Cowboy's Baby

by S. L. Finlay

  "Can we have a meeting tomorrow?" I asked, "I need to go over some of the books with you, there's a few indiscrepancies that might make some sense to you."

  I approached with this line because Billy told me it was a good line to use, it wasn't blaming anyone even as I knew who to blame. It was just saying there was a problem we needed to look at. Perhaps I was wrong after all and the money had been spent somewhere else without being recorded, but I knew better after overhearing the conversation under the tree.

  The owner seemed disinterested when I told him and tried to wave me off before Billy reminded him that I was here for a reason and the owner shrugged and said he would be fine chatting about it, but could we make it an early meeting tomorrow? He was much too tired now to think about much, and needed a rest.

  I consented and the owner made his leave then.

  Billy and I shared a moment before going off to our own rooms. I was silently telling Billy to be there for the meeting and he was silently telling me he would. We had this conversation with our eyes, something I was very new to.

  We smiled and shared a kiss before heading off to our own rooms.

  Mama was the last one to bed, as she always was. When I left she was reading an old romance novel with a faded book jacket. She was always reading which made me smile. It was nice to not be the only woman here.

  I had to keep in mind that I had support here, even as I was about to do something that might not be supported by others, they did love me, of that I was sure.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  That night I had trouble sleeping. I was so worried about how what I was about to tell the owner would have a negative impact on the boys. Billy had told me that those boys had done the wrong thing and besides, it was my job to tell the owner these things when they came up. I had still been looking at options to move over to New York if this didn't work out anyway.

  I loved life on the ranch that it was so laid back here often it felt like time itself stopped. I also loved the closeness to nature and the seasons and the general atmosphere of being around different people as I worked on dull book keeping.

  But now here I was, dobbing one of those people in.

  I found the owner in the hallway outside the study, he had been pressing buttons on his smart phone, glasses on his face.

  I chuckled as I saw him, that expression older people always wear when they're confused by technology plastered on his face.

  "I was just tryin'a make a call." He told me, looking up to meet my eyes, "How do I do that?"

  Taking the phone off the owner I showed him and he had me show him the steps a few times before putting it away muttering something about making a call later before turning to me and asking me to show him the books.

  Billy still wasn't here, but figuring he couldn't be far away I started to show the owner the books. Mostly the owner didn't seem to mind anything about the books, nodding along to whatever I said.

  It wasn't until I took a deep breath – realising I would have to have this conversation on my own as Billy still hadn't arrived – and told him that there was some money missing from the books, did the ranch owner have any real reaction at all.

  "Missing money?" He asked, a little surprised.

  I nodded and confirmed, "Yes, there is some missing money."

  "How much missing mon-?" The ranch owner cut himself off as Billy entered the room apologising, "Sorry I'm late." Billy said in a rush as Billy tried to get himself in and seated quickly.

  The ranch owner looked at Billy for a second, obviously annoyed by the interruption, before turning back to me and asking again, "How much money is missing?"

  I swallowed hard before turning to my papers. I knew the figure by heart, but didn't want to tell him that figure off the top of my head.

  Reading the figure off the paper I snuck a look up at the ranch owner quickly and saw his stunned face looking back at me.

  "Is this a mistake somehow?" He asked.

  "Well, it could be." I said even as I knew it wasn't true, "It could be that money was spent and never accounted for."

  I flicked through some papers to show the owner where some money was made on the sale of cattle but that it didn't seem to appear anywhere else after it was made.

  The ranch owner carefully combed the books and saw exactly what I saw. He also knew more about the running of the ranch than me and would likely remember that sale, then remember each of these purchases afterwards. I guessed because no-one had laid the books out for him before, he never had an opportunity to see discrepancies.

  Now they were all right in front of him.

  The ranch owner asked me to show him each discrepancy and I did so, using a spreadsheet I had made myself that highlighted each sale where the money disappeared. There would be a few hundred dollars here and there, and up to a thousand dollars in one instance.

  Something about the list seemed to pike the owner's interest.

  "Leave this with me." He told me, "I think I know what this is."

  Before I had a chance to ask the owner what it could be, he was standing up and walking out the office door.

  Billy and I exchanged a look then there was a silence before he leaned in towards me, "I think he knows who it was." He said mysteriously.

  I nodded, aware that we could be overheard and asked in a quiet whisper, "How do you know?" I asked.

  "Don't worry." He told me, looking over my shoulder towards the door, "It's not our concern. Breakfast?" He asked.

  That morning I went to breakfast with Billy who dutifully kept my mind busy while quietly watching the others at the table.

  Then it was back to my day of work, only, most of my work here on the ranch was done. I realised I was mostly doing busy work so went to find Mama.

  "What do you need to help me for?" She asked.

  "I don't have much to do right now." I told her before catching the look on her face and elaborating further, "I need the go ahead before I do a couple things, and I have not had a chance to ask for that yet." I told Mama honestly.

  Mama looked me over before handing me a basket of freshly laundered towels to fold. We both knew I wouldn't be here much longer, that I wasn't needed. It was just a shame I had been so efficient in getting the work done before my deadline of a year.

  But new things would come up, the owner had told me once when he checked in over dinner. New things came up all the time.

  That evening when everyone came in, I would ask the owner if I could go on with some other work. That way I could get a start the next day rather than having to help with Mama's work.

  Mama's work was hard.

  That afternoon I spent doing chores around the large ranch home. I was assigned 'easy' chores, but even those were difficult in the heat: scrubbing floors on my hands and knees, doing plenty of laundry, helping prepare food, scrubbing the deck outside. I knew that Mama worked long and hard, but actually doing someone's job was different to just seeing her do her work. Actually doing their work and seeing just how difficult it is first hand is completely different.

  By the time the boys were coming in, I was watching them all closely. I wanted to know what had happened in their work day, if the owner had said anything to the boys, if Billy had been involved, or even if the ranch owner had pulled Billy aside and asked for his advice, or asked what Billy knew. All the possibilities of how trouble could come about were inside my head right then.

  The ranch owner hadn't asked why Billy had to be there when we had our meeting after all, if it were me I would ask that question for sure.

  I am sure there would be plenty of questions I would have if I were the owner, and as the book keeper, I knew a few of those would be levelled at me, and I was ready for it when the ranch owner told me he would like to meet in my office again the following morning, at the same time as our meeting this morning.

  Over dinner he told me this, and made a point to also tell me that he didn't want anyone else there, it was just a meeting for the two of us.

 
; Something in the way the owner said those words made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

  I knew I hadn't been doing much work, and that I was more disposable than the boys who helped him out and who he had a strong relationship with after he saw every single day.

  I consented to the meeting – what else could I do? – and got on with my dinner, trying not to think about the meeting the following day.

  I had wanted to talk to Billy that evening, but he had a few phone calls he had to make to his family. Apparently his grandmother had had a fall that morning he told me over dinner, which was why he was late to our meeting that morning. He had to call them to see how they were doing. By the time he was off the phone, I was fast asleep in my bed.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  The following day, I woke earlier than I had since I had been jetlagged when I woke up early every day for a week. Waking up too, I couldn't get back to sleep and wound up pacing my room, thinking about the pending meeting.

  I played through scenario after scenario, all of those in my head involved my being forced to leave the ranch and Billy and I being forced to break up. I didn't want to break up and it broke my heart to imagine it, to imagine having the swiftest of goodbyes as I headed off to New York or San Francisco or wherever dreamers go when their gap year spent on the ranch didn't work out.

  I also thought about how this would affect the boys involved. Despite all of us living together, I hardly knew a thing about them. I didn't want to be responsible for them losing their jobs, but I had to tell the ranch owner. It was wrong to steal money, let alone thousands of dollars.

  When I thought too about the boys who had been stealing, it didn't make a whole lot of sense. Those boys were always wearing old clothes, didn't do anything more than smoke cigarettes and drink beer on the weekends. I couldn't imagine what they spent the money on.

  My first day dreaming of them spending the money on drugs, or of them having drugs hidden away on the property somewhere didn't make sense. Of course if they were taking drugs, other people should know about it and if they were selling them it would make even less sense. I shook my head at my own nativity. I really didn't know anything about this stuff.

  But still, the stress was getting to me. I looked at the time and seeing that I had less than an hour left until our meeting, I headed for the shower.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Although I had been dreading the meeting, when I walked into the office to have the meeting I felt a calm go over me. When the ranch owner and I got talking I relaxed right away and we talked normally. I hardly spoke to the ranch owner usually (only sometimes at a meal time, and even then it was rare) but when I did speak to him, his easy way – and crazy sense of humour – normally caused me to relax. This was one of those times.

  First the ranch owner got me to relax with his jokes and easy manner, then he gave me the difficult news.

  "I was sad to see these numbers." He told me before his face shifted from relaxed to hard. "Because I didn't think you were that good."

  Something in the way he'd said those words didn't sit right. I cocked my head to the side and asked, "Sorry?"

  "You found my little syndicate, didn't you?" He asked.

  His response had me feeling even more confused than I had been before.

  "Your what?" As I said it, I could feel my brow furrowing in what I imagined was a pretty damned bemused expression, "Sorry?"

  "My Syndicate, my little group of gamblers." He clarified.

  "Your gamblers?" I asked, more confused than usual.

  The ranch owner who normally seemed too cartoony to be real was now laughing meanly at me, "Yes girl, I know what they've been doing, taking my money."

  "You do?" I asked, this wasn't becoming any easier to understand.

  "Yes, I do." He responded in a way that told me he was quickly losing patience with my questions, "I know what they've been doing. They've been doing it for years."

  "Okay." I said.

  "But see now, you gone and worked it out." He said menacingly, "You gone bought my boys into the light."

  "Yeah, I did." I told him, still a little confused by his reaction, but relaxing again. I couldn't stay at alert with him around that was for sure.

  "So what do I do about it?" He asked me in a voice that told me he already knew what he'd do before not giving me enough time to answer. "I have these boys who have been with me for years, then have been stealing from me all this time. I can't get rid of them, they're some of my best workers. We're also like a family here, it would be wrong to get rid of them."

  I wasn't sure it was my turn to talk until he was looking at me for a few seconds too long with a questioning look. He wanted me to provide answers. Was this all just some weird management practice I hadn't seen before? Was he about to get weirder?

  "Uh, I don't know. I just found the numbers and told you because it's my job to tell you these things." I said, sticking to the line Billy and I had used previously amongst ourselves before I came forward to justify what I was about to do. "I guess it's up to you what you do with them."

  "Up to me?" The ranch owner asked, "Up to me to decide what to do with these thieves?"

  I nodded slightly, unsure what else to do or say.

  It felt wrong to be having this conversation, but I ploughed on anyway, "I didn't want to tell you at the start, because of what it might mean. But-"

  It occurred to me that I hadn't told him who was in the wrong, "- but you knew there was a problem before, didn't you? I never told you who stole. If you know who it is, you've worked it out on your own."

  The ranch owners eyes were on mine for a good long moment, they looked big and sad. I could see how much he hated the position he was in and I felt sorry for him. I didn't envy him the problems he faced. It was a difficult decision: having to punish people who you not only worked with every day but who you also lived with and felt a special kind of kindship with as well. Whatever happened, it would upset a few people. Depending on how severe the punishment, it could upset a lot of people.

  Everyone was so close, they were like one of those desk ornaments with the metal balls, when you pulled one away to hit the others with it, it caused a chain reaction through all the balls until another ball on the other side popped out with enough force to come back and hit the others to cause the whole reaction again, and again and again.

  I wouldn't want to manage these people who were close enough to sometimes appear almost like brothers.

  But here I was, in the position where I had to tell someone else it was time to discipline them, and that they had done wrong, and it wasn't a good feeling.

  I sighed and shrugged my shoulders. I had no answers. I didn't even know how he knew who it was. He must have known about this problem already, but been avoiding dealing with it, now his book keeper and one of his favourite cowboys knew what was up, he had to act.

  "I'm going to go work those boys out, you come with me." He told me.

  My eyes must have been as wide as saucers when he said those words, but I didn't protest, and the owner didn't give me a chance to protest anyway, he simply motioned for me to follow.

  When we entered the breakfast area, I was on the ranchers heels. He drew to a stop then spotted the group who had caused all of this trouble in the first place.

  The dining area was full of guys milling around waiting for breakfast to begin. Mama must be running late this morning as she always had everything out early.

  I didn't catch the first part of what the ranch owner said, but it must have been something pretty big as everyone was looking at us now, and the boys were even more engaged by the ranch owner's sudden appearance and facial expression than everyone else.

  I swallowed hard as I heard the ranch owner telling the boys he knew what they had been doing. I could hear the betrayal in his voice, he seemed so earnestly hurt by their behaviour that I felt awful for him. I also felt awful for being the person who told him about the missing money.

  Lookin
g around the room I could see all eyes were on the ranch owner and myself and felt conspicuous as I listened to the ranch owner.

  "You've been with me for years, boys. And this whole time you've been stealing my money!" His voice was shaking, he was angry and hurt.

  I wouldn't want to mess with him right now.

  Evidently, no-one else wanted to either.

  They all respected the ranch owner, but this was more than that. Everyone was shocked by what they were hearing. The ranch owner was accusing some of their own of stealing, he was telling them how he'd known they had been taking his money for years but now he knew how they had been doing it, and to what extent.

  It crossed my mind that perhaps part of the reason no-one had bothered with doing the books here was because the ranch owner didn't want to get anyone in here who would find what these boys had done.

  The ranch owner was winding up his monologue by telling the boys that they "Ought to find the door before I kick ya'll through it!"

  At those words, I felt something from behind me. A pair of arms wrapped themselves around me and pulled me away from the spectacle. Those same arms took me away before I even knew what was happening.

  Then, from behind me it wasn't just the ranch owner's voice but other voices too, the boys accused had something to say, and they weren't quiet about it as they yelled their response to the ranch owner's allegations.

  The arms that dragged me were of course Billy's. He was taking me to my own room and didn't stop until the door was locked behind us.

  "Pack your things." He told me motioning around the room at my stuff everywhere, "This isn't going to be pretty and you have to be ready to leave."

  "Ready to leave?" I asked, shocked. I had been preparing for this mentally but wasn't ready for it to happen quite like this.

  Billy nodded, there was no discussion. He stood by my door as if he was the thing between the outside world and my room, not the door lock.

  "Why should I leave?" I asked, "The owner has told them they have to go."