Page 40 of Tom's Chance
“Wow, what a wonderful woman to look up to.”
“I agree, and since getting out of the hospital whatever Erin had as an idea, she has been able to turn it into what it is today. I don’t know if you get over to where the cabins are on Broken?”
“Not really, I mainly stick to the barns at Erin’s Way, Broken, and New Double, plus anything in the surrounding area. Oh, wait, Nana and I stayed in one of the two-story cabins when I came out to be interviewed by Erin. There were six already occupied, while others are being built.”
“Correct, as far as I know, right now, Manny and Ann will get one, Scott and Julie will get another. Erin wants to have at least a dozen more constructed in case others come to live and work for her. It seemed to luck out that you were able to take over this place.”
“Yeah, Erin explained that Old Man Atherton, then his granddaughter were farriers. It made sense for me to stay here so I can do my work here with theset-up already in place. The two doublewides worked great for Mom and Nana.”
“I know it’s none of my business, but could you tell me why you got the big house?”
Lorissa laughed as she took the mug of fresh coffee from him. She liked that he had given her the mug she always used. It proved he was observant of her. She gave a shake of her head and smiled at him.
“Mom said it was because she couldn’t go up and down the stairs easily, because of her knee. All the bedrooms are up there along with two of the bathrooms.”
“I can see where that might be a problem. And your grandmother?”
“Nana says that it was too big for her. Her home back east was about this size and she had wanted to downsize for years, but couldn’t see moving and paying rent or a mortgage on a place that was already paid off. She wanted everything on one level.”
“I can see that happening too. I’ve never been inside the doublewides, but is there room for them, even with Duane living with your mom?”
“Yes, Mom and Duane have four bedrooms, and three bathrooms. Nana has three and two. Each have a large eat-in kitchen, separate dining room, living room, and a bonus room that Mom and Dad turned into a shared office, while the same room in Nana’s home she turned it into a pantry slash growing room. Nana loves growing things, and she dabbled at it overthe years, but she says she going to get into canning and preserving next year once she can put in a garden. That’s why she’s in the doublewide over by the greenhouses.”
“Have her go over to New Double and talk with Ducky.”
“Why?”
“Ann wants to put in a gigantic garden that everyone can plant what they want. Like a community project. Ducky said his wife used to can everything, and after she passed, he put her canning supplies in the basement. I heard he told everyone to start stocking up on the canning jars so that there would be enough next year when it came time to harvest.”
“I’ll have to tell her that. I know she’s cleaned out the greenhouses and is starting to cut off her herbs. Maybe the others would want an herb garden closer to their house.” Lorissa laughed as she rose to her feet, went to the cupboards, and opened one of them. Tom looked in and saw several plain containers with paper labels on them.
“These are the herbs Nana grew, dehydrated, and ground up for me. I don’t think I’ve purchased any basil, oregano, parsley, garlic powder, onion powder, or rosemary in over a decade.”
“Wow, and she gets these from her plants?”
“Yes.”
Tom shook his head at the sheer volume of spices,and they sat down at the table to enjoy their coffee. As much as he wanted to stick around, he didn’t want to overstay his welcome, so after finishing his drink, he looked at her with a raised brow.
“Next Thursday?”
“What time?”
“Is eight too early?”
“Not at all, since I get up at six every day.”
“Okay, I’ll see you at eight in the morning on next Thursday.” He stood and waited for her to rise.
“It’s a date.” She laughed and he nodded as he leaned in and kissed her on the side of the mouth, she turned her head at the last moment, and when Tom finally left, they were both breathing hard, but he couldn’t wait until they saw one another again. He was whistling by the time he reached his truck. Because it was a work day, and he didn’t have any calls to any outlying ranches, he headed to his clinic to tackle the paperwork he suspected buried his desk. After the kiss he shared with Lorissa, nothing could bring his mood down. On his way to town, he had a thought and called the lawyer to see if he could use the money donated from Mrs. Bickers to stock Lorissa’s small clinic with. He liked that the lawyer reassured him that he could do whatever he wanted with the donation.
CHAPTER 16
On Thursday morning,Lorissa pulled into Erin’s Way, made her way to the main barn where she knew Duane’s office was, and parked beside his car. As she climbed out of her truck, she paused and waited for Tom to park his. With her travel mug of coffee in her hand, she followed Tom to the office. They only walked about ten steps before they were called to stop. Together they turned to watch as Erin strode toward them. Lorissa had a secret thought that she wanted to be like Erin when she grew up, but realized she was only a year older than the other woman. She paused and waited, and felt ten-foot tall when Erin told her she could listen to the conversation.
“What’s up?”
“I wanted to let you know that over the next four hours, I have four mares coming in to be bred. I know you don’t need to be here, but I thought I’dgive you the heads up. Reid here is going to head it up, but you’re more than welcome to be on hand.”
