“I should be...glad?”
“Don’t you see? It gave you a backbone. You started your own business. You bought a house.”
“It was Father who should have been here taking care of the twins, taking care of you.”
“Yes. He should have. But he took off. Some men can’t handle stress.”
“And young girl can?”
“Callie, you’re right. You’re right about everything. I can’t justify what he’s done throughout the years, I can only ask you to forgive him and move on.”
“Forgive him? I don’t know if I can ever do that, Mom. Don’t you realize that I could have left with Reed all those years ago if he had been here to take care of you and the boys? I certainly would have kept in touch with you, but I didn’t go. I might have had children by now.”
There were tears in her mom’s eyes and Callie would rather have cut off her arm than make her mother cry.
“Mom... Mom...” Callie wrapped her into a hug and realized just how thin she’d become. “I didn’t mean to make you cry. I’m just tired and had a headache when I walked in. I just wasn’t prepared to see Father here.”
“I know that now, honey.” She tucked Callie’s hair behind her ear. “Get some rest.”
“Are you really going to let him drive you to your last appointments?”
“Why not? It’s the least he can do, so you kids can get a break.”
“Do you still love him?” Callie asked, holding her breath.
“I don’t like him, but I’ll always love the man he used to be. He gave me all of you.”
She squeezed Callie’s hand, but Callie hugged her close.
“I think I can understand that,” Callie said.
When Callie yawned, her mother got up from the bed and motioned for Callie to get under the covers. She laid her hand on the side of Callie’s face just like she used to when Callie was young. Then she turned off the lights.
“I’m sorry, Mom.”
“I’m sorry, Callie.”
* * *
CALLIE GOT UP at the crack of dawn, and her head felt full of cotton. She put the coffee on and went to take a hot shower. Looking out the window, she saw the sun rising in an explosion of yellow, golds and reds. It’d be a great day for the first graders to experience the history of their town, eat a great lunch that would be cooked by real cowboys. Then they’d be entertained by the Cowhand Band.
It’d be fun being on the other side of the tour.
Callie dressed in her oldest clothes and grabbed a box of rubber gloves along with various cleaning supplies. Then she packed an extra outfit.
After munching on some toast with peanut butter, filling her carafe with coffee, she drove to the Beaumont Ranch.
Callie always enjoyed the ride to the ranch. A fine mist blanketed the fields as well as the cows and horses that were grazing. The sunrise added a surreal glow to the countryside.
She turned right, drove under the Beaumont arch and went straight to the horse barn and parked.
To help Reed, she was going to clean the grill.
It was huge, with two lids and a separate smoker unit. Gingerly, she opened a lid. It was a tragic mess.
She got right to work, but was interrupted by the sound of the uneven stride of boots on the gravel path.
“Callie, what are you doing?” Reed asked.
“I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d help you out by cleaning the grill. You were right, your cowboys made a mess out of it.”
“That’s why I’m here. I was going to do it.”
She shrugged. “How? By hanging on to crutches?”
“I would have figured it out.” He smiled. “This is so nice of you, Callie, sincerely.”
“Seems like I have a lot of energy this morning, and I want to do something physical rather than mental.”
“You could always muck stalls,” he said with a straight face and then laughed.
“This is a morning where I wouldn’t mind doing that.”
“What’s on your mind, Callie? What’s bugging you? Your father?”
“My wha—oh, crap!” She stopped scrubbing. “How do you know?”
“Because last night, I saw him at the Cave Bar. He was playing those pull-tab things and scratching out lottery tickets.”
“Oh.”
“I was having a beer with Buck Delaney. Buck picked me up and we decided to grab a drink somewhere because I didn’t have any here. We were talking about our livestock, and I noticed your father—his Hawaiian shirt was hard to miss—but he didn’t see me.”
Callie kept cleaning with a vengeance. It felt good to use muscles that she hadn’t in a long time. She vowed to schedule some gym time into her calendar.
“Okay, Callie, stop.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “It’s fine. When they fire up the grill, they can burn everything off.”
She looked down. Her jeans were splattered, so was her T-shirt, and there was something on her cowboy boots. She brushed it all off.
“Callie, sit with me on that bench over there.” He pointed to the front row of dozens of rows of green park benches set up in a half circle. Six royal blue portable toilets were set up on a slight hill and looked like soldiers standing at attention.
Callie couldn’t believe that she hadn’t seen all that when she’d arrived. But she’d had only one thing on her mind: cleaning the darn grill. Maybe she should have screamed into her pillow instead.
Reed patted the space next to him. “Please sit and relax.”
She did and he casually put his arm around her shoulders. Callie didn’t protest, but she tried not to lean into him.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“I don’t know if I want to think about it.”
“But you are thinking about it. No one in their right mind gets up at dawn and says, ‘I’m dying to clean a barbecue grill. I wonder where I can find one?’”
She laughed. “I knew where I could find one.”
“It’s your father, isn’t it?”
“He was a big surprise when I came home last night, but what I didn’t like was my family making nice to him. Don’t they remember how it used to be?”
“You can’t forgive and forget?”
She shook her head. “He ruined my life.”
“But don’t let him ruin your future.” He sighed. “Callie, I’m no philosopher or psychiatrist, but that’s my opinion. That’s my barbecue grill philosophy this morning.”
“I like your philosophy.” She clasped his hand that was hanging over her shoulder. “Thanks, Reed. I think everything will be all right.”
They sat on the bench for a while, thinking. Then Callie stood. “Do you mind if I change in the house?”
“I ordered a cleaning service. They started with my room, so they’re probably done. You can change in my room or wherever else you can find. Mine is down the hall—”
“The last room on the left.”
Reed grinned. “Have we ever—”
“No. We haven’t. We preferred the riverbank.” She grinned. “That was our place. But I’ve taken the tour, remember?”
Another car drove in, and they waited to see who it was. “It’s my dad and his probation officer,” Reed said. “That was nice of Matty to drive him over, since Dad’s license was revoked. I was going to send one of the hands to pick him up, but Matty was on board already.”
“I would imagine that he wants to see how your dad does as a tour guide. And maybe give him some moral support.”
“I’ll be helping him, too,” Reed said.
Soon, Matty drove under the arch with the B on it.
Big Dan got out of the car, and Reed was there to meet him.
Callie loved to see Reed hugging his father. Big Dan had a grin that would outshine the sun,
Callie
watched for a while, enjoying the affection between father and son until Reed motioned her over. Reluctant to intrude on such a private moment, she walked slowly while the three men joked and talked.
“Come over here, Callie.” Big Dan said, taking her hand. “I always thought that you and Reed were headed to the altar.” He held out his hand to her, and as she was ready to shake it, he pulled her into a bear hug.
“I’ve always liked you.” He threw his head back and laughed. “How are you doing as our personal assistant?”
“Mr. Beaumont, I really like being your assistant, but don’t expect me to become your daughter-in-law. As for my job, I’ve been busy, but I love it.”
He raised a thick white eyebrow. “What do you like the best?”
“Being here is the best,” she blurted. “I love the ranch. I always have. If only the walls could talk, the history they could tell.”
“Whoo-ee! If you don’t marry her, Reed, I’m going to do it!”
Callie thought how there were shades of the old Big Dan Beaumont present, a larger-than-life cowboy and rancher who fell apart when his beloved wife died in his arms.
“Are you excited to get back to being a tour guide for the kids?” she asked.
“I’ve been looking forward to it. It’ll be just like the old days,” Big Dan said.
Callie stole a glance at Reed. That’s what he’d wanted, wasn’t it? He’d wanted his father to remember the good times at the ranch.
“Do you have a speech prepared, Dad?” Reed asked.
“I could talk about the ranch in my sleep. In fact, I probably have. Don’t worry about me.” He turned back to Callie. “Now tell me how your mother is doing.”
“She’s almost done with treatment, Big Dan. Thanks for asking.”
“Tell her to come up and have some lunch with the kids and enjoy some entertainment. I’d like to see her and get reacquainted. And what about your father?”
Her mouth went dry. “He’s in town for a while before he goes back to Tahiti. He’s staying at the Beaumont Inn.”
Reed shifted closer to her and slipped his arm around her waist as if to comfort her. She moved away because she didn’t want Big Dan to think that Reed and she were a couple.
Matty was strangely quiet and Callie got the impression he wanted to talk to the two Beaumont men alone.
“If you gentlemen will excuse me, I’d like to change, and I have work to do until the kids get here. I’d love to see them.”
“Sure,” said Reed. “You’ll hear the noise of the buses.” He checked his watch. “You have a couple of hours yet.”
“I’ll move my car to the parking lot,” she said. “And get it out of the way.”
As Callie walked away, she heard Reed say, “Really, Dad. Callie was here before dawn. I found her cleaning the barbecue.”
Big Dan answered, “Marry that girl, Reed. She’s just like your mother.”
* * *
REED FELT LIGHTER than he had in a long time. His father was like a new person, a happier person. He had several people to thank for his rehab, especially Luke’s new wife, Amber. After she’d arrested Big Dan three times for bar fights, Amber had taken the time to recommend to the sentencing judge that he would be better off in rehab than in jail.
Since he’d been faithfully attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, his father was looking better, too. He was looking huskier and he’d lost that sickly white color. Reed had his fingers crossed that the ranch Big Dan had abandoned three years ago would be his salvation.
“How about going to the diner for some breakfast?” Reed asked.
“Let’s just have coffee at the house,” Big Dan said. “And that’s only because Matty—I mean Officer Matthews—and I went to breakfast already.”
As they entered the ranch house, Reed watched as his father hesitated. Such sorrow was etched on his father’s face. Reed expected some of those lines to vanish when his dad was around the first graders.
He poured the coffee, and they all sat around the kitchen table talking about the day’s upcoming events.
Soon Callie came into the kitchen. She wore dark jeans, red cowboy boots and a pastel-colored, long-sleeved shirt. Her hair curled under but her bangs blew upward in the breeze as she walked. She had gold chain earrings that skimmed her shoulders. She looked hot.
“Big Dan, I’m going to get to work in your office. I have a lot of entries to make on my shiny new spreadsheets. So, excuse me. Matty, Reed, I’ll talk to you both later.”
“Sure,” said Big Dan. “Spreadsheets...what the hell?” Big Dan chuckled. “Okay by me.”
Reed laughed. “I’ll let you know when the kids are here, Callie.”
“Thanks, Reed.” She turned to leave, but he didn’t want her to go.
“Callie, why don’t you show my dad your spreadsheets and what you’re doing with the receipts and disbursements?”
“Sure!” Her eyes were brilliant with excitement. “I’d love to. I’ll be right back.”
She brought back a stack of papers about two inches thick. “This is what I’ve been doing, Big Dan. I’ve been trying to recreate three years of your livestock sales for your personal taxes. You should have an accountant standing by to correct and refile them. I don’t know if you’ll get money back or not, but I’ll sure try.”
Big Dan clapped his hands. “Boy howdy, Callie! You are the best personal assistant I know.”
“I’m probably the only one you know.” She checked her notes. “And I can make a spreadsheet as to vaccinations of your livestock. It’ll show what bulls, horses and steers you take to rodeos. I can show their points, their breeding stats—the sky’s the limit. There’s so many things that I can do to help with the operation of your ranch.”
“So, little lady, I shouldn’t fight technology. This is the upcoming thing, isn’t it?” Big Dan said.
Reed watched as Callie tried not to grin. “It’s not the upcoming thing. It’s been here for a long time.”
“Well, Callie...you keep going, and give yourself an increase in salary—say ten percent. You’ve done a great job here,” Big Dan stated.
That’s nice that his father was so generous, and Callie deserved the money, but Big Dan didn’t even have a clue if the ranch was making a profit.
Big Dan pointed toward the drive to the ranch. “Here comes the school’s refrigerated van with the lunch grub. Time to help them unload. We’ll put their coolers down by the cooking area.” He nudged Reed’s arm. “This isn’t my first rodeo.”
“Looks like the van knows where to go, Dad. It’s not their first rodeo, either.” Reed grinned. It was great that his dad remembered. Reed was counting on more good memories.
Two school buses roared down the drive to the ranch house and took the right fork in the road to the barn.
“It’s almost show time. Are you ready?”
“I’m looking forward to it. Don’t worry about me.”
Officer Matthews gave him a thumbs-up. “I’ll be going on the tours, if you don’t mind, Dan. It’s been a long time for me.”
“It’s been a long time for all of us,” Callie said. “Oh, to be back in school! The things that I’d do differently...”
Reed was just about to ask, “Like what?”, but he didn’t want to put her on the spot in front of everyone. He wondered if she was referring to when he’d asked her to go away with him and if she’d regretted her decision to stay in Beaumont.
Reed had all the roots in the world, and he hadn’t stayed full-time at the ranch since he hit the road for the PBR at age eighteen.
And Callie hadn’t known a permanent home until she’d bought one.
It’s funny how life turns out, he thought. He couldn’t change the past, but he could certainly make an attempt to change the present.
If only Callie would meet him halfway.
&
nbsp; Chapter Eleven
The kids exited the yellow buses to the shrill of whistles and shouts of instruction from their teachers and chaperones. They lined up and filed into the rows of benches that were set up.
Callie saw Big Dan standing in front of the half circle. He motioned for Reed to join him. Officer Matthews sat in the front row and Callie sat next to Reed.
The teachers called for attention and then Reed introduced his father.
“My father, Dan Beaumont, is the patriarch of the Beaumont family, who settled here in 1889 during the Oklahoma Land Rush. Land and livestock have traditionally been what the Beaumont Ranch is noted for. And now my father will tell you more about our history.”
“Tell us about bull riding, Reed,” a kid yelled. “You’re going to be the next champ.”
There was clapping and cheering, and Reed held his hands up. “I’d be glad to, if we have time later.”
More cheers.
Reed sat next to Callie.
Callie thought that Big Dan did a nice job with his speech, but a couple times he faltered. Reed got him started again by whispering a couple of words.
Then the tour of the house started. The children were instructed to keep their hands at their sides at all times. They were perfectly behaved.
One little boy held back and Callie could see the tears forming in his eyes. Reed noticed, too, and was squatting down in front of the child.
“We lost our ranch,” he told Reed. “My daddy said that the Beaumonts were too big to compete with. I’m going to miss my animals. My daddy is going to sell them.” The tears fell in little rivulets down the boy’s cheeks.
Callie turned to Reed and whispered, “Billy is the son of William and Rose Waterson, and the Watersons have a small ranch just on the outside of town, past here. They bought it from Carmen Brady about two years ago.”
Callie didn’t know that they were losing their ranch, but she knew exactly how the little boy felt.
“You’re going to miss your animals, huh?” Reed asked.
Billy nodded. “Uh-huh.”
Reed grinned. “Would you like to see mine?”
“Uh-huh.”
Reunited with the Bull Rider Page 13
