Posted July 29, 2022
"Ah, the Lickskillet..." Her pride and joy, her 'baby' that she'd built all by herself, that summed up her rise from from the ashes of...
Of what? A life that was so far behind her now that, while there was fondness and sorrow, there were new memories that were more vivid, and she knew there were more to come.
"I haven't thought about it much, honestly." Smiling, she shrugged. "Maybe because I've been putting it off?" Maybe because she'd pretty much decided, but wasn't ready to say it out loud? "I think there's going to be plenty to do at the ranch, what with the hands and horses...and baby...so..."
Even now, she couldn't quite bring herself to say it out loud, as if it would be some sort of betrayal. "I think letting Clara continue to run it, if she'd like. I could go there on occasion, but I'm thinking to let her have the reins." Sighing, she shook her head. "I'm thinking of giving it up, really, but I don't know if I can bring myself to just do it."
Posted July 30, 2022
Of just as Em finished there was a knock on the door, dinner had arrived. Barnabas retrieved the rolling cart, bringing it into the room. "Speakin' of, chows on, Love." He had tipped the bellboy, closed the door behind him moved the cart to the table and began setting the table.
"Now, Maybe you oughtta not just make a plan to give up on the place." He began as he held the chair for Emeline. "Not tryin' to tell you what to do with the place, I mean, she's yours to do with what you please, but, seems there's always one of them. You did that all on your own, and there's money that would be coming in that would be yours. Money to do with what you want. And sure, you can stop in time to time to bake or whatever because it would still be yours. Just makin' a point here."
Posted August 1, 2022
"And here I thought you were wise just for marrying me!" Smiling, Emeline went over to sit at the table, letting him get the food set out. "There's no rush to sell, as long as Clara is happy with managing, and I can offer her a good settlement, along with the apartment over the cafe."
It was a good opportunity for the young woman, so long as she was content with what she was doing, and her husband didn't mind. Of course, things could change when she had her baby, and Emeline knew that when she had her baby her focus would change and she'd be happy to stay near home. At least the hands would be well-fed!
"The time will come when I have to make a decision, but I think when that happens, it won't be difficult to decide." Until the baby came, she might be a little restless, but she was certain she'd have enough to keep her occupied around the ranch with managing the house, seeing after her horses and feeding the hands, not to mention tending a garden and assorted critters like chickens, rabbits and a milk cow...
Posted August 1, 2022 (edited)
"Now that decision is yours, not my affair, I'm just the dishwasher. You wanna keep it, keep it, wanna sell, well then it's yours to sell." Maybe she'd to stay on and manage, like you say, give you some extra money for poker at the Stardust." He grinned.
He knew both their times in town were likely to be on the short list. Though he knew he would have hands to run the place in his stead, but, and there was always a but in everything, his place would soon enough be on the ranch and not in the Marshal's Office. Which brought him to his favorite saying, 'At least for the foreseeable future. As for the unforeseeable, well, it is out there waiting for me.'
Posted August 2, 2022
"At least it isn't urgent," Emeline commented as she started to eat. "There's plenty of time to decide." And a lot of that depended on Clara. If the young woman wasn't interested at all in staying on, she'd more than likely sell, or at least look for someone else to take on the majority of the work. But if Clara was happy there, then they could discuss where to go.
"Of course, something could have happened, and it's a moot point...fire, tornado, blizzard." She laughed. "It might not even be there any more!" It seemed like they'd been gone for ages, but really, it was a good way to shift from one life to the other. "I love that cafe, you know, but I've really just ever wanted a home, and children...besides, I doubt I can replace my head dishwasher. You know, he ran off with some woman...how about that?"
Posted August 2, 2022
That'd be the problem with them pearl divers, can't hardly trust 'em to stay on when you need 'em." He said then cut a piece of the steak he had ordered.
"Sellin' ain't a bad idea, nor is it a good idea. What I mean is, it's a building in town, maybe you want to quit goin' in every day, that's fine. Now if you can't get someone to run it for you, well, then rent it out. But keep the property. What do you owe on it anyway?" He finished with a question.
The thought had occurred to him some time back to buy up whatever came o the market. He had the money. If she wanted to sell, he could always buy it from her. The thought of what they might do together with the money coming in from the mines began to take hold.
Posted August 2, 2022
"I paid fifteen hundred for it," Emeline explained, "but that was for everything...the oven, furnishings, utensils, most of the furniture in the apartment, too." The place had already been in business when she bought it, so that had made getting it going easier. "I put down a hundred fifty, and I owe about six-hundred now."
She took another bite of steak, then a sip of water before continuing. "It was really something, moving from a tent with two tables to a proper building, and to have a place right upstairs to live!" A fond smile crossed her lips. "I'd saved enough from what Andrew left and what I'd made in my little tent cafe, I'd never have thought I could accomplish something like that alone."
Well, heck, now she was having second thoughts about not being in town to run the place, but she was practical enough to know that things changed and life moved on, and hers was moving in a good direction.
Posted August 3, 2022
Barnabas smiled as he chewed the beef steak. then swallowed and said, "Not something you need to do right away, make a decision. Plenty of time for that before we get home and after for that matter." he took up his water glass and had a swallow. "So here's a thought, you want to keep the place, fine, I mean we can hire a housekeeper to care for the baby and the place if you like. I figure you'll be to home with our young 'un a spell before you do anything, anyway."
Now a man like Pike isn't given to thoughts of housekeepers or what a woman might or might not do in any situation, but he had, it had come as natural as breathing.
"I've a mind to buy up whatever might be for sale. Not to start a business, or anything, just property to own. That, and more land out to the ranch. Could be as big as either of the other two, Lost Lake an' the Evergreen. There'll be ten to fifteen men bringing the herd in, I'm hopin' to keep 'em on. But time'll tell."
Posted August 4, 2022
"Oh, so you plan to become a land mogul? Buy up the town, then increase the rent?" Emeline laughed. "You know, they'd have to change the name...to, say, Pikesville...Piketon? Barnabopolis?" She laughed again, then nodded. "So long as you don't over-extend yourself, although I think we do need to make sure the ranch is settled and established before we expand too much."
She appreciated that he even might care about her feelings on any of it. Technically, she didn't have any say in anything, even the fate of the Lickskillet, but one of the things that had drawn her to Barnabas had been the knowledge that he wanted them to be a team, and that he'd take her opinions into consideration.
"A housekeeper might be good, I don't know yet how much house there will be to keep." Chuckling, she shook her head. "I know it's going to be a big place, but I don't know that I'll know what all I'll really be doing, what with you and the house, cooking for the hands, taking care of the horses."
She looked at him for a moment, then took a breath. "But I'll look after our children myself. Of course, on occasion we'll need someone to look after them for a short time, but I don't want a nanny." Even if they had all the money in the world to hire all the help in the world, she was so looking forward to taking care of the children, to raise them and teach them, and honestly, she couldn't understand women who let someone else raise their kids.
They had time, things would work out.
Posted August 4, 2022
"Well, I don't want you thinking you have to do anything you don't want to do. That was not what I meant. You're plenty capable of doing whatever it is you decide is best. I know that most women don't hear words like those, but then, it's a shame they don't." He said. "In a marriage men and women are in it together, like us. One day, things will change, and women'll have their say in things.
"Now, about buying up property, I ain't sayin' I'd go huntin' for it, just sayin' that if something came up, well, why not. I don't need to own it all, nor would I be one to raise rents, folks have a hard enough time as it is. Why make it worse? Makes no sense." These things he had picked up from his own parents, and they were not lost on him.