Lord, I was a fool to take this job. It’s the first week of February and I’m still trying to figure out how to save this damn place. I know that doesn’t seem like a lot of time, but when a ranch this size is in this bad of shape it can be an eternity. I need to talk to that contrary woman about extending her mortgage, and I already know without trying how that will go over. However, that’s the only way I’m going to get the spare money to replace her livestock.
Or a miracle.
Shit. Who am I kidding? It will take both.
I pour some coffee in my mug, hoping it will warm me up. I’ve already been out this morning riding the fence lines. The repairs seem to be holding, but I’d feel better if I had the money to replace most of those damn posts.
I’m getting too damn old for this shit. I should hang it up and maybe find my own spread again, something small. The appeal to do that is about next to nothing. Building something for the future doesn’t mean shit if there’s no one to do it with… or to leave it for. This sure as hell wasn’t how I planned on my life being at this age.
What can you do?
Life’s a bitch. Heard it my whole life and the older I get the more I believe it.
When I get my mug full, I make my way to my office. I frown because the door is open. I could have sworn I had that closed and locked when I left this morning.
I walk to my desk, my eyes more on the morning paper than on where I’m going. I all but flop down in my chair, reaching out blindly to put my cup on my desk. As it connects, something feels off, it’s unsteady. I look to see what’s there, because I always keep my desk clean. That’s when I see a large, square box. It’s brown but on the side facing me, in pink marker is one word.
“Surprise.”
Weird. There’s an envelope propped against it that has a scraggly flower drawn on it, in the same color pink. I open it up, still frowning.
Jansen,
I like you. Thought this would come in handy if we go out on a date.
There’s a jumbled mess like she made a mistake and then her name. Ida Sue.
It might be the strangest note I’ve ever received from a woman. I’m not exactly sure how I feel about it. I mean, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t attracted to her. She’s a beautiful woman, although she can be a bitch. Still, she’s a good mom and it’s obvious she adores her children. She works nonstop. She works cleaning other people’s houses and I know she’s been sewing and baking since I’ve been here. I haven’t asked, but from looking at the books, I’m sure that’s how she’s surviving. There are nights I don’t see the light go out in her room until after four in the morning and she has to have the kids up at six the following morning for school. I admire the hell out of her for that, especially knowing how the people in town treat her.
Still, if I had to bet, I would have said she hated me, especially after the speech about staying away from her kids. A speech I haven’t really paid attention to. I don’t go out of my way to talk with her kids, but the woman better think again if she thinks I’ll ignore them if they come to me and ask for something. I pull the box down into my lap, opening it up—half afraid of what I’ll find in there.
At first, I figure I have to be seeing things wrong. I reach inside and grab a handful and pull them out to be sure.
Condoms. Honestly, there’s probably eighty condoms in this damn box.
Maybe more.
What in the ever-loving hell and tarnation is this?
Then, I notice the size on the condom.
Extra small.
Does she think she’s joking with me? That I’ll find this shit funny?
That’s when I pull out a book that’s in there. A huge hardcover book that’s glossy black with white lettering on the front. The title makes my whole body freeze for a second, mostly in disbelief.
A Guide To The Female Reproduction System
Jesus H. Christ.
The woman is as crazy as a Bessie bug.
If she thinks I’m going to be the next candidate to give her a new kid, she’s in for a rude awakening. I slam the book down on the floor and shove out of my seat. I don’t know who in the hell this woman thinks she is, but I’m not about to put up with it. I’ll give her a piece of my mind and then she can take this job and shove it. It’s no wonder her last foreman ran out of town. She probably asked him to give her another kid too!
Women. There’s not a one worth a damn. I don’t know why I keep forgetting that.