Chapter 18 – World in Changes

Benny came back to work at the B Bar M and moved into the bunkhouse. The bank put a 'For Sale' sign on the ranch, and a month or two passed. Belle finished her first year of college and came home for the summer. Maudie was ecstatic and finally dealt with the loss she'd suffered when Spreckels died.

There hadn't been any interest in Benny's ranch for most of the summer, then around August the bank notified Beau they had a potential buyer. He went into Little Bend to find out if the buyer was serious and stopped at my house on the way home. Me and Lucien were working out a new system for tracking the foals, as Doralice was gettin' more involved with work for Maude's that I didn't have time for anymore. Maude herself had literally retired from anything to do with the saloon; she said she had her hands full with the care and feeding of Pappy. Everything at the B Bar M was in a big flux at the moment, and it had become pretty apparent that I needed help with the paperwork.

Anyway, Beau stopped and we went to sit on the porch and smoke for a while. I'd been working all morning, and could use a rest. I swear, we hadn't been sittin' there five minutes when Lily Mae appeared with some sweet tea. That woman must be a mind reader.

Once Lily had gone back to the kitchen, Beau began. "The buyer that the bank had was serious about the ranch. They offered ten percent more than the bank was asking for it and I have three days to counter-offer."

"What about Benny?"

"They notified him, but there was no response. What can he do, Bart? He doesn't have enough money to even make one of the mortgage payments, much less buy it back. No, if we're gonna hold on to it, it's up to me."

"Are you gonna talk to him?"

"Why? He can't do anything. Although I suppose I should. Where is he right now, do you know?"

"He's out in the north pasture, mendin' fence. Give him a chance to at least express his opinion."

"Alright, soon as we're done here I'll ride out there."

We sat and talked about a lot of things, including how fast Joseph was growing. When Beau finished his tea, he got up and left for the north pasture, and I went back to Lucien to finish up our work. While I was gone he'd gotten Maudie involved, and she had a couple good ideas.

"What do you think about this, sweetheart?"

"I think you'll have a pretty good system once you implement those changes I suggested."

"How would you like to be in charge of it?"

She blinked once or twice, then asked, "How much does it pay?"

"How much do you want?" She had me, and she knew it.

"Half again what you're paying me now."

"Your services have gotten expensive."

"Oh, Daddy, you know I'll do it for nothing." There was a smile on her face when she told me that.

"Then I'll pay you what I think the job's worth." I returned the smile.

She giggled and kissed me on the cheek. "Whatever makes you happy."

Maudie gathered all the paperwork from Lucien and headed for the house. About half the way there she turned and called out, "Can I use your office when I work on it?"

"Of course. I'll clear a drawer for you."

"That's a real bright young lady, boss," Lucien commented when she was out of earshot.

"I know. She should have gone to college with Belle."

Lucien chuckled. "She loves this place too much to ever leave it."

"Don't I know it."

XXXXXXXX

Two days later Benny gave me his notice, again, and moved out of the bunkhouse. It was several days after that before I found out what happened. Beau offered to buy the ranch back, but with a caveat. Benny would work the ranch for wages which would be credited towards what Beau had paid for the place. That way Benny would eventually own it, and in the meantime he could build the place into what he wanted. Beau agreed to pay him an extra ten percent each month so he'd have some spendin' money.

Maudie went down to visit one afternoon when Abby was there. The cabin was almost bare bones compared to what it had been before. Abby brought a few things to brighten it up, and Ginny sold him some chickens at a reduced price. Honestly, she gave him a deal because there were chickens runnin' all over the place, and Bret was tired of them comin' in the house. Now that Pauly was done workin' on Sawyer's expanded café, he'd started on a larger chicken coop. Ginny decided to sell fresh eggs to the neighbors, and she began making a tidy profit.

This was going to be an interesting arrangement.

1