Page 5 of Cole's Joy
“Like?”
“Peppers, tomatoes, I can have starter plants of cauliflower, broccoli, lettuce, celery, onion sets, seed potatoes, the carrots, radishes and beets you’d want to start from seed in the ground. Then you can either start from seed in the ground or have starter plants of several different squashes. Then there will be the peas and green beans.” She saw Erin’s expression and paused in her excitement. “What’s wrong?”
“You had me right up until you mentioned green beans. I detest them.” She held up her hand and laughed. “I’m not stopping you from planting them, but I won’t eat them. I don’t know whether Lorissa told you or not, but I’m having a BBQ at your cabin tonight with everyone there. I thought it would be an opportunity for you to meet everyone. If Lorissa agrees to taking the job, and you, I’d like to hire you.”
“Me, what can I do on a horse ranch?”
Erin grinned and Lois didn’t know whether it was an evil grin or not, but she exchanged worried looks with Lorissa. “What is it?”
“You saw where the new cabins are being built close to where you’ve been staying?”
“Yes, what about it?”
“There’s a plot of land that Ann asked Manny not to build on because she said it would be perfect for a community garden.”
“Ooh, I like that idea.”
“Good, because I would put you in charge of it, and Pru had a suggestion that we should build a community pantry with a walk-in cooler and freezer like are in restaurants. Ryan isoverseeing that build over on New Double. Have you met Cole, Clem, or Ducky yet?”
“No, who are they?”
“They’re basically in charge of New Double.” Erin took the next ten minutes to explain to them how the new ranch came into existence, and Lois was impressed by what she’d learned so far. “Anyway, Ducky suggested that whoever was in charge of the garden should come see him because he has his late wife’s canning supplies. He also suggested that whenever someone goes to town, they pick up a dozen or two of canning jars.”
“Oh, that sounds wonderful. When Laurie was younger, and my husband was alive, I used to can all the time. I actually miss it.”
“Why did you stop, Nana?”
“Because it was just me, and it wasn’t worth the hassle. It’s a lot of work, but it is also very rewarding.”
“Good,” Erin laughed as she pointed for them to keep walking. “Why I want to hire you is that we treat our horses with carrots. Not only does it help their teeth, but it’s also healthy for them. Currently, I have a deal with the local supermarket that I get like fifty pounds of carrots a week from them. I thought that with the community garden, we could have a patch of nothing but carrots. I haven’t sat down and crunched the numbers yet, but I think it would be cheaper if we could grow our own.”
“It will be. If planted correctly, you can get your weekly haul for pennies on the dollar. If the land is worked right, it can be done. I’d want to rotate the crops every couple of years, but it’s doable. Carrots grow fast, and depending on your growing season, you can get definitely two, possibly three growing batches a year. Until we stock up you’ll probably have to still purchase them, but give it a year or two and you can cut down on that amount.”
“Great.” Erin laughed as she looked up and pointed. “This is the other double wide. The first one we looked at was for Old Man Atherton’s hired hand when he had animals. This one was put here when Old Man Atherton had renovations done on the main house.” They went over and again were able to walk in and saw it was in the same condition as the other one. Afterward, they went to the main house and by the time they were back in the driveway, Erin told them to take their time, look around, take notes to find out what they would need to purchase and before she left she turned to Lois.
“Oh, at tonight’s BBQ remind me to introduce you to Cole Mercury.”
“Who is he?”
“He’s the manager in charge of New Double. When Julie, Manny’s girlfriend, and my assistant came to live here, she had a trailer loaded with gardening equipment. For storage purposes, we were able to store it all at New Double. Since he’s the manager, I thought it would be easier if you worked with him.”
“Okay, I’ll look forward to talking with him.”
Erin left and as soon as she did, Lois looked at Lorissa, gripped her hands and danced around like a little girl. “Let’s explore the main house, first.” They took off and only made it back over to the cabin with less than an hour to spare before everyone started to arrive. When Lois stepped out of the cabin after a quick shower, her cheeks were glowing, and she hadn’t felt this giddy in a long, long time, and didn’t think her face would ever stop smiling. That was how Cole caught his first glimpse of her. He was so shocked and enamored by the sight of the beautiful woman that he almost dropped the dish he was carrying. Clem had to step in and grab it from him.
CHAPTER 3
“What the hell, Cole?”Clem asked as he jumped forward to grab the dish the other man had been carrying. Once it was safe from falling, he looked at the other man and it took him a couple of seconds to realize that Cole wasn’t paying any attention to his surroundings. Clem followed Cole’s gaze and looked back at the other man with a smirk.
“Cat got your tongue?”
“Who is that? She’s beautiful,” Cole spoke, but later would deny that he had said his thoughts out loud. He stayed where he was for a few minutes to get his thoughts together. He didn’t know how long he stood there staring until he felt someone walk up beside him. He looked over and smiled at Naomi. “Hey,” he said quietly and reached in and kissed her cheek. The other woman had been like a daughter to him since he’d started working for her grandfather decades ago. Since moving to Colorado, it did his heart good to be able to see her most days.
“You okay?” Naomi asked her friend, a man she considered her father since he had come to work for her grandfather. “You seemed like you stumbled back there. I don’t want you to overwork yourself, Cole. If managing New Double is getting to be too much for you, I want you to let me know.”
“Bite your tongue, young lady,” Cole said firmly as he turned on her with an angry look. “I’m fine, I’m perfectly healthy, and running New Double is easier than when I ran The Double A. Why you ask? Because your assholic father isn’t popping his head around every corner getting into my business. Yes, you saw me stumble, but it wasn’t because of my health.” He saw he got his point across and subtly pointed his finger toward the crowd. “I lost my footing because I saw a beautiful woman that I have never seen before and I wanted to know who she was.”
Naomi wore a gigantic grin as she linked her arms with his and turned toward the crowd. “Let me introduce you, then.” She walked forward and the first person they stopped before was Lorissa.
