Page 16 of Cole's Joy
“Calm down, nothing major has happened, but I got a text from Lois. She asked me to check on you because you aren’t answering your phone, or your text messages.”
Cole went to his phone, dug through the papers, and swore when he saw the battery was dead. He dug through his drawers for the power cord and plugged it in. Both men laughed, and he looked at Duane. “Everything okay?”
“Sort of. I don’t know if you heard that Lorissa had a run-in with Tom?”
“The vet?”
“Yeah, apparently she worked on a horse over at Broken, and Tom got all bent out of shape because he didn’t catch what she did.”
“Ah, he’s butt hurt, and took his anger out on her?”
“Exactly. I don’t know what else hurt, but Lois called me earlier and asked that we all get together and go over to their place for a BBQ tonight. She said Lorissa is cleaning up aroundthe farrier barn, and she, Lois, has been cleaning up around the greenhouses. They want to burn all the junk, and want help controlling the fire.”
“Ah, and turn it into a BBQ in the process, along with giving Lorissa moral support to prove that we have her back.”
“Correct. I told Lois I’d come over personally to make sure you know.” He looked around and grinned. “Plus I’m being nosy and want to see the progress being made around here.” He laughed along with Cole, and actually turned back to the other man. “Not that it’s any of my business, but what was Ducky doing when I drove in?”
“A few days back, Naomi made mention of a summer kitchen. Her grandmother had one back in Wyoming. Do you know what that is?”
“No, all I can think, based on the name, was a kitchen you used in the summer.”
“Basically, yeah. If you did a lot of cooking or canning in the summer, back in the day, when you had to cook everything on a wood stove, to keep the heat down in your regular home, a summer kitchen was built so all the canning could be done there. With pressure canners, and water bath canners going, it would get hot in there. When I packed my cabin up to move here, I remembered some boxes that Naomi had stored in a cupboard there. I brought them with me. It turns out they are canners, all in perfect shape. Clem and I were able to dig the ones out of the basement here, and Ducky’s been taking his time cleaning them up. Oh, and it’ll take some work, but there is a summer kitchen on the backside of the house.”
“What type of work?”
“A new roof mainly, then cleaning up after that.” He held up his hand and nodded to Duane. “Ryan knows of this and it’s on his list. The roofers for the cabins will be here next week, so he’s adding the summer kitchen roof to the list.”
“Ah, so it should be done before winter hits?”
“Yes, at least that’s the plan.”
“Good, you’ll let me know if you need any help?”
“Absolutely, I’ll go out and tell the others about the BBQ/bonfire at Lorissa’s. What time?”
“Six was mentioned.”
“Good, we’ll be there.” He walked out with Duane, and when the other man went in one direction, Cole went in the other. He saw Ducky and as he was talking to him, Clem appeared. He told them about the shindig that night and after he went to the barns to check on Ann and the horses, he went back to his office. He worked until five, then went in and showered. He knew he was acting like a teenager, but he wanted to look good for Lois, so he dressed in his favorite jeans, dress cowboy boots, and a snap up shirt. He stood back and nodded at himself in the mirror. He stepped closer and ran his work roughened hand over his face and smiled. “Smooth.” He grabbed his good cowboy hat, stuck it on his head, and exited his room. He had told the others to go without him, and by the time he arrived over at the Gibsons’ he was the last to arrive. When he spotted Lois, he hoped the look on her face was relief that he had arrived. Instead of talking to anyone else, he immediately went up to her, took her hand in his, and kissed it.
“Sorry I’m late.”
“No, you’re just on time,” she giggled, and looked at him directly. “I was getting worried though.”
“Yeah, I’m doing a special project and got lost in it and lost all track of time. I’m sorry I didn’t take your calls. It turned out my phone was dead. It’s all charged now.” He pulled it from his pocket to show her and they both shared a smile. “What can I do to help?” He looked over both shoulders and leaned closer. “How upset is Lorissa?”
“Let’s just say that she wants to castrate the male species.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah, and it’s all because the regular vet yelled at her in front of everyone that she had no right to veto his decision about a horse.”
“Who was wrong?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know much about animals. You’d have to ask her.”
“I don’t want to stir the pot, but I am curious as to what happened.”
“Let’s go ask her.” Lois grabbed his hand and pulled him behind her and didn’t stop until they reached Lorissa. “Lor, I’m only going to ask this once, everyone is here because I knew you were upset about something Tom said or did. Instead of answering the same question over and over all night, let’s only answer it once. What happened?”
