Page 5 of Take a Chance (Blue Creek Ranch #1)

Malachi

C rew Harrington was a cowboy. It was obvious in his tanned face, dusty boots, Wranglers, and ball cap. And how expertly he handled his horse that was relaxed and confident like his owner.

Tony wasn’t sure about the “painted horse” although he kept mentioning the animal and Mrs. Jenn on our drive back until he fell asleep halfway through. And that damn loud donkey. I still didn’t know why Tony had loved the critter so much. I saw a lot of donkey videos in our imminent future.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about everything yet, but I hoped it would work out. The place was great, Jenn seemed lovely, and Crew felt, so far, like the decent sort. I had a feeling he would be a good boss to work under.

The truth was, though, that if I got the job, it would change our lives again. I’d have to pack everything up once more and move us somewhere in the town nearest to Blue Creek Ranch. I’d have to find a daycare for Tony, and hope that the schedules worked well enough.

Instead of dwelling on that yet, because I felt mentally safer to not hope too much or plan ahead just in case, I concentrated on getting us home.

We had early dinner while watching videos of all sorts of donkeys on YouTube.

Then Tony wanted a bath—our bathroom didn’t have a real tub, but I’d splurged and bought us one of those shorter inflatable ones on clearance—and I left him to splash around with his bath toys while I tidied up the small space we called home.

Well, Tony called it home. I called it that only around him. When I thought of the studio, I used the word apartment. I wasn’t meant for one.

“You about ready, bud?” I called out.

“Not yet, Daddy!”

“Okay.” I wandered into the bathroom and sat on the toilet lid, then zoned out a little. It was a thing we did. Tony called it “quiet time.”

It was a blessing to have a kid who needed and understood silence.

I wanted to think about living somewhere out of this place, but my mind immediately sent me back home. To the farm I’d called home for all my life. I missed everything about it. I knew that land like the back of my hand, and I’d wanted my children to inherit it one day.

But now, that would never happen. I realized I’d sighed when Tony’s splashing ceased.

“What time is it, Daddy?” he asked in a knowing tone.

“It’s past six.”

“Uh-huh.”

I smiled. We had an agreement that we shouldn’t think of bad thoughts after six PM so bedtime would be easier. Also, my son might’ve been a well-intentioned little smartass without meaning to. I appreciated it.

After helping him wash his hair and making a show of toweling him off to make sure he went to bed dry, I let him pick a book and then we read together for a while.

Clutching Mr. Raven, he curled up in his little bed and was asleep in no time at all.

I sighed, kissed his forehead, and made sure the room divider was in its correct spot.

At first I’d done my best to use a makeshift curtain to block some light out so I could still live a little after he went to bed, but Mama had ordered us a really nice divider that looked nicer and was easy to fold out of the way during the day.

Every panel on Tony’s side was now covered with drawings and pictures of different animals and people, and I was pretty sure there’d be donkeys soon, too.

I took a shower, had a snack, and tried to relax enough to enjoy one of my comfort older cop shows. Somehow I succeeded, because I had barely enough time to set the iPad on the coffee table before I conked out, earlier than I thought I would.

It seemed like both of us fell asleep early so that meant we woke up that way, too. I stirred when I heard the toilet flush. Then the tap ran, and I was stretching myself to kickstart my body when small feet padded around the couch.

“Good morning, Daddy.”

“Mornin’, kiddo. Want cuddles?” I asked, lifting the blanket.

“Yeah.” He climbed in and tucked himself against my chest, then let out a long, drawn-out happy sigh.

It was barely five thirty, so we stayed that way for an hour more before we got hungry.

Having been the sole parent since Payton was four months old meant that we were incredibly close.

My mom had done a lot with Tony when we still had the farm, but with Vera out of the picture and her parents not interested in a grandchild, we’d been a small family unit of four with Tony and my folks.

Now that it was just the two of us, I hadn’t hurried with putting him into preschool yet. We did a lot of reading, writing, and math exercises for fun, and just talked about everything around us. I felt like he was well prepared for the day to come when I’d work full time again.

He was inquisitive, polite, and friendly. I couldn’t have asked for more, really. I just hoped we weren’t getting too codependent. That was one of the reasons I really needed a job. We needed some time apart, too.

I made us breakfast and then we ate at the kitchen table I’d squished against the wall next to the kitchenette.

“What do you want to do today, buddy?” I asked him as I finished mopping up the egg yolk off my plate with some toast.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe go to the library?”

I thought for a moment. It seemed like a good idea, but…. “Okay, we can go, but only to read there. We need to take the books we have now back, too. Just in case I get this job and we move.” Then, before he could ask, I added, “And we get a new library card for you in the new town, okay?”

“Oh, can we go to the gently used store to look for books?” His eyes lit up.

“Yes, we can. Let’s go to the library to drop off the stuff we have and then go to the secondhand store.”

He called it “gently used store” because one time when we visited, he’d asked what those words he kept seeing on signs inside the store spelled. It was adorable.

I could use ten bucks to get him some new books. And maybe some T-shirts and jeans if I could find some, um, gently used ones. He was growing like a weed.

“I think I might need new shoes, Daddy,” he said suddenly.

“Really? Do the ones you have now pinch?”

His nose wrinkled a little as he thought about it. “Uh-huh, kind of.”

Not “kinda” but “kind of.” I hid my grin.

“Okay. We can look for shoes, too.”

We got ready and then left to go into town. As much as I hated using the truck because gas was expensive, the library was too far for us to walk there.

I carried an armful of books while Tony skip-hopped ahead, humming a tune to himself. I realized it was the country song that had played on the radio while driving to the ranch yesterday.

“No running,” I reminded him as we went inside. “I’ll be right with you after I return these, okay?”

“Okay, Daddy!” Then he speed-marched to the children’s section.

I shook my head fondly and went to the desk.

“He’s such a joy,” Mrs. Reba, the children’s librarian said as she watched him go.

“He really is.” Then I gestured at the pile. “Could you double-check that these are all the books we had? We might be moving soon.”

“Oh, absolutely. Just a second.”

We ended up spending a couple of hours in the library.

A girl who looked around six years old came in with her mom, and they asked if she could read to Tony.

The kids sat on some beanbag chairs, and she read a book about friendship and rainbows and something.

It was nice to sit on the sidelines and scroll on my phone while the girl got some reading practice in, and Tony got to meet a new person.

The mom didn’t try to make small talk, which I appreciated a lot. I wasn’t a friendly looking guy on a good day, and while this wasn’t a bad day yet, I was a bit anxious.

After the library, we went to the “gently used store” and by some luck, I found a bunch of clothes for Tony while he looked at the books nearby.

I even managed to get a few pairs of shoes that would last him a while.

It all seemed too damn good to be true, if I was honest. Sure, it was still a bit of a splurge especially including his books, but I was riding a high even after the purchases.

By lunchtime, we had decided to go to the diner again. Mostly because milkshakes. But also because it was our favorite.

We sat there, chatting about the day so far, when my phone rang.

It was a number I didn’t recognize, but job-hunting meant answering those sometimes, so I did.

“Trevino.”

“Hey, Mr. Trevino, this is Crew Harrington.”

My heart jumped into my throat. Luckily Tony was coloring and eating his fries with a single-minded concentration.

“Oh, hi,” I said dumbly.

“I gave it some thought, and I’d like to offer you the job.”

“Oh.” I didn’t quite feel real. I cleared my throat. “Sorry, this was… I wasn’t expecting….”

He chuckled, the sound coming across as warm. “I can imagine. You mentioned a long job hunt, after all.”

“Uh, yeah, it’s been a while.” I scratched the back of my neck as I tried to find something to say.

Luckily Crew took over. “So it would be the salary and benefits we talked about yesterday with the start date as soon as you’re able.”

“Right. Okay. The package was generous so that’s… I appreciate it and accept. It’s just that I’m a single parent and since we live a few hours away, I’ll need to figure out a place for us and a daycare for Tony first.”

It was a testament to his concentration that Tony didn’t lift his gaze from the cow he was coloring orange.

“We can take care of housing,” Crew started, sounding a bit thoughtful. “We have an empty cabin. It's only one bedroom, but has all the amenities. If you want it, it's yours.”

Immediately frowning, something inside me feeling wrong, I asked, “Is that a part of the package or…?”

“Yes. It's included, at no additional expense or pay cut. It has sat empty for a while and it’s not used for anything else. I would’ve offered you the bunkhouse; there’s room there, but with a kid….”

“Yeah, yeah. I understand.” It still rubbed me the wrong way, but…. I glanced at Tony. “Honestly, I think we’ll accept that. There’s still the question of childcare, so it might take me a bit to figure that out.”

Crew chuckled, this time almost sheepishly.

“That’s where my mother comes in. She anticipated this issue and told me to let you know that she can watch Tony for you until you can find him a placement.

” He quickly added, “She does this for anyone who needs it on occasion. Several of our employees have families and sometimes there are emergencies. It’s no hardship. She loves kids.”

One would hope so, given that she’d had ten of them.

This time I rubbed a hand over my face and gritted my teeth. It was the perfect solution. It would get us out of our month-to-month lease just before it renewed, too.

I huffed out a breath. “Okay. I accept that offer. It’ll speed things along significantly which is good.”

I could hear the smile in Crew’s voice. “Excellent. You have my number now, so whenever you want to head this way, let me know. Or call the ranch number and Mom will get it. Either way, welcome to Blue Creek Ranch, Malachi. And Tony.”

I let out a small laugh that somehow drew Tony’s attention better than his own name. “Thank you. I’ll let you know our schedule as soon as I can figure it out. In the next few days, though.”

“Talk to you later.”

I put my phone on the table and grabbed my milkshake, taking a long pull.

“Who was it?” Tony peered at me curiously.

I grinned. “It was Mr. Crew. I got the job.”

Tony froze for a second, then he threw his hands in the air and yelled, “Yay!”

He scrambled from his side and came around the table to climb onto my lap. Then he squeezed me around the neck as hard as he could.

Laughing, I squeezed him back gently but firmly, the way he liked the best.

“Oh, another thing,” I added. “We’re going to live on the ranch.”

The way his eyes widened, and mouth turned into an O was comical. The expression seemed to be reserved for the ranch.

“Juanpablo!”

Or maybe it was just for the donkey.

Four days later, two days before our lease would’ve renewed, we started the drive that would hopefully be the last one of this kind for a long time.

Tony was in good spirits. He sang along with the radio and then wanted to listen to a kids’ audio book, so I got out his headphones and iPad he got to use for a couple of limited games and his books.

I changed the music into something I liked better and let my emo self out for a bit.

I loved the genre, and while I’d gotten to it kind of late—my Aunt Win had actually been an emo-kid back in the early nineties and she’d gotten me hooked—I enjoyed it whenever I could, even though Tony didn’t like it much.

I rocked out to my favorites for a long while with Tony fully absorbed by what he was listening to.

I’d gotten help from a neighbor with all the heavier lifting, which meant we got on the road early. It was almost lunchtime when we finally rolled down the long driveway.

Since I hadn’t been able to decipher where exactly this cabin was on my mental map with my limited knowledge, I drove in front of the house to ask for directions.

I got out of the car to go see who was in and closed the door. Maybe she’d been looking out for us, or maybe it was the car door slamming sound, but Jenn was suddenly there, beaming.

“There you are! It’s so good to see you both again,” she said in that warm tone of hers. “Do you want me to show you where the cabin is first or do you want a snack?”

Since we’d not packed snacks for the drive this time, I opened the door and looked at Tony. “Do you want new place or snacks first?”

“Snacks!” Then he made a face. “And bathroom.” It hadn’t been long since our potty break, but he was also four years old and knew himself, so I nodded.

I grabbed my phone from the console and went around to help Tony out of the truck.

“Hi, Mrs. Jenn!” he yelled brightly as soon as I had him propped on my hip.

“Hello, Tony and Mr. Raven.” She smiled back at him fondly.

“We need the bathroom first and snacks second, right?” I asked him.

“Oof, yes,” he replied, stretching the first bit out.

Within ten minutes, we were set up at the kitchen table with snacks while Jenn went back to preparing lunch.

Apparently this was what she did most days and people came in to collect or eat in the kitchen before returning back to their tasks.

I liked that. My mom had done something similar but on a tiny home scale. I had a feeling this operation was anything but tiny, and I couldn’t help but to cautiously look forward to learning more.