Dad had started out working in the oil fields of West Texas as a teenager, working long hours in the heat of the summer and the cold of the winter to learn the oil business. He had saved his money for several years until he had a stake and then went out on his own, a wildcat oil prospector. It'd taken him many years and a lot of dry holes before he hit the big one. The oil had been enough to make him prosperous but he never forgot his roots. He also had used the time and experience wisely, he knew as much or more about the oil business as anyone in Texas. After his first strike he continued to find new sources of oil, it was almost as though he could smell it in the ground. His own company was growing as was his demand with other organizations, each of them wanting to purchase his expertise to assist their own efforts. My father was smart enough to recognize that oil might not be the answer to all of his worries, once he started to become more comfortable he decided to diversify himself, soon his company was pumping oil and also consulting with other companies. He also got into the cattle business, buying a large piece of land for the cattle to graze on and also provide a home for his young family. Now the ranch sat on that property, 32,000 acres in Southwest Texas.
Dad had married later in life than many, he was close to 50 when he met my mother. She was 28 at the time but from what I remember they had loved each other deeply. He had told her he didn't want a family until he was able to provide everything he thought a family would deserve. Shortly after they married I was born and two years later my sister Alexis followed. We didn't think anything of it at the time we grew, but our family had everything we needed although my father was never one to forget his roots. Why go out and spend $100,000 on a car when a $15,000 pick up would do just as well. We had everything we needed but our parents were never ones to spend lavishly or live too ostentatiously.
It was a real shock the day they died. Dad had been out in the Gulf consulting with another company on one of their drilling rigs and mom had gone with him. They were coming back on a helicopter when it crashed. I was 19 and Alex 17, and the event stunned each of us. I took it hard but Alex took it even harder. I know she loved both our parents equally although she was daddy's little girl. She withdrew into a shell for six months, barely coming out of her room to eat. I tried getting through to her but nothing seemed to help. She would barely talk and many nights I could hear her crying in her room. During that time 'uncle' Lew did his best to help us, he had been one of my father's oldest friends, each growing up together. While dad had gone into the oil fields Lew had gone to school, and then had become a lawyer after that. He had been executor of my parents' will and trustee of the estate, valued at more than $500 million at the time our parents died. The will had stipulated that Alex and I would each split the estate, although it was put into trust for us until our 25th birthdays'.
Lewis took care of running the business, he had hired accountants and financial advisors and various other experts to help take care of things. He knew they would be required but told me that at some point it was going to be my responsibility to take over. At the time they died, I was just starting my second year in college, majoring in geology and planning to go into the family business anyway. Now events had thrust me into it even before I was ready but I felt capable of doing what I needed to. I was ready to quit school to come back to running things full-time, but Lewis told me my parents would never allow me to do that if they had been alive and I knew he was right. It was difficult for me to do but I stuck with it and finished out getting my degree at Texas A&M.
Alex had been traumatized by their death, but almost 6 months to the day it was as if a switch had been turned on. Her demeanor went from dark and morose to happy and carefree almost overnight. It was a complete turnaround, almost as though she wanted to live life to the fullest and beyond in an attempt to forget. She was constantly partying and getting into trouble, fortunately nothing too serious. I know of several times Lewis had pulled some strings to keep some of her more outrageous behaviors quiet. The first couple of times it'd been simple shoplifting and then there was public intoxication and the final one that I remember was indecent exposure. She and three of her friends had been skinny dipping in the fountain in front of City Hall. Somehow she always managed to avoid any consequences for these behaviors, and perhaps that hurt her in the long run. She started thinking there was no consequence to her actions but also, fortunately, some of her Wilder proclivities started to calm. She was still wild and carefree, but a lot of that wildness was now exercised here at the ranch rather than in town where everyone might see her.
*****
I had been working in my office for several hours now, there were many phone calls to answer and letters to write. I needed to keep up with the business, I was making most of the decisions now so it was important for me that I have as much information as possible. My stomach was starting to growl so I put aside the paperwork and went out into the kitchen. Carmelita was there already getting dinner prepared, she could anticipate my needs almost better than I could myself.
"Good morning Mr. Travis. Are you hungry?" She asked as she heard me enter behind her.
"Yes I am. What are you fixing?" I wondered, she always could make amazing meals. Carmelita was our housekeeper and did cooking for us, she had been with the family ever since I was small.
"I am making tamales for dinner, but I can heat a few for you now if you would like." She said, turning back to her work at the counter.
"That sounds good Carmelita. Unfortunately, I have to go into town this afternoon and Alex will be going with me. I'm not sure we're going to be back in time for dinner. You can cook them for us tomorrow though, I'm sure they will be good the second day."
"Yes, they will be fine tomorrow. Sit down and I will fix a plate for you." She said, getting a plate from the cupboard and starting to fill it. She was a wonderful cook and I often wondered how I managed to maintain a normal weight, I could foresee myself getting fat without much effort if I allowed myself to gorge on the wonderful food she prepared every day. I ate a plate of tamales and followed it with a beer, the food and drink were just right to chase away the grumbling that had been present in my stomach.
I had to go out to talk to my sister, today we would have to go into town to see Lewis. I did this on a quarterly basis but Alex had to accompany me once a year as Lewis went over all of the details of our business that had developed during the previous year. I knew how much Alex disliked doing this, but as half owner of the company she really needed to be there and often there would be legal documents she might have to sign. I knew she would complain, but in the end she relented, agreeing that she knew it was something that had to be done. Normally Alex rolled out of bed right around the crack of noon, but I knew they were outside right now. When I say they, I mean Alex and her three friends. I referred to them as the gang of four, they always seemed to be together. They fed off each other, each one trying to be more outrageous than the others and in the end I had seen them all get into their share of trouble. I wasn't too worried about the other three, I knew them as friends of Alex but they were not my concern. On the other hand, Alex was. I was her big brother and in many ways I tried to be her guardian angel although that wasn't always possible. In some ways I wanted to be her conscience too but I knew that was totally out of the question, all I knew was that I would do what was required to take care of her. As I said earlier, sometimes that would require me to make a call to Lewis or more often he would call me to inform me what trouble she had been able to avoid. I can remember several years ago when she was in her wildest period having to have some of the larger and more 'assertive' ranch hands have a talk with several over exuberant potential suitors who were sniffing around Alex. I don't think she ever knew, but I hoped I had done the right thing for her.
I went from the cool air-conditioned house out into the Texas heat, it was Midsummer and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The four of them were at the pool although none had been in the water as far as I knew. I would often find them out here, sometimes they would sun themselves and sometimes sit under the large umbrella and gossip. Each of them had a full complement of electronic implements, sitting there texting or sending tweets and images to who knows who. Sometimes I wondered if they might even be texting each other as they sat together. In any event it was always loud and boisterous as they laughed and talked and had a good time. I was going to remind Alex that we had to leave in another hour, it was a long drive into town and then several hours with Lewis.
As I got closer to the women they slowed their talking, each turning to look at me as I approached. Not one of them was wearing a top, there were four sets of bare breasts glistening with sweat and oil. Had this not been a normal occurrence, I probably would've become aroused with a Boner growing in my pants, but it was a normal occurrence. Still, I took in each one quickly because I'm a normal, horny guy and they were definitely worth looking at. Courtney was the first and probably the hottest of the four, she was a pretentious trust fund baby but a damned hot pretentious trust fund baby. I guessed she was 5 '10" with long blonde hair, proportionally large breasts, a nice ripe ass and legs that were oh so long. She was watching me intently as I stood there waiting to talk to Alex. Beside her was Liz, Liz was shorter with darker hair and more petite, but she was also super hot. Alex's third friend was Ellen, she was more quiet and reserved than the other three and although still attractive, didn't project the same degree of hotness as her friends did. She seemed more quiet and studious than the others, although she always followed their lead and wasn't the least bit nervous sitting there in front of me without a top on. Finally my sister Alex, her long dark hair and Brown skin came from our mother's Mexican heritage. She too was sitting there without a top, her breasts almost as large as Courtney's although she was 4 inches shorter. She and Courtney had been roommates in college but I'm not sure how the other two came to be part of this group. In any case, all four were super hot and I wouldn't mind finding any of them in my bed, although there were several reasons why that would never happen. First, Alex was my sister so she got crossed off the list quickly. The other three although each very desirable, just didn't fit my vision of the woman I would want to have a relationship with. I didn't really want to think of them as sluts or tramps, but their behavior colored my opinion of them so they almost met that criterion. It was strange, but the thought of getting involved with someone as crazy and outrageous as any of these four women just wasn't what I was looking for.
"Hey Travis, go tell Carmelita to bring us more bloody Mary's!" Alex ordered me as I got close enough to the four of them.
