He flashed a look at Robert who shrugged as if to say don’t bother arguing. “You might as well accept gracefully. My Sue loves to cook and bake. She’s not happy unless she’s feeding someone.” The smile he gave his wife was almost embarrassing in its tenderness.
“Gross,” Candice complained. “They’re always doing those PDAs.” She rolled her eyes.
PDA, the shortened form of public displays of attention had always amused him. Ira could tell, for all her complaints, she loved her parents and their affection didn’t bother her.
“Thank you, Sue. I’ll be happy to have breakfast here on the days I work.” He’d be more than happy, he’d love it. He could already tell the familial love and camaraderie on the Bar 3 were amazing. They called to him, pulling him in. He couldn’t resist, even if he wanted to.
“How do you take your coffee?” Sue asked.
“Black, straight up, thanks.” In seconds, she slid a steaming mug and a plate of muffins in front of him.
“Tomorrow will be real breakfast. I serve at seven.”
“I’ll be here.”
Ira sipped his coffee and looked around the room. “This is delicious coffee, not at all like the sludge I got in the mess hall. Thank you.”
Sue preened at the praise.
Candice waved and slid out of the kitchen. Twenty seconds later, the front door banged shut.
“Let’s get started,” Robert said. “Breakfast and coffee come first in the morning. That’s when we plan the day. Today we’ll check the cattle. We’ve only got a few cows who haven’t birthed yet this year.”
Ira nodded his understanding. He knew a fair bit about ranching. He’d studied up when he learned what his father did for a living. He had zero hands-on experience, but he was more than ready to pitch in and learn.
“If the cows are good, we run the perimeter fences on the quad once a week” Robert continued. Run them year-round, and after every storm.” Robert chatted about the daily routines, weekly routines, and monthly routines. By the time he hit yearly, Ira was done.
“At the risk of being rude, can I suggest we get to work and discuss this as we go? I’m itching to get started and not much for sitting around. No offense, Sue. The coffee and muffins were delicious. I appreciate them. Thank you.”
Sue laughed. “Told you he was going to be a good hire. Your boy has a lot of you in him.” She love-punched Robert in the shoulder.
“Sh,” Robert hissed. “We’re keeping this on the down low for now.”
“The down low? What are you, a teenage spy?” She laughed. Her easy grin turned to a thoughtful frown. “I’m telling you both, right now, keeping this a secret isn’t going to end well. You’re breaking a bond of trust with your family, and they aren’t going to appreciate it. If I hadn’t known about Ira before we married, I’d have kicked your ass to the curb when I found out you were keeping him a secret from me. Some secrets shouldn’t be kept. Family needs to pull together and stick together. You’re messing with dynamics beyond your control, you mark my words.” She shook her finger in time with her head.
Ira agreed with Sue, but wasn’t about to go against his father’s wishes. Yet. Time would tell. He wasn’t prepared to keep their secret long. The dishonestly sat heavy in his gut making him wish he’d skipped the coffee.
“Yo, anyone around?” A man called from the front door.
Sue’s face lit with happiness. “In the kitchen, Justice. Come on back. We’re just having coffee.”
The twin thump of boots hitting the floor proceeded the soft footfalls of stockinged feet. “Morning,” Justice declared coming into the kitchen. “Whoa. Sorry, I didn’t realize you had company.”
“Justice, this is Ira Castillo. I’ve hired him to help out around here. Ira, this is my eldest son, Justice.”
Ira stood and offered his hand. “Nice to meet you, Justice.”
“Call me Flint, nobody but Mom and Dad call me Justice. Nice to meet you. It’ll be good to have extra hands around here. Dad can step back a bit and with your help, we can get caught up on maintenance. We need to put a new roof on the cabin before it starts leaking.”
“Sounds good to me.” Ira rose to shake his brother’s hand.
“Don’t be thinking you’re in charge,” Robert warned.
“You know as well as I do the roof needs to be fixed. You and Mom honeymooned in the cottage. Are you going to let it fall apart? You’ve got two strong backs and four strong hands. We can have it shingled in a couple days at best. Calving’s near done.”
Robert squinted at Flint. “Just because you are back to work doesn’t mean you’re in charge.”
“Hell, Dad. It’s my fault we’re behind on basic maintenance. I intend to take charge of catching up on it. And unless you’re prepared to knock me down to stop me, you might as well agree. I’ll be putting in longer days for a while, to catch up.”
