"I've had my eye on the Brooks property for a while, Em," Bill confided. "I think it's just what you're looking for. It has a barn and good pasture for horses, but it isn't too big, and the house is in good shape. The Brookses are moving to New Mexico to live with their daughter and they need to sell." He grunted as the pickup hit a rut in the road and they bounced. "Sorry about that. You guys should get a four-wheeler once you move here, it'll come in real handy. Where was I?"
"How many acres is it, Bill?"
"Twenty, I think. They've sold some of their land to their neighbors but they still have a fair piece left."
"Sounds good," Aaron commented. "How much are they asking?"
"A hundred thousand or so, maybe a little more."
Aaron and Martha traded glances; Martha shrugged. "That sounds good to us, Bill, if you think it's a fair price."
"I do," Bill said judiciously. "The land is good quality, and as I said, the house is in fine condition."
Aaron and Martha had decided to celebrate their first anniversary by visiting the family and putting their retirement dreams into motion. They had spent a week helping Jennifer get packed and settled into design college in Houston and had now returned to the Pierce ranch to see what properties in the area might be available for purchase. Aaron was delighted to be home, and Martha was glad to take a break for a few days; she had received a generous advance for her book and had been pushing herself hard to complete the first draft. She mentally contrasted Aaron's current attire of jeans, work shirt and boots with his usual blue suit and smiled to herself: Her husband was always more relaxed when he was away from Washington. Not for the first time, she began to calculate if it would be possible for them to move back to Texas sooner than they had originally planned. Aaron's pension and health benefits factored largely in this decision, as he would not qualify for full retirement benefits for another three years. As Bill turned into the driveway of the Brooks ranch, she gave up the question for the moment.
"What are the Brookses like?" she asked Bill.
Bill hesitated. "They're okay. Decent people, but not the friendliest you'll find around here. Mrs. Brooks is – well, she's kind of a gossip."
Aaron chuckled. "That's what Mother said. I got the impression she and Mrs. Brooks aren't the best of friends."
"They're not. Mother generally knows what's going on around town, but she's not one for loose talk. She gets on Barbara's case sometimes about it," he added, with a sidelong grin at Martha.
Martha laughed in agreement. Her sister-in-law had a gift for hearing any news that happened to be circulating, which she found helpful rather than annoying. Barbara's store of information about the local townspeople had been an aid in the daunting task of getting to know and remember the Pierces' neighbors, many of who were curious to meet her. To her credit Barbara never minded being a focus of attention in her turn, as had been the case now that she had begun dating again. Martha's reverie ended as the truck came to a stop near the ranch house; Aaron helped her out of the car and they headed to the front door, which opened as they approached.
"Innis! Get in here! The Pierces are here, they want to see the house." Rosa Brooks was an older woman, thin and alert. Her voice and demeanor could best be described as commanding; Aaron thought of a drill sergeant and then shoved the comparison away. Her husband was a tired-looking man who bore the marks of chronic illness, but was still active enough to walk briskly into the room at his wife's call.
"Pleasure to meet you," he said, looking curiously at Aaron and Martha. "So, young Bill, this is your family?"
"You know my brother Aaron, and this is his wife Martha. Martha, Mr. and Mrs. Brooks." Martha thought Bill looked slightly abashed at being called "young Bill," but did not have time to do more than register this as Innis Brooks took a step forward and held out his hand.
"You're the lady we've all been hearing about," he said with a broad smile. "You think you might be interested in buying our ranch?"
"We're thinking about coming back here to live," Martha explained, blushing. "Bill says your property might be just what we've been looking for." At this Innis stood slightly taller, while a barely audible snort came from Rosa.
"Well, now. I'm going to get ready to take you around the property, but I'll let my wife show you the house. She can tell you all about the kitchen and such, anything you want to know. Rosa, I'll go find my hat and get my boots on." Innis hastened out of the living room, leaving his spouse eyeing the Pierces.
"Let's see. House has three bedrooms, two baths, I imagine you'll want to see those. And the kitchen, of course." Mrs. Brooks exhibited the bedrooms and accompanying bathrooms conscientiously, but it was clear that her enthusiasm lay with the kitchen, a large space full of natural light.
"This is the canning cupboard." Their guide opened a small door, revealing a closet fitted with shelves. Peering inside Martha saw a few rows of quart and pint Mason jars, neatly labeled with their contents, but many of the shelves stood empty. The lowest shelf contained a pressure canner, racks and other equipment. "I used to can a lot. But with Innis's health getting worse, our garden is a lot smaller than it used to be. My daughter doesn't grow much where she is – I'm probably going to have to leave all this here when we move." She turned to Martha. "Do you can?"
"Well, no. I've really never tried. I remember helping my mother make jam once or twice as a girl, but that was it. I'd be glad to learn, though," she hastily offered, hoping this would raise her in the older woman's estimation. "And I'm sure we'll have a garden when we move here."
Rosa Brooks raised an eyebrow skeptically, but nodded. "I might do that then. Looks like Innis is ready to take you around the property," she added, glancing out the window. "Let me know if you have any questions about the house."
Mr. Brooks ushered Martha, Aaron and Bill into his weathered truck and they set off along a dirt track leading away from the house. The drive through the property was beautiful, revealing gently rolling land studded with trees. At one point the four-wheeler splashed through a stream running through a wide, low valley. It clearly had been used for farming crops at one time but was currently lying fallow and empty except for sheep grazing here and there.
"We've cut back the last few years, sold some of the property off. Bill might have told you that. We kept the best of the land, though. The fencing is in good condition…" Innis had tossed out information from time to time during their tour, but now he slowed the truck and sat back with a sigh. "We'll be sorry to move, but running the ranch has gotten to be more than we can handle. This is good land, but you need to put work into it and I just can't put in the hours that I used to. I'd be glad to see someone take over who could work it the way it needs." He shot a questioning look at them.
"I grew up working ranch land, Mr. Brooks," answered Aaron. "Bill and I both did, as you know. I'm out of practice, but Bill can help me with the fine points and Martha's been putting in a fair amount of time researching this move, too. She's good at the financial side of things." He shot his wife an affectionate look.
"Well, then." Innis brightened perceptibly. "That sounds great. I'd hate to sell the place to somebody who wouldn't know what to do with it. Let's get back to the barn, I think that's the only thing I haven't shown you."
Though she didn't want to admit it to Aaron, the tour of the Brooks ranch left Martha mildly shaken. On the drive home Bill and Aaron provided most of the conversation, with Bill excitedly brainstorming ideas for the use of the property; thinking of the responsibility they were about to undertake, Martha felt much less enthusiastic. The life the Brookses led was the complete opposite of her experience on the Logan ranch, which had been run with a full staff at all times. Martha had interested herself in the ranch operations and done some work with the horses, but compared to the full-time job of running a ranch without help, she realized now that she had only been dabbling. Her thoughts were disjointed: Do I have to learn canning? What are we going to do with all this land? What do sheep eat, anyway?
On their return Martha walked into the kitchen to find her mother-in-law at the kitchen table cleaning green beans. "Let me help you," she offered, pulling out a chair. They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes until Gertrude, noting Martha's slumped posture, opened the conversation.
"How did your tour of the ranch go?"
"Fine. It looks like exactly what we want," Martha answered, trying to work some cheerfulness into her voice. Gertrude nodded but said nothing further; Martha sensed the same understanding quality about her that Aaron had and began to relax.
"Mrs. Brooks offered me her canning equipment. She says she isn't going to be able to take it with her to New Mexico."
"That was kind of her," Gertrude observed. "She's always been sort of the local expert, she'd win prizes at all the fairs around here with her jams and such."
Martha groaned. "Gertrude, I've never canned in my life. If I tried it I'd probably give Aaron botulism." They both started to laugh. "I had no idea how much was involved in running a ranch when it's just the two of you. It's going to be a lot of work. That probably sounds naïve; I knew we'd have to work and I've spent enough time with Bill that I thought I knew what would be involved – but it's so much more. Gardening, canning… fences…" She spread her hands. "Just so many things."
"When I married Bill Pierce and we moved to the ranch from town, that's when it hit me." Gertrude glanced at her arthritic hands and put the beans down with a sigh. "I'm not as fast at this as I used to be." She watched Martha sweep the bean strings into a neat pile. "It is hard work, Martha, and I remember being overwhelmed at the beginning. But you do get used to it. You develop a system, a routine, just as you do with anything else. Once you get the routine down, it's easier than you think. And you don't do everything every day, other than the chores. You don't weed the garden every day, you do the ranch accounts once a week or once a month. And you and Aaron can start slow. You don't have to start running a full-time ranch right away."
Martha's face brightened as this sank in. "I guess what I'm really worried about is letting Aaron down. Mrs. Brooks thought I was some city slicker type who didn't know what I was doing – and she's right," she added hastily as Gertrude looked appalled. "Probably everyone around here feels the same way."
"Well, if they do, they'd better not say so in front of me, that's all. And Martha, if you really didn't know what you were doing, you wouldn't have all these questions, would you? Any sensible person would feel the same way." Gertrude stood up and took the colander of beans to the sink.
"Gertrude, if Mrs. Brooks does give me that canning equipment, do you think you could teach me to use it?" Martha asked hesitantly.
Her mother-in-law looked delighted, if slightly surprised. "Of course. Ann and I can both teach you. And I promise you won't give Aaron botulism," she added with a laugh, as Martha hugged her.
Lying in bed later that night, Aaron reached over to take Martha's hand.
"What did you think today? About the ranch?"
"I think it's a beautiful place, Aaron. And it's near your family. It's everything we've been looking for." She moved closer to him and put her head on his chest. "I talked to your mother about it today. Mr. and Mrs. Brooks made me realize how much work is involved in running a ranch."
Aaron laughed. "I know. It's going to be busy. But Martha, we can hire help if we need to. And this doesn't have to be a large-scale operation. We don't have kids to put through college or anything like that to save for. I don't want you breaking your back with work."
"I asked your mother if she could teach me to can."
Aaron stared at her for a moment and then hugged her tightly. "Oh, Martha… honey. Did Mrs. Brooks get to you that much?"
"I realized today how much I don't know. I know horses, a bit, and Bill's been wonderful about teaching me finances, the vet bills and the cost of feed. All that. But what exactly are we going to do? Grow crops? Raise sheep?"
"We've got lots of time to think about it. Bill knows some people who might keep an eye on the place for us after the Brookses move. And we can lease the land for grazing while we research what we want to do. There is no hurry, Martha. We can plan this." He kissed her.
Relieved, Martha smiled back at him, took his face in her hands and kissed him back. "Happy first anniversary," she whispered.
"Well, Gertrude, looks like your son is going to be buying our ranch." At the church meal distribution program, Rosa Brooks was fitting bags of food into cardboard boxes as Gertrude Pierce labeled them for delivery.
"It certainly sounds like it. Aaron went to see it on Bill's recommendation and he and Martha were both happy with it. They surely appreciated the tour you gave them, very neighborly." If there was a slight tinge of sarcasm in Gertrude's voice, her facial expression was as placid as usual.
"That daughter-in-law of yours – I offered her my canning equipment. She didn't seem to know what to do with it."
"She probably doesn't. Not everybody does, especially in the city. There's no point spending the time and money to can unless you're growing the stuff, Rosa. You know that."
"Must be difficult, adjusting to having somebody like her in the family."
"Somebody like her?" Gertrude's tone was now noticeably cooler.
"Famous. Not used to our ways. And – well, she's unstable."
"Rosa Brooks, you don't know what you're talking about."
"She was in one of those places, Gertrude. An institution. Everybody knows it; she hasn't made any secret of it."
"Of course she hasn't made a secret of it. She had no reason to. Everybody goes through trouble in their lives, and she's had more than her share. Besides, you talked to her, you met her. Did she strike you as unstable?"
"I – well, no. I can't say that she did," Rosa admitted. "I'm sure I hope you're right, Gertrude. If she's happy and the family's happy, well, that's all to the good."
"She's a very brave woman, and she and Aaron are very much in love. I'm proud to have her in the family."
Looking slightly ashamed, Rosa said nothing further.
Martha called over to Aaron from her seat at the computer: "Jennifer seems to be having a lot of fun at school. She says her teachers are fantastic and she's already gotten some great project ideas." Opening her next email, her eyes widened. "Nathan wants to come to Washington for a visit!"
"He does?" Aaron walked over to study the screen.
"He says he's getting leave in about three weeks and he wanted to make sure we'd have room for him."
"Of course we do. Don't we?" He smiled at Martha.
"We absolutely do. It'll be wonderful to have him here." Martha looked back at the email, scrolled down and noticed a postscript:
P.S. Em, don't tell Dad this yet but I've just about decided to leave the Navy. I need to talk to both of you about what I should do next. N.
