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He was talking to some of the other hands, when the news came about the Carters’ being killed in a car accident. He was dumbstruck, starting to grieve in his usual stoic way. Jim knew that they had a grandson somewhere but didn’t figure that he’d have to deal with him, ever. The entire ranch went into mourning. The Carters’ were good folks.
Sheriff Simon Banks came out to the Ranch to talk to Jim about the accident. Simon said, “Blair Sandburg is on his way to take over the ranch.”
Jim said, “You’ve got to be joking? They left some city kid to take over their ranch?”
Jim found himself getting sad for many different reasons. Things would never be the same.
“Blair Sandburg will be here on Tuesday,” Simon said, “that’ll give you enough time to get things in order at the house. If you need any help, let us know. Cassie would love to help you with anything.”
“Tell Cassie I said thanks.” Jim said. “But there isn’t much to do, really.”
Tuesday arrived with a vengeance. Blair Sandburg was not exactly what they were thinking about when the pictured him. He had long hair, but other than that, he seemed like a nice enough guy. Jim wondered why the long hair would bother him. It had nothing to do with how the ranch was run.
Blair said to Jim, “Jim, I hope that I don’t step on any toes. I need to get first hand knowledge of what’s going on here, so I want to just roll up my sleeves and get busy.”
“Mr. Sandburg,” Jim said quietly, “this is your ranch, you can do whatever you want. You are welcome to do anything with us that you wish.”
“Thanks,” Blair replied, “you have no idea how upset I am that Gramma and Grampa aren’t here anymore. I want to run this ranch exactly the way they’d run it.”
As he walked away, the entire crew realized that this young man was missing his grandparents. He was very sad indeed.
Jim caught up with him and said, “Mr. Sandburg, you don’t have to leave. Why don’t you ride the fences with us? We check all of the fences every Tuesday and Friday. We have to be sure that none of the livestock get out.”
Blair smiled at Jim and said, “Thank you, Jim. I’d like that.” Blair wondered why this man seemed to make him feel good about everything. Jesus, you’re not into guys, Blair thought. Get a grip.
Bill rode up at that moment and said, “Hey girly man, you wanna work with us, you better cut off those curls.”
Jim yelled, “Bill, shut the fuck up. Mr. Sandburg’s hair doesn’t have anything to do with running a ranch. Keep your opinions to yourself.”
“It’s okay,” Blair said, “I’ve had to put up with people like you all my life. I might look a little different from the next person because of my long hair. If you want to keep your fucking job here, you’ll shut your mouth and keep your personal opinions to yourself. Is that understood?”
“Fine,” Bill said as he strode off. Under his breath he said, “Let's see how long this little queer works out.”
The neighboring ranch hands were giving them all a bad time one afternoon. Bill said, “You’re going to have to learn to deal with scum like this. Do you think that you’re up to it?”
Blair said, “Well, I can sure try.” But Blair felt lost and alone suddenly. These people wanted to take the ranch away from him and that thought alone scared him to death.
Jim said, “Mr. Sandburg, I’ve got a degree in business if you need some help with the books. I used to help your Grandmother every night. We always went over everything so that way we never got behind. Those were some of the best memories I have.”
“Could you stop calling me Mr. Sandburg? Blair said, “I keep thinking you’re talking to someone else. I’m glad that you were around to help my Grandparents. They were great folks. I loved them a lot. I had a visit planned two weeks after the accident. I’ll always regret that I didn’t get to see them.”
They headed back to the ranch and were at the main house when Blair asked Jim, “Could you come over tonight and we could start work on the books?”
As they were talking, the Sheriff drove up and said, “Mr. Sandburg, I need to talk to you. Jim, you might want to hear what I have to say.”
Jim and Blair walked up to his car and Blair said, “Why don’t you come inside and you can tell us about this with a cold drink?”
Simon got out of his car, and said, “Thank you. It’s really hot, I could use a nice cool drink. I’m sorry for your loss, Mr. Sandburg.”
“Thank you and please call me Blair,” he said, “Mr. Sandburg was my Grandfather.”
Jim said, “How about we just call you Sandburg? That isn’t as bad as Mr. Sandburg. But yet, we don’t know you well enough to call you Blair.”
All three men walked into the house. Blair fixed them all a cold drink and they sat down at the kitchen table and Simon said, “I don’t know how to tell you this. The brake lines were cut on your Grandparents truck so it wasn’t an accident. Now we’ll begin an investigation. I’m truly sorry. It’s much easier to accept when it is an accident. When you find out that someone did it on purpose, it makes it harder to understand.”
They talked for about an hour and then Simon left. Jim said, “Well, Sandburg, I guess I better get back to work.”
“Would you help me with the books tonight?” Blair asked, “we could have dinner at the same time. I don’t want to be alone right now.”
Jim looked at him sadly and said, “Sure. I’ll get cleaned up and changed and be back in about an hour.”
While Jim was in the shower, Bill walked in and said to him, “What you getting all cleaned up for? Getting soft on the pretty boy, Jim?”
Jim finished showering and stepped out and began toweling himself off and turned towards Bill. He glared at him and said, “Stay away from that kid, is that understood?”
“Oh yeah, I understand,” Bill replied, “I think we all know what you want.”
Megan and Brian Rafe grabbed Jim before he could punch Bill out. Megan said, “Jim, don’t worry about that piece of shit. We all know he’s an asshole. You know it too.”
Brian Rafe said, “How is that kid doing anyhow? I mean, we just heard about his Grandparents death not being an accident. The Sheriff asked a bunch of questions and we’re all in shock.”
Jim started getting dressed as he answered, “He’s doing pretty well. He’s upset, which is understandable. He’s a really nice guy, you’re all going to like him, I think.”
Oh man, thought Brian Rafe, someone went and fell for the new kid. Smiling he said, “I’m sure we'll all like him just fine.”
Jalen, the youngest of the staff, walked into the room and said, “Jim, I just heard something from Bill and I can’t believe it. He said that you’re sleeping with the new guy. Sandburg. Man, is that true?”
Jim glared as he said, “No, it's not true. I’m going to kick his ass.”
Brian Rafe said, “Jim, why not ignore him. He just wants to get a rise out of you.”
“What you got planned for tonight, Jim,” asked Jalen, “I thought maybe we would check out a movie or something in town. We haven’t done anything in a long time.”
Jim smiled at the kid, “Jalen, I’m going to do books at the Sandburg house tonight. I’m sorry. How about a raincheck?”
As Jim, Brian Rafe and Megan were all talking, Jalen took off for the house. When he arrived, he rang the doorbell. Sandburg opened up the door and said, “Can I help you?”
“My name is Jalen Bishop,” Jalen stated, “I haven’t met you yet and just came up to inroduce myself. I was busy when you met everyone else. I was wondering if you needed any help doing anything at the house tonight? I’d love to help out with anything I could.”
Blair looked at him strangely, and said, “Well, if you want, Jim and I are going to be doing the books. You can come and help if you want.”
Jalen’s face lit up and said, “All right, I’ll be back in about 30 minutes. Thanks.”
When Jalen got back to the bunkhouse, he heard Jim and Bill arguing over what was said earlier. Jim said, “If you have something to say, say it to me, not to Jalen. If you don’t like something then quit, you asshole.”
Bill said, “I don’t have to quit, as soon as everyone figures out what you two are doing, they’ll want both of you out of here. We don’t have time for sickness like that.”
“Hey, Jim,” Jalen said walking into the room, “I’ll be ready in a few minutes to go and help with the bookwork up at the house. Mr. Sandburg asked me to help. So, we’ll all be there.”
Bill said, “Well, I guess you’re covering all bases. We all know that Jalen has a thing for you, Jim.”
This time, Jim didn’t have anyone to pull him off of Bill, he slugged him right in the face. Bill went down and didn’t get back up. Rubbing his hand, Jim thought to himself, it hurts a lot more than a person thinks it does.
Jalen got out of the shower and said, “Man, what are you doing? Why’d you hit him, Jim?”
“Don’t worry about it, Jalen.” Jim said, “It wasn’t important.”
Bill had just woken up and said, “He hit me because I told him that you have a thing for him. You keep following him around all the time and all that.”
Jim started to go for him again, but Jalen pulled him back. “Jim,” Jalen began, “I have something to tell you.”
Oh shit, thought Jim.
“Do you remember a woman named Lisa Bishop?” Jalen asked, “From about 19 years ago?”
“Yes,” Jim answered, “why would you be asking that?”
“She’s my mom” Jalen said, “she said you're my dad.”
Everyone in the bunkhouse just sat there not knowing what to say. I mean, what do you say to that?
Jalen quickly added, “It’s not a big deal. I don’t care if you are or not. I really like working with you. It doesn’t matter to me.”
Jim still in shock said, “She told you that I was your dad? Why didn’t she call or write to me and tell me?”
Jalen said, “She moved with her Aunt, because her family was embarrassed of her being pregnant. I mean you were all young then and she didn’t want to ruin your life too.”
Jim said, “Jalen, we’ll have to check this out. Okay? And I agree, it doesn’t really matter to me either, except that I’d like to know if I have a son or not. Actually this makes a little bit of sense. I’ve been having such paternal feelings toward you since the very beginning. You remind me of me when I was young.”
As Jalen and Jim made their way up to the house, everyone got ready for the nightly game of poker. Megan looked so forward to this. It was one of the few times that she got to stare at Brian Rafe without him noticing that she was watching him. She sure wished that he wasn’t so shy and withdrawn when it came to her. Well, hell, maybe he didn’t find her attractive. As she was getting ready, she put on one of the nicest blouses she had hoping to catch his attention. Now her only other hope would be that idiot Bill would not be there tonight. Geez, she hated that man.
As everyone came into the bunkhouse, they all sat down in their normal chairs and first thing out of idiot Bill's mouth, was, “well what do you suppose Jim is having for dinner? Probably, something gross like Sandburg.” Everyone told him to shut up or leave. He got all pissed off and left the game. Everyone was happy to see him walk out the door.
As Jalen and Jim entered the Sandburg house when the door was opened, Jalen said, “Mr. Sandburg, I told Jim that he might be my dad.”
Blair looked at Jim, and said, “Well, that’s good news, I think. Isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Jim said, “I really like Jalen, always have.”
“I made dinner,” Blair said, “I hope you all like meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy.”
Jalen just flew into the dining room and sat down as he said, “I love them.”
Jim whispered, “Thanks for inviting him. For some reason he didn’t want us alone I guess. I don’t know what’s going on there.”
Blair said, “Sheriff Jackson called about ten minutes ago and said, he needed to talk to us.”
“I wonder what’s up?” questioned Jim.
They all talked while eating dinner. Jim told Blair how much he loved the ranch and how he wanted to see things stay the same.
Blair said, “Did you know that the neighbors have already made me an offer for the ranch?”
Jim sat there with his mouth hanging open and finally said, “I didn’t know that, no. So, are you going to sell?”
“Never.” Blair said, “My Grandfather would smack me if I even considered it. He always said this was almost the most important thing in the world. Nothing more important than family, but this was a close second.”
Jim took a breath that he didn’t realize he was holding. The thought of losing this job scared the shit out of him. He loved it here.
Blair started talking with Jalen and Jim found himself staring at Blair. There was something about this man that Jim couldn’t get out of his mind. /What is with you, Davis. You don’t go for men. Why Blair Sandburg?/
Meanwhile, back at the bunkhouse, the poker game was heating up and Brian Rafe looked over at Megan and smiled and she finally couldn’t take it anymore. She asked, “Do you want to go for a walk?”
Everyone started laughing. Brian Rafe was embarrassed but he said, “yes, that would be nice.”
They got up and walked out the door. As they walked in the dark, they kept looking at the stars in the sky. Megan said, “I’d really like to start seeing you, Brian Rafe. If you’d like to I mean.”
Brian Rafe smiled back and said, “Yeah, I’d like to see you too.” Having said that he leaned over and kissed her softly and she pulled away and said, “What happened to that nice shy man I've come to know and love?”
They both laughed as they headed back to the bunkhouse. They made a date for the next night for the movies.
At the Sandburg house, the doorbell rang. Blair answered and it was Sheriff Jackson, carrying something in a brown paper bag, and Blair asked, “Do you want to come into the dining room and have some dinner with us?”
“No thank you,” Simon said, “my wife is a wonderful cook and she made a really good dinner before I came. In fact, this is a Strawberry Rhuebarb pie. She thought you might want to try some home cooking.”
Blair smiled and said, “Oh Sheriff, be sure and thank her for me. That's my favorite kind of pie. Would you like a piece?”
“Don’t mind if I do.” Simon said, sitting down in the dining room with the other men.
“So Simon ,” Jim asked, “What brings you out? I know you must have something on your mind if you’ve come all the way back out here.
“Well, I wanted to let you know about the Miller’s.” Simon said. At the questioning look on Blair’s face, he continued, “They're your neighbors to the south. They’ve been trying to get a hold of this land for a long time. Well, witnesses saw one of the Miller boys in front of the truck in town right before the accident.”
Blair had tears in his eyes and he said, “Do you think that they wanted them out of the way so they could buy the land and have control?”
“Well,” said Simon , “I was hoping that this wouldn't be the case. I’ve known the Miller’s for a long time and consider them friends but I have four eye witnesses stating they saw Carl Miller underneath the truck. He got up off the ground and walked away right before your Grandparents came out of the house.”
“They've made an offer to buy this land,” Blair said, “of course, I told them no. Now they’ll probably try to get rid of me.”
“Sandburg,” Simon said, “don’t worry about it. I’ve got my deputies picking him up now and no attorney will get him off. Not with four eye witnesses.”
“Blair,” Jim said softly, “I’ll stick around until they get them picked up. You don’t have to worry about anything right now.”
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Tune in next week to see if the Millers do indeed get their son off or if things go as Simon promised. Will Blair and Jim find time to tell each other about how they feel? Will Jim find out more about Jalen and his mother? What will happen with that stupid Bill? Will there be love in the future for Brian Rafe and Megan? Next week, will we meet Simon ’s wife? Will Jim and Blair do more than bookwork at the house or will they be taking things slowly?