Page 43 of Caleb's Cause
“And now?” Erin asked as she sipped her whiskey.
“Now, Jacobs has reached out to me to let me know that he has a clean bill of health and wants to know if I know of anyone that would hire him. He walks with a limp, and his shoulder isn’t perfect, but as long as he keeps up with his PT, then he should be fine.”
“Are you thinking of inviting him to Broken?”
“Yes, but I wanted to make sure he was medically one hundred percent. Last I heard, he had no girlfriend, nor wife, and his family stopped helping him when he wasn’t healed after the first eight weeks of the accident. They figured if you had a broken bone, the doctors could slap a cast on it and it would heal in eight weeks. Didn’t happen.” She shrugged. “He did what he could, and I didn’t think I abandoned him, but once I healed and heard about Broken, I came here. We kept in touch, but Iknew not to push my luck when it was around time for another operation.”
“What do you mean, push your luck?” Katherine asked.
“You know, tell him this one will be the last one, that he got this, that it would be okay. I never sugarcoated anything with him, even before the accident. I was the little/big sister and treated him with not only respect, but I was also a hard ass on him when he would get down. It’s hard to explain.”
“I think I get it,” Pru nodded. “So, why is he texting you all of a sudden?”
“He’s gotten a clean bill of health, and he was finally released from the service.” She looked at the three people that weren’t veterans, and explained, “Since we were on a mission when the sabotage slash accident occurred, he was on medical leave until he was healed. Since getting a clean bill of health, and passing his physical, he can now be discharged.” Marcia looked at the others with a nod before she turned to Erin. “He wants to know if there is any place for him here.”
“First, he’ll have to go through a background check with Duane and Jake. Second, I’m not saying no, but a couple of things will have to happen before I agree to hiring him. Third, he wouldn’t be working at Broken.”
“Like?”
“Like I need to know that Lloyd will be okay with him being here. I’m not saying that I trust a man’s word over yours, but I need to know that he’s okay with this guy being here. What’s his name again?”
“Anthony Jacobs. I always called him Jacobs because we really only hung out when we were on duty. I do know that his family called him Tony. I’ll sit down and talk with Lloyd tonight, or tomorrow and explain everything to him. Until Katherine pointed it out, I never thought anything about it. In my eyes,Jacobs is my brother, and that’s it. I never had any romantic feeling for him, ever.”
“Make sure you tell Lloyd that.”
“Why wouldn’t he work at Broken?” Katherine asked.
“I have enough employees for Broken, however, I don’t have enough for New Double. If I hire this guy, then please know that I’m not putting him over on New Double to keep the two of you apart, I’m putting him over there because the only people working there right now are Ann, Cole, Clem, and Ducky. You guys fill in when you can. Oh, and I know you don’t know this yet, because it hasn’t been spoken yet, but I think I’m going to send Clem out on a scouting mission soon.”
“For?” Naomi asked with a frowned.
“I just had this thought a couple of days ago, that’s why I haven’t talked to you about it yet, but I’ll need to get with you for this.” She saw confusion on the other’s faces and sighed as she finished off her whiskey. After setting the glass down, she settled back in her chair. “What the hell, I might as well say what I’ve been thinking, and you gals can tell me if I’m wrong or not.”
“Hit us,” Pru said as she topped off her wine glass and passed the bottle. When everyone was settled, they turned to Erin. “What’s in that fabulous head of yours?”
“I wouldn’t say it’s fabulous, but you know that I’m starting a rodeo ranch right? Across the street where Laurie, Lorissa, and Lois live?”
“Yes, what about it?”
“We’re going to need barns, bunkhouses, bunktels, cabins, and an arena built. Once the building is complete and signed off by the powers that be here on Broken Two, then Clark is going to break ground over there. As we speak, we have gone to our engineer and he’s drawing up the plans to take to the town. Once we get approval, we’ll be able to officially break ground. I was thinking that until the buildings are complete, then Clemcan go out to rodeos, like Cole and Lois did, and recruit people to work that ranch. I have yet to come up with a name for it, but I figured if he could catch people at the tail end of the rodeo season, maybe by spring, we can have a whole new crew to come in and help.” She looked around and nodded once. “Like the Montgomery twins, they’ll be here in the next month, then be with us all winter. They too will be working over at New Double until the new ranch is operational.”
“If it were me,” Pru spoke as she sipped her wine, then looked at Erin. “I would have Clem talk to the people about the animals, and have the Montgomery twins talk to the rodeo riders.”
“Why?” Erin and Naomi asked at the same time.
“From conversations I’ve had with Clem, Cole, and you, Naomi, I got the impression that Cole was the man behind the scenes. He ran The Double A, while you, your grandpa, and Clem went to the rodeos. Correct?”
“Correct.”
“Then have Cole stay here, and no offense to anyone, but with him now dating Lois, would he want to leave her so often? I’m not saying he couldn’t do his job because he was dating someone, but what if he’s gone for weeks or months on end? If Clem was behind the scenes with you when you did the rodeo, he would know the animals. He could go to the people that own them, or breed them, or whatever they do. In the meantime, why not send the Montgomery twins out to talk to the riders? I really liked them when they were here, and who knows, maybe they can get the right people for the job. Again, I’m not saying this to belittle anyone, but would young people down on their luck at the rodeo really talk with Clem.” She turned to Lois. “Did the Montgomery twins talk to Cole?”
“No, I was the one that approached Kade. I thought Cole was standing beside me when I asked a question. I don’t know if he answered because I look like a grandmother, but there wassomething in his eyes that made me invite him to breakfast the next morning. That’s when Cole first met them.”
“See, Kade and Lane know the rodeo, they know the people. Maybe they have friends that are trying to make it, but just can’t do it. If my faulty memory is correct, then Kade and Lane came from a dairy farm and wanted to make it in the rodeo. They had family to return to. What if there are some young bucks out there that don’t have that?” She sipped her wine again and shook her head as she turned back to Erin. “You took all of us in on a recommendation of someone else. I don’t know how you got my name, and I don’t care because you saved me by bringing me to Broken. Why can’t Clem go to the ranches that breed the stock, while the twins go to the rodeos and recruit people.” She shrugged. “I don’t know about breeding any livestock, but if it’s going to take a couple of years to get the actual buildings built, then maybe you can start breeding the livestock now so that when the time comes, they will be ready for the rodeo.”
“I like that idea,” Naomi spoke with a nod. “However, we’ll have to come up with a list of requirements. I don’t expect them to tell every Joe Schmoe to come work here.”
“I can come up with a list,” Katherine said.
