Needled to Death

by Sefton, Maggie

  “Boy, I don’t think he ever cleaned in here,” she said. “The dust must be inches thick.”

  “Hey, it protects the furniture,” Jennifer joked. “Take a look at this end table.” She pulled back the white lace cloth that draped across the top. “Looks like mahogany. And it looks old. Just like that one over there.” She pointed to a round table at the end of the sofa.

  “I don’t have a clue about antiques,” Kelly admitted. “We’d have to have an appraiser give us an idea.”

  “Don’t worry. The auction people have appraisers they work with. Believe me, they know antiques when they see them. I bet this place is filled with them.”

  “Auction? I thought you said I’d list it with a real estate agency.”

  “You’ll list the empty house. That means you’ll need to sell off everything inside. And from what I’ve seen today, these furnishings will bring in a fair amount of money.” Jennifer gave a firm nod. “Those antique dealers are all over estate auctions like fleas on a dog.”

  Kelly pictured strangers pawing through Martha’s treasured belongings. That didn’t feel right somehow. Martha wouldn’t like that. “I don’t think I want people poking around Martha’s house.”

  “They won’t. Everything’s moved outside. No one goes into the house except you and the auction people. I’ve been to several over the years. Believe me, they’re well organized.”

  “I don’t know,” Kelly hesitated, glancing around at the lifetime of Martha’s family memories. Even though they weren’t her memories, Kelly still felt protective. “I’m going to have to think about this whole idea. Something about selling all of Martha’s memories at auction . . . well, it doesn’t seem right.”

  “You could always put them in storage, I suppose,” Jennifer suggested. “Until you get a bigger place.”

  Kelly shook her head. “This is getting way too complicated. Sheep and alpacas are easier than this stuff. I’ll think about it later.”

  “There’s no rush, Kelly. Take all the time you need,” Jennifer said. “I’ll be outside finishing the pictures.”

  As Kelly headed away from the world of antiques and back to the stacks of paper, she noticed an enticing aroma wafting from the kitchen. Was that bacon? Kelly homed in on the delectable scent.

  There was Megan, mixing bowl in one arm, vigorously stirring something. “Wow, you really are fixing breakfast,” Kelly said in admiration.

  “Well, I found a lot more than eggs in the fridge. Then I saw all the flour and baking stuff in the cabinet and decided I might as well make a big meal. We’ll be driving around the ranch this afternoon, and we’re all hungry.”

  Kelly grinned. “You are something else, Megan. I didn’t know you could cook.”

  Megan looked up, a smudge of flour on her nose. “Oh, this isn’t really cooking, it’s just breakfast.”

  “Whatever you call it, it smells delicious, and you’re a lifesaver.” Sniffing the air again, she detected a tantalizing scent beneath the bacon. “Do I smell coffee?” she asked, salivating already.

  “I made a fresh pot. I’ve seen you without caffeine, and it’s seriously scary.”

  “I am forever in your debt.” Kelly made a deep bow, then poured herself a cup before she headed to the sunlit office.

  Jayleen was rearranging piles on the floor. “I finished sorting the alpaca certificates by date, and I’ve updated your sheep list with what we’ve got so far.” She set the clipboard on the desk, then pulled up a straight chair and straddled it backward.

  Kelly glanced at the list as she settled into the armchair. “This is great, Jayleen. It’ll make the rest of my search so much easier.”

  “I actually enjoyed seeing what you’ve got,” Jayleen said. “There’re some good bloodlines here. If you decide to keep those two males, I’d like to see what they can produce. If it’s half as pretty as those fleeces in storage, I may use ’em as studs. You set your price.”

  “For you, Jayleen, no charge.”

  Jayleen closed her eyes and shook her head. “Absolutely not. This is a business. You never let friendship or relationships interfere in business. I learned that from Vickie.”

  “She was a tough businesswoman, huh?” Kelly asked, curious.

  “The toughest,” Jayleen said as she looked out the window. “I remember when I was building my herd and didn’t have money for prizewinning studs. I asked Vickie if her stud, Raja, could mate with my best female. Just once. I was hoping I’d get some of those gorgeous colors and another female to sell.” A crooked smile twisted her mouth. “Vickie didn’t even take a minute to think about it. She refused flat out. She’d put too much time and energy into building Raja’s reputation to give away his services free.”

  “That must have been hard to take, considering you two are family and you’re very close.” Kelly could almost feel the rejection coming across.

  Jayleen shrugged. “I understood. Vickie worked damn hard to build that herd. Besides, she helped me in other ways. She helped me build my bookkeeping business by loaning me money to buy all the computer equipment I needed to start up. I always paid her back, though, with interest.”

  “She charged you interest?”

  “Sure did. Market rate, too. That’s okay. It’s business.” Jayleen gave a firm nod in emphasis.

  “Boy, she didn’t cut you any slack, did she?” Kelly said, trying to square this version of Vickie with Debbie’s account.

  “Hey, nobody else would lend me money,” Jayleen said. “I’d just come out of a rough patch in my life. Real rough. My credit was shot to hell, my job history was spotty. I had a chance to turn it around, and Vickie helped me do it.”

  “Is that when you came to Fort Connor?”

  She nodded. “Yep. I sold my house and took every dime I could to buy the place in Landport and start my herd. I bought two females from Vickie and saved up money for stud fees.”

  Fascinated by her story, Kelly probed, “Is that when you started the bookkeeping business.”

  “Yeah. I was working two jobs in town and barely getting any sleep. Vickie suggested I could replace the income from the second job with my own business. She loaned me the money to start. It was rough the first year, but it’s getting better every year.” Jayleen smiled. “I’m actually earning money now.”

  “I’ll bet Vickie helped you build your client base,” Kelly said, already knowing the answer but curious what Jayleen would say.

  “Absolutely. I couldn’t have built it without her. Thanks to her, I’ve got enough clients so I don’t have to work in town anymore.” Jayleen gave another one of her decisive nods. “It’s been worth every penny of commission.”

  The accounting lobe of Kelly’s brain perked up. “Commission? Who’re you paying commission to?”

  “To Vickie, of course. She gets a cut of every client’s total business. Plus I do her books for free.”

  Kelly stared wide-eyed at Jayleen. Whoa. She hadn’t expected to hear something like that.

  “Vickie told her friends about her arrangement with you, right?” she probed, watching Jayleen’s face.

  Surprise registered. “I guess so. I mean, she told me it was done all the time and not to worry about it.” Jayleen’s blue eyes became huge. “I didn’t do anything wrong, did I?”

  “No, Jayleen, you didn’t do anything wrong,” Kelly said with a reassuring smile. “But Vickie may have. She encouraged all her friends to use your services. And if she didn’t tell them about the commissions she received from you, then she was effectively getting money under the table off their business. Without their knowledge.”

  “I never thought about that,” Jayleen said, staring out the window. “Well, I guess it doesn’t matter now. Vickie’s dead.”

  Kelly stared out at the Medicine Bow range as it sliced rough and barren across the landscape. Treeless ridges, not like Colorado. She also noticed three horsemen near the barn. The guys had returned from their mini-cattle drive.

  “Hey, look who’s back
,” she said, pointing out the window. “Shall we go out and greet them? I’ve about had it with this paperwork.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Jayleen said, swinging herself out of the chair in one movement. “Say, do I smell bacon?”

  “Megan’s making a big breakfast, bless her. I wasn’t looking forward to explaining why the doughnuts were gone,” Kelly said as they headed for the front door.

  Jennifer was standing at the foot of the steps, camera in one hand, shading her eyes with the other. “Well, ah declare, the menfolk have arrived at last,” she said, drawl dripping off her tongue.

  Jayleen hooted. “Jennifer, you are something else.”

  “Well, thank you kindly, Miz Jayleen. I’m just hopin’ that young handsome cowboy isn’t too tuckered out by the ride. I’d like to visit with him,” Jennifer drawled as she sashayed toward the barnyard.

  Kelly and Jayleen followed after, not bothering to hide their laughter. “Which handsome young cowboy you talkin’ about, Miz Jennifer? I see two of ’em,” Jayleen teased.

  “Why, that sweet little ol’ Chet, of course. He’s the only one not taken.”

  Kelly jumped on that comment like a grounder to infield. “Hey, Steve’s not taken. He’s free as a bird,” she insisted. Jennifer ignored her, the menfolk clearly in her sights by now.

  Kelly motioned to Jayleen. “Let’s stand here and watch. Jennifer in full flirt is an experience to behold.”

  Jayleen chuckled. “Damn, that girl reminds me of me when I was younger. Lord, the trouble I used to get into.” She shook her head. “And the bad habits I picked up along the way. Along with the men. Picked up a lot of those along the way, too.”

  Surprised how forthcoming Jayleen was about her past, Kelly decided to ask the same question she’d asked Debbie. “Is that what I feel coming from Debbie? I sense she’s uncomfortable around you, Jayleen. That surprised me, since you’re all family.”

  Jayleen stared toward the mountains. “No surprise, Kelly. She remembers me from those bad times, when I was drinking.” She let out a sigh. “I was an alcoholic back then. An ugly drunk. Vickie was the only one who cared enough to help me. She’d come get me and sober me up, let me stay with her. And, of course, Debbie saw all that. I guess she’s never forgiven me.” Her voice drifted off.

  Kelly reached out and put her hand on Jayleen’s arm. “Sounds like you’ve put all that behind you, Jayleen, and built a whole new life. You’re to be congratulated—at least in my book.”

  Jayleen gave her a shy grin. “Thanks, Kelly. I’ve been sober ten years. You’re right, it’s a whole new life. Tough sometimes, but I wouldn’t trade it for those highs and lows like before.”

  Jennifer and the “menfolk” approached, and Kelly noticed that Chet was already ensnared in Jennifer’s spell. He strolled beside her, grinning boyishly, while Jennifer talked. Curt and Steve, however, looked like they were trying their best not to laugh out loud.

  “Back from the range, huh?” Kelly greeted them. “Those cows stand still long enough for you to count them?”

  “Nah, we brought ’em back here for you.” Steve said. “They’re your cattle. You can count ’em.”

  Sure enough, Kelly spotted black shapes coming across the pasture. Cow shapes, headed her way. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”

  Steve grinned slyly. “Curt and I thought you needed to spend some quality time with your cattle.”

  “Riiiight. Like I’m going to climb over the fence and start petting them. I’d just step in a fresh cowpie and mess up Ruth’s boots.”

  “You got nothing to fear, ma’am,” Chet offered earnestly. “Cattle are pretty docile unless you rile ’em up.”

  “Where’s the bull?” Jayleen asked, surveying the pastures.

  “Old Cujo is out there, ma’am. He’ll be in when he wants to. Now, he has a pretty bad temper, but I don’t reckon you’ll be patting him.” Chet grinned.

  “Why didn’t you bring in the sheep?” Kelly asked, peering into the far meadow. She could see the sheep grazing. “Sheep don’t scare me. I’ll pat them.”

  “We’ll see all the sheep you want, Kelly, right after we’ve had something to eat,” Curt said as he took Kelly by the elbow and led her toward the house. “Right now, we’re going to find those pizzas Chet’s got in the freezer. We’ve worked up quite an appetite out there.”

  “Any chance there’s a doughnut left?” Steve asked.

  “Nary a one, Mistah Steve,” Jennifer said. “Kelly ate them all.”

  “Did not. Scarlett finished off her share.”

  “Lies, all lies.” Jennifer fanned herself with the property description.

  “Sorting through those files really wore you out, huh?” Steve said.

  “Don’t start,” Kelly warned as they approached the front steps. “Nothing was in order. It was a big mess—”

  “Hey, everybody,” Megan called from the doorway. She’d found an apron from somewhere and looked positively adorable, standing there like she stepped right out of a magazine ad from yesteryear. “Breakfast is almost ready. Bacon’s done and the biscuits are baking. But I could use some help setting the table while I scramble the eggs.” Without waiting for a reply, Megan disappeared inside once again. The screen door slammed shut.

  “Did she say biscuits?” Chet asked.

  “She sure did, son.”

  “Oh, lord.”

  Kelly watched all three men race up the front steps, jostling each other as they crowded through the doorway, clearly eager to be the first one to offer his assistance to the cute cook. Imagine that, Kelly mused. Biscuits can beat out sex.

  “Well, I nevah.” Jennifer frowned, hand on hip. “I guess the way to a man’s heart is truly through his stomach.”

  Jayleen laughed. “Gals, we’d better get in there now before the menfolk eat it all.”

  “You know, after that breakfast, we should be running around this ranch, rather than driving,” Kelly said, as Steve’s truck bounced over the pasture.

  “I don’t think I’d get very far,” Steve said. “Not after all those biscuits.”

  Kelly laughed. “Yeah, I noticed you had your share plus half of mine.”

  “Hey, you finished the doughnuts, remember?” Steve countered.

  Jayleen chuckled. “You two are something else.”

  Kelly heard a certain tone in Jayleen’s voice but kept her mouth shut. What was it about people that made them want to pair others up? Like they were filling some modern-day Noah’s ark. Kelly wasn’t having any of it.

  “Have to admit I never did quite get the hang of biscuits,” Jayleen said. “I can grill up a steak and fix a mean chili, but biscuits? Never got the knack.”

  “You don’t need a knack,” Kelly teased. “You go to the refrigerator case in the store and buy them. They’re in little cans that you whack against the counter. They practically jump right into the pan, ready to bake.”

  After she stopped laughing, Jayleen added, “Kelly, you’d be running all day to see this place. Three hundred acres stretches quite a ways. We’ve been driving for an hour, and we’re still on your land.”

  Kelly stared out the window, amazed again at the amount of property that would soon be hers. She looked to the west. The Medicine Bow Mountains cut across the horizon, rough and rugged. The Sierra Madres and Continental Divide loomed behind, aching for winter’s touch.

  Martha was right. This land would make a beautiful natural area with its abundance of antelope and jackrabbits, coyotes and prairie dogs, songbirds and hawks, and all the myriad smaller wildlife that scurried and hunted in the day and in the dark. It would be perfect. But what would she do about the house? Would she section off the house and barns and sell them? Would she keep everything else as the natural area? Could she accomplish both? And what if they found oil and gas? What would she do then?

  She couldn’t think about all that now. She had her hands full wondering what to do with all the cattle, sheep, and alpacas. Should she sell some? If so, ho
w many? Cattle, sheep, or both? Kelly had already started thinking about keeping the alpacas after Jayleen’s enthusiastic description of their bloodlines. Plus, Kelly had to admit she loved those fleeces.

  Oh, brother. She forgot the fleeces. She’d have to hire Ruth to clean and mill and spin some of them. She’d give Mimi first choice of which ones she’d like to buy. Then she’d give a bag to Lisa and Megan and Jennifer and two bags to Burt. Oh, and a bag each to Lizzie and Hilda.

  Remembering the old nursery rhyme from childhood, she almost laughed. Baa, baa, black sheep, have you any wool? Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full. Kelly had much more than three bags, for sure, and recalled Ruth’s comment about selling them online.

  “You know, Curt’s wife, Ruth, said I could sell fleeces online to spinners. Do you think that’s a good idea?”

  “You bet you can,” Jayleen replied. “You should save any you want for next spring’s wool market, then offer the rest to spinners and weavers. Same goes for the alpaca fleeces. And I can help clean and spin some if you’re in a bind.”

  Watching Chet’s gray pickup turn to the right up ahead, Kelly figured they were coming up beside the sheep pasture again, which meant they’d circled the ranch as well as crisscrossed it twice. Spotting sheep in the distance, Kelly asked, “What do you think, Steve? How many of these cows and sheep do we sell?”

  “Curt and I are still thinking about that,” he said, steering around a low bush. “There’s some good quality here, so you’d get a decent price. Curt’s going to draw up a spreadsheet, then we’ll have a better idea.”

  Kelly stared at him like he’d sprouted horns. “Spreadsheet ? You’ve got to be kidding. For cows and sheep?”

  Steve grinned at her. “Modern-day ranching, Kelly. Get used to it.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Oh, great. More office work. That’s all I need. I already spend most of my life on the computer.”

  “You can always hire it out,” Jayleen suggested.

  “Great idea,” Kelly enthused. “I can pay you to do it.”

  Jayleen shook her head. “I don’t do cattle operations, Kelly. I don’t know enough about it.”