He continued telling Gris what had happened ten years previously. Gris had no choice but to listen. "Course when Mrs. Kraft and Joe decided to move to California to be closer to their grandchildren it got real lonely real quick. I wasn't lookin forward to doin my own cookin." Zach laughed out loud,
"Paco saved my bacon when came up with the idea to have his wife, Juanita, and his daughter, Pilar, take over for the Krafts." He laughed again remembering how he'd asked Paco if he wanted his son, Ernesto, to become a butler.
"No Patron," Paco answered with a grin. "Neto is going to be a top hand one day. No, Juanita and Pilar can cook, clean and manage the house; you and I will do any repairs and chores that need to be done."
"Let's give it a try," Zach agreed. "Sure beats wrangling my own grub."
Juanita cooked his favorites but she began to spice them a little differently; she also made things that he remembered from his days in Texas and New Mexico. She and Pilar took over the management of the house too, making out lists for supplies and telling Paco or Zach about things that needed fixing or repairing. Zach never really missed Mrs. Kraft's cooking or Joe's managing of the house.
Pilar would serve him in the dining room but Zach wasn't comfortable eating all by himself at the big table. He started to take his meals in the kitchen with Paco, Juanita and Pilar. "We saw each other at least twice a day and sometimes most of the evening. Fore long Pilar got her hooks in me," he said and smiled. "I'm as thick as molasses in winter so it took me a while to see that she was shining up to me." Zach chuckled and shook his head.
"When Paco moved his family to Astor Manor, Pilar was a young girl of 16. But she sure had grown up in the two years since she came to live at the ranch. You've seen her Gris; she's got this long black hair down to the middle of her back, and those dark eyes could just melt a man. She's a fine figure of a woman too. "I had a hard time with the difference in our ages but Paco told me that in Mexico, most girls were married with children by her age."
Zach heard a commotion down where the men were working and looked over. One of the new hands, a boy fresh off a farm in Kansas, had somehow managed to put a red hot branding iron to his foot. He hopped around yelling in pain as the rest of the crew laughed. He'll learn, Zach thought. He smiled at the boy's antics.
"I finally got it though my head that she had feelings for me," he continued. "It came as a bigger surprise that I wanted her too. It was the best thing that ever happened to me." Zach pointed to the breezeway of the house. "Got hitched right there," he told Gris.
"Had the hardest time gettin Paco to stop calling me Patron after Pilar and I got married," Zach said. "Guess old habits are hard to break ain't they." He laughed at himself and added, "Like talkin to your horse."
He sat up straighter in the saddle, pulling his right leg down and put his boot back into the stirrup. "You'll get to see my folks again later this year. They really liked Prescott Valley when they came out last fall to meet Pilar and our boys. They liked it so much they went back to Missouri and gave the farm to Caleb and Becky and their brood. Caleb's got four little ones of his own now."
Zach thought about his brother for several seconds; lost in memories of the past. "Anyway Pa and Ma sold off most of their furniture and such and are comin to live at Astor Manor. Pa said he didn't want to face another winter in Missouri. Said he wanted a chance to sit in the sun for awhile. Sides Ma said she wanted a chance to spoil some other grandbabies."
Zach had seen Pilar come out of the house to corral their sons but she wasn't having much luck. "Reckon we ought to get down there and save her," he said. "With the new baby comin soon, Pilar don't need to have to rope and hog tie those two boys of ours."
Zach gently put his spurs into Gris and started down the rise. Gris was happy to be moving at last and when they hit the flat he went into a high lope toward the ranch house.
The End
