Spanish Bay (19 page)

Inside, things looked as they always had, and the familiarity of the house brought back many memories for Chris, some good, some not so good. A tsunami of emotions washed over him.

“Home,” said Frank.

Jessica smiled. “Yes, brother, this is your home, too. You can come here whenever you want. You’ll always be welcome here.”

Jack came from the kitchen, his face covered in motor oil. “Hey, let me just grab a shower. I spent the last two hours wrestling with the transmission in the old harvester, but it’s shot. I’ll go over to ole’ Mu…” Realizing he was about to say too much, he shut up and disappeared.

“What did he just say?” Chris asked, but Jessica dismissed him.

“Nothing. Come, let me show you the barn.”

They put their bags down and followed her outside.

“Wow, this is amazing! How did you do this in such a short amount of time?”

“We’ll tell you over dinner. Why don’t you boys freshen up. I’ll be right back. I just need to take care of one more thing.” And she went to the car and drove off, without looking back.

“She’s in an awful hurry,” Neil observed and Chris nodded.

“Something’s fishy around here.”

“I like fish,” Frank said.

Neil laughed. “I know, buddy, but that’s not what we meant. When we say fishy, it means that something is off, you know, wrong? Your sister has a secret.”

“I like secrets. I have secrets.”

Neil and Chris looked at each other, “Do you now?”

“Yes, but I won’t tell.”

“Good, you shouldn’t. Secrets are to be kept for as long as it’s needed. Just remember, Frank, if you have something you want to tell us, you can always come to us.”

Frank nodded. “It’s a surprise.”

They walked and rolled back into the house, where they got ready for supper. A delicious smell emanated from the kitchen. Neil went to investigate and found a delicious-looking stew slowly cooking on the stove, along with fresh vegetables and plenty of potatoes—probably their own harvest.

Half an hour later, Jessica was back, with old Murphy in tow. Chris was sipping on a beer on the front porch with the others. He put his beer down when he saw his sister approaching.

“So that’s your surprise?” he asked and got up to greet the old man, who was looking much better than he had the last time he’d seen him. “Good evening, Mr. Murphy. How are you today, sir?”

“Oh, don’t sir me. We’re practically family, aren’t we? I’m Steve.”

“Steve, this here is my husband, Neil…”

“Good evening, sir, it’s a pleasure meeting you.”

“Steve,” old Murphy corrected. “That goes for you, too!”

“Yessir, I mean Steve.” Neil chuckled. “I guess you know Jack, and this is Frank.” He pointed to the boy, who looked curiously at the old man.

Tears appeared in Steve’s eyes. “Why, what a distinguished pleasure it is to finally meet you, young man. I’m Steve, and I knew your momma once.”

Frank looked to Chris, who nodded. “Frank, this is Steve. He’s your daddy. Want to say hi?”

Frank moved his head from side to side, confused by the sudden appearance of someone calling himself daddy. His daddy had, after all, been dead for almost a year, and even though Chris, Neil and the others had tried to shelter him from the worst, the sudden disappearance of his parents had been quite the shock. And now there was a new daddy? Frank was distressed.

Neil came to his rescue. “Don’t worry, Frank, we’re not leaving you. But Steve is your father. He just wanted to come by and meet you.”

Old Murphy extended his hand in greeting, and with some trepidation, Frank took it and shook it, never once taking his eyes off him.

“You’re a smart boy, I hear,” said old Murphy. “I’ve heard much about you.”

“So it seems.” Chris gave his younger siblings a questioning look.

Jessica smiled sweetly. “Why don’t we step inside. Supper should be ready.”

The stew turned out to be as delicious as it looked and smelled, and Jessica finally told them the story of how they’d gotten acquainted with old Murphy.

“I drove over to his house one day, with a meat pie, just to say thanks for how nice he’d been to you, and ol’ Steve here wasn’t feeling too well. He was running a fever. So I called the doctor and looked after him for a few days, until he was back on his feet. Apparently someone hadn’t taken his flu shot last fall, and so he got it when one of the farm hands came down with the flu. We’ve kind of been friends ever since. And when Steve’s foreman quit last month, Steve offered the job to Jack.”

“You’re the new foreman on the Murphy ranch? But how can you run both places at the same time?”

“I run it as one really. Instead of being paid, Steve here allows me to use his farm hands on our place as well, which makes my life so much easier. We work all the fields essentially as one, I was able to fix the roofs of the house and the barn, fix the stables and paint the house for the material cost. And Jess has been invaluable in the fields. Everything we’ve eaten tonight is food produced here on the Double J Ranch.”

“Double J?” Neil didn’t get it.

“Easy, Neil. J for Jess and J for Jack. Double J. There are a lot of people in town who wouldn’t buy from the Miller ranch, but when Jess came to the farmer’s market with produce from the JJ Ranch, people didn’t mind, not knowing it was the same place, and by the time they realized, they loved our veggies and potatoes so much they came back. Call it marketing, but everyone in Lubbock knows us as the JJ Ranch.”

“That is awesome,” Chris said sincerely. “And how do you feel now, Steve?”

“I’m much better, thanks to your sister and your brother. It really is like having family. We eat Sunday roast at my place every week, and the rest of the week, I come over for supper with them. I’m no longer alone, and it’s such a blessing for an old man. And now I’ve finally met my son. I couldn’t be happier.”

Chris was stupefied by the odd twists of life. Less than a year ago, when he’d received the phone call from Alexandra, he’d returned to a desolate, broken home. There was no love, no spark, the entire ranch seemed on the brink of ruin. When he had still lived here, he had never even noticed how run down everything had been, and how his parents had slowly but surely let the place fall apart. Everything was gray, brown, miserable and depressing.

But in less than a year, with hard work and dedication, his younger brother and sister had taken his family’s home and put it back on track. Sure, there was still a lot of work to be done, but the atmosphere in the house was different. Same furniture, same old everything, but the air was charged with good vibes, the mood was upbeat, and love and respect permeated the walls. Chris had to hand it to young Jack and Jessica; for a twenty and eighteen year old, they were more mature than his parents had been in their forties. And now old Murphy was here? Jack running both ranches?

“Jack, you must be the youngest ranch foreman in the history of Texas.”

Jack laughed. “I seriously doubt that. I’m just lucky to be doing what I love, and I’m fortunate that I was dealt a good hand when I needed it the most…”

After dinner, the entire family sat out on the porch for coffee, enjoying the warm summer evening, the smell of clean country air.

“How long are you boys planning on staying in town for?” old Murphy asked.

“We haven’t decided yet, Steve. I was hoping to go to town and see Alexandra, and we obviously wanted you to spend some time with Frank. A week, maybe ten days?”

By ten, it was time for old Murphy to got to bed, and Jessica drove him back to his house.

“Goodnight y’all. Good night, Frank. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Night, Daddy.”

As Jessica and Steve drove off, Chris shook his head. “How did you manage to keep this all a secret from us? This was quite the surprise. I’m so proud of you. Wait until Junior hears of this. He’ll boast about you to all his navy buddies. Have you spoken to Alex recently?”

Jack shook his head and took a sip from his coffee. “Nah, haven’t seen nor heard from her, but I bet ya she’d be going stir crazy if she knew what she’s given up on. Old Murphy thinks we’ve more than doubled the property value of this place since we took over. If we keep it up one more year, we’ll be debt free, and I can start to pay Junior back.”

“You know you don’t have to. That was a gift from him. He doesn’t expect it back.”

“I know, but still. You never know what the future holds for him. He may be happy one day to have that money back in his account.”

Chris nodded.
When did my brother become so wise?
“He once told me he was happy knowing that he could always come back to you or me and work for us. I don’t see him with an apron in a café, but who knows? Maybe he could get used to farm work?”

Chris didn’t tell Jack about the real line of work that Junior was in, and that there was nothing about the country life that could ever attract him back. It wasn’t important. What was important was that the family held together, and that Jack was able to look up to his brother and feel pride in his own accomplishments.

They put Frank to bed in his old room before retreating to their own rooms to get some sleep. They were all exhausted from the day. Jack had to get up again at the crack of dawn, and the others had to get ready for Jessica’s graduation.

THE NEXT MORNING began early with a family breakfast. Jack had already been up for a couple of hours, tending to the animals. When he came back, they discussed plans for the day and divided chores between them. Chris had gone to pick up old Murphy—he was as keen as the rest of them to attend Jessica’s high school graduation ceremony—and then he would come back for Neil and Frank. Jack would drive in separately, time permitting. After the ceremony, Neil would be responsible for the kitchen, while Jessica went out celebrating with her friends one last time. Jessica would be busy at the school all day.

She was about to leave when she received a call from Chris.

“Hey, everything okay?” she said, happy and giddy about the important day ahead.

“I’m so sorry, Jess.”

“Sorry about what?” There was a nuance of terror in her voice.

“Steve is gone. I’ve called the paramedics, but I found him in his bed. He must’ve passed on last night. I’m so sorry.”

“Noooooooooo!” Jessica screamed, falling to the floor.

Neil rushed to her and picked up the phone. “What’s wrong, babe?”

“Old Murphy died last night. I found him in his bed. He passed peacefully. I’m staying here until the paramedics are done. Please try to get Jessica ready for graduation. She needs to go. I don’t want her to miss the ceremony.”

“Sure thing, babe, I’m so sorry, but I’ll handle things on this end.”

Jessica was crying on the floor, devastated by the news. Neil bowed down and tried to hold her. “Jess, please, come here. I know how awful you must feel. He seemed to be such a gentle man, and you will have time to grieve him, but today is your day. Try to pull it together, go to school, accept your diploma and walk through those doors into adulthood. You’ve worked so hard for this day.”

“Oh, Neil, I can’t. How could I go and be with all my classmates when Steve is dead?”

“I know. But this is part of life, and I’m pretty sure, even though I’ve only known Steve for a very short time, that he’d tell you the same thing. Go to school and get that damn diploma!”

Jessica had to laugh through her tears at Neil’s impersonation attempt of Steve, failing miserably at producing a passable Texas accent.

“Why today? Why not tomorrow? Or next week?”

“I wish I could answer that question for you, but maybe he felt he was done with his work on this Earth? Maybe seeing Frank was the last piece to his life’s puzzle? Maybe spending one more evening at a large family table among people he loved and respected, knowing you and Jack were fine and Frank was well taken care of, maybe that was the confirmation he needed to be able to let go. What do we know about how the human psyche works? He left you with an amazing gift. You were able to love an elder again. You were able to learn to trust adults again. That’s awesome, don’t you think?”

“I guess,” she sniveled. “Couldn’t he wait another day?”

“I think when people have had enough, they care very little about what other people want, and old people certainly don’t need to live up to other people’s expectations anymore. Come on, let’s get you cleaned up and ready for your ceremony. Do it for Steve. I’m sure he’d want that.”

Jessica took a deep breath and leaned against Neil’s legs for a while. “You know, when I first went over there, after Chris’s visit, and I found him so sick, I was pretty sure he’d die. I stayed there, day in and day out, to make sure he was well taken care of. I just couldn’t face another death, I just couldn’t. And even though I don’t miss Mom and Dad as much as I thought I would, I still love them, and it’s hard not to think about them when you walk by their bedroom.

“With Steve, it’s different. I’ve only really known him as ol’ Murphy the grouch, and I know how much Dad hated him. Plus, we were kids, and no one really cares about kids and what we think or feel. But when I was nursing Steve, and when he began to come over for dinners and we went to see him, we got to know him as adults, as equals. We were ranchers, all three of us, and even though he had lots of money and we barely got by, he never treated us any different for it. We were his neighbors and that was it. I’m going to miss him so much.”

Neil put his arms around the girl’s shoulders and hugged her from behind. “It’s going to be fine. You made some important memories, and you’ve grown even more as a person. I know Chris is very proud of you, and so am I, if that’s okay. I mean, we haven’t known each other that long, but you’ve been catapulted into adulthood at lightning speed, and you’ve outdone yourself. Me, I just got lucky with Chris, and I still have my parents and my grandma. I can’t imagine how tough it must be for you and Jack.”

“It’s not that bad actually, you know? Sure, we work a lot, but now that we no longer have to clean up after our parents, and since Frank’s been living with you, it’s just been me and Jack and the ranch, and between the two of us, it’s a lot less work than it was before. I know this sounds strange, but I guess we spent a lot of time undoing the damage our parents did, and we didn’t even see it.”