Home > Take the Reins (A Cowboy's Promise Book 2)(7)

Take the Reins (A Cowboy's Promise Book 2)(7)
Author: Megan Squires

“I sure hope it’s more of those oatmeal ones.” Nancy Tremaine rubbed her frail hands together as she peered into the basket.

“No one likes oatmeal,” Gus Whethers bemoaned. “Belongs in a breakfast bowl, not in a cookie.”

“Out of my way. Grandma coming through.” Gramm pushed through the throng of eager seniors, snagging the handle of the basket of treats and pulling back the cloth napkin covering the still warm cookies. “Drumroll, please.”

Walkers, loafers, and slippers tapped the pavement in what had to be the quietest buildup ever, but it didn’t diminish the anticipation. They waited on bated breath for the big reveal.

“We have…snickerdoodle!” She thrust a cookie into the air.

Nancy squealed and Berta did a little hop in celebration. Gus groaned, but that was just Gus. Nothing could satisfy the man.

Gramm handed a cookie to each of her friends who quickly dispersed once they received what they came for, then she tucked away a few extra into her robe pockets to save for later, like always.

“What’s on the agenda for today?” Seth scooted out one of the patio chairs for his grandmother to take a seat, then found another for himself. He flopped down with a huff. “Anything fun?”

“You’re looking at it,” Gramm said, her voice flat.

Gramm’s retirement home wasn’t the most luxurious, Seth knew that, but it had been a good place for her to land after Papa’s death five years earlier. She was the social butterfly of the Ford family. Living alone within four empty walls wasn’t an option. Apparently, it wasn’t an option to live at the ranch, either. Seth never understood that, but the land didn’t belong to him, so—like everything else—it was a matter he had little say in.

“They need to find another activities coordinator for you guys.”

Seth lifted the empty cookie basket from the table and set it by his feet so it wouldn’t obstruct his grandmother’s view. Not that there was much of one. An old, dried up fountain, a low boxwood hedge, and an empty parking lot served as the only visual stimuli within twenty yards of their patio table. Seth wondered how Gramm didn’t go stir crazy. If he didn’t have his foothills with their jagged terrain to serve him both on horseback and as the picturesque view from his window, he’d likely lose a few of his marbles each and every day. He needed that beauty and inspiration to keep him going, and he knew he wasn’t alone in that.

“We’ve got bingo tonight.” Gramm chomped down on a cookie and half-smiled, her lips wobbly with the effort. “And they’re showing Casablanca tomorrow after a pancake breakfast.”

It was something, he supposed, but not much. “What about outings? Didn’t they used to take you all out to the casino once a month. Do you ever get to leave here to do things like that?”

“Nope. Haven’t left this place in three months and counting. Starting to feel a bit like a jail cell, but I suppose it beats the alternative. I hear a pine box isn’t any more comfortable.”

It was as though by placing his grandmother in this facility, they’d put her out to pasture and a sick feeling roiled through his gut at that. She deserved more. “Is there someone I can talk to about coordinating a little trip for you? Plan an outing for you and your friends?”

“Sure, you can talk to them, but it won’t likely change anything.” She popped the last bite of cookie into her mouth and moved forward to cover Seth’s hands with her own. The wrinkles around her eyes buckled from a soft smile. “Enough about this dreary place. I want to hear about you. How’s the farm?”

“The farm’s good. Everyone’s up in Oregon for the week looking at some new cattle prospects. I’ve got a few cows due any day now, so I’ve been checking the herd more often just to make sure the births go smoothly. Same ol’, same ol’, but I can’t complain because I prefer that over the unexpected when it comes to ranching.”

“I remember the first calf you helped your daddy deliver,” Gramm said wistfully. She squeezed Seth’s hand a little tighter. “Never seen that shade of green on a young boy before. Thought you were going to lose your lunch out there in that pasture. Don’t seem to have any problem with it now, huh?”

“Thankfully, no. But those breech births still get my heart rate going. Too much to go wrong.”

“Nothing you can’t handle, Seth. You’re one impressive cattle rancher.”

Seth appreciated the vote of confidence, but it wasn’t a title he had earned, or even deserved. Neither the cattle, nor the ranch, belonged to him and he wasn’t sure they ever would. Still, his grandmother’s appraisal was thoughtful and he loved that she always had a compliment at the ready.

“Would you like to put in a special request for any particular cookie for next week?” he asked, needing to change the subject.

“You know my favorites are your peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. But Gus has that dang nut allergy. How about those lemon crinkle ones? Those are always a hit.”

“I think I can manage that.” Seth winked. They were his specialty. “And I’m serious about talking to someone about getting you all out of here. I think a change of scenery would do you a world of good.”

“Hard to remember there’s even a world of good out there.” Gramm shrugged. “Haven’t seen it in quite some time.”

That fleeting comment had Seth’s stomach bottoming out. Gramm deserved so much more. They all did. Right there, he made it his mission to make good on his promise.

 

 

“If you need anything, I’m just in that little house right over there.” He nudged his chin toward the one-bed, one-bath structure that each generation of Ford bachelors had resided in at one point or another. It was a ramshackle hand-me-down made of old wood, sturdy beams and dust-coated memories.

Josie looked everywhere but at Seth or his house. “All I need is Tiffany, Tammy, and Tawnya.”

Sisters? he wondered, but didn’t let his speculation form words. Josie didn’t seem like the type of woman who welcomed prying when it came to her personal life.

“My plants. They’re still in the back of your truck. I think that’s all that’s left.”

Plant was a generous word for what she referred to. Spindly, brown stalks poked out of dirt clods so dry a gallon of water likely wouldn’t even soften the soil and the chipped pots looked like they had been salvaged from a dumpster. Still, they must’ve meant something to her. She’d named them, for goodness sake.

“I’ll grab those and bring them right over.”

“Appreciate it.” Their gazes connected for a quick moment. “I’ll be inside straightening things up.”

Seth nodded. Josie was a difficult woman to read. Her face rarely faltered from her tight-lipped, tense-browed, stern expression, but there was a firestorm of emotion constantly brewing in her amber eyes that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Seth had been around downed power lines that gave off less energy.

Alternating thoughts wove in and out of his mind as he retrieved her potted plants. This is a great idea morphed into This is your worst idea yet, Ford. He knew his parents would agree with the latter, which said a lot because Seth had had some pretty bad ideas in his lifetime. Luckily, he executed few of the ones that popped into his head, but the fifth wheel that now interrupted the landscape meant there was no going back. He’d have to own this decision and Josie would have to make good on her word to train the horses. Anything less and his parents would have even more reason to cut him loose from the ranch completely.

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