been a while”—he gripped her bottom with both hands—“since I had a really full meal.”
Oh, thaaaat kind of hungry. “Well, in two more months you’ll be able to have…” She started to go cross-eyed from the feel of his mouth on her collarbones. “You’ll get an all-you-can-eat… buffet.”
Cary snorted and stopped kissing her neck. His shoulders started shaking with laughter. “Did you just call yourself an all-you-can-eat buffet?”
“I admit that metaphor got away from me.” She had to smother a laugh. “But you get my point.”
“Two months.” His smile was slow and wide.
“Yep. Just two months.”
Since Emmie and Ox wanted to invite most all the same people to their wedding that Cary and Melissa wanted to invite to theirs, they decided to do a double wedding at the beginning of May. It wasn’t a fancy occasion, but Abby was getting a very fancy dress, lots of friendly people were coming, and there would be an old-fashioned Santa Maria barbecue with lots of beer.
Goat participation was still being negotiated, but the most important thing was that Melissa would be marrying the best man she knew.
It was exactly what she had dreamed of.
“You know, I was thinking about your mom when she brought out lunch,” Cary said. “Is she sure she wants to move? I don’t want her to feel like she has to move out just because I’m moving in.”
Grit: A Love Story on 7th and Main Page 24
