Strictly Business (2 page)

Jake Morgenstern hung up the phone in his office. Apparently
Jess Wythe was the number one architect at Brundel and Schein. And he would be
here tomorrow. Usually Jake just lived like any other rancher in Texas, but
every now and then he enjoyed some of the privileges money provided. He had
called the architectural firm two days ago, requested their best architect as
soon as possible. He’d been meaning to do it for years, but had never gotten
around to it. A few days ago Marsha, his long time cook/housekeeper/second
mother had come to him and informed him that if he did not get her a better
kitchen and more space, she would quit. He didn’t really believe that, but he was
unwilling to take that chance.

She was right, anyway. The main house had been his family’s
home for three generations. His granddaddy had built it for them when he had
married his grandma. It was too small, and hadn’t ever really been renovated.
It was long overdue. But he couldn’t just let it go. So he needed a good
architect, someone who could fix up the current house, without taking away the
important stuff, like the feel of a home that it’d always had.

While he was at it, he figured he may as well build a new
main house. Bigger, newer, more modern. But it needed to have that same homey
feel that this one had. And, it needed to somehow fit in. He hated all these
new fancy, ostentatious homes that the local landowners were putting up. They
all screamed ‘we have more money than sense’! He didn’t want that, not for
Morgenstern. Their ranch had always had money, always flourished, even during
economic struggles. He knew some of that was old family oil money, but the
ranch itself had always profited, especially since he had taken over. There
were some benefits to being a workaholic with no family.

His parents, Slade and Catherine Morgenstern, had retired
early, about four years ago, and left the ranch and all its daily running to
Jake. They were happily touring Europe and lazing around on their boat down in
Florida. He was thrilled for them, also thrilled with the trust his family
placed in him. He’d only been twenty-nine and handed the reins to the biggest
cattle ranch in the United States. It had also come at the perfect time.
Sometimes he wondered if that’s why his parents had left; to give him something
to take his mind off of his disastrous marriage.

His parents had been happily married for almost thirty years
when he’d met Karen. She had seemed like the perfect wife for him. The yin to
his yang. So, within six months of meeting her, he proposed. She said yes and
they were married a couple of months later. His parents had never liked her, no
one had really, but he just figured they couldn’t see what he saw in her. He
should’ve listened to them. It turns out they saw something
he
didn’t.
Karen had never wanted him, just his money. It only took him a year to wise up
to her crap and then he’d divorced her. That was four years ago.

Thinking about his parents reminded Jake why he needed this
house built ASAP. His parents would be here in about five months, for their
thirty-fifth wedding anniversary. He was planning a party, a huge party for the
entire ranch. Hell, the whole town really. Thirty-five years was something to
celebrate, and he wanted to do it in the new house. So, this architect had
better be good, and fast.

Jake got up and headed outside. He needed to go check with
Ben, make sure everything was getting done. He knew it was. Nobody was more
trustworthy than Ben was. He’d been handling the running of this ranch for over
twenty years. And his son George was being groomed to take his place when Ben retired.
But Jake liked to keep his fingers in things. Liked to know what was going on
down to the last detail. He usually left all the small decisions to Ben,
respecting his opinion. But he still wanted to know what was what. He also
needed to arrange for a car to pick up that architect tomorrow. Maybe he ought
to go see Marsha first and get that taken care of.

Making a U-turn Jake headed back into the kitchen.

“Marsha, hey beautiful, what is that delicious smell?” He
leaned over and kissed the housekeeper on her cheek.

“Jake, don’t you try to butter me up with all that flattery
nonsense. I know better’n that. What is it you want, boy?” Marsha still called
him ‘boy’, had since he’d
been
a boy. She also never put up with his
crap, or ‘nonsense’, as she liked to call it. She never had a bad word to say
about anyone and still managed to run this house, the kids in and around it,
with an iron fist.

“I don’t want anything. Just couldn’t stay away from this
smell. What have you got bakin’ in there? It truly smells like heaven.” Jake
couldn’t resist giving her a cheeky grin.

“Uh huh. It’s just biscuits for dinner, but you already knew
that. Now, tell me true, why’d you come into my kitchen in the middle of the
day? Just to pester me?” She smiled when she said it.

“Well, since you asked…”

Marsha laughed a little. “I figured.”

“Actually, I can make the call, I just need to know who we
use for pick up in town. Don’t we have a car service we use sometimes? I got an
architect comin’ in tomorrow morning and I need someone to pick him up at the
airport, bring him out here.”

“We don’t hire anybody for that. That company went out of
business a while ago. Go talk to Ben, he’ll send George to do it. Now, you get
on out of here until dinner time. I’ll ring the bell like always.” She shooed
him away, smiling at his back.

Jake headed outside to chat with Ben. First things first, he
needed to arrange for George to go pick up that architect.

He spotted Ben over by the arenas. Working with some new
foals they had. Among other things Morgenstern Ranch had started breeding race
horses a few years ago. It seemed to be doing well so far. They had a pretty
good stud, Blackeye, plus Jake’s own horse, Satan. They also had another horse
they were hopin’ to breed sometime soon. They were still trying to work the
wild out of him. He was appropriately named Demon. But he was beautiful and
lightning fast. If they could just get him calm, he would be a winner, and
breed winners as well. Unfortunately as of right now he still wasn’t even
saddle-broke. Jake and Ben both spent as much time as they could with him. They
wouldn’t ask anyone else to do it, he was still too unreliable. So Jake was not
at all surprised to find Ben wrestling with Demon’s lead as he ran him around
the arena.

“Hey, Ben. Demon looks a little better out there today.”
Jake knew Ben had heard him even though he wouldn’t take his eyes off the
horse. “You about done with him for the day? I need to set something up, and
then I thought we could do a run through, see how things are goin’.”

Ben pulled in the lead, slowing the horse down a bit then
headed him back into the barn, “Yeah, I’ll just get Bobby to groom him. He
seems to do okay with Bobby. I’ll be right out.”

Jake took the few minutes he was waiting and jumped up on
the rails to look around. He loved this place. Truly, down deep loved this
place. It was a ton of work, from morning ‘til night. But it was worth it. He
loved the trees, the dirt, the heat and cold of the seasons. Fall, with all the
leaves turning red, the grass turning brown, with just the hint of winter in
the air, that was his favorite time of year. He knew most people thought he was
gruff and cranky, and he guessed he probably was. Mostly, anyhow. But he loved
his home, loved his people, they were more like family. He just wanted to do
the best by them that he could. And that meant making sure no one else came
along to take advantage of him and make their lives hell again. He hopped down
as he saw Ben heading back over his way. He knew Marsha thought he should get
married again, so did Ben. But Jake was happy, just as he was. He didn’t need
some woman coming around, messing with his head, his life.

Maybe after he got through here for the day, he would go
take a ride. It had been awhile since he’d been out just for kicks. He figured
Satan could use a good run. Satan was a Colorado Ranger Horse, of Appaloosa
descent. He was bigger than most, standing seventeen and a half hands high.
Which was just about perfect for Jake. He was bigger than most men. He only
stood about six foot three, but working a ranch had made him pretty solid. He
weighed in around two hundred and fifty, all muscle. Satan did great with the
cattle, herding and leading, perfect for working the ranch. He was also the
fastest horse on the ranch, with the possible exception of Demon, which no one
knew for sure. Satan also liked to let loose and run every now and then, much
like his owner.

“Hey Boss, what can I do you for?”

Ben always called him ‘boss’, since he’d taken over for his
father. Jake had asked him to call him Jake, but Ben refused. Said it wasn’t
respectful. “I need to see if George can head out to pick up someone tomorrow
at the airport? If he’s busy, let’s see who we can send. I got that architect
coming out to get started on the new main house. He’s due in around one p.m.”

“Sure, George can go. We aren’t doin’ anything much right
now. Got some of the guys out fixin’ the west fence line. And we’re checkin’
everything out in the barn. Making sure we’re ready, before all the calves and
foals start comin’ into the world. As many as we’ve got breedin’ this year,
it’s about to get real busy around here.”

“How’s the barn lookin’? Do I need to get someone out here
to fix anything?”

“Nah, we got enough guys around here to do what needs doin’.
It’s not much. I’ll send George out to the airport tomorrow. What’s this guy
look like, anyway?”

“Don’t really know. Have him make one of those signs or
somethin’. His name is Jess Wythe, from Brundel and Schein Architecture in
Austin, Texas.”

“Now, why’d you go and get a Texan to come and build your
house?”

Jake laughed. “Apparently he’s the best.”

Ben just kind of shook his head and wandered off muttering
to himself about Jake bringing in some ‘crazy ass Texan’ to build a Wyoming
house.

Jake laughed as he headed in. If he was going to pull off a
new house before his parents’ anniversary, he really hoped this guy lived up to
his reputation.

Jessica stepped off the airplane into what had to be the
tiniest airport she had ever seen. Of course, she’d never been to Wyoming, so
maybe the Evanston airport was normal size for this state.

She was thrilled with the opportunity to build this house
and to get it done in the five month time frame she’d been given. Luckily, she
wouldn’t have to fight the weather, at least not too much. She was sure there
would be some summer thunderstorms, but at least no snow. She had about a week
or two to nail things down, get a design going and get a team in place. She was
going to use a local construction crew, but as soon as he could get away from
his current project she was bringing Mike out here. She needed a foreman she
could count on for a time frame this tight.

She looked around. She’d been told there would be a driver
here waiting for her. She headed around the corner to baggage claim and she saw
a wall of all glass windows. Through those windows she was amazed to see, not a
parking lot or concrete, or even the standard runways, but trees. Trees and
flowers and bushes. It was beautiful. Texas was pretty this time of year,
especially Austin, but this was amazing. Everything was blooming, literally
everything. And it was this crazy rainbow of green and vibrant colors. She was
so busy looking around she almost walked into someone.

“Oops, I’m so sorry. Excuse me.” As Jessica started to walk
away, she noticed the sign the man was holding. “Oh, I’m Jess Wythe. Jessica,
actually. Are you here to take me to Morgenstern Ranch?” The gentleman in front
of her was early twenties, brownish hair, kind of non-descript, brown eyes. He
was what you would call utterly average. His expression, however, looked like
Jess had just told him she’d shot his dog.

The disbelief was made even more clear when he asked,
“You’re Jess Wythe?”

“Yes, pleased to meet you.” She held her hand out, waiting
to shake. Why did this gentleman look so skeptical?

“You’re Jess Wythe, the architect?”

Okay, now this was just rude. “Yes, I’m Jessica Wythe, the
architect from Brundel and Schein. And you are?” She knew she sounded rude,
too, but she was tired and unwilling to play games with this cowboy.

“Oh, sorry ma’am. I’m George. I’m the assistant foreman at
the ranch. Yes, I’m here to take you back. Let’s just grab your luggage and
we’ll head on.” George was smirking.

They gathered her bags and headed out to the parking lot.
When they stopped beside a Chevy truck, crew cab, four wheel drive, George
threw her bags in the back seat and opened the door for her. Apparently the
assistant foreman had good manners. But he was still smirking slightly.

Jess waited until they were on the highway, heading away
from the airport, before she finally asked, “Okay, what’s the deal?” She had
always believed in approaching conflict head on.

“What deal?”

“You didn’t believe I was me, and when I managed to convince
you, you started grinning and haven’t stopped. Do I have food in my teeth or
something?”

At this George laughed outright. “No, ma’am. No food. I was
told that the architect Jess Wythe was coming in and I was to pick
him
up. You don’t appear to be a
him
. It just took me by surprise, is all.”

“Okay.” Jess still didn’t understand the smirk. “So, why’s
that funny? It’s not the first time it’s happened. Usually people don’t laugh
for the next half hour.”

“Nothing ma’am. It’s nothing at all.”

Jess figured she had to be missing something. She looked down
to make sure all the buttons on her blouse were, in fact, buttoned. She’d known
she would be meeting the client straight from the airport, so she’d come in
business attire. Not her favorite way to fly, but necessary. As she looked down
she noted that everything was in place and, other than a few wrinkles, appeared
to be fine. No tears or anything that would be entertaining. She decided that
George must just be a little off and let it go.