Page 25 of Bernadette
“They’re all a bunch of growing boys,” Dolly said affectionately as she looked at the men taking the bags she’d prepared. After receiving a kiss from Wilson, she shooed them out, and turned back to Bernie with a grin. “Besides, they won’t be back until just before, or just after dark. That should hold them until then.”
“Not Lucas,” Ava laughed as she pointed, and all the women turned to see him pick up two six-packs of cola, and he grabbed at least two bags of chips and cookies as he walked out the back door toward the food they’d already brought in from the shed.
“Oh,” Dillon, the last to leave said as he leaned back in the breezeway. “The men will be sticking around the area today. They’ll be moving the equipment back into the shed as well as running back and forth to the fields for the silage carts.”
“Got it!” Dolly waved him away, then turned to the women with a grin. “Let’s get the rest of the stuff out of the shed so the men can get to work.” She turned to Bernie with a smile. “I’m not telling you what to do, but could you put on another pot of coffee, and man the door?”
“I can do that.” Bernie smirked at her, and hobbled over to the counter. “You know,” she started, as she turned and frowned when Dolly pointed to something, and Bernie grinned when she saw the larger pot sitting there.
“Twelve?”
“Good god, no. Nine.” Then she left, and after filling the pot with water, Bernie counted out the nine scoops of coffee, and because she liked hers strong enough that the spoon could stand up in it, she added an extra one with a grin. As soon as she plugged it in, there was a shout from outside and she hurried as fast as she could to open the door.
“Morning,” Bernie said, and didn’t look up until she caught a whiff of a certain aftershave, and sighed in happiness when she saw Chuck standing there. However, his hands were full, and she stepped back to let him in, following him into the kitchen.
As soon as he put his load down, he turned to her and smiled. “How did you sleep last night?”
“Surprisingly good. I had thought I wouldn’t be able to in a strange house, but I must have been extra tired. I think I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. You? I know you were still at the party when I called it a night.”
“Yeah, I stayed until around midnight, then went home and crashed. Now, I’m here helping to clean up the mess and if I can, I’ll help pull the equipment back into the shed.”
“I’ve heard several people refer to the barn as a shed. Why?”
“Because most of the farm equipment is stored in there when it’s not in use. You know, things like the bailer, wagons, tractors, combines, corn pickers.”
“Oh, so this ranch is huge?”
“I don’t know the exact acreage, but I do know it takes up most if not all of three counties.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah, this place has been in the Erwin family for years, like way back before the Civil War even thought to start. I think the history of it is when one of Wyatt’s ancestors headed toward California, even before the Gold Rush, they broke down and decided to stay in the area. One thing led to another, and you have the Flying E. Don’t quote me, because I didn’t pay a lot of attention, but I’m thinking it was established somewhere back in the early eighteen hundreds.”
“Wow,” Bernie said as she shook her head, and the two of them hurried back to open the door for the next wave of people to bring things in.
“That’s it,” a man said, and turned to Chuck. “We just need to clean up the tables and chairs, they’re coming to get them in less than an hour.”
“On it,” Chuck said, and gave Bernie a silent salute as he walked away.
“Hello,” the man said as he held out his hand to Bernie. “We didn’t get a chance to talk yesterday, but I’m Chip Boswell.”
“Bernie Cromwell.”
“I knew that, but I just wanted to officially welcome you to Boswell Group. If you have a couple of minutes, I’d like to get the paperwork out of the way.”
“Paperwork?”
“Your hiring papers, you know for taxes and crap like that.”
“Oh, yeah, I guess we had better do that if I want to get paid.” She grinned and was surprised when his wife appeared by his side with a suitcase. They settled at the kitchen table and in under thirty minutes everything was complete. Bernie smiled when Peggy went over everything and found they had missed one document. Once that was filled out, they continued to sit there for several minutes before they were joined by the others.
“What’s up?” Bernie asked in surprise.
“We have no idea where Morg and Wyatt went for their honeymoon, or when they will be back.” Chip began. “I do know that Morgan pushed hard for you to come to Boswell because she trusts your instincts and she wants to be out in the field more.”
“I can take the load off her for that.”
“We know that, however, this next week you’ll have a lot of reading to do as the other ladies continue with what they’re working on.” Chip held up his hands to hold off what she was about to say. “I’m not saying you won’t be read into what they’re doing, but to understand it better, you’re going to want to read the information from the beginning.”
