Whoa. I thought for sure he’d be the one to fight me on this.
“Hey, Dad,” I say, trying to keep my tone neutral.
“Hey,” he grunts, stopping a few feet away. “Didn’t expect to see you here again today.”
“Figured I’d take a break from the other ranch to get some stuff checked off here,” I reply, adjusting the strap on my bag. “I see you’re following the protocols.”
He nods, his expression unreadable. “Figured it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
I raise an eyebrow, surprised by his compliance. “Well, I’m glad to see it. Any updates?”
“Lost two more. You should be here working with our cattle, not at other ranches,” he almost hisses.
I take a deep breath and blow it out slowly. I will not let him goad me into an argument. Now is not the time.
I nod, jotting down a note in my phone. “What’s the feed situation? Are you still using the same supplier?”
“Yeah,” he says, his tone defensive. “Marley’s. Been using ’em for years. Never had a problem before. What kind of question is that? It ain’t the feed. If it was I’d have figured it out on my own.”
I take another deep breath, blow it out, and repeat it a few times so that I can remain calm.
I will not let him distract me from this situation. Arguing with him is not going to get me out of here any faster.
“That doesn’t mean there couldn’t be one now,” I point out, keeping my voice calm. “Have you noticed any changes in the feed’s quality or smell?”
He shakes his head. “No. I haven’t. But you’re more than welcome to check it yourself since you don’t seem to trust me.”
“I will,” I say, making another note. “What about the water supply? Any issues with the troughs or the well?”
“Not that I know of,” he replies, rubbing the back of his neck. “Everything’s been running fine. Changed all the piping recently. Tuck went through and cleaned everything out before he left.”
Tuck, one of the ranch hands who was here before I was even born. He treated me like his own. I was looking forward to seeing him.
He and Tuck were pretty close; it couldn’t have been easy to let him go.
I glance up at my dad, trying to gauge his mood. His last response was a little kinder than the ones before, maybe if I don’t take the bait, he won’t continue to try and argue.
“How is Tuck?”
“Good. He needed to retire anyway.”
So do you, I think to myself.
I nod, knowing my father will never retire, but he’s constantly saying other people should.
“I’ll need to take some samples,” I say, pocketing my phone. “Feed, water, soil… everything.”
He nods, his gaze fixed on the pasture. “I’ve already tested all those things.”
“Did you send them to a local lab? Did Doc Lucy handle that? I might have missed it in her report.”
“I checked ’em myself. I don’t need a fancy lab.”
“Obviously you do, because you called and asked me for help.”
He eyes me carefully, narrowing his gaze as he does. He shakes his head. “Do whatever you need to do then.”
“Have there been any changes to the way the feed is delivered?”
