One Last Sunset (The Long Ranch Series Book 1)

by Prince, Michel

  “Because they were petrified.”

  “Of me? Little old me?”

  “The m and m twins don’t help.”

  “Any man not willing to take on a few male family members to prove his love for you isn’t worth the time.”

  “By thirty my curfew’s lifted, right?”

  “Thirty-five,” he said with a wink and slap of his gloves to her arm. “Love you, Mels.”

  “Love you too daddy.” He was right. Much as she hated to admit it. Sunny knew her family. It should be easy for him to say, “Hey I wanna date Mellie.” Then again, maybe he didn’t want to.

  She may have just been his best chance for ass last night and even that got disrupted. He wouldn’t even let her touch him when her brothers were around. She’d wanted to storm over to Walter’s this morning and demand an answer for why he’d fired Sunny’s dad. Stupidly, she felt she owed Sunny that. Her cousin had fired his father and yet, now she could care less. Much like he did. Caring less for her than she did for him.

  Why had she even bothered? Because she’d had some stupid crush on him since grade school? Worse yet, because when he kissed her she came alive? Well, better dead and respected than alive and shoved in a corner. She’d been shoved there her whole life and she wasn’t about to stay there.

  Heading back to her room the exhaustion that should have hit last night slammed against her in such a way she barely made it to her bed. Embarrassment could do that. Did do that to her.

  Two hours later, Monty was waking her. Family rule—party all you want on Saturday, just get up in time for service on Sunday. Ugh, now she really regretted her stupid crush. Nodding off during church wasn’t unheard of, but the punishment wasn’t worth the risk.

  There was part of her that felt church was the way her mother made her into a Barbie doll. Something about the outfits and her demand of being primped. Loretta ordered final approval and even during Mel’s most rebellious stage she’d kept herself proper of Sundays.

  The flowered sundress cut in a bit and made Mel think of a fifties housewife. With her short hair, she could totally pull off a pinup gal from then, but that would require crinoline and heavy make up. Two things her mother would not approve of…at least at church. Instead, she slightly outlined her eye and put on a muted eye shadow and lip gloss.

  Although it was true she did live under their roof rent free, it’s not like they’d approve any other situation. She never had a choice in the matter. But her father was right. She wouldn’t know where else to live. Unlike most kids at school she didn’t imagine traveling to Paris or living on the beach in North Carolina. Her dream may seem simple, but it wasn’t. She didn’t just want to be on the farm wearing a pretty dress and cooking stew for her husband when he finally got his work done for the day.

  “I see we’re ready to repent for the sins of last night.” Her mother scolded while latching a gold bracelet on her wrist. “Exactly how late did you get in?”

  “Eleven?” she asked with an arched brow.

  “Yeah.”

  “Your father said you two talked this morning.”

  “I was going to go talk to Walt about something, but decided on a few hours of sleep instead.”

  “You’re grown, but don’t lie to me. I won’t have that in my house.”

  “Think what you want.” Mel found the apple she’d been playing with still on the island and decided to take a bite this time. “What time did Miles and Monty get home?”

  “I know you are not trying to compare yourself to your brothers.” Her mother walked to the mirror by the door and checked her makeup. “They are older than you.”

  “We’re all legal age, they’re just guys.”

  Her mother swallowed hard and opened the door to usher them to the car where the rest of her family was loaded up like they were still in grade school.

  Melody wanted to be angry, she wanted to rebel against the consistency and family togetherness. If only it didn’t make her feel warm and safe inside. Crawling into the back between her brothers, she twiddled her thumbs hoping her mother would admit the double standard.

  “Seatbelt, Mellie, you know better.” When she clicked it, her mother nodded to her dad to start the car. Laying back, she lolled her head to the side and noticed Monty had a bruising on his cheekbone and chin.

  “Mom, did you see the boys have been beaten,” she tried to start something.

  “Not the first time, won’t be the last.” Her mother sighed while searching her purse for a mint. “They made it home, and not through the ER, that’s all the matters.”

  “Are you kidding me? If I came battered you’d ground me.”

  “For not being a lady. Melody, you have a reputation to protect. You’re a Long. That means something here.”

  “What are Miles and Monty? Chillicothies? Millers? Constantines?”

  Her mother sharply turned her head.

  Melody caught her dad’s warning eyes in the rearview mirror.

  “I am so sorry you were born into a family that has a history and standards. It was not my intention when I carried you for two extra weeks only to go through thirty six hours, seventeen minutes and twenty nine seconds of labor to get you out. I’d hoped to leave you by the side of the road, but you’re Tender Root royalty.”

  “Why don’t we convert to Catholicism and you can send me to a nunnery?”

  “You joke…the discussion has come up before.”

  “Ugh!” Mel groaned while her brothers chuckled lightly as they rolled into the parking lot for the Second Baptist Church in the center of town. When Mel was younger, she always wondered why it was the only Baptist church, but still claimed to be second.

  Youth group on Wednesdays was the only sanctioned activity Mel had growing up. The white church was traditional and reminded her of Little House on the Prairie. Her family had paid for the extension on the back that opened up the sanctuary and added classrooms for bible study. The real kind, not the Long kind.

  Her family sat on the left in three pews with MeMaw in the front, along with Clevon, her mother and father.

  She sat in the second row with her brothers and Clayton. Walter’s brood took up the third row and, as they took their seats, Mel turned to talk to Walter settling his namesake into the seat. “Walt,” she harshly whispered. “We need to talk.”

  “Right now?”

  “They’re just singing,” she chided, having never been one for the voice of the Lord as her mother called it. She liked the message, not the pomp and circumstance.

  “What do you need?”

  “Why did Race Parker get fired?”

  Her mother turned from the front pew and side eyed her. Next, would be the hush, followed by the slap. She was too old to be dragged to the back of the church and scolded. At least she hoped she was too old for all that. After the look her mother gave her, she wasn’t a hundred percent on that one.

  “That’s ranch business.”

  “I’m sorry, do I not have a trust fund that helps run and get fat off it. Not that I’m ever invited to the family business meetings.”

  “You’d just get confused,” Walt replied and pulled out the hymnal.

  “Why did he get fired?”

  “Hush up and praise the Lord before you end up meeting him face to face,” her mother snapped.

  The choir was to the point of clapping their hands and the parishioners were following along. A few, including her mother and MeMaw were standing with their hands in the air in praise. This was the point Melody became distant with the others.

  She turned and looked at Walter who shook his head at her to stop pushing. Fine, she’d stop, but he better hope he runs from the church or she’d tackle him. It had gone past her need to ask for a friend. She was part of the ranch and should be considered in the decisions. At least she would be told why things happened when she asked.

  The sermon was on Proverbs twenty two six, training your child in the love of the Lord and the family rules. Mel knew that chapter and ve
rse and she’d obeyed them all.

  “I’m sorry, mama,” Mel said as the preacher dismissed the congregation. “I wanted the answer to a question and I should have waited until after church.”

  “And what about in the car on the way here? How you acted? Anything about that?”

  “It’s not right that I’m supposed to stay some princess, untouched in a box.”

  “Your husband will be the one to touch you, child,” her mother said while smoothing out Melody’s hair. “And although I try to pretend he’ll be the only one, I was in college once too, so don’t try to act like you’re saving yourself while your brothers are man whores.”

  “So, you do admit they’re sluts.”

  “Child of mine, because I don’t acknowledge it doesn’t mean I’m a fool.” Her mother wrapped her arm around Mel’s shoulders. “Tell the truth, you keep the delusion your father and I have only had sex three times.”

  “Living in the same zip code as you growing up kinda nullified that dream.”

  Her mother chuckled as they joined the line greeting the preacher.

  Walter was making a hasty escape, but it seemed Loretta had decided to help her daughter out. “Walter,” she called with her sweet tones.

  Knowing he couldn’t escape if Auntie Loretta wanted him, he passed the baby to his wife Tina, he strode back to Mel and her mom.

  “Now, you two were interrupting my services today. Let’s make sure the issue is resolved before it becomes a bad habit.”

  “Yes Auntie,” Walt replied.

  Loretta went back to dealing with Pastor Bennedict.

  “Why do you care about Race Parker?”

  “I don’t, Sunny’s back for a bit and no one is giving him answers.”

  “Look, Race crossed a few too many lines. He’d come to work hung over then tried to beat off the headache with the hair of the dog.” Walt ran his hand over his head. “There’s a chip on that man’s shoulder that got worse when JT sold his share of the ranch. He got mad because he’s been working the ranch since before most of us were born.”

  “It’s a family ranch.”

  “Sunny’s family to us. Practically a brother. You know that. But he’s not his father. It’s partially my fault because I snapped on him saying his last name was Parker, not Long, and he needed to know his place on the ranch.”

  “You didn’t!” Melody replied as a knot formed in her gut just from the idea of saying something so hurtful to a close family friend.

  “It was wrong to say, I realize that, but he’d been snapping for weeks.”

  “That’s why you fired him, because he wanted to buy a share of the ranch.”

  “No. I fired him because he almost killed Nessa.”

  “My little niece Nessa?”

  “She shouldn’t have been wandering in the barn. Her mama sent her to get me. Tina was watching from the porch, but I wasn’t just inside like she thought. Race was tossing shit around having one of his drunken rages. I heard Nessa callin’ for me, thankfully.” Walter visibly shook from the memory. “We had a dozen or so cattle that hadn’t moved to the southern pasture yet. Race opened the gate to the barn and screamed at the beasts. He was going to get as many of our herd as he could loose.” Walt started flipping his keys nervously around his index finger. Biting down on his lips he settled himself enough to finish. “It was stupid. You know it and I do, but Nessa…I barely scooped her up before the animals ran her over. It took our dads and three other hands to round them up. I’d overlooked the drinking for years. Not that. He can say what he wants, but safety comes first. It’s not like he was good at his job anyway.”

  “Thank you for telling me.”

  “I have a feeling I’ll be telling Sunny the same story in a few hours. Clay said he’s looking for a job. He’s one of us, I’d never say no to him. Now, I just have to get creative since he’s stubborn and doesn’t want to heal.”

  Chapter Six

  On Monday, a report was sitting in the fax machine from the lab. Mel pulled it off and scanned the findings. Going to her computer in the lab, she began searching for caused and effect, level toxicity, and any speculations. “Did you see this?” she asked when Doc walked in from the back where the cow was boarded.

  “That the report?” he replied. “I got a call last night, they said they’d be faxing me the results.”

  She went through the results and they didn’t make sense. The hair was thick with petroleum. A strange substance since the hair showed ingestion patterns.

  “I’ll need you to go out there and take samples of the other heifers we inseminated,” Doc said. “If it’s the same thing we’ll need to test water, grass and hay. Maybe he got some bad feed. I just don’t know what could cause this. It’s not like Winston’s pour forty weight down their animals gullets.”

  “The levels are toxic from what I’ve found,” Mel said as she turned from the computer screen where she’d been searching. “You want me to go now?”

  “Yes, if it’s environmental we may have to test all cattle before insemination. I’m not charging people to come up dry.”

  “That will hurt the clinic, won’t it?”

  “Being an honest business… not in my opinion. These ranchers don’t live paycheck to paycheck. They live season to season. It’s much worse. One bad one can kill them. If we have to push back their breeding cycle a few months it’s better than them spending thousands to get nothing.”

  “All right, I’ll head out to the Winston’s now.” Mel went to get a tackle box they used as kit and filled it with sterile sample containers. She’d need more than usual as she printed up labels with the Winston’s account on it and some blanks just in case.

  Conrad Winston was nice enough to let Mel use one of his utility vehicles so she could go out into the pasture after she collected all the samples she needed from the barns. He was in his forties with prematurely wrinkled tan skin from having worked his family’s ranch that was almost as old as hers. With a bowlegged gate and lean hips, he was the quintessential cowboy. The bachelor of his family, he tended to deal with all the major issues.

  “How far out does your cattle graze?” she asked, seeing the men who’d been harassing her coming in from the field. Certainly, they wouldn’t try again, especially with Conrad around. No reason to lose a job over their need to torment her.

  “I’ve seen them as far as the ridge line. There are some yellow signs that show the edge of my property to the north.”

  “Okay, I’ll look for those. Is that where the creek runs?”

  “Yeah, I think that’s why they go out there sometimes. The grass along there is sweetest.”

  “Have you been nibbling on the greens?” she teased.

  “Just something my dad used to say. Maybe he did.”

  “Hola! Chica,” the one with a busted nose cooed as they passed.

  “How can he work with two black eyes?”

  “You just have to speak to Hector very slowly.” Conrad smiled. “Because he obviously doesn’t listen very well.”

  Mel stifled a smile as Conrad opened the gate for her to drive through. The ground was rocky and uneven as she bumped her way stopping occasionally to collect a sample or two. The yellow signs were easy to make out. Property of Federated Gas trespassing punishable by fine.

  As she collected samples from the creek, she felt like she was being watched. Fearing Conrad’s ranch hands, she turned to see a black truck on the gas company’s property. Inside she could see two people, but couldn’t make out if they were men or women. Either way, she felt a chill run down her spine and scrambled to finish her sampling.

  Melody decided to stop by the Long Ranch on the way home. Winston’s water source flowed down to their land and she wanted to see the extent of any pollution down stream. There was something about the smell of the water that worried Mel. Coming up to the main house, she parked and walked around back with her kit. Then a sight caught her off guard.

  Sunshine was hammering a few two by fours toge
ther wearing nothing but a pair jeans, his hat, and cowboy boots. Sinewy muscles rippled down his back as his bicep flexed and the hammer came down.

  The tattoo on his back and shoulders surprised her. A horseshoe was on his right shoulder blade while a cross with flames licking around the edges was down his back. Even from the back, she could see he had a cut at his hips that could only mean he had a V. Sweat beaded on his tanned skin and Melody forgot why she was there.

  “Sorry,” Sunny said after he caught her staring, and reached for a short sleeve plaid snap up.

  After he turned, she saw the full V and a set of abs she wanted to lick, until she saw the purple and green bruising on his ribs and belly.

  “It was getting hot and Tina said she was going to feed the kids. I didn’t expect anyone to catch me half naked.”

  “You are wearing your hat,” Melody mused. “What are you doing?”

  “Tina wanted a garden. This dirt is mostly clay, so I’m building planting boxes.”

  “Wow, that’s so wrong.” Mel crossed over to the shed behind the house. “I needed to take out one of the gators.”

  Luckily, for her one was available, but it was the older one that broke down most times. Plopping her kit in the flat back of the four wheeled machine, she found the key in rack and started it up. After three failed attempts, it finally roared to life. She was ready to pull out when she looked up to see Sunny standing in front of her.

  “That didn’t sound good.”

  “It’s purring like a kitten now.”

  “Or an asthmatic mountain lion. What are you doing?”

  “Getting samples. I’ve already collected from the Winston’s.”

  “Aren’t they thirty miles from here?”

  “Give or take. Now move it before this thing breaks down again.”

  “Let me go with you,” he offered.

  Melody’s heart fluttered.

  “Just in case it breaks down. I’m pretty good with these things.”

  “I got it started this time.”

  “Humor me.”

  “What about the garden?”