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Post by ncsfsgm on Aug 8, 2021 11:03:21 GMT -6
That Sunday, after everyone had finished eating (at least their first plate), Cal's family started setting up the instruments.
"Sing something for me!" Shouted out Mary.
Cal grinned and walked over to Sean and Aedan. Siobhan eased over to them also. After listening to what Cal had told the guys, Siobhan slapped Cal on the arm and frowned.
Everyone adjusted their boom mikes and the band started playing. Cal started singing…
I was driving down a lonely road one dark and stormy night When a little girl by the roadside showed up in my headlights I stopped and she got in back and in a shaky tone She said: My name is Mary, please won't you take me home? She must have been so frightened all alone there in the night There was something strange about her, for her face was deathly white She sat so pale and quiet in the back seat all alone I'll never will forget that night I took Mary home. I pulled into the driveway where she told me to go Got out to help her from the car and opened up the door But I just could not believe my eyes 'cause the back seat was bare I looked all around the car, but Mary wasn't there. A light shone from the porch, someone opened up the door I asked about the little girl that I was looking for Then a lady gently smiled and brushed a tear away She said: It sure was nice of you to go out of your way. But thirteen years ago today a wreck just down the road Our darling Mary lost her life, and we miss her so Thank you for your trouble and the kindness you have shone You're the thirteenth one who's been here bringing Mary home.
"Cal Coleman, I'm going to whip you! You KNOW I don't like those sad songs!"
Everyone laughed. Siobhan slapped Cal on the back of the neck and a grinning Sean began the tune for the next song. After they had done a few songs, Cal called a break.
"I have something important to say. According to Homeland Security this Ranch has been targeted by a Mexican cartel. They want to purchase the Ranch for a drug base in United States. I'm sure you know my thoughts and reaction to that. Needless to say, Homeland Security is on top of it and we've taken security measures. The cartel may make move to take us over by force, but a plan is already laid out. Your part in this is to secure yourselves immediately in the shelter until the emergency is over. That is why you've been asked to check your shelter space and make sure you have what you need to maintain quality of life for 14 days. I don't believe you'll be there for more than a day, but I also like to be cautious. Homeland Security has assured me that the cartel won't get near us, but when their operation begins, I want all our people safe."
When there were no more questions, the band began playing again.
Michael turned to Cathleen, "Your Father doesn't mess around, does he?"
"My Father is the most kind, gentle man I know. But you endanger his family or community, he is death on two legs."
"Are you concerned?"
Cathleen shook her head. "No, but I will also be cautious and carry my pistol for the next while."
"I haven't shot a pistol in a long time." Michael said.
"You need to get with Andy and get some training in as soon as you can."
"I'll do that, come on, dance with me." "Cal, there's a black Mercedes coming up the drive."
"Must be the Man. Andy, have Mark delay them, then you meet me at the Gathering House before they get here."
"On my way."
Andy was waiting with Cal when the car drove into the compound. Two men got out and approached them.
"Señor Coleman, I am Rodrigo Manuales. I would like to speak with you on a matter that could be beneficial to both of us."
"Señor Manuales, please come with me and allow me to offer you some refreshments" . Cal led them to the Gathering House and took two Smiddicks out of the refrigerator and poured them into pub glasses. Cal set the glasses in front of the men and took a seat on the opposite side of the table from Manuales and laid his Stetson on the table.
"How can I help you, Señor Manuales?"
"My organization is looking to purchase property in this area, and we are interested in your ranch."
Cal looked directly at Manuales. "It's not for sale."
"Come, come, Señor Coleman. We will offer you a just price that you will accept. Otherwise, it might become difficult for you and your family."
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Post by ncsfsgm on Aug 8, 2021 11:06:26 GMT -6
Cal watched as Manuales smiled and lifted the pub glass to his lips to take a sip. Cal snorted in disgust. As the glass touched Manuales' lips, in a lightning move, Cal reached across the table and slapped Manuales to the floor smashing both the glass and Manuales' cockiness.
"¡VAYA AL INFIERNO, HIJO DE PERRA! CREES QUE PUEDES ENTRAR AQUÍ, HACER DEMANDAS DE MI Y AMENAZAR A MI FAMILIA, PIEZA DE MIERDA DE CERDO MEXICANO! ¡APUESTO A QUE INCLUSO TU PUTA MADRE SE AVERGONZARIA DE TU CULO GORDO! "( "GO TO HELL, YOU SON OF A BITCH! YOU THINK YOU CAN COME IN HERE, MAKE DEMANDS OF ME AND THREATEN MY FAMILY, YOU PIECE OF MEXICAN PIG SHIT! I BET EVEN YOUR WHORE MOTHER WOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOUR FAGGOT ASS!") Manuales' partner reached into his coat but froze when Andy's pistol bumped the back of his head. Manuales sat on the floor, rubbing his face. Cal stood up. "Señor Puta, saque su trasero de mi propiedad, ¡ahora mismo!" ( "Mr. Whore, get your rear off my property, right now!") Manuales, an angry look on his face, got up off the floor. Cal drew his pistol and he and Andy covered them until the car turned around and left. The gate automatically opened for them and they sped through. "Damn! You really know how to make someone feel unwelcomed!" Andy grinned. "Cal pulled the recorder out of his pocket and rewound it. He dialed Larry's number on his satphone and had Larry record what he had." "Thanks Cal. We'll tighten up the electronic surveillance. Things should start popping soon." Four days later…."Cal, they're sending a sniper. I've notified Mike and Dale to support you with a Viper." "Thanks Larry. We'll handle it on this end." Cal and Andy sat down and made a plan. Using maps, the determined where the best location for a sniper to cover the compound and sites for counter-sniper teams. They would have drones covering during the day and switch to Quad-Drones with IR capability at night. They called in Mike and Dale, the Viper pilots, and went over the plan with them. "We should be off the airfield. It's going to warn him if we take off." Mike said. "What about we stage you over here on the Circle B? We can set you up with accommodations. I'm looking at 3-4 days, max." "That would work." Cal put his pen down. "We'll only use you if the snipers can't spot him. I don't want to risk any fires started with a missile." "Dale looked at Mike. "Not much danger of that. We're using Hellfire Iis." "Okay, keep your sat phones handy after we alert you." Two days later…"Cal, the sniper checked in, he's across the border. Probably can expect action in about three days." "Thanks Larry." Cal called Mike and Dale and told them to relocate by 1600 the next day. He then called Andy and told him to begin IR searches the next night. The next morning, Cal put out the alert for everyone not on security to move to the shelter. The waiting began. The counter-sniper teams got into position that night. Quad-Drones were constantly flying patterns throughout the night. At 0230 on the third night, Sonia had a target identified on the southwest border of the ranch. A single pickup truck with two passengers pulled off, out of sight of the county road. The two individuals exited the vehicle, carrying packs and long cases. Sonia notified the counter-sniper teams and gave them the coordinates of the truck and the direction of march of the two individuals. The drone maintained a 1000-meter standoff while Adam prepared another drone to relieve Sonia's. "The snipers are in position" Sonia said, and gave them the coordinates. Each counter-sniper team looked at the position but couldn't spot the two men, either visually or with IR. Sonia could see them, though. Cal finally made the call. He called up the Viper pilots and told them to take off as soon as they could. Fifteen minutes later the Viper entered the area and fired a Hellfire II from 6,000 meters at the coordinates they were given. They heard the blast and saw a slight flash. After a few minutes, Sonia reported the IR images were fading, so Andy ordered the closest counter-sniper team forward to do BDA. The team reported finding two bodies and some mangled equipment. Andy told them to hold in place secure the scene. Cal called Larry and told him what went down, and Larry said they were on the way. Forty minutes later, two helicopters landed near the site and Larry's team came out to secure the area. Andy gave the team the coordinates of the men's hidden vehicle and turned over the site to them. Larry took Cal and Andy over to the side to talk to them. "Guys, what we've done tonight is in a gray area. I want the credentials of everyone involved here tonight and anyone else you want, and I'll arrange for all of you to get credentialed as Deputy U.S. Marshals. Don't worry about having to do the job 24/7. This is just to cover your asses now and in the future." Cal rubbed his chin. "Okay, what now?" Larry looked around. "We'll keep up the surveillance and see when their next move is. They'll be pissed when they find their hitmen have disappeared, so it might not take much time to put a crew together. That makes them more prone to mistakes. I'll continue to keep you informed. You can take your guys and go. We'll clean up the mess and remove the vehicle." They all went back to the shelter. It would be another two hours before anyone would be getting up, so they all pitched in and started putting things together for breakfast. Around 0600, you could smell the coffee fumes wafting down the hallway and heads started popping out of the rooms. Siobhan, then Sinead, Cathleen and Chip came into the kitchen. Then women took over preparing breakfast and the men got out of their way. Even after a tense situation, everyone was in good spirits. "Come on." Cal said, picking up Brigid. Siobhan looked up. "Where are we going?" "I want to take the sign down to the store." "Okay. Let me put on my boots." Siobhan went back to the bedroom while Cal took Brigid out and strapped her in her car seat. They drove up to the store and Siobhan took Brigid out while Cal took the sign out of the truck bed.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Aug 8, 2021 11:09:14 GMT -6
Someone held the door open while Cal and Siobhan entered with their cargo. Casey looked up when they entered and watched as Cal spun the sign around.
Casey's hands went to cover her mouth and she just stared. "Cal! That is wonderful! It looks just like an old wagon tailgate!" Cal laughed and set the sign down. He went in back to get a stepladder to hang the sign. Screwing two eyebolts into the log above the counter, two of the customers held the sign so Cal could adjust the chains to level. "Cal, come back here. I want to introduce you to Grace." Cal went back and watched as Grace pulled an apple pie out of one of the ovens. "Grace grinned. "Watch this." She said softly. Grace placed the pie on the baker's rack to the right of the counter. Soon, men started looking around, sniffing. "Is that apple pie?" Al MacAlistar asked. Casey laughed. "Al! You've already had two Bear Claws and a cinnamon roll this morning!" "Well, that pie sure smells good!" "Why don't you let me box it up for you and you can take it home and share with Nanci?" "That's a good idea! Nanci loves apple pie!" Casey laughed. "Okay then, let's let it cool for about 10 more minutes and I'll box it up for you." "Siobhan whispered to Casey, "Good move!" "Casey giggled. "The way to a man's heart, and his money, is through his stomach!" "Cal, the sign looks wonderful!" Casey beamed. Cal smiled. "It's just a little tribute to you for what you've done with the store." "Well, you have a big part in it too! When we team our ideas together, we can't help but make money. Sales have jumped since we opened up the coffee corner. We've sold almost twice as much gas as we did last month! And the hardware…Casey pulled her pistol and shot past Cal. Cal swept Siobhan to the side and drew his pistol as he was turning. A man with a face mask way laying in the door with a large revolver laying by his side. Cal went over and kicked the gun away and checked for pulse. He was alive. "Julie, call the Sheriff! And an ambulance" Casey shouted. Cal continued checking the man. "He's alive. Looks like you broke his shoulder." Casey re-holstered her pistol. "Yep, a .45 Long Colt will do that to ya." In a few minutes, an ambulance and a Sheriff's Deputy pulled up. The EMTs took charge of the perp and the Deputy started taking statements. Sheriff Gilmore and an evidence team arrived. Earl walked over to Cal. "You shoot him?" "Nope, Casey did. I had my back to him when he came in. Earl looked at Casey. Casey frowned and put her fists on her hip. "Sheriff, anybody who comes through that door waving a gun, ain't here to do any good!" Earl chuckled. "Give me a cup of coffee and one of those Bear Claws. Might as well eat some evidence while I'm here!" Casey giggled and served him up. The Deputy walked over to them. "Casey, I need to take your pistol." "What!" "Don't worry, we just need it for testing. I'll give you a receipt and you'll have it back in a week." Casey took the Judge out of its holster and unloaded the 4 cartridges and the 1 casing and dropped them into the evidence bag the Deputy held out, then place the pistol in. Cal pulled out his phone and called Andy. "Andy, would you pull one of the Matte Black Judges with the 3-inch barrel and a box of hollow points out of the armory for Casey and bring it down to the store. I'll explain when you get here." Cal looked at Casey. "It's just a loaner until you yours back." "Thanks Cal." Earl was looking into the pastry display. "Are these cinnamon rolls fresh?" Reaching in. "Casey slapped his hand. "Yes, you old coot! Everything we sell is fresh. Get out of the way and I'll get you one." Siobhan laughed and Brigid, getting into the act, laughed also. Andy arrived 20 minutes later with Cal's request. Cal handed the revolver to Casey, who loaded it and put it in her holster. The crime scene personnel were finished so Casey grabbed a mop and bucket and cleaned up the doorway so people could leave. Cal took his little family back to the Ranch. "Cal, they're gathering at a farm near Los Ojos, New Mexico. Looks like they're waiting for some more people to join them." "So what now?" "As soon as it looks like they're ready to move, we'll launch the MQ-1s and have them in position. We'll hit their convoy and their ranch at the same time. We don't want them communicating." "Thanks Larry. Give me a few hours' notice." "I assure you I will." Brian Monaghan had just finished replacing the solenoid on Mrs. Jackson's furnace and was headed back to the apartment. Brian had finished his HVAC certification and was doing single jobs on his own. His dream was opening his own company. Not wanting to get on the interstate, he took the service road that ran along the highway in the same direction. As he neared the stoplight near Brigham Road, he thought he saw his girlfriend Holly's car pull into the Budget Motel. Of course, it couldn't be because Holly had gone to her Mother's for the weekend. Brian pulled over anyway and watched the car pull in front of a room. Then, another car pulled up and two people got out the cars, a man, and a woman. Brian saw Holly and his heart sunk. Holly was smiling and was clearly happy to see the man. Brian quickly turned the camera on his phone on and started taking pictures of them kissing and going into the room. As he watched them, he felt something inside of himself that had been beyond beautiful begin to shrivel, wither, and die. He felt as if someone had pulled his lungs out with a spoon. Brian's vision suddenly blurred, and he felt like crying ... like just sitting down and bawling his heart out but he refused to ... he just wouldn't.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Aug 8, 2021 11:11:26 GMT -6
Holly worked with his sister in a consignments boutique. Did she know what was going on? He drove to the store and rushed through the door. Andrea looked up, startled.
"Brian?"
Brian pulled up his phone and brought up the picture of Holly kissing the man.
"Did you know?"
Andrea's eyes got big "Ye…yes, but she's my friend and it's just a passing phase….WAIT!"
Holly tried to call Holly, but Holly had turned her phone off.
"Andrea, first Holly, and now you have cut the heart right out of me. I just can't be around a woman who'll do that to a man or who would condone it. Goodbye Andrea."
Brian turned and left the store and got into his Suburban.
He sat there with his hand on the key. "Not again. The women in this town just can't seem to keep their knees together."
Brian and Holly had been living together for 6 months and things seemed to be headed toward a permanent relationship.
"I've got to get out of this town."
Brian cranked his truck and went to the apartment. He packed his clothes and what few things that had any meaning to him, now, and loaded the truck. He went back in and checked for anything he might have missed. On the way out, he stopped in the kitchen, pulled his phone out and sent the photos to Holly's Facebook account. He laid the TracFone and his apartment key on the table, went to the door and paused. Turning around and looking back into the apartment, he whispered, "Goodbye Holly ... Goodbye my wife who will never be ... because I'll never marry a cheating slut." Brian locked and closed the door and went to his Suburban. With his truck packed and almost nothing left behind, anything of importance anyways, Brian drove to the bank, closed his account, and came out with a Cashier's Check for $30,000 and $5,000 in cash.
Turning away from his town for the last time, Brian headed west on Interstate 70. He pulled off at the Walmart Supercenter at Vandalia and got another TracFone, This time with an Alaska number. He kept driving until he neared St Louis and pulled off 270 and got a room at a Fairfield Inn. After taking a shower and dressing into something other than the work clothes he had been wearing, he got a soda out of a vending machine, went to his room, sat down on the bed, and thought about what he was going to do next. One thing he did know he wanted, was to get as far away as possible from Marshall, Indiana He finished the soda and laid down for a nap.
"Cal, they are headed your way tomorrow. I'll give you a 4-hour lead so you can get your people under shelter. They probably won't even have to stay but a few hours. We'll use the Vipers to take out the convoy and go in afterwards to pick up the pieces."
"Thanks Larry. I'll be awaiting your call."
Cal notified Andy to put the alert out and went to talk to Siobhan.
"We'll be activating the shelter tomorrow morning."
"What time?" Siobhan asked.
"Don't know yet, Larry is going to give us a heads up."
"I'll let Kathy know so she can have the school kids report here tomorrow. No use having them break up the school day."
Cal got the call at 1030 the next morning. Non-combatants arrived at the shelter and began organizing lunch. All security personnel were kitted up and in designated locations. The men watched as the Vipers took off from the airfield and disappeared into the distance. An hour and a half later, Larry called Cal and told him the target had been interdicted. After cleaning up after lunch, the sheltered personnel left the shelter, except for the school children. They finished their normal school day in the shelter classrooms.
After breakfast the next morning, Brian called his sister, using his room phone.
"Brian? Where are you?"
"Someplace out of Holly's life…and yours…forever."
"Brian, please!"
"Andrea, I've never done anything to intentionally hurt you. You covered up for the woman that literally has sucked the life out of me. Goodbye Andrea. I hope you never are hurt the way I'm hurting now. 'Bhris tusa, mo dheirfiúr, mo chroí freisin.'" ("You, my sister, broke my heart too.")
"Brian…..."but all she heard was the click of the phone being hung up.
Sometimes when driving, tears misted his eyes. He would blink them away and kept heading west. The long hours were arduous, emotionally. Brian spent the whole time thinking of the 6 months he had lived with Holly. All of the good times and bad, all of the times they'd made love, and argued, then made up by making love. All the movies they'd watched together, all the meals they'd shared, the conversations. It was all over.
Then he realized that those memories he'd had of them were tainted by who knew how many times she'd laid on her back for another man. All the memories he'd ever shared with Holly were tainted and no longer contained any sentiment. It would take time, but he knew that emotionally, he could be free of her. As each mile faded behind, another little piece of his love for her burned away.
Brian started thinking of other memories and thought about one of his buddies when he was in the Army, who had shown him pictures of his native state of Utah. He had liked the scenes, so he figured Utah was as good a place to head for as any to start over. He only stopped for diesel and snacks until he reached Junction City, Kansas that evening.
The next morning, Brian looked at his atlas saw it was a little over 800 miles to Provo, Utah, so he decided to split the distance and stop in Denver. That would give him 6 hours the following day to reach Provo. Eating a casual breakfast, he made it to Denver that day with no problems. He got a good night's rest and ate what he could stand of the Continental Breakfast the motel offered, and left Denver. His stomach was growling by the time he got to Grand Junction, so he pulled off the interstate when he saw a billboard advertising "Frank's BBQ." He followed the directions and pulled into the parking lot within a few minutes. He got out of his truck, stretched, and went inside. A pretty waitress led him over to a booth and took his drink order. As he was reading the menu, a tall man in a gray Stetson came into the restaurant. Several people greeted him as the man glanced around the room. His eyes locked on Brian. The man squinted at Brian for a couple of seconds then made his way over to Brian's booth.
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Post by paulk on Aug 8, 2021 11:40:01 GMT -6
Thank you so much for this story. I love character driven stories and this is outstanding!
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Post by ncsfsgm on Aug 8, 2021 13:53:31 GMT -6
"Firebase Frost, 2006, right?"
Surprised, Brian nodded. "Yeah, I was with 10th Mountain."
Cal chuckled. "I guess that cold weather training came in handy, huh?"
Brian grinned. "Yeah, but we didn't have incoming rockets in training."
Cal stuck out his hand. "I'm Cal Coleman. Would you join me for lunch?"
Brian paused, "Sure."
"Come on. Let's move back to that table so I can keep an eye on the door."
"You expecting trouble?" Brian asked, frowning.
Cal chuckled. "Prepare for the worst, hope for the best! Naw, I'm expecting my wife in a few minutes."
Brian grinned.
The waitress brought them their drinks. "Don't let him B.S. you. He was sitting at this table one morning and jumped up and took out two troublemakers."
She turned to Brian, "Hi, I'm Sarah. Are you ready to order?"
"Cal! Sarah, why didn't you tell me Cal was here!"
Cal grinned. "Hello Frank."
Frank grinned. "Sarah, I will fix Cal and his friend a plate of my specialties. Bring them a pitcher of iced tea."
"Frank, Siobhan is meeting me here."
Frank nodded and went back to the kitchen.
Brian grinned. "Whoa! That's service! By the way, I'm Brian Monaghan."
Cal shook his hand again.
"What brings you to Grand Junction, Brian?"
"Just passing through. I guess I'm headed to Provo, or somewhere in Utah."
"You guess? No real plans?"
"Well, I left Indiana in a bit of a hurry…not legal problems…cheating woman. Had no plans so I thought I'd head for Utah."
"How did you recognize me from the firebase?" Brian asked.
Cal sighed. "I remember a lot of faces from the past. Some in the nightmares I've had. I'm just not very good with names sometimes."
"What unit did you serve with?"
"I was with 7th Special Forces then…" Cal's attention went to the opening door.
Brian watched a beautiful, red-haired lady walk into the restaurant and head to their table. As she approached, Brian and Cal stood up. The lady kissed Cal on the cheek, then he held her chair to be seated.
"Siobhan, this is Brian Monaghan, a visitor to our area."
She held out her hand. "Nice to meet you, Brian. That's a great Irish name! "An bhfuil Gaeilge agat?" ("Do you speak Irish?)
"Roinnt, ach tá sé tamall maith." Brian replied. ("Some, but it has been a while.")
"Oh? Why is that?"
"I used to speak it with my mother. She passed away 5 years ago from ovarian cancer."
"Oh! I'm so sorry Brian."
"Yeah, I got a Compassionate Discharge when I was in Afghanistan to come home to take care of her and my little sister. She was originally from Toonsbridge, County Cork. I used to sit by her bed, and we'd speak only in Irish. I really miss her."
Siobhan thought for a second. "Toonsbridge? Isn't that near Macroom?"
Brian nodded.
Sarah brought out the plates and a glass for Siobhan. They started eating and Brian ate like he was starving. Frank came back to the table.
"Is everything to your liking?"
Brian wiped his mouth. "This is the best BBQ I have ever eaten!"
Frank grinned. "I only serve the best to Cal Coleman and his friends!" Frank said, then shrugged. "But then, I serve the best to everyone."
Frank walked back to the kitchen. Brian pushed back away from the table and moaned.
"I don't know if I can make it to Provo without falling asleep after a meal like that!"
Siobhan smiled. "Are you in a hurry to get to Provo?"
Brian looked at the two. "Not really. I'm starting over after a bad situation and just picked Utah on a whim."
Cal grinned. "Brian, after a meal like that, you'll need a couple of days to digest it. Why don't you come out to our Ranch and stay as our guest?"
Brian looked at them. "Are you sure?"
"Of course! I'm sure you need a break from driving." Siobhan said.
"I guess I could. Like I said, I was just going nowhere, fast."
Cal left a tip for Sarah and they went out to their vehicles. Brian pulled out behind Cal's Suburban and followed them to the High Top Ranch. Siobhan showed him the guest room and left him to get his things arranged.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Aug 8, 2021 13:56:39 GMT -6
Siobhan and Cal went to the kitchen. Sinead came in and got a bottle of water out of the refrigerator. As she closed the door, Brian walked into the kitchen.
Sinead gasped. "Íosa, Muire agus Iósaef! Cé hé an fear álainn seo?" ("Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Who is this beautiful man?")
A surprised Brian smiled. "Brian, ainm mo bhanphrionsa álainn Éireannach, an fear álainn seo. ("This beautiful man's name is Brian, my lovely Irish princess.)"
Sinead blushed and whispered "Go gcaomhnóidh na Naoimh sinn, agus go labhraíonn sé Gaeilge freisin!" ("May the Saints preserve us, and he speaks Irish too!")
Cal chuckled and Siobhan giggled.
Siobhan introduced them. "Sinead, this is Brian Monaghan. Brian, this is my cousin, Sinead O'Shea."
"I am pleased to meet you Sinead. I see beauty runs in the family, but I could never marry a woman such as you and ruin such a beautiful sounding name as 'Sinead O'Shea.'" Brian smiled.
Cal slowly shook his head as Sinead blushed again.
"Oh, the Blarney! Siobhan laughed. "And I thought Cal was full of it!"
Cal cleared his throat. "Come on Brian, and I'll give you a tour of the Ranch." When they had left the cabin, Sinead was fanning her face. "WHERE DID YOU FIND HIM!"
"What…is…wrong…with…you, Sinead?" Siobhan giggled.
"That man made goosebumps raise on my arms!" Sinead whined.
"And elsewhere, I see." Smiled Siobhan, looking at Sinead's chest.
Sinead look down and immediately covered her chest with her hands. "OH MY GOD! Did he see that?"
"Like truck lights on a on a dark, Colorado highway" giggled Siobhan. "As long as he's here, you might better wear a stiffer bra."
Sinead quickly left the kitchen to change.
Cal drove Brian around the compound, all the while explaining how the Ranch came to be, leaving out sensitive information. They drove by the Facility and the ranges and over to the greenhouses. They drove to the lake and got out, walking to the grove.
"So, Brian, what have you been doing for a living since you got out of the service?
I took courses in HVAC. I have certification in Installation, Maintenance and Technician. I was going to open my own business in Marshall, Indiana, but…"
"You have a job lined up in Utah?"
"No. It was just a destination."
"What do you think of the Grand Junction area? I'm sure I can get you a job around here for more than you could make in Utah."
Brian thought a minute. "Yeah, I guess so. It's nice around here and scenery is pretty."
Cal looked at his watch. "Well, by the time we get back and washed up, dinner should be ready."
While Brian went to his room to wash up, Cal called Andy. "I need a quick background check on a Brian Monaghan, lately from Marshall, Indiana. Served in the 10th Mountain about 6 years ago. I wish we could get hold of his Service Records."
"I can get them."
"Okay, get me as much as you can by 0900 tomorrow.
"On it, Cal."
The next morning at breakfast, Brian survived the avalanche of laughing kids, scrambling to sit at the table. Evan decided that Brian was his hero, so he fought to sit beside him. Brian laughed at their antics.
"Brian, I'm sorry, they seem extra excited this morning."
"No problem. I love kids! I wanted…" and his face turned dark.
"Sinead, would you get the orange juice out, please?"
Blushing, Sinead took the pitcher of orange juice from the refrigerator and began pouring it into the glasses. Brian looked at her.
"Maidin chóir Maidin Mhaith" Brian said, grinning. ("Good Morning, fair maiden.")
Sinead's face turned an even deeper shade of red. "Agus Maidin Mhaith duit, a dhuine uasail!" ("And Good Morning to you, kind sir!")
Becky's face lit up. "Mamaí! Tá rud éigin eile againn le cleachtadh leis!" (Mommy! We have someone else to practice with!")
"School, children! Eat your breakfast. Siobhan said, smiling.
They ate their breakfast with as much silence as kids can master. As they finished, Sinead guided them to their rooms to brush their teeth and dress for school.
"Are any of the kids Sinead's?" Brian asked.
"Siobhan smiled. "No, the whole rowdy bunch are mine and Cal's."
Cal's phone rang. He looked at the caller I.D. and excused himself and went into the family room to answer it.
"Cal, he's cleaner than the Pope."
"Okay, thanks Andy."
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Post by ncsfsgm on Aug 8, 2021 14:06:27 GMT -6
Cal went into the kitchen and poured another cup of coffee into a travel mug.
"Brian, I want to show you a couple more things this morning."
Brian, got up and moved toward the door.
"No, Brian, let's go this way."
Cal went into the pantry and opened the blast door. A burst of air came out.
"What….?"
"When I first built the cabin, I found a cave in the side of the mesa. I thought I'd use it for storage, but it turned out to be bigger than I thought. Over the years, we've excavated it out to be a shelter for SHTF situations, and other uses to fit what Siobhan calls, 'my expanding ideas.'"
Cal took him to the utility room and opened the door.
"This is our HVAC System, as it were."
"Brian looked around. It looks like nothing I've ever seen."
"Probably not. The shelter maintains a constant temperature, year round, so we really don't need heating and air conditioning down here. This is an air circulating and purification system with Co2 scrubbers. What conventional HVAC systems we have here on the Ranch are in the cabins…22 of them."
"WOW!"
I try to keep us as self-sufficient as possible. We have a plumber, electrician, mechanics…just about every job description you can think of to maintain our little community. I'm in the need of an HVAC guy."
Brian turned and looked at Cal. "You're offering me a job?"
"Yep. HVAC installer's salaries run on the average of $62,883.00 a year here in Colorado. Field techs average $57,276.00. Since you don't really have anything to install right now, I'll offer you a salary of $60,080.00 a year."
"I'll take it!" Brian said, grinning.
"Good. I'll show you a couple of places you can live, and you can choose. Let's go and I'll show you them."
Cal took Brian to look at the employee's "motel" and the bunkhouse. Brian liked the layout of the bunkhouse, so he chose to live there. Brian thanked Siobhan for her hospitality and took his things out of the guestroom and down to the bunkhouse to get settled in.
When Sinead came back from taking the kids to school, Belinda and Siobhan were pulling the sheets off the bed in the guestroom.
"Where's Brian?"
"He left." Siobhan said.
A look of sorrow swept over Sinead's face.
"Yeah," grinned Siobhan. "Cal offered him a job and Brian moved his things to the bunkhouse."
"You're going to pay for that, Siobhan Coleman!"
Siobhan giggled. "Come on, help me with the dishes."
Cal called down to the bunkhouse the next morning and invited Brian up for breakfast. Brian showed up a few minutes later.
"Maidin mhaith, a Mháistir Brian!" Becky said, giggling. ("Good morning, Mister Brian!")
Agus Maidin Mhaith duit Iníon Becky! Brian replied. ("And a Good Morning to you Miss Becky!)
Siobhan smiled. "Go ahead and take a seat, Brian. The biscuits are almost ready. Would you like coffee?"
"Yes ma'am, thank you."
Siobhan motioned to Sinead to get the coffee pot. Sinead, shakenly, carried the pot over and began pouring coffee into Brian's cup.
Brian steadied her hand holding the coffee pot. "What's wrong?"
Sinead froze. "Nothing. I..I..feel a little out of sorts this morning."
Siobhan placed the biscuits in a bun warmer basket and sat it on the table. Cal walked in, rolling up the cuffs on his shirt.
"Good morning, Brian. How was the bed?"
"Brian chuckled. "Better than I'm used to!"
The kids came scrambling in. Brigid held her hands up to Brian for him to sit her in her chair. Surprised, Brian put her in her chair and strapped her in.
"Brigid is our watchdog when it comes to people. If she takes to you, you're a good person." Cal said.
Brian blushed and served himself some scrambled eggs from a bowl being passed around. Grinning, Brigid held a biscuit out to Brian.
She wants you to put strawberry jam in her biscuit." Siobhan said.
Sinead was intensely watching Brian, hardly eating her food.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Aug 8, 2021 14:07:20 GMT -6
Brian finished spreading the jam in the biscuit, closed it up and handed it back to Brigid.
"Becky giggled. "You have just made a friend for life!"
Everyone's attention went back to their food.
"Cal, do you have the manuals for the equipment you want me to oversee?"
"Yeah, they are all in the utility room in a cabinet. I think we have them online on the RanchNET, also."
Yep." Billy replied. Becky and I put the PDFs on the net in an HVAC folder."
"Billy, can you make sure Brian gets a computer wired into his room in the bunkhouse?"
"Sure, Dad. Brian, if you want, Becky and I can help you set up a maintenance database for the equipment. Also, I built a module that will send the information you have to get from the unit, automatically to the server and it will send you a message if there is a problem and you will also have the current operating data on the system."
Cal shook his head. "I didn't know you'd done that."
"Well, I've finished the modules, and installed one for test purposes, but still need to install them on the other units."
"Cal nodded. "What do you have to do today for school?"
"It's just a study day, I'm way ahead of that."
"Okay, can you help Brian out today? There's a facilities engineering map on the RanchNET that gives a location of the units."
"Sure Dad. Becky, can you start on the database while I show Brian the locations?"
"Okay. I'll go to the library after breakfast and start working on it. I can use the manuals in the maintenance section to see what information is needed by the Tech."
Billy turned to Brian. We might as well install the modules while we're doing this. It only takes a minute."
Brian was astounded! These two kids must be geniuses!
"Brian, don't get too surprised at what these two geniuses can do. They surprise me every day." Siobhan said.
They finished eating and Cal took Brian to Cheryl to get him into the system and issued him a cellphone, radio, and gate pass.
"Do you have a weapon?" Cal asked.
"I have a Glock 17."
"Good! We'll get you with Andy and get you set up for a CCW permit. First, you need to get your truck registered in Colorado and get your Colorado driver's license. Once all that is done, you'll be added as a semi-active Deputy U.S. Marshal."
"Looks like I'm going to be busy!" Brian said.
Cal just grinned.
Cal and Jonah had taken the two ToolCats with hay spikes over to the Circle B to offload the huge round bales of hay. With the ToolCat from the Circle B, they made quick work of the four 18-wheelers.
Joanna walked up to them.
"Hi Cal, Jonah! That didn't take long!"
Cal grinned. Joanna was showing more every day. "Hey Joanna. I haven't seen you in a skirt in a while."
Joanna grinned. "Well, I kinda 'grew' out of my jeans recently."
Cal laughed. "When are the other trucks coming in?"
"They should be here right after lunch. I didn't think we'd the first load done this quick."
"Okay. No use in us coming back. We'll just leave the ToolCats here. Can I borrow a truck? I need to run down to the store and talk to Casey."
"Sure. Take that one over there. The keys are in it."
Cal walked to the truck and opened the door. "You need anything?"
Joanna grimaced. "Could you bring me back a dozen Bear Claws?"
Cal chuckled. "Sure. One dozen Bear Claws on the way!"
Cal and Jonah walked into the store.
"You want coffee Cal?" Casey shouted out.
"Nah, give me an iced tea."
"Me too!" Jonah said.
"Casey, Joanna is craving a dozen Bear Claws."
"Give me about 5 minutes to let this fresh batch cool so I can put icing on them."
Cal and Jonah drank their tea and waited.
Grace walked over with two pieces of pie. "You guys try this pecan pie and tell me what you think."
Jonah's eyes lit up when he took a bite. "Grace, don't tell Martha, but this is better than hers….and I like hers."
Cal took a bite and agreed it was delicious. "Casey, you better slow Grace down on her baking or some hombre is going to come in here and steal her away from you!"
"Bear Claws are ready!"
Cal paid the bill and dropped a couple of dollars in the tip jar. When they got back to the Circle B, Cal took the pastries to the kitchen door and knocked. Joanna opened the door and said "Ya'll come on in."
Cal and Jonah accepted glasses of tea and Joanna poured a glass of milk and sat down in front of the box.
"Ya'll want a Bear Claw?"
Cal chuckled. "No, Joanna, those of yours. We just had a slice of pecan pie that Grace made."
"Oh! She's making pecan pies now? That woman can sure bake!."
Joanna hadn't finished the Bear Claw before they heard an 18-wheeler shifting gears on the drive.
Cal and Jonah got up. We'll go finish unloading that hay. Don't you go and founder on those Bear Claws!"
Joanna grinned and waved as they walked out the door.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Aug 8, 2021 14:11:19 GMT -6
After Cal and Jonah had pulled post maintenance on the two ToolCats and refueled them, Cal went to the cabin and got a bottle of water out of the refrigerator. Siobhan walked in with Brigid.
"Hey, you" She said, and kissed him on the cheek. "Sinead has gone with Brian to Grand Junction to show him where the driver's license and the DMV offices are."
Cal shook his head. "Boy! She sure has the hots for him!"
Siobhan giggled. "You're telling me. He's kind of cautious around her, but I think she'll get him to come around."
Cal grinned and wiggled his eyebrows at Siobhan.
"Save any ideas you have for tonight. I have to watch the kids."
Sinead walked into the DMV with Brian. He showed the clerk the title to the Suburban and it didn't take long to get registered. Sinead then directed him to the Driver's License Agency. They had to wait about 30 minutes to finally be seen, but only about 15 minutes to get the photo taken and the license printed.
As they got back into the truck, Brian asked Sinead "Are you hungry? I skipped lunch."
"Sure, what do you feel like eating?"
"I don't know, maybe some Mexican?"
"Good, we're only 3 blocks from some of the best Mexican food in town."
They went into the restaurant and Brian ordered a burrito plate and Sinead ordered fajitas.
"So, what brings you to Colorado?" Sinead asked.
Brian sighed. "My ex-girlfriend had a problem a simple dime could have solved."
Sinead frowned. "What?"
Brian pulled a dime out of his pocket and slide it across to her.
"If she had been able to hold this between her knees, I could have trusted her."
Sinead stared at the coin, then her eyes went wide when she realized the meaning. She quickly changed the subject.
"Brigid thinks you are the cat's meow."
"She's a cutie. How long have Cal and Siobhan been married?"
When she told him, Brian replied "With all those kids?"
Sinead then told him the history from Angela and Amy, Hope and Evan, the births of Kaitlin and Brigid, and the adoption of Becky and Billy.
"Holy Cow! Cal must be made of steel, to lose 2 wives……I don't know."
"Yeah, but he and Siobhan had known each other for years and then one day, they just clicked."
"He's a lucky man. And what about you?
"I came here from Ireland a couple of years ago. I'd gotten a degree in accounting but for jobs worth anything, I would have had to move to London. Siobhan wanted an au pair, so they arranged for a green card for me and I immigrated here. Hopefully, I can get my citizenship."
Brian was quite after that and they ate their meal in relative silence. Brian paid the bill and they headed back to the Ranch. After they left the city limits, Sinead looked at Brian.
"You're awfully quiet, Brian."
"I'm all messed up, Sinead. There are 5 stages of grief. Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. All those stages I went through pretty quick, except for depression. It just hangs with me."
Sinead turned her attention back on the road. < "Then I'll just have to bring him out of his depression.">
Brian's phone rang. He switched it to speaker mode. "Brian? Cal. Are you on the way back?"
"Yeah Cal."
"Could you stop by the General Store and check Casey's system out?"
Brian look at Sinead and she mouthed she would show him the way.
"Sure Cal, no problem."
Brian hung up.
"The General Store is right across from the Facility." Sinead said.
They were only 10 minutes away. Brian pulled into the parking lot and stopped. Taking a tool bag out of the back of the Suburban, they walked in the store.
"Casey, Cal called and said you were having problems with your HVAC?"
Casey looked at Brian. "Whoa!"
Sinead giggled. "Casey, this is Brian Monaghan. He's here to check your system."
"Pleased to meet you Ma'am.
"Uh…yeah..uh well, I set the thermostat and it's not cooling."
"Where's the thermostat?"
Casey took him over and showed him. Casey popped the cover off the thermostat and shined his flashlight into the works. Just at that time, two Hispanic males walked through the door. One of the men grabbed Sinead by the arm.
"Hola chica, ¿necesitas un poco de amor?" ("Hello girl, do you need a little love?")
Brian swung his flashlight around and caught the guy in the side of his head, dropping him. The other man came up with a knife and Brian heard a pistol c***.
"Cálmate, no quiero tu sangre en mi piso." ("Calm yourself, I don't want your blood on my floor.")
Brian look around and saw Casey holding a big-assed revolver on the two.
"Toma a tu amigo y vete. ¡No quiero verte aquí de nuevo!" ("Take your friend and leave. I don't want to see you in here again!")>
The two men left, and Casey grinned. "I'm sure glad Cal lent me this pistol!"
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Post by ncsfsgm on Aug 8, 2021 14:12:38 GMT -6
"Brian turned to Sinead. "Are you all right?"
Sinead nodded.
Brian turned back to his tool bag and pulled out a pair of tweezers, reached into the thermostat, and pulled out a wood sliver."
"Where in the world did that come from?" Casey asked.
"It could have been there since the place was built. Had enough time to finally settle in someplace to gum up the works." Brian replied. "Anything else?"
"Well, you wouldn't know about water systems, would you. Pressure has been getting low in my faucets."
Brian went over to the sinks. "This just put in?"
"Casey nodded. "Yeah, about two weeks ago."
Brian unscrewed the screen off the faucet, rinsed it with water and screwed it back on. When he turned the faucet, water gushed.
"Good enough?"
"Best it has been in a while. What did you do?"
"Well, after new construction, sometimes there is trash in the water lines, and it clogs up the screen on the faucet."
"I'll remember that. What's the charge?"
"No charge. Are you ready Sinead?"
She nodded and they went out the door.
"Why didn't you charge her?" Sinead asked.
"Charge for a few pieces of trash? Bad customer relations." Brian grinned.
"Oh! Now I get a smile out of him."
Brian drove through the Facility gate and stopped just inside the compound to wait for the gate to close.
"Well, when you are around, it's hard not to smile."
Sinead glanced at Brian. He was just staring through windshield.
Brian found Cal when he got back and told him what had happened down at the General Store.
Cal nodded. "That's one of the reasons why we get everyone CCW permits. Most of us open carry around here. Go ahead and open carry from now on."
Brian went back to the bunkhouse and put on a pot of beans he'd had soaking in the common area.. He added a smoked ham hock and let it cook on low. Going into his room, he got out his pistol and two single magazine carriers with magazines. Checking the pistol out, he loaded a magazine and slid it in the pistol. Racking the slide back, he chambered a round, removed the magazine, and topped it of then reinserted the magazine. Loading the other two magazines, he slide them into their carriers. He sat in an easy chair and read a magazine, soon falling asleep.
The timer he had set for the beans went off, jarring him awake. Checking the beans, he added a little more water and turned the burner to simmer. He pulled out the preps for cornbread and was beginning to put it together when there was a knock at the door.
"COME ON IN!"
The door opened; it was Sinead.
"Hi. Siobhan wanted to know if you wanted to eat dinner with us."
"I was having beans and cornbread. I was just putting the cornbread together."
"Oh…"
"You're welcome to eat with me, if you like."
Sinead's eyes brightened. "I'd love to. Let me go tell Siobhan."
Sinead ran back to the cabin, rushing into the kitchen.
"Uh...Siobhan, Brian asked me to eat with him. He already has it cooked."
Siobhan smirked. "Sure go ahead. Have a good time."
Cal came in and hung up his hat.
"Cal, you need to get another cabin built." Siobhan grinned.
Cal looked at her. "What?"
"Like you said, Sinead has the hots for Brian."
"I'll call Sam in the morning."
"Mary and Jim are coming for dinner." Siobhan said, checking the pots on the stove.
"Oh good. I wanted to talk to Jim about that last group of people he ran through Hogan's Alley."
Brian pulled the pan of cornbread out of the oven.
Sinead smiled. "That smells good!"
"Well, come on while it's hot. There's butter in the refrigerator."
Brian dished out two bowls of beans and a small bowl of chopped onions.
Brian grinned. "Sprinkle some onions on the beans. You probably won't be kissing anyone tonight, so your breath won't matter."
Sinead bristled. "And why would you think I wouldn't be kissing anyone tonight!?! YOU are eating onions and will have onion breath too, so if I kissed you it would cancel out!"
Brian blushed. Softly, he said "I'm sorry."
They started eating. Brian abruptly got up and got two glasses out of the cupboard and filled them with ice. Taking a pitcher of tea out of the refrigerator, he poured the two glasses full.
Brian sat back down, buttered another piece of cornbread, and continued eating his meal in silence. When they had finished, Sinead picked up the dishes and went to the sink and started washing them. Brian removed the remaining beans from the cast iron pot and stored them in a closed, plastic container. Sinead picked up the pot to wash it when Brian put his hand on her wrist.
"Don't use soap washing the pot."
"I know, Mr. Smarty HVAC Man. I cook too!"
Brian grinned and wiped the table down.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Aug 8, 2021 14:14:56 GMT -6
Finished, they took their tea into the sitting area and sat on the big leather couch.
Sipping their tea, they sat in silence for a while.
Sinead turned slightly toward Brian, her knee sliding up on the couch.
"You know, you need to crawl out of the dumps. I know it sounds cliché, but there are other fish in the sea.
Brian sighed. "It's easier for you women. All you have to do is show interest and guys will come running. I'm sure it's always been that way for you. Me on the other hand ... I'm not sure I'm ready to date yet. I may need some time to just get used to being alone before I start looking for someone."
Sinead shifted a little on the couch. "I don't know if it would be easier on me or not. I've never run across someone I had that much interest in…until now. You know, you don't deserve what happened. She didn't deserve you. You deserve better. I mean, you're such a great guy. You deserve a girl who will love you the way you should be loved. I know I'm not Holly, but I know I can take care of you better than she could. Well, not in every way, but almost every way."
Brian cocked his head and looked at her. "What do you mean, 'Not in every way'?"
Sinead blushed and lowered her eyes. "Níor rug mé leaba le fear nach bhfuil mé pósta leis," ("I won't bed a man I'm not married to.")
Brian looked at her. "So, does that mean you'd kiss me with my onion breath?"
Sinead slowly leaned toward Brian and cupped his neck with her right hand, softly kissing him. Pulling back she looked at him, searching for something in his eyes.
Moving away slightly she whispered,
"I told you it would cancel out."
Her eyes crinkled a tiny bit at the edges and her mouth turned up the tiniest fraction. There was this... this knowing look in her eyes. She knew of his pain, his hurt, his agony of what Holly had done to him.
Cal was in his office when Glen and Billy walked in.
"Dad, can we talk with you?"
Cal looked up. "Sure, what's up?"
"My course counselor in cybersecurity mentioned the other day it would be beneficial if we could attend the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas in August."
"And what is the 'Black Hat' conference?"
"it's a week-long conference that teaches ethical hacking and how to counter cyberthreats. Glen said he would go with me."
Cal looked at Glen. "What do you think?"
"I went to one a few years ago. You learn a lot of what's not in the books."
"Billy, let me talk to your Mother. We'll let you know tonight at dinner." When they had left, Cal shut down his computer and went into the cabin. Siobhan and Brigid were in the family room.
"How would you like a week's vacation in Las Vegas?"
"I'd LOVE to! What's the catch?"
Cal chuckled, "There's no catch, at least not much of one. Billy wants to go to Vegas in August to a conference on cybersecurity. I thought we'd fly Billy, Glen, and Aileen down. Glen is going to chaperone Billy around the conference, you and Aileen could shop, play the slots, or whatever."
"As long as you and I can do some things too!"
"You are in charge of my itinerary. My main job will be airplane driver."
"Okay. Let me talk to Aileen."
"Okay, I'm going down to the Facility."
Cal hopped into a UV34 and drove down to Meet with Andy.
"Andy, who's your cybersecurity person?"
"Jeannie Rogers, why?"
"Billy wants to go to a cybersecurity conference in August. Is she planning on going?"
"I don't know, let me call her."
Andy got on the phone and had Jeannie come to this office. When she knocked and came in, Andy offered her a seat.
"Jeannie are you planning to attend the…" Andy paused and looked at Cal.
"The Black Hat conference in Vegas." Cal continued.
"I wanted to go, but…"
"Would you like to go as an escort for my son?"
"Billy? You betcha! Billy and I have been working on a couple of things."
"Okay, then. We'll give you the information as soon as it's ironed out. Thanks, Jeannie."
"Thank you!" Jeannie got up and left.
"And what is this about?" Andy asked.
"It was something Billy's course counselor recommended. Glen and Aileen and Siobhan and I will fly them down. I thought it would be a chance to get your people re-blued also."
Andy chuckled. "I'm sure cybersecurity will be high on the interest scale for Aileen and Siobhan."
"Nah…you know they'll be shopping most of the time."
"You know Cal, Billy is getting really good at hacking."
"What do you mean?"
"He showed Jeannie how to get Brian's Service Records."
Cal's eyebrow lifted. "I don't know if I want him doing things like that."
"That's what cybersecurity is all about. He found a weak link in the Veteran's Affairs system and got the records, then sent the SYSADMIN an anonymous message, telling him how to close the door."
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Post by ncsfsgm on Aug 8, 2021 14:19:03 GMT -6
"Okay, then. You still have the Sheriff's deputies coming out to practice?"
"Like clockwork. Earl's got some good people."
"Good. Well, I need to put Glen on the registrations for the conference. I'll talk with you later."
Cal found Glen and Billy, along with Brian, in the server room. Brian was checking the cooling equipment.
"Glen, go ahead and get you, Billy and Jeannie Rogers registered for the conference. I'll fly you down, along with Siobhan. Glen, Aileen are coming also. I'm sure she and Siobhan are already mapping out their shopping spots. Give Siobhan the address or addresses for the conference and she'll get our hotel reservations."
Billy whipped out a couple of sheets of paper out of a folder and handed them to Cal.
"Dad, here's the information on the conference and schedule."
"Thanks, I'll give this to your Mother."
When Cal went back into the cabin, Siobhan was on the phone with Aileen. Cal handed her the conference information as she ended her call.
"Make hotel reservations near the conference. Get one two-bedroom suite for us and Billy, two one-bedroom suites for the others. Jeannie Rogers, Andy's cybersecurity specialist, is going also to usher Billy around."
Siobhan looked at the sheets. "Good, this has everything I need. Let me get on the computer right now. Come on, Brigid. Mommy has got some work to do."
"Cal, how long is the flight to Las Vegas?" Asked Siobhan, as she was packing.
"About an hour a forty-five minutes. I plan on us leaving here at 1100. That will put us at the Hilton around 1430, with the taxi ride. We're landing at Henderson Executive airport. It's twenty miles south of downtown"
"You're not going to rent a car?"
Cal shook his head. "Too much of a hassle. We'll use taxis."
The next morning, Helen and Mary came down to see them off.
"Now Sinead, if you need any help taking care of our grandbabies, you just let us know!" Helen said.
"Well…I might have a date Friday night." Sinead said, blushing.
"Well, you just let one of us know and we'll flip a coin to see who gets to come here and have a sleepover."
"Oh! You don't have to sleep over!"
"Nonsense! Even if you came in at 1100, We'd probably be asleep. I don't want to have to go all the way back to the house. "
"Well okay, but I don't know if the date is going to happen yet." Sinead frowned.
"Who's the lucky guy?" Mary asked.
Sinead blushed, "Brian."
"Oh! He's handsome!" Helen said.
They managed to get everyone on board and took off on time and landed an hour and fifty minutes later at Henderson. Cal had called ahead for a couple of taxis to take them to the hotel. After checking in, Siobhan, Aileen, and Jeannie went to see the concierge to find out where the best shopping was. Cal, Glen, and Billy sat in Cal's suite and had drinks. The women soon returned, hands full of brochures, announcing they were ALL going to the Fashion Show Mall. Glen and Cal shook their heads, Cal looked at Glen.
"Tennyson had it right: Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do & die."
The doorman got them a couple of taxis and off they went. The trip went well. Billy, Glen, and Jeannie got a bucketful of knowledge, Siobhan and Aileen had to buy more suitcases to bring back the clothes they brought, and Cal came back with his bank account lower than what it was. But everyone had a good time. Brigid came toddling up screaming and laughing when Siobhan walked through the door. It was chaos as the other kids all started trying to get Cal and Siobhan's attention at once. It was one happy family…except Sinead. She stood there, watching the happy family with only a wistful look on her face.
After putting their bags away, Cal and Siobhan spent time with the kids. When it came time for the little ones to take a nap, Becky and Billy went to the library. Once the kids were settled, Cal and Siobhan returned to the kitchen.
"Coffee?" Asked Siobhan.
"Please." Cal said. "One of the things I miss when I'm away from here is your coffee."
When the coffee had perked, Siobhan poured Cal and her a cup.
Sinead walked in. "Siobhan, can we talk?"
Cal stood and picked up his coffee cup and refreshed it. "I'm going to sit on the porch."
Sinead sat down in front of Siobhan. "I don't know what to do…."
Siobhan lad her hand on Sinead's. "Brian?"
Sinead nodded. "He's kept away from me all week. I thought he might ask me for a date or something, but he didn't. Siobhan, I've never had a boy or man affect me this way."
"Sinead, something has hurt him badly. He just needs some time. If you press him too hard, you may drive him away."
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Post by ncsfsgm on Aug 8, 2021 14:21:15 GMT -6
That Sunday afternoon, there was another community cook-out. Siobhan and the O'Malley clan brought their instruments to play music. When the main eating was done, Sean and Aedan started off with a couple of funny songs and Lilly and Siobhan sang a duet about the River Shannon. During a break, Sinead walked up and talked to Siobhan. They talked quietly for a few moments, then Siobhan waved over the rest of the band. They conferred and retuned a couple of instruments. Siobhan pulled Cal over and gave him a sheet of music and talked to him. Cathleen picked up her violin and Cal moved the keyboard forward a couple of feet. Then Cathleen started playing a lamenting tune on the violin and Cal picked up playing along. Siobhan adjusted a boom mike on Sinead, then stepped back from her. Sinead started singing…
A Woman's Heart
A woman's heart is filled with passion, A woman's heart is filled with lust, If you don't believe that these things happen, Could be the biggest mistake that a man can make;
A woman's night is filled with dreaming, Of the perfect man, who may not be you, If we don't see what she's been missing, Could be the biggest mistake that a man can make;
She wants to get near to you, don't turn her away, She wants to get through to you, she wants to say;
Give me your night and I will show you my passion, Give me your lust and I will drink you dry, Give me your dreams and I will show you a lover, Give me your heart and I will hold you close, And I will love you till the day I die;
A woman's day is filled with longing, For a little romance and company, If we don't look or just don't listen, Could be the biggest mistake that a man can make;
She wants to get near to you, don't turn her away, She wants to get through to you, she wants you to say;
Give me your night and I will show you my passion, Give me your lust and I will drink you dry, Give me your dreams and I will show you a lover, Give me your heart and I will hold you close, And I will love you 'til the day I die;
Give me your night and I will show you my passion, Give me your lust and I will drink you dry, Give me your dreams and I will show you a lover, Give me your heart and I will hold you close, And I will love you till the day I die;
A woman's heart, a woman's heart, A woman's heart is filled with passion, A woman's heart is filled with lust, A woman's heart is filled with dreaming, A woman's heart is yours forever.
Brian had been talking with Glen when his attention was grabbed by Sinead's song. He stood there, He stood there, spellbound, until she finished her song.
Sinead took off her boom mike and looked at Siobhan, then stepped off the stage and walked directly to Brian.
"Come with me."
Brian followed her out to the parking area and got into the driver's seat of a UV34.
"Get in."
Brian got in and Sinead took off down the road, turning onto the road to the lake. When she got to Kengo's Glade she stopped, got out and slowly walked to one of the picnic tables. Brian sat in the UV34 for a few moments, got out, and walked over to her. He sat on the table beside her.
"As a young girl, I used to sit on the rocks at Sheep's Cove, near Clonikilty, watching the waves crash on to the shore. I'd sit there and dream of what my life would be like in the years ahead. I dreamed of the man I would share my life with, the cottage we would have, and the children I would bear for him. Many of the people thought I might be leispiach, because I had no interest in the men around there. I just hadn't found the right man. Here, I can only look out over the water and dream that you will someday look at me the way I look at you. I know you've been hurt. I'm willing to wait though. Siobhan advised me not to push you, or I could lose any chance with you."
Brian placed his forearms on his knees and clasped his hands. Looking at the ground, he sighed.
"I guess I should have worked on my communications skills with Holly. I thought we were in love, I know I was. Now, I see she saw it as a 'friends with benefits' situation. It was nothing but a fantasy I'd built. I won't make that mistake again. I'll tell the woman I love how much I love her every day and share with her my dreams of our future. Sinead, I do have feelings for you. Your song today captured my heart and soul. If you will work with me, I'd like to see what our future could be."
Sinead sniffled. "Brian, that's all I ask. I have never felt about anyone the way I feel about you. The day you walked in and I first saw you, I knew you were the man I had waited all my life for. Is cuma cad a tharlóidh, beidh grá agam duit go deo. (No matter what happens, I will love you forever.)
Brian took her hand in his and gazed into her eyes. They slowly came together and kissed. When they broke the kiss, Brian opened his eyes, looking into the most brilliant, sparkling emerald-green eyes he had ever seen. A grin cracked his face. He'd want to see that look on her face again and again.
Brian got up off the table. He wanted her in the worst way, or best way, depending how you look at it, but she had said she wouldn't bed a man until she was married.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Aug 8, 2021 14:22:31 GMT -6
"We'd better go back. Your virtue is in danger here."
Sinead giggled. "You're right!"
Siobhan watched as Sinead and Brian walked back through the door of the community building. Sinead positively glowed. Siobhan gently elbowed Cal.
"I'd say Sinead has captured her man."
"Cal, Joanna and I have identified 1800 head we need to sale." Jonah told Cal.
"You want to take them to auction or are they buyers coming here?"
"Hell, the buyers have been calling, wanting to buy directly! Our reputation for quality is well known."
"Let's do it. Saves on fuel costs."
"We'll gather them next week in the west pasture next the loading pens. I'll call up the buyers." Jonah replied.
"They are going to bring top price." Cal said.
"You better believe it! We need to get about twenty bulls to the auction. They'll bring just about as much as the other bunch." Jonah exclaimed.
"I'll leave that to you and Joanna. We need to get six marked for butchering, also."
"Already have them picked out." Jonah smiled.
Dawn came walking up.
"Hi Cal, Jonah! Cal, you got a minute?"
"Sure Dawn, what's up?
"Brian was down yesterday. He walked through the greenhouses and talked with me about our daily operations, then he asked me, 'What would you do during abnormal conditions, like in heavy ashfall or an NBC environment?'"
"Cal, it got me thinking, all we have is a ventilation system, nothing to protect the houses from contamination."
Cal looked at her and smiled. "I got it. That problem will be fixed ASAP."
Cal called Brian on the radio and had him come down to the Gathering House. He also called Siobhan to come down to the Gathering House with a pitcher of iced tea. Siobhan and Brian arrived about the same time, Brian even opened the door for her. Siobhan got three plastic cups from the cabinet and poured the tea.
"Brian, Dawn told me about your comments about operating the greenhouses in an NBC environment. We just happen to have six positive pressure systems from old missile sites that could be used for the greenhouses. I need you and Dawn to work together and tie them in to the temperature control system to be able to use during NBC situations."
Brian nodded. "I think I know just how to do it Cal. We'll start working on it right away."
"Uh…Cal, Siobhan…Sinead and I have been talking…well…I came here pretty messed up and…well...she's showN interest and well, I think she is the most captivating woman I have ever met. No offense Siobhan."
Siobhan smiled. "None taken."
Brian continued. "Well, I just want you to know I'm an honorable man and I will do right by Sinead."
Siobhan laid her hand on Brian's arm. "Brian we would have thought nothing other from you. Sinead is quite infatuated with you."
"Well, it never entered my mind another woman would get me to fall...to be interested in again, but Sinead is something special."
Cal smiled. "Brian, you two work it out to the best of both of your interests. You both have our support."
"Thanks Cal. Well, I need to talk with Dawn."
When Brian had left, Siobhan moved over and sat in Cal's lap and sighed…
"I love to see people fall in love."
"WHEW!
Jonah swept his hat off and beat his thigh with it.
"That was one good sale for a Friday!"
Cal grinned. "Yeah, it went pretty good."
Jonah looked at Cal. "You know, A lot of people are asking about breeding stock. I can start setting aside some of those yearlings to sell next year, if you want."
Cal looked over at Jonah. "You think it's worth it?"
"Hell, Cal! People think your cows are magic! You can get top dollar at any auction!"
"Well, go ahead. I've got my eye on a prize bull that may help out."
Jonah tipped his hat and got back on his horse. Cal untied the reins of his horse, mounted, and rode back to the barn. Nick had just arrived and was changing horses.
"What's up, Nick?"
"We're starting to get some problems with coyotes in the north area. I was going to ride up and check things out."
"Let me know if you find anything. Our sniper teams could use some practice."
"Will do Cal. I'll see you later."
Cal unsaddled his hose and rubbed him down. After putting up his tack, he headed for the house. As he reached the driveway, his radio broke squelch.
"Cal, we've got a visitor at the gate. Says she's Brian's sister."
Cal told him to let her through and to notify Brian.
Cal waited by the road until he saw the Nissan come up the drive. He waved and it came to a stop next to him.
"Can I help you Ma'am?'
"I'm Andrea Monaghan, Brian's sister. I need to talk to him."
"Well ma'am, I need to call Brian and get him up here. Why don't you park your car over there and we can go to the Gathering House and I'll get you something to drink."
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Post by paulk on Aug 8, 2021 15:29:49 GMT -6
So Good. I am finding difficult to get interested in another story. I read a little then jump back to see if there is more from you. Thank you.
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Post by eyeseetwo on Aug 8, 2021 15:50:38 GMT -6
Oh my a cliff hanger! All caught up on your fine story. Thank you for it! I wonder how his sister found him? Also I hope to read how residents are briefed on social media presence and rapid response when danger lurks. HTR sounds very solid. Too bad there are not places like that for most of us folks.
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Post by gipsy on Aug 8, 2021 16:08:56 GMT -6
Hope some forgiveness shows
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Post by ncsfsgm on Aug 8, 2021 18:29:17 GMT -6
“Well ma’am, I need to call Brian and get him up here. Why don’t you park your car over there and we can go to the Gathering House and I’ll get you something to drink.”
As she turned off the road to park, Cal called Brian and told him to meet him at the Gathering House. Then he called the house and told Sinead to bring down a pitcher of tea. Cal guided Andrea into the Gathering House and got her seated as Sinead showed up with the tea. Nothing was said as Sinead got cups and poured the iced tea. Sinead then went over to the counter and started wiping things down. Soon, Brian arrived. He stepped through the door and hesitated as his eyes adjusted from the bright sunlight outside to the dimmer light in there.
Andrea stood up. "Brian…"
Brian held up his hand. "Don't say one word, Andrea. Just get in your car and go back . I don't care why you did it. All that matters is that you did. I don't want explanations. Any justifications are for you, not me. As far as I'm concerned, you've killed any familial connections. We're finished. You and I are blood related and I protected you after Mom and Dad passed but you turned around and do this? Because of what you've done, I don't even recognize you anymore, so there's nothing to talk about. Christ! You are my sister! You took sides, against me, now live with it."
Brian turned and started walking out, choked up and stopped. Then, in a strangled voice, he said, "I still love you, but I can't be around people who so carelessly hurt me."
Sinead stepped forward. "Brian. WAIT!"
Sinead, haughtily, went to him.
"Brian, there's no one left of your family but Andrea and you. Do you really want to cut off that connection? She made a mistake. None of us are perfect. She loves you and regrets what she has done. She didn't mean to hurt you, but now realizes what her actions could cost her. You, I know, are a better man than that. The man I respect and love couldn't be so callus."
Brian looked deeply into Sinead's eyes. He bowed his head and sighed, tears forming. Looking up at Andrea, He saw the hurt in her eyes. He walked slowly up to her and put his hands on her arms.
"Andrea, I have loved you since the day I first saw you in Mom's arms. I've watched over you, tried to protect you, and tried to guide you. You protecting Holly was even worse than her cheating on me. Please, don't ever do that to me again."
Andrea burst out in tears and rushed into his arms.
"I'm sorry Brian. I failed you in the worst possible way. I thought you two had a 'friends with benefits' deal. I promise, I will never keep anything back from you again!"
Brian took her into his arms and held her tightly,she sobbing.
Sinead walked up to them and laid her hands on their shoulders.
Looking at Cal, Sinead said "Andrea, why don't you come up and get freshened up. We have a room you can use to spend the night. You and Brian have some more talking to do."
Cal nodded and Sinead led Andrea out the door.
Brian looked at Cal.
"Brian, she is your only family. You should hold on to that."
Brian nodded.
"Take as much time as you need." Cal said, patting him on the shoulder, and walked out.
Sinead took Andrea to the guest room and showed her the bathroom then went out to the kitchen. She told Siobhan what was going on. Siobhan was full of questions, but those would have to wait. Andrea came out, face freshly washed, looking for Sinead.
Sinead heard the bathroom door open and went and brought her into the kitchen.
"Siobhan, this is Brian's sister, Andrea. Andrea, this is Cal's wife, Siobhan."
"Welcome to the High Top Ranch, Andrea. Would you like a cup of tea?"
"Please, if it's no bother."
"I always like to have a cup before the kids come home from school. They are usually in the riot mode then."
Andrea smiled. "This is a lovely home. I've always loved log homes."
The tea kettle whistled, and Siobhan pulled out three cups and placed teabags in them. Sinead got cream and lemon slices from the refrigerator and brought them and the sugar bowl to the breakfast counter. Siobhan placed the cups on a tray and filled them with the boiling water and brought them to the bar.
The ladies prepared their tea and took a sip.
Siobhan sat her cup down. "So, is this your first time to Colorado, Andrea?"
"We came out, years ago, as a family and went skiing. I haven't been back since."
"You have a job in Indiana? Sinead asked.
"Andrea sat her cup down. "Yes, I was working in a consignment shop until the school year begins. I was hoping for a position to open up, but probably get a job as a teacher's aide."
"Oh! You have a teaching degree?" Sinead asked, looking at Siobhan.
"Yes, I have a Bachelor's in Education."
"You said "Was hoping…?"
"Yes, I want to be near Brian."
A thoughtful look was on Siobhan's face.
Brian knocked and came in.
"Brian, why don't you take Andrea and show her Serenity? Dinner will be ready at 6:00."
Brian and Andrea went out the door as Cal was walking in. Cal walked over to the refrigerator and got out a stainless steel bottle of cold water. Siobhan picked up her phone and called Kathy.
"Kathy, how would you like to have another teacher? Brian's sister. No, Bachelor's degree. No, she was looking for a job in Indiana, now I suspect she might be moving to Colorado. Okay, if she accepts, I'll bring her up in the morning."
Siobhan looked at Cal as she pressed the call end button. "Well?"
Cal grinned. "Nothing. You did exactly what I was thinking of doing."
Siobhan grinned. "Great minds think alike."
"Oh! Quit it you two! Sinead said. You two even breathe in rhythm."
"Come on, Sinead, and peel potatoes. I'm making fried chicken for dinner. Cal, will you go get the two chickens in the big refrigerator I have thawing?"
"Yes Ma'am."
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Post by ncsfsgm on Aug 8, 2021 18:30:46 GMT -6
"How did you end up here, Brian?"
"By pure luck. I has headed to Utah and stopped to eat in Grand Junction and met Cal. He offered me a job and I accepted."
Andrea shifted on the bench and looked around. "This is a pretty big place!"
"You haven't seen anything. They have six large greenhouses, community pool, Community Center, a school, a church, Vet Clinic, security company, general store, and there's another ranch he owns next to this one."
"He must be rich as Midas!"
"Well, I don't know how much money he has, but he's definitely rich in friends and family. Which brings me to the point….what are your plans?"
Andrea bowed her head slightly and looked into the little stream. "Well, Everything I have is in my car. I was living in a furnished apartment, so I only had my clothes, mementos, and my computer. I hired a P.I. to find you. I didn't want to be so far from you, Brian."
"Me too kiddo. I'm sorry. I was so blinded by hurt, I had to leave."
"I understand. Let's never be so far apart again."
They sat in silence listening to the water falling over the rocks.
Andrea sighed. "This is a beautiful place, so peaceful."
Andrea wrapped her arm around Brian's. "That woman, Sinead, said you are the man she loved. What's up with that?"
Brian looked at her with a slight smile. She has been melting my shield since I've been here. I'm beginning to fall in love with her, but I'm cautious."
"Brian, give her your heart. Life is always going to have its hard times. Build something that will protect you and her. Besides, I need some nieces and nephews."
Brian chuckled. "Well, we aren't that far along, yet."
Andrea giggled when Brian told her about meeting Sinead for the first time.
"Labhraíonn sí Gaeilge?" ("She speaks Irish?")
"Sea, agus mar sin a dhéanann Cal, Siobhan, agus na páistí… ar a laghad iad siúd atá aosta go leor le labhairt." ("Yes, and so does Cal, Siobhan, and the kids…at least those old enough to talk.")
Brian looked at his watch. "Come on, dinner is in 30 minutes."
The walked back up to the cabin and went in.
Cal and Siobhan were working at the stove while Sinead supervised. Cal poked Siobhan and she turned around and saw Brian and Andrea. Siobhan took off her apron and approached Andrea.
"Andrea, I don't want to seem presumptuous, but how would you like to work here as a teacher?"
Andreas eyes lit up. "Oh my God, YES!"
"Good! Cal, watch the stove and we'll go bring Andrea's things in."
As they began bringing Andrea's things in, she was taken totally by surprised when they marched right into the pantry and through a steel door and into different world altogether.
Andrea's mouth opened in amazement. "What….?"
"We'll explain later. Sinead, we're putting her in the suite next to you."
Andrea looked around in amazement as they went down the white hallway and ended up at an opened door. A woman stepped out of the en suite bathroom and announced she had put fresh towels in the bathroom.
"Andrea, this is Belinda. She is sort of our 'Facilities Manager.' If you need any extra towels or sheets or whatever, she can help you out too."
The ladies began hanging her clothes up and Brian went back for another load. Two more trips and Brian had everything in Andrea's suite.
Sinead left to get the children from school.
"I can unpack the boxes later." Andrea told Siobhan.
"Well, dinner should be about ready. I'm starving!" Siobhan said.
With a guest at the table, the kids were well behaved. Andrea watched as Brigid giggled when Brian handed her a chicken leg. This seemed like a very loving family.
After dinner, Sinead and Andrea helped clear up the dishes while the men went out on the porch. They sat there for a moment, then Cal got up and said, "Come on."
They got into a UV34 and drove down to a newly-built cabin.
"Brian, I try to keep a cabin built ahead of when it is actually needed. In the past, things have happened pretty fast. Couples fall in love, start making plans to get married and wonder where they can live. I like to take that worry out of the equation. They don't have to live here, but they all seem happy to settle here. When this is occupied, I'll build one or two more. You see, I want our people to be happy. Happy people prosper."
Brian scraped the ground with his boot. "So, this cabin is for sale?"
"No, not for sale. The cabin is there them for as long as they live here. No rent, no utilities. They just need to make it a home."
Brian looked at Cal. "Cal, I've hardly known Sinead three months, but I'd ask her to marry me today, if she'd have me. I never would have thought I'd find someone who could get into my heart the way she has."
Brian, sometimes I think this place is magical. It's almost as if the right people come together at the right time. Maybe it was Fate or Kismet that brought you here so you and Sinead could be together. For whatever reason. make the best of it and live a happy life.
The next morning, Saturday, Brian left the Ranch early to be at Thomas Hunn Jewelers when it opened. He picked out a 1.5 caret flawless engagement ring. Brian paid with it with his credit card and went back to the Ranch. To kill time, he helped clean the gear when the ladies got back from the farmers market. Making a sandwich for lunch, Brian waited anxiously for 3:00 to roll around. At 2:50, he called Sinead and asked if she wanted to take a ride down to the lake…she did. Picking her up in a UV34, they slowly drove down to the Glade.
They sat and held each other for a while, talking about this and that. Sinead and Brian finally walked over to the lake. Sinead took her shoes off and waded into the shallows. It gave her a chance to splash Brian. He chased her and caught her, pulling her down onto the buffalo grass near the edge of the lake. She pretended to fight him off, but it was really her way of surrendering to him. He rolled on top of her. They were both laughing, and she knew what came next. The tension between them was so thick it felt like he was going to take her there on the lake front. And if that was his intention, she was going to let him. But just as their lips were about to make contact their eyes met, and he froze. Sinead lay there only inches away from heaven, with her lips puckered up and her excitement showing on her shirt front, realizing that it wasn't going to happen.
"Sorry," Brian said. "I don't know what came over me. I guess we were having too much fun."
"Maybe it's something in the water," Sinead smiled. "Because I was feeling it too."
"It'll be dark soon," he said, pulling her up. "We should probably head back to the cabin."
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Post by ncsfsgm on Aug 8, 2021 18:31:50 GMT -6
Sinead pouted as Brian stood up and held out his hand to help her up. As she stood up, Brian went to one knee, pulling out the ring he'd bought. "Sinead, you have given me a new life, a life I want to share with you for the rest of our days. Will you marry me?" Brian took her left hand, holding it and gazed into her eyes, pausing with a questioning look. "YES, YES, YES!" Tears streaming down her face. Brian slipped the ring on her finger. "Oh, Brian! I'll be the best wife you could ever have!" Sinead grabbed his face with both hands and kissed him like she'd never kissed him before. They stood there holding each other for the longest while. She suddenly broke away. "I've got to show Siobhan!" Laughing, Brian picked her up in his arms and carried her over to the 34. He drove her back a little more quickly and she jabbered all the way. Rushing into the cabin, tears streaming down her face, she ran into the family room, startling Siobhan. "Sinead, what's wrong!" Sinead just stood there, then slowly lifted her left hand up, showing Siobhan the ring. Siobhan squealed, jumped up and hugged Sinead. "My God! It's beautiful!" Brian walked in at that time. Siobhan rushed to him and gave him a big hug. "Brian, you just made her the happiest woman in the world!" Cal walked over and shook Brian's hand. "Brian, a little advice. From here on, shut up, hand out the money, do what you are told, and be where you are told…and on time." Brian just shook his head and chuckled. "When's the wedding day?" Asked Siobhan. Sinead looked at Brian, blankly. Siobhan giggled. "I see. I'll tell you right now, you need a minimum of one month." Sinead looked at Siobhan, "So, somewhere around October the 8th?" Siobhan looked at the calendar. "October the 7th is on a Sunday." "Okay! Sinead said. "October the 7th okay, Brian?" "Fine with me!" Then Lilly and Nick walked in. "What's going on?" Sinead held up her hand, showing Lilly the ring. Lilly held up HER hand showing HER ring. "OH MY GOD!" Screamed Siobhan, running over to hug Lilly. Tears streaming down her face, Siobhan was blubbering about planning, shopping, and a bunch of unintelligible things. "MOM! STOP! Let's sit down." Laughing, Cal handed Siobhan a box of tissue. Siobhan wiped her eyes and blew her nose. Calmed down, Siobhan asked Lilly when her wedding date was. Well, since Sinead is getting married October 7th, why don't we just make it a double wedding?" "But don't you want your own special day?" Asked Siobhan. "Mom, every day of my life I will spend with Nick will be special." Lilly said, smiling. "I feel the same about Brian, so yes, let's have a double wedding!" Sinead agreed. Cal wiped his brow. "Whew! I've just been saved a ton of money!" Siobhan stood up, put her fists on her hips, and stuck her tongue out at Cal. "No you haven't! That just gives us more money to spend on other things!" Cal rolled his eyes and Nick and Brian both laughed. Cal left the room but soon returned with a bottle of champagne and a tray of glasses. Brian had been sound asleep and at first, thought he was having a dream. A very vivid dream. This dream came with a scent and the soft, warm body of a woman. He lingered in that half-aware state until his conscious mind took over. He was not alone, and it was not a dream.
"What are you doing here?" He whispered. "I couldn't sleep. I wanted someone to hold me. I wanted you to hold me," Sinead said softly. He craned his neck in a futile attempt to read his alarm clock. "It's the middle of the night." Brian said. "Do you want me to go?" He didn't answer immediately. Almost instinctively he reached for her, and as she responded, he pulled her close. As the almost imperceptible light of the moon leaked through the curtains, he caught a glimpse of its reflection in her sparkling emerald eyes. He moved his head toward her and kissed her gently. Sinead moaned and he felt the tension in her body dissolve. "No ... stay ... please." Cal and Jonah watched as Nick came riding in, leading a cow and had a calf thrown across the saddle in front of him. "Coyotes tried to take down the calf. She has a few wounds. The cow was holding them off as I was coming across the ridge. I got two of them with my rifle, but there's at least 8 more with that pack. They're starting to hunt like wolves." Cal rubbed his chin. "We'll get some guys out with night vision scopes tonight and try to take care of the problem." Cal called Andy and had him notify his snipers to get ready to go out that night and do some varmint shooting. Every other night for a week and a half, the sniper teams gathered and coordinated their firing limits. By the sixth night, no more coyotes were seen.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Aug 8, 2021 18:33:30 GMT -6
Cal was parking one of the electric carts in the garage area when Barry walked up, wiping his hands with a rag. "Hey, Boss, you in the market for a full-size snow blower truck?" "Always open to a good deal." Cal grinned "Whatcha got?" Barry pulled a sheet of paper out of the back pocket of his coveralls and unfolded it. "Here's what I got on it." 1988 Oshkosh W700-15-R snow blower truck " 4,256 hours on meter " 701 hours on meter " Caterpillar 3306 six cylinder turbo diesel engine " 10 speed manual transmission " Four wheel drive " Four wheel hydraulic steering " Single axle " Heat " Spot light " PTO " Beacon light " Brake controller " Work lights " Front mounted spot light " Sicaro snow blower o 1,450 hours on meter o Caterpillar D343 six cylinder turbo diesel engine " 375 HP " Serial 62B11396 o Block heater o 102"W o Hydraulic chute control o Serial 4776R88 " Spring suspension " Air brakes " Goodyear 14.00R20 tires " GVWR 34,000 lbs. Cal read the specifications on the paper and looked back at Barry. "Interesting, but it's Greek to me." "Well, for a truck at that age, it's in excellent shape. Fixed up, it could be worth $35 - $50 thousand." "What do they want for it, and most importantly, where is it?" "Well, here's the deal. It's up in Wheatland, Wyoming. They're going to hold an auction for it in the next couple of months and asking $20,000. If it's any good, we can offer them $15,000 and save them the cost and bother of holding an auction." Cal thought for a minute. "So, what do we need to do?" "We need to go check it out. Take a Bank Check for the amount. I think they'd gobble it up if it suits us." "Okay, makes some calls and set it up for me and you to go look for it. Wheatland is only a couple of hours from here by air. We could go and come back in a day." Barry went to his desk and started to make calls. Cal went over and talked to Dennis and told him they might need him and the low-boy this week to pick up the snow blower. Barry came back. "We can take a look at it tomorrow at 1300. Mike Davis will meet us at the airport and take us over to the maintenance facility." "Good," Cal said. "Let me take a look that the GPS and I'll let you know what time we'll leave in the morning." "Roger that." Cal and Barry flew out late the next morning and landed in Wheatland. By the time they had the plane tied down, Mike drove up in his truck. "You Barry Stevens?" Barry shook Mike's hand. "This is Cal Coleman, Mike." Cal shook Mikes hand also. "Well, if you guys are ready, I'll take you over." They got in the truck and started talking about the Oshkosh. "Why are they selling the truck, Mike? "Surplus." They got it on a state transfer from South Dakota about two and a half years ago. All of a sudden the state got a bunch of stimulus money and used some of it to buy new blowers. That Oshkosh has just sat there since then. Oh, they kept maintenance up on it and all, but it hasn't been used. They guys like the newer trucks better." They pulled into the maintenance yard and Mike drove right up to the Oshkosh truck. Barry checked out everything, muttering as he went along. He crawled up in the cab and started both engines and watched the gauges. He even took it for a spin around the yard. Finally, he brushed off his hands and walked back over to Mike and Cal. "Looks in great shape! The only thing Cal, that's a ten-foot wide snow box. If we load it directly on a low-boy, we'll have to have wide-load escorts all the way back. I can take the box off and load it on another truck and we can haul standard." "Well, I guess we can use another truck then." Cal looked at Mike. "So, where do we do the paperwork, Mike?" "Right this way." Mike took them to another office where they filled out the paperwork for the sale, Cal handed the secretary the check, and she handed him the title. Walking out, Mike told them he'd have his mechanics take the box off, so they'd be ready to load when they got back. He had a forklift they'd use also. Mike drove them back to the airport and while Barry talked to Mike about the maintenance logs, Cal undid the tie downs and stored them. Both shook hands with Mike and said they'd be back in three days. "That Oshkosh is in better shape than I could have wished for." Barry said. "They have a hell of a maintenance crew. All they hydraulic hoses are practically new and must have been exercised regularly as part of their maintenance services. There's nothing, really, we have to do maintenance-wise. Although, I'd like to go ahead and do a 10,000 mile overhaul on it next spring and zero out the meters. Maintained right, that truck will last another 50 years!" "That's good to know. Well, plan on doing the overhaul next spring. Go ahead and give Charlie a list of what you'll need so everything is on hand.
When they got back, Barry and Jon got the other flatbed rig ready. Terry had a CDL, so he was going as the 4th driver. It was a 7 hour drive if they took interstate 70 over to 75 and then north to Wheatland. They'd stay overnight and make their way back to the Ranch the next day.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Aug 8, 2021 18:35:03 GMT -6
Cal walked back through the tunnels to the kitchen in the cabin. "Well, I bought a snowblower!" Cal chuckled to Siobhan. "Siobhan shook her head. "Men and their toys" "Hey, we added 2 miles of road to the Ranch. That thing is going to come in handy!" "I know…I was just joking. Oh, the furniture is being delivered tomorrow for Aileen and Sinead's cabins, so we'll be busy with that." "Well, you've got three and a half weeks until the weddings. How's that going?" "Well, except for a few little things, everything is done. Oh, and you need to go in Thursday and get fitted for your new suit." "New suit!?!" Cal exclaimed. "Yes, the girls saw a handsome western-style suit they just loved. Nick and Brian are getting one too. All the men will have on Tony Lamas. I think it is so wonderful the girls both wanted you to give them away!" "Yeah, how is that going to work?" "Why, you're going to walk them down the aisle, one on each arm!" ""Don't get excited. I don't know how these things work. Never had to do two weddings at one time. Thank God we'll have a rehearsal!" "I've already got the honeymoon packages for St. Lucia and Maui." "Good! Then all I have to do is show up?" "Basically, and shell out the money." "Well, that does it Jon. All the oils are topped off, tire chains inspected and repaired…hell, let's this sucker painted!" Jon chuckled. "Okay, what color? Yellow" "Hell NO! Let's paint it Day Glow Green!" "What are you going to do about the engines?" "We'll get outer stuff painted for now. We can do the engines when we do the overhaul in the spring. Let's go talk to Miguel Becerra about doing it." They drove to Fruita to Becerra Brothers Restoration. "Hey Miguel." "Hey Barry, what brings you to the big city?" Barry laughed. "We need to get a big truck painted." "Sorry guys, we're not taking on any more work right now. The landlord can't renew our lease because they're building a road through here. He had to sell, or they would have condemned it and given him pennies on the dollar. We have to be cleared out in 90 days. We haven't found a suitable place yet. I've got work we could take in and no place to do it." Barry frowned. "That's too bad Miguel. Well, if there's anything we can do, let me know." "Thanks, Barry. You guys stay safe." Barry and Jon got back in the truck and headed back to the Ranch. When they had entered the gate, Cal was crossing the drive, going back to the cabin. Barry pulled up beside Cal. "How's it going Barry?" "Pretty good Cal. We've been over to see Miguel Becerra, hoping to get a paint job on the Oshkosh." "No luck?" "They're losing the shop. They're building a road through there. He can't find a new place to lease. It's a shame. He and his brothers are Masters at rebuilding and restoring vehicles. He sells all over the western United States." Cal placed his hands on the passenger door and leaned over, looking at the ground, thinking. Cal straightened back up and opened the door. "Move over, Jon. Barry, takes us down to the General Store." When they got there, Cal walked away from the store, walking to the south. "I own thirty acres on this side of the road. Can't use it for ranching. That's why we put the store over here. This area down here might be a good place for Miguel to have a new shop." Barry looked at Jon. "You know Cal, if he had the right shop, he could probably double his output." Cal looked around the area and nodded. "Let's go talk to Miguel and see what he thinks." "Well, you don't need me along" Jon said. "Drop me off back up at the garage. I can get stuff ready for tomorrow's inspections." Miguel was taking something out of his truck when Barry drove up. He stopped what he was doing when Cal and Barry got out of the truck. "Miguel, this is Cal Coleman." "Mr. Coleman, it is a pleasure. Cal shook his hand. "Call me 'Cal.' I wanted to sit down with you and discuss your next shop location." "Well, Cal, I don't really know where our next location will be." "That what I wanted to discuss with you. I've got some land on which I could build a steel building with whatever you need." Miguel stared at Cal. "Are you serious?" Cal grinned "Absolutely!" Miguel rubbed his chin. "Let me show you what we have to work with right now." Miguel first took them to their "maintenance" area. "We have room to work on two vehicles here. If we had space to work on two more, we'd have little down time. If we are waiting on parts for one, or two vehicles, we could just go and work on another. Each work area has a checklist for its vehicle that lists what needs to be done and in order. That way, we don't lose track of what has been done and what needs to be done. Back here is our painting area. Not the best, but we make it work. My brother, Carlos, does the upholstery, but he does it at home because we don't have room here." Cal looked around. "So, I have no idea what size spaces you need. Can you put numbers on paper for me? Oh, and I need to tell you, this land is 12 miles outside of Grand Junction."
"Let's go back to the work area and get my notebook. I have a drawing of the 'perfect' place we'd hoped to find."
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Post by ncsfsgm on Aug 8, 2021 18:36:42 GMT -6
Miguel retrieved his sketch and Cal studied it. "So this would be your perfect place? What about the paint booth? What if we made it big enough to put an 18-wheeler in there? I'd think the upholstery area would be almost twice as big as you have here."
Miguel grinned. "If it had all that, then it would be more than perfect."
"Well, let me go back and make a drawing and I'll come back and go over it with you."
"What is this going to cost me?"
"What's your rent on this place?" Asked Cal.
"We're paying $1,800 a month."
"You all right with $2,000 a month?"
Miguel's eyes got big. "Of course!"
"Good, well, let me get back to the Ranch and draw this up. I'll be back in the morning with what I have." Jerry Sweeney was emptying out his desk when Buck Johnson rushed into the room.
"Jerry, what do you think you are doing?"
"I'm fed up. I'm leaving Buck. I'm tired of you using my ideas and pawning them off as yours. Just so you know, before I presented my ideas to you, I applied for patents for each and every one. If you use anything, and I mean ANYTHING that came out of this room, I'll sue you and the company if you don't apply for a license. Here, here is a card with my lawyer's contact information. If you want to talk about licensing my patents, talk to him."
Jerry picked up the box with his personal belongings and quickly limped off, leaving Buck staring at his retreating back, his mouth drooping open.
"Jon, how's the work going?"
"Everything's good Jerry. How are you doing?"
"I pulled the cord and left Electel and that slimeball Johnson today."
"Good to see you finally wised up. What are you going to do?"
"Oh, I don't know. I guess I could find something around Seattle."
"DON'T! I've got a place for you right here. We could do some great things!"
"What are you working on now?"
"I'm still into electric vehicles, but we're looking more into solar and wind power also."
"Hmmmm. I might have a few things that would help you, Jon."
"Look, why don't you take a long weekend and come down to Grand Junction and let me show you around?"
"I could do that. Send me the GPS coordinates and I'll come down Friday afternoon."
"I'll send them in a few. I'll see you Friday, Jerry." "Six weeks, Cal. Mark will be the General Contractor. He's just about got everything lined up. We can start pouring the pad the end of next week. The building size is standard. All that has to be done is partition it on the inside."
"Okay, Sam. Go ahead and get the ball rolling." The wedding rehearsal went off without a hitch. Cal and Siobhan held the dinner in the Gathering House. When things started winding down, the soon-to-be brides would spend the night at Lilly's house. Brian stood outside the door and watched them leave.
Glen walked up to him and put his arm around his shoulder. "I know how you feel, Brian. I cried the day I married Aileen. When you have the right one picked out, you just know it." The wedding was beautiful. The church was packed and the ceremony was perfect. Cal, again, got the horse and carriage to bring the couples to the Community Center for the Reception. Cal reminded both couples what time they had to be at the airfield to fly to Denver to catch their flights to their honeymoon destinations. Only this time, Ken would fly them up.
Siobhan sniffled as they left the community center.
"My babies are growing up,"
Cal put his arm around her. "But she's in good hands."
Siobhan nodded, wiping a tear away. On a bright warm Saturday morning, Jerry turned off the Interstate and after a couple of detours because of construction, finally was on the right road southwest, or at least that's what the GPS was telling him. As the road began to wind through the hills, Jerry's mind drifted from one memory to another. Perhaps he could settle down here. He felt the need to finally establish a home, maybe find a women to share his daily life, maybe start a family. Finally, the GPS indicated he had two miles to go. As he neared his destination he wondered, "Why would Jon have him meet him at a General Store?"
Mark watched as the dozer and grader operators leveled and prepared the building area. It should only take a couple of more hours, the terrain was relatively flat. He walked over to where the electrician was setting up the electrical connection to the construction pole from the General Store. They were getting a lot done this morning and would be starting on the huge concrete pad forms on Monday. The concrete company had done projects like this before so they had the steel forms on hand and, for a project this size, would have the form complete in a day. If everything went to plan, they'd be pouring by Tuesday. Jerry turned as the tan Tahoe pulled into the parking lot of the General Store and came to a stop. Jerry came to a stop and got out. He stretched and walked to the door of the store. An older man was coming out, so Jerry held the door as the man came out.
"Thank Ye" the man said.
Jerry walked in to some wonderful smells.
"Come on in Sweety! What can I get for you?"
"Jerry! " Jerry looked to the voice calling and saw Jon sitting at a table, waving him over."
"Casey, bring my friend over a cup of coffee and one of those Bear Claws, and bring me another Bear Claw too!"
Casey laughed. "You keep eating those things you're going to turn into a Sugar Bear, Jon."
Jon stood up and shook Jerry's hand. "How was the drive?"
"Not bad. I took it easy and stayed overnight at a Quality Inn in Burlington. Easy drive into here."
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Post by ncsfsgm on Aug 8, 2021 18:39:07 GMT -6
Casey brought over the Bear Claws and coffee and went back to the counter. "Jerry, you wouldn't believe the sweet deal we have here. Cal Coleman is a great guy to deal with. Since I converted his UV34s to electric, we've been busy converting vehicles for a lot of people in the area, many of them municipal vehicles. He funded me at first then I started making money. I've almost paid him back, even though I've got six guys working for me. I've been keeping my patent attorneys busy too!" "Sounds like a good place. Is it near here?" "Right across the road. You can't see much from here, but Cal has built what would be a small town over that ridge. I asked him to meet us here this morning." As soon as Jon said that, Cal walked through the door. "Cal! Over here" Jon said, waving. Jerry and Jon stood as Cal neared the table. "Cal, this is Jerry Sweeney, one of the best, if not the best, solar and wind electrical engineers anywhere." "Jerry, it's good to meet you." Jerry shook Cal's hand. "Good to meet you, Cal" They took their seats as Casey came over with coffee for Cal. "Anything else, Cal?" "Just a glass of water, if you please." "Sure thing." "Cal, I want to bring Jerry in. He's got ideas that are going to boost C&C to another level." Cal trusted Jon. If he said he was good, then he was good. "Jerry, this is a relatively small company for someone of your expertise to work for."
"Cal, I was working in Kansas City for a company whose main goal was the profit line. I don't mind making a profit, but I don't cut corners and I care about the user. They were on the verge of stealing some of my ideas, but I already had the patents pending. I got fed up and packed my stuff up one day and walked out." "Cal, he can live with me. I've got more space than I use." "Well, welcome aboard, Jerry. I'll let Jerry take you around and show you things. Do you have any household goods to need to bring in?" "No, I was living in a furnished apartment. I have enough with me to tide me over until I can have everything else shipped here." "Okay then. I'll leave you in Jon's hands. Oh, and Jon, Community get together, tomorrow. Bring Jerry." "Will do, Cal." Cal got up and walked out, walking to the construction next door." "Jerry, get this. Everything around here is solar and wind power. Until recently, the only thing on Cal's ranch that had commercial power was the security company across the road. They converted that a couple of weeks ago." "Hmmmm…. I guess he is a convert." "This store is also off the grid and the new construction next door will be also." Jerry grinned. "I think I'll like working here." They sat there, sipping their coffee. "How's the leg, Jerry." "It's okay. After getting everything readjusted at the VA in Kansas City, there is no pain when I run, after the replaced the running leg." "You're still running?" "Sure. My early morning runs clear my head for the day." "Well, let's go up and I'll show you where we work." Three weeks later, the building, soon to be occupied by Becerra Brothers Restoration, was nearing completion. After talking with Miguel, Cal had an 8 foot chain link fence erected around the place with sliding gates in the front and in the back. The parts car lot was surrounded by an 8 foot wooden fence. A covered area was built to prominently display the vehicles completed and for sale. Huge air compressors were installed, and air lines ran all over the place. The paint booth was top notch. Carlos had a upholstery shop that was equal or even better than anyone's. The brothers would move their equipment and projects in the next week.
On the day of the Grand Opening, Cal and Siobhan drove down and parked at the General Store. Walking over to the new building, Cal's eyes were drawn to the sign on the front of the building. It included the symbol of a Thunderbird. As he stood there looking at the sign, Miguel walked up to them. "Our Mother was a Bedonkohe Apache. Our Father was Mexican." Cal frowned. "Bedonkohe? I've never heard of that tribe." Miguel smiled. "They were a band of Chiricahua Apache, whose most famous leader was Geronimo." Cal grinned. "We learn new things every day of our lives." "I hope you don't mind, I've asked the Medicine Man to come and bless the building." "Of course I don't mind." Miguel led them over to where the big ribbon was. Cal and Siobhan stayed to the side as the ceremony began. The Medicine Man, holding a Ceremonial Prayer Fan, said a few phrases in Chiricahua, (Cal assumed), that had a few responses by some of the attendees. After the Medicine Man had completed his part of the opening ceremony, Miguel and his brothers manipulated a huge pair of scissors and cut the ribbon. A tour was given of the facilities and refreshments were served. Cal and Siobhan walked over to Miguel. "Miguel, congratulations on your new shop." "Cal, it wouldn't be so if it were not for you." "Miguel, I have to admit something…. I did it out of curiosity. If you could do what you've been doing with the facilities you had, what could you do with top-notch facilities? So, you need to show me." Miguel grinned. "Oh, we will show you, be assured." Cal talked to a few more people and then he a Siobhan returned to the Ranch.
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