Ken nodded, as did his father. “Solid thinking,” Robert agreed.
Knowing it was time to shut up, he took another drink of his coffee and waited.
Two more read throughs and Robert looked at Sue who had been reading over his shoulder. “What do you think?”
“It’s not up to me. My domain is the house and gardens. You’re the rancher.”
“Bull crap.” Robert laughed. “You know as much about this ranch as I do. You could run it single handedly.”
“The numbers look sound to me. In my opinion, it could work. Nice work, Ira.” She smiled at both boys as if saying she knew Ken had a hand in the work. Not much got by Sue.
“Well then,” Robert offered his hand to Ira, “I guess we’re going to get more cows. You’ve convinced me.” After they shook, he offered his hand to Ken. “Son, I may have been wrong about my hardline on not changing. I apologize.”
“No apology needed, Dad,” Ken responded. “Now, let’s talk about a new truck.”
Everyone laughed.
“Get out of my kitchen,” Robert teased. “You’re pushing your luck.”
Sue harumphed. “His kitchen. Fine then. You make breakfast. I’ll have bacon, eggs, sausages, waffles, and fruit salad.” She leaned back in her chair; arms crossed over her chest.
“Fine, fine. They can stay. But only if you cook.”
“What can I do to help? I’m great with bacon.” Ira rose to his feet.
“Ken, you can set the table. I’ll warm up some sausages. I precook them for lazy days. And Ira, I’d appreciate you cooking the bacon. An offer I can’t refuse, because cooking bacon is my least favorite kitchen task,” Sue exclaimed and hopped up from the table.
“Copy that,” Ira slipped into military slang without thought, “but what’s Dad going to do?”
“He’s on toast and a fresh pot of coffee. Let’s get this done. I’m headed into town to see if anyone has moved into Tilly’s old bed and breakfast yet. It’s a pity for it to sit empty since she’s gone. It’s a lovely home. It needs a family.”
“Tilly? Oh, I think Honey mentioned her. Didn’t she pass away recently?” Ira asked.
“She did, poor old soul. She was something of a recluse in her later years. Scuttlebutt is that her niece inherited the house, but as far as I know nobody has seen her yet.”
They settled into casual conversation as they prepared breakfast. Ira kept his proud smile to himself. No sense gloating over being right. But, dang, he’d put dozens of hours into his little presentation. Which didn’t include all the reading and studying he’d done before coming to town, and since he’d been hired on at the ranch.
Hired on sounded weird when thinking of the family ranch. He gave a mental shrug. Weird or not, that’s how it was done on the Bar 3, Robert paid everyone who worked there, family or not. A fair day’s work for a fair day’s wage. His father was satisfied with the arrangement, and his siblings seemed to be as well. Ira was surprised to realize it worked for him as well.
