Still, he had his mom left, and she was in one of those care homes that helped her get around. She’d had a heart attack a year back, and she hadn’t wanted him to take her in. Drew would have, but he let her make her own decisions. One of those being that she’d die where she wanted.
His mom, Doreen, had decided being with his father when he collapsed to the ground had been enough death for her son. She wasn’t going to allow him to see any more. He visited her every week, without fail.
Pulling into the ranch, he parked in the staff bay and headed toward the back of the ranch where Seymor O’Donald was usually waiting. He had over fifty men to man the fields, the cattle, and the horses. O’Donald was more than just a cattle ranch. He lent it out to schools, and they had a little farm down by the river so children could come and pet animals. There was a horse riding school as well. O’Donald also had a shelf in the market for its finest herbs and vegetables.
Several of the guys were waiting, and Drew stood in the back, listening. He knew what had to be done today. Cattle needed to be moved to the other field so that they could allow the current one to grow back. Then there would be the feeding, checking the fences, and then to finish off his hard day workout, Drew liked to go into the vegetable section, and help pick some of the fruits the land had to offer.
O’Donald put them onto their jobs, and Drew was partnered with Brice, another hardcore rancher like himself.
Drew wasn’t interested in owning any of his land, or having to keep the books, or worrying about the prices. O’Donald had nearly gone under twenty years ago because the price of beef had dropped so much. If it hadn’t been for O’Donald’s wife at the time, he would never have expanded the ranch out to allow other revenue to keep the cattle afloat. Seymor’s wife, sadly, had passed away five years ago, and he hadn’t started seeing another woman, or looking at another woman. Drew had really liked Julia. She had been a sweet woman.
“Did you hear there has been a new girl started down at Cathy’s?” Brice asked.
Since Julia had died, they had to order their food from Cathy. She was a food-on-the-go sort. Her little bakery had also expanded out to the ranch, cooking fresh meals every day for the ranch staff.
“No, I hadn’t.”
“A pretty little thing. Apparently she used to live here, and went off exploring the world, and now she’s back.”
“Don’t have a clue. Don’t listen to town gossip.”
“I bet you don’t. Most of the gossip is about you, banging the local women.”
Drew shrugged. “I’ve never been one to play favorites with women. They tend to go a little bitchy, and I’m not interested in drama.”
“I’ve got to ask you a question. I know you don’t talk, but Francine—she makes out she’s so high and mighty.”
“Brice, I told you, I don’t talk about women I haven’t had.” Drew smirked over at his friend.
“Damn, you dawg. Wow, I can’t even believe it. She thinks she’s so damn innocent.”
Not when her ankles were around his neck as he plowed into her, but Drew was never one to talk about shit. Besides, Brice wouldn’t tell anyone, and he had his own fair share of women he liked to fuck, including Cathy.
“We better get this shit done. In for a long day,” Brice said.
****
“You have missed a lot since you’ve been away,” Cathy said.
“I can’t believe Julia died. She was such a sweet, loving woman. I loved her,” Raven Howard said, stirring the large pot of chili. She had suggested steak and potatoes, but that was what Cathy sent the O’Donald ranch yesterday. The ranchers didn’t like the same thing in a row, which was why they were always changing it up.
“It was a really sad time. Seymor really struggled, and that was when I offered the bakery to take over. We started off with just sandwiches and sweet buns, stuff like that. Then he asked if I was interested in doing whole meals. I wasn’t one to turn down that offer.”
“Now every day you cook, and deliver it to them?” Raven asked.
“Yep, and today I’m going to show you off so that you can take over from me.”
Raven nibbled her lip, but went back to stirring the chili as Cathy finished with the rice. Even though she had traveled the world in the past seven years, Raven still wasn’t great at meeting people. Yeah, work that one out. She’d had over fifty jobs during her life, and each one she had hoped to pull herself out of her secluded shell but nothing worked. Seven years she’d traveled, spending months in different towns, cities. She hadn’t just gone across the United States and South America. No, she’d gone all over Europe as well. By the time she made it back home, it had been seven years.
When she’d rolled into town last week, her parents had been excited to have her back. They had thought she’d bring a man back with her. It was hard not to snort at them. She was a size eighteen, and unless someone was into frumpy and mousy, there was no chance.
Fortunately, the mousy hair had tamed down in the past week since being home, and instead of it looking like frayed ends, it actually stayed in place. She also wasn’t wearing overly baggy clothes, nor was she living with her parents. The money she had saved during her trips meant she had enough to rent a small apartment in town, above the bakery that Cathy owned. Next, she had a job in the bakery, seeing as most of her jobs were culinary-related, and that was where she got most of her experience, in restaurants, fast food joints, and bakeries along the way.
“Right, I have all the toppings, breads, the cakes, and now we need that chili,” Cathy said.
Raven placed the lid on, and wrapped everything in foil before using oven mitts to carry it out to the car. She’d be using her car tomorrow. This whole “meeting the guys” was not fair. Cathy was the boss, and she just worked in the store.
“Are you ready, Raven?” Cathy said.