LIFE RENEWED, Part IV
After everything James and Ana wanted or thought they needed had been ordered and confirmed they fixed a nice supper of breaded chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy. As they were eating, he told her that he had made all kinds of plans and had given a great deal of thought to what he might need for the rest of the winter and believed he had thought of most everything and he asked her if she could think of at least one major thing he had forgotten. She gave it a lot of thought and asked a few questions about did he have this or that and then gave up. He smiled and told her she was just like he was and had forgotten the same thing, namely chickens for eggs. Too late now to get any but after he talked with the feed and farm stores to see if what it took for chickens to survive the harsh winters, he could build a large all weather run for them and make a chicken house that would hold maybe 12 or 14 chickens, which should give them about a dozen eggs per day for breakfast and cooking which would be more than they needed, but better to have and not need than to need and not have. Right??? He also told her to call and ask Leon if he could bring them up about 10 dozen more eggs when he came up.
James was sitting at the table enjoying a cup of coffee when Ana came to him and sat in his lap and put her arms around his neck and asked why he was being so nice to a complete stranger.
James reached up and turned her head a little so he could look directly into her eyes and said, "First, you are not a complete stranger. I met you last night, remember? And as I told you, I have almost 20 years of experience making snap decisions about people and when it comes to you, I not only see one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen in person, not only on the outside, but it appears the inside is just as beautiful. You are apparently super intelligent, quick witted, humorous, adventurous, and I can tell you are very giving of yourself and your time for those that need it, and so much more all wrapped up in this tidy and attractive little package. I know I like you. A lot already. Way too early for anything else, but I find you super interesting and besides, Rolf seems to of taken up with you and that says a lot.
"Second, I had withdrawn into a shell like a frightened turtle for a long time, not wanting to see or talk to or deal with people at all, and suddenly here you are and I am opening up like a rose in the springtime because you cracked my shell wide open. I cannot explain it, but I know it is happening and I think I am going to enjoy it for a long, long time."
"Wow! I had to ask, didn't I? Do you really mean it?"
"Of course I do. I do not lie except about fishing and hunting and that we are supposed to lie about. It's a rule. I will do everything in my power to help you find yourself again, or to just find you someplace where you can be comfortable. You look troubled and in need and I can help if you allow me to. Just tell me what I can do for you. Deal?"
She looked at him closer and with tears in her eyes said, "Oh, you sweet, wonderful man. I think I am going to be in so much trouble in the times to come if I stay around here. You are what we call dangerous to a fault." She then leaned in and first kissed him on the forehead, then his cheeks one after the other, and then gave him the most tender kiss he had ever had right on the lips. No tongue, just heart.
"I liked that. A lot. A guy could get used to those kinds of kisses really quick. What do I have to do get more of them?" he asked.
"Just keep on being the good guy you are and don't press your luck." She replied smiling.
When she stood up, she went to the kitchen window and looked out and then asked him to tell her about his horses and show them to her when he could. She told him that she used to ride a lot at a friend's when she was in school but had not been on one in years. James told her about how he had found and bought this ranch and after moving in his exploration of everything and of finding all the machinery and tools and then the horses, who had water due to an automatic waterer but appeared hungry. He told her that he fed them and then brushed them down and they seemed to accept him in their life, but that while he had ridden a couple during the fall roundup, he knew nothing about them at all and had considered getting a trainer out in the Spring to ride each and check them out for bad habits and such. In the meantime, he, now they, would continue to feed and groom them and keep the stalls clean and maintain an overall healthy environment for them. He also thought he or maybe they probably needed to get out to the tack room and put a coat of saddle soap on everything leather to keep it soft and pliable through the winter and to keep it from drying out. If it was too cold to work out there they could bring the tack into the house to condition it. He would surprise her with that chore next week.
Suddenly, James got a strange look on his face and called out, "Ana Marie! Get yourself over here for a minute please." And she came quickly in to see what was so urgent. He looked at her and said "what say we call Leon and check on the weather for the next 2 or 3 days and if we are not looking at another blizzard, let's have him pick us up tomorrow and take us down South and we can look around and do some shopping and play tourist for a bit." She agreed quickly.
"Hello! Leon, this is James Crawford and I need to ask what the weather forecast is going to be for the next 2 or 3 days, and if there is no snow in the forecast we would like you to pick us up here tomorrow and take us to your airport where I can rent a car and we can go look around and shop?"
Leon said that because of the weight limits helicopters have, it might be best to wait a day and let him bring up the stuff they had already bought and then there would should be plenty of room for any extra things we might want to get. James told him they would see him in two days but to make it early so they could get there early to shop and that they would stay one night if the weather was going to cooperate and none if it wasn't supposed to. James told Ana to make a list of anything and everything she could think of that they might need in the foreseeable future that they had not already ordered. He told her to make sure that she put down winter and waterproof boots, a few pairs of western boots, at least one pair for dress, one for everyday use, and two or three for work, spurs, chaps. coats, vests, several types of gloves, and hooded sweatshirts, warm headgear, and a couple of western hats for when it got warm and sunny. Also, jeans and flannel or wool shirts and that she would need thermal underwear so not to get all her outer wear too tight, some maybe a size larger to accommodate the extra bulk of the winter underwear.
She asked him if he was going to make her a slave girl, and he told her she had to earn her keep somehow. This got him an elbow to the ribs and a chuckle from her. But she agreed whole heartedly.
James called Leon and told him that he had talked Ana into also taking the pilots training, at least the ground school portion, but she was a bit timid about the actual flying part. Leon told him that after she flew with him a time or two she would love it. James also told him that they were anxious to start their ground school classroom work for their pilot's license. Leon explained that they had some paperwork to do but that he was ready for the class to start and would bring everything for both of them up when they came in two days. James told him that that they would have two laptops plus a desktop to facilitate both of them working at the same time.
James and Leon said their goodbyes and James went outside to the equipment barn to start the four-wheel drive tractor with the big bucket on it and let it warmup to operating temperature prior to starting work on the area where Leon was to land. He thought that he would have to teach Ana how to operate all the equipment, and fairly quickly, too. As soon as the tractor had warmed sufficiently he went to work on clearing a spot large enough for Leon to land on with a little extra all the way around for good measure and a nice path back to the house, knowing that the extra day in the sun should help dry the ground somewhat. When it was finished, he was heading back to the machinery barn when he thought about fuel. He really had not noticed a fuel tank yet and decided he needed to check that out. On the side of the barn he found what looked to be about a 500-gallon fuel tank marked "Winterized Diesel" and "For off road or farm use only" and another tank marked Unleaded Gasoline, this one being maybe a 200-gallon tank. He knew from his years in construction that delivered fuel normally cost more per gallon, so he needed to confirm the costs and to see about any fuel stabilizer that might have been added or was in need of being added to keep it fresh for the winter and early Spring as right now he planned to use that for ranch use only most of the time and buy gas in town whenever he went to town. Of course, with Ana being here, he could envision going into town a lot more often that if he was here by himself. Besides, as he had told her, the sun penetrated the snow on the highway melting it and drying the road even if it was way below freezing in the area so there would many times they could use the main road if they could get to it. James thought his big tractor with the front bucket might be able to clear a path without too much trouble although it would not be like a snow plow. He thought he should look at snow removal attachments for his tractors and wondered why the old rancher and others had not done that already.
After fueling the tractor and parking it back inside the barn, and plugging in the block heater all the diesel equipment had he visited the horses and gave them their evening rations of grain and hay and made sure that their water was working properly and headed back to the house and Ana. That girl was really starting to grow on him, but in the back of his mind he was wondering, not worried mind you, but wondering if things were as he imagined and if she really did like him as much as he liked her. He sure hoped so, but he was not about to make a move on her and scare her away, thus leaving him all alone once more. He knew he had already been alone to long and needed the change. He also wondered if maybe, just maybe life was giving him the missing pieces to be able to put his life back together and at the same time help another help themselves. It all seemed to be happening so unbelievably fast, and was shocked to realize how he was beginning to feel about Ana, but at the same time it seemed so perfect.
Supper was ready when he got back to the house so he washed up and enjoyed the great meal that Ana had fixed. That girl could cook and if he was not careful he would weigh 400 pounds by next year. He told her that they ever married he was going to put a clause in his will so that when he died they had to do an autopsy to see if her delicious cooking had killed him and if so to deprive her of her inheritance. She told him to buy some exercise equipment for now but in the spring they were going to get some cattle and start ranching as no one ever sees a fat cowboy. He told her that as the owner of the ranch he would not be a cowboy but a cattleman and most of them were overweight so maybe they should not get to many cows. Besides, cowboys were always underpaid and could not afford to eat large portions. She asked him if he had an answer for everything and he told her he learned how it was done managing so many projects and dealing with people.
That night they sat at the kitchen table and played cards with each other drinking coffee and hot chocolate and just enjoying talking with and being with each other. Ana told James that he was so easy to talk to, until one of his futile attempts at humor cropped up.
"Futile?? I am crushed to the core. I thought almost every attempt I made at humor was almost world class and you call it futile? Have you no shame?"
"See what I mean?"
He asked if she had given any more thought to going home or staying. She thoughtfully answered "Yes, lots of thoughts and we are fixing to find out if we are compatible and besides, it is really already too late as Rolf loves me and I would hate to break his little heart, so I guess you are stuck with me."
