Chapter 7

Stevie rolled over and grabbed her phone. It was always ruining nice dreams for her with that incessant beeping. She looked at the time and sighed. Time to get up, she thought as she turned the alarm on her phone off, wiped her eyes, and stretched. Time to get up. There's work to be done, she reminded herself. Stevie headed to wash her face and brush her teeth. She splashed cold water on her face and it helped her to wake up. She got dressed and as she left her room, she smelled bacon frying.

"Ben! You're awesome. Thanks for making breakfast today." said Stevie.

"I told you I was coming for breakfast," said Ben.

"Yeah, but I didn't know that included making it, and bringing little Kelly over. I can always use some time with my little cousin! Thanks!"

Stevie picked up the almost two year old and made a funny face at her. Getting the required laugh, she put Kelly back in the play pen.

"Good morning, you beautiful girl. Thanks for coming to visit this morning!"

"Good morning, Stevie!" Kelly replied before adding, "I am Moaaaannnnaaaa!"

"She's been on a real Moana kick lately. It's like her favorite thing to say," chuckled Ben. "Well, Jaz was up extra early to prepare for the new athlete arriving, and I couldn't fall back asleep cause I've got Kelly and she was fussing, and Hannah isn't coming over 'til later to mind Kelly. I just told her to meet me here. I figured I'd head over and help you out early. You had a very busy weekend away and I wanted to spend a little time together," explained Ben.

"Aye, we did, but Xander loved it, so I'm happy. He has a real future in rodeo if he wants it. He could become a professional if he continues on the track he's on." Stevie paused before changing the subject. "So I take it that things at Wilgul are going well, and you and Jaz are still happy"

"Yeah, better than just being happy. I'm still completely in love with her. I actually really want to propose. I almost have a hundred times, but I don't think that's what she wants. I mean, she's a former freaking Olympian for God's sake. Why should she want me as a husband?" said Ben.

"Umm, because you're the father of her daughter, and a great father at that. You live there together. You have a child together. You are in love with each other. You basically are married. Why not just make it official? It's been long enough," recommended Stevie.

"Yeah, but she said she doesn't like the idea of marriage." replied Ben.

"Really? When did she say that? That doesn't sound like Jaz." said Stevie.

"When I proposed when we found out she was pregnant."

"Well there's your problem. A woman doesn't want to be proposed to because the man feels it's a duty or obligation. A woman wants to be proposed to because the man wants to spend the rest of his life with her. Because he is totally in love with her. Because he can't live without her!" said Stevie.

"I do want to spend the rest of my life with her. She is the most fantastic woman I've ever known. She makes my life brighter just by being in it. Sometimes, I can't help just staring at her, wondering how someone so incredible exists, much less loves me," said Ben

"Did you say that to her when you proposed?" asked Stevie.

"Well, no..." Ben said, as he looked to the ground.

"Go and get a nice ring, get down on your knee and say exactly what you just told me to her. Be honest about your feelings for her. You love each other. If she says no to that, I'll be shocked."

"Okay, Okay, can we change the subject please?" asked Ben, getting overwhelmed thinking about having screwed up his chances of marrying Jaz. "Let's talk about water issues. Things are really strange. Water levels should not be dropping at the rate they are. I want to ride out to the creek with you today and have you take a look. Jaz said she was having water issues at Wilgul too."

"I'm gonna ring Tess really quick and see if she is having similar issues, as well." replied Stevie.

Stevie pulled out her phone and dialed Tess. After a couple rings, she picked up.

"Hey Tess, have you noticed any unusual water level droppage at Drovers? KIllarney and Wilgul are both losing their water at a crazy high rate." said Stevie into the phone.

"Yeah, we have definitely noticed, I'm on my way to the creek right now to investigate a bit more. Also, I noticed several water tank trucks going up and down the road. I'm guessing some other farmers in the area have already had to resort to trucking water in for their livestock. I may see if George Roop would call an emergency council meeting to discuss this further. We talked about it a bit the other day, but, in the last couple days, things have really gotten worse. Ah, there's a beep. Oh shit, it's Dave on the other line. I forgot he was coming to check on the new cria. You should stop by and see her. She is super cute. We named her Liberty Bell. Gotta go!" Tess hung up in a hurry.

"So Drovers is dealing with it, too. I'm thinking we may want to ride along the creek bed, upstream, just to look and see if anything is off. Maybe there is a pump that is malfunctioning and pumping way more water out than it's supposed to be or something." said Stevie wishfully, knowing it probably wasn't a problem as easily fixed as repairing a water pump.

"Sounds reasonable. Anyway, eat up. I've got bacon and eggs here for you."

"Coffee too?" Stevie asked?

"Obviously."

"You're the best. I'll go get Xander. He'll be hungry too." said Stevie.

"You eat. I'll go get him up. I want to congratulate him on the big win," said Ben.