High Desert Detective, A Fiona Marlowe Mystery (Fiona Marlowe Mysteries) (37 page)

Jake stood to shake hands with him as he came up onto the porch. “I’m
Jake, and this is Fiona.”

Reese’s smile was a little too toothy for Jake and his hand a
little too soft. Reese had become a fancy city slicker. No wonder
nobody
had kept track of him.

“I remember you, Jake. It’s been a long time.”

Jake nodded, waiting.

“Is Opal here?”

“She’s resting in her room. She hasn’t been well,” said Jake.

“I understand she has leukemia.”

“That’s correct.”

Reese’s smile collapsed into a good rendition of compassion for
the terminally ill. “I’m sorry to hear of it.”

“Is there something I can help you with?”

Reese’s smile returned. “I was hoping to speak with Opal directly.”

Jake looked at Fiona. “Darlin’, would you see if Opal is
receiving visitors?”

Fiona, who had remained silent, went inside. That left Jake and
Reese sizing each other up.

Jake said, “Like to have a seat?”

“Yes, thank you.” Reese sat down across from Jake and took out a
pack of smokes and offered one to Jake.

Jake shook his head. “I gave it up.”

“I try but so far it’s been a losing battle.” He lighted up and
sat back, looking like he was starting to enjoy himself. “From what I can see
of the place it looks real good. I guess you have a lot to do with that.”

“I manage the ranch for Opal. I’ve had a hand in keeping it going
all these years.”

“How many cows does she run?”

“Depends on the time of year.”

“I saw the pivots. How much hay to you put up a year?”

“Depends on the year and the weather.”

“I understand. I know a little bit about ranching. I have a ranch
in California.”

Jake nodded. He wasn’t about to share any more information than
necessary about the ranch. He knew the numbers as well as Opal did. After all,
she had trained him.

Fiona appeared at the screen door. “Opal said to tell you to come
in and have a seat in the living room. She’ll be out as soon as she gets
presentable.”

Reese stood, flicking ashes from his cigarette. “I’m sorry to be
a bother to her.”

If you didn’t want to bother her, why did you come?

“And,” said Reese, “please tell her, I’d like to talk to her in
private.”

“I’ll tell her,” Fiona said as she opened the screen door for
Reese to enter. “You’ll have to put out the cigarette. Opal doesn’t allow
smoking in the house.”

He went down the steps and stomped the cigarette out in the dirt
and left it there.

He must think we have a grounds keeper that picks up fancy men’s
cigarette butts.

Jake stayed standing on the porch, and Fiona joined him there
after she had seen Reese to the living room.

“Let’s go for a walk,” said Jake.

“Good idea,” said the love of his life.

* * * * *

“The stars are coming out,” said Fiona. “Look. See that big
bright one above the setting sun?”

Jake reached over and took her hand as they walked out the lane.
“I hate to get technical on you, but that is a planet, not a star, even though
it is called the evening star.”

“You’re right. I get my stars and planets mixed up. But it sure
is pretty glowing bright surrounded by the rose of the setting sun.” She
stopped and he did, and they watched the western horizon.

“What is going to happen now?” asked Fiona.

Jake shrugged. “I don’t know. If I don’t get this ranch, I find
another.”

Fiona faced him. “But this is the one you love.”

“Yes, it is. Opal and I have come to an agreement, but I don’t
know what kind of offer or pressure Reese is going to apply. So we leave it to
fate.”

“Jake?”

He smiled. “Yes?”

“I love you.”

His smile doubled in size. “I like the sound of that. You know I
love you.”

“I’m sorry it has taken me so long to say it.”

“Some people need more time to decide than others. Will you marry
me?”

“Yes,” she said with a smile to match his.

He picked her up into a big hug and swung her around. She laughed
and said to put her down. He eased her onto the ground and put his hands on her
shoulders.

“Are you sure you’re going to like being a rancher’s wife?”

She pursed her lips and looked very serious. “I think so. I’d
like to give it a try.”

Jake frowned. “You’re supposed to say I’ll stand by you till
death us do part. It’s got to be more than trying. Marriage is a commitment.”

Fiona sighed. “You sound like a preacher. This is all pretty new for
me. I’ve thought about marriage a lot since you proposed. I think in the space
of a few short weeks we’ve run the gamut of most of the things that can happen
on a ranch.”

Jake shook his head. “The cattle rustling and the arson aren’t
normal. Mostly it is hard, dirty work, and uncertainty. I’m the kind that
thrives on it.”

Fiona said, “Hard work I don’t mind, dirt I can wash off, and as
for uncertainty, that is life, isn’t it?”

“You bet,” said Jake. “You’ll make it then, and with a little
luck we’ll live out our days together on this ranch.”

“I’m with you.”

“Let’s treat ourselves to a roll in the hay.”

Fiona raised an eyebrow. “You mean that literally?”

Jake gave a devilish grin. “You bet. There’s some fluffy loose
hay in the back shed, and if you are going to be a rancher’s wife, you need to
experience a real roll in the hay.”

* * * * *

Jake and Fiona returned from the hay barn later that night to a
silent, dark house. The doors to the ladies’ bedrooms were closed. Olympia’s
car was parked in front. Reese’s car was gone. They turned in without knowing
the outcome of the meeting between Reese and Opal.

The next morning Jake and Fiona were the first ones up. A cool
breeze blew through the screen door in the kitchen. Birds argued in the trees
outside. The plants on the kitchen window sill smiled happily in the sun.

Jake was frying bacon when Samantha came into the kitchen,
looking for coffee. She sat down at the kitchen table wearing a pastel pink
hoodie
over her pajamas.

“Coffee’s brewing,” said Fiona.
“Should be
ready in a minute.”
She was dying to know the outcome of the meeting
with Reese. “Did you hear any of the conversation Opal had with Reese?” she
asked Samantha.

Sammie shook her head.
 
“Opal talked to him alone. I went to my room to read and later heard her
go into her room and shut the door. I don’t know what time Olympia got back.”

Fiona poured coffee for the three of them. Jake pushed bacon
around on the griddle.

“Should I make pancakes?” he asked the women.

“Sure, why not?” said Sammie. “Where are the guys?”

“They’re on watch or baling hay,” said Jake. “They made
themselves breakfast by the looks of the dirty dishes in the sink.” He got out
the pancake mix and set to mixing up a batch.

Fiona was setting the table when Olympia walked into the kitchen,
hair askew, yawning and blinking and attired in the same clothes she had worn
last evening.

“You’re up early,” said Fiona to her.

“I’ve not been to bed. I was up all night writing. I dropped Paul
off in town and came back because the muse was clobbering me over the head with
ideas. I’ll have some of that coffee and yum that bacon smells good.”

Fiona slid a mug of coffee in front of her.

“Okay,” said short order cook Jake, “we now have four for
breakfast. Is that correct?”

“Make that five,” said Hoover, as he came through the kitchen
door.
 
He helped himself to coffee and
sat down at the table with the ladies.

“You’re becoming a regular,” said Jake. “Taking the day off?”

“As a matter of fact, I am,” said Hoover. “I came by to see if
you wanted to do a little fishing, Jake.”

“In haying season?
You’ve got to be
kidding.”

“Then maybe Fiona and Sammie and Olympia will go with me.”

Olympia shook her head. “I have to write. But I’ll take a rain check.”

“Not me,” said Fiona. “I’m helping with haying.”

Hoover looked at Sammie.

“I’ll need to check with Opal. Even though she doesn’t have a
treatment today, she might need help.”

With that Opal waltzed into the kitchen. “It’s a great day for
fishing. You go on, Sammie. Go fishing with Hoover. I’ll be fine.” She was dressed
in cowgirl attire and looked like she was ready for the state rodeo. She was
humming a song that sounded like
Oh, What
a Beautiful Morning
.

The assembled company looked at each other.

“Care for anything to eat?” said Jake to Opal. “We’re feeding
half the valley this morning. Are you feeling up to it?”

Opal stopped beside a chair at the table and grasped the back of
it. “I feel great this morning. I could eat a horse, but I’ll settle for toast
and tea.”

Whatever had happened last evening had put Opal in an extremely
good mood. Fiona took that as a hopeful sign.

“Coming right up,” said Jake.

“I am most grateful,” said Opal. She pulled out the chair and sat
down.

Fiona set water on to boil and placed a mug with tea bag before
Opal. Jake put two slices of whole wheat bread in the toaster.

Opal started humming again then burst into the words of the song
and smiled around the table at them as she sang.

Jake and Fiona looked at each other. Jake shrugged his shoulders.
They had steeled themselves for the inevitable. If Reese made a better offer,
they’d find another ranch. If they got this one all the better, but they were
going to get married and live in Harney Valley where Jake could ranch and do
what he liked doing best. Fiona would be by his side. She’d learn to drive a
tractor and a swather and a baler and who knows what else. The possibilities
were endless. And she’d get to decorate her very own ranch house.

The only sound in the room was the sizzle of bacon frying and
Opal’s singing. Fiona set a jar of rhubarb marmalade and butter in front of her.
The others looked like they were enjoying Opal’s musical performance.

Opal finished the song with a flourish and got a round of
applause. She grinned at them. “I guess you’re wondering why I’m so happy this
morning. I’ll tell you. Jake will get my ranch.”

Fiona sat blinking her eyes. Was she hearing right?

Jake stared at Opal.

“Didn’t you hear me, Jake,” Opal said. “Aren’t you happy? I’m
selling the ranch to you.”

Jake cleared his throat and set down his coffee mug which he had
halted halfway to his lips. “Well, dog-gone-it, Opal that’s great. When do we
settle?”

“I’m calling the title company today, and we’ll settle as soon as
they get the papers ready.”

Fiona had to know what had happened last evening. “What about
Reese Crawford?”

Opal’s grin got even bigger. “I turned him down and I explained
why and he grumbled and upped his price, but I still turned him down. I
explained that he didn’t deserve this ranch nor did Tillie, and I didn’t
appreciate being threatened by my own relations. I told him that he didn’t need
this ranch if he had one in California. I warned him that Tillie wasn’t what
she said she was. That both of them better be careful because I suspected them
of being behind the fire set here and our cattle that are missing.”

“Reese Crawford was here?” asked Hoover, finally finding his
voice. “I guess I missed an installment in the soap opera.”

Opal laughed and recounted the story of Reese arriving yesterday
evening.

“That gives me a smoking gun but no fingerprints, Opal,” said
Hoover. “They have the motive for wanting the ranch, but that doesn’t mean they
set the fires or are stealing your cows.”

“But listen to this,” said Opal. “Jake told me you found that Walt
Long fellow. So I casually mentioned as we were chit chatting when we first sat
down in the living room that I heard that Walt Long worked for him and asked
how he was doing since he used to work for us. I had to do a little fibbing. He
said Walt did work from him from time to time but he hadn’t heard from him
lately. Then I knew that Reese was behind this whole thing. How’s that for a
connection?”

Hoover slowly nodded his head up and down.
 
“Weak connection but it gives me something to
work on. You may have uncovered the missing link, Opal.”

“Great detective work,” said Fiona.

Jake still wore a happy grin on his face. “I can’t believe you
said all that. You gave him both barrels.”

“I did, and it felt so good. And I told Reese if I ever saw him
or Tillie around the ranch again, I’d get out my rifle. He knew I wasn’t
kidding. I don’t think we’ll have any more trouble with cattle rustling, or
people trying to set the ranch afire.” She threw back her head and laughed out
loud. “When I got done with Reese Crawford I felt like singing at the Grand Ole
Opry
. Jake gets the ranch, and I feel real good about
it. I am so happy for you two. And I’m happy for me, too.”

Her laughter halted abruptly, and she glared at Fiona and Jake.
“You are getting married, aren’t you?”

“Yes ma’am,” they both said at the same time.

“Excellent.” Opal’s smile returned. “Now I can die happy.”

The End

About
the Author

Marjorie Thelen lives and writes novels
on a ranch on the Oregon frontier outside of the small town of Burns. She enjoys
writing stories that entertain her and, hopefully, her readers. She’s written
two novels in the
Mystery-in-Exotic-Places
series:
The Forty Column Castle
and
The Hieroglyphic Staircase
. She is
currently writing the third novel in the series,
The Hoodoo Canyon
.
 
Designer Detective
was the first in the
Fiona Marlowe Mystery
Series. And, yes,
there is a sequel in the making to
High
Desert Detective
. The idea for it came from a water color by artist Dona
Townsend of Washington entitled
My Heroes
Have Always Been
. All Marjorie’s books are available on Amazon, Barnes and
Noble,
ibookstore
and other online retailers. If you
would like to learn more, visit her web site:
www.MarjorieThelen.com
. To learn more
about life on the Oregon frontier visit her blog at
http://alongpalominolane.blogspot.com
. She welcomes
correspondence from her readers through the contact page on her web site.