Inherit A Dream (Sons Of A Gun Book 4) Read online

  “Might take a bit of getting used to, calling you Doc.” Simon noted the broad smile on his friend’s face. He’d definitely found his purpose in life and pursued it, not permitting anything or anyone to stand in his way. At least, Roland had returned home a week ago to bury his father. The burial would have provided both Roland and Violet a degree of peace, knowing their parent had been laid to rest. But Simon could understand Roland’s eagerness to return to school. “You’re graduating not a moment too soon, if you ask me. Milestone needs a vet in the worse way.”

  “Don’t I know it. Every rancher in the area encouraged me to pursue my dream, realizing the service I’d provide them when I returned home, fully capable of tending to ailing animals of every kind.” Roland sipped his coffee. “Only person who doesn’t see it that way is my sister.”

  “Violet doesn’t want you to finish school?”

  “She would if I wasn’t taking all our remaining funds to do it.” Roland shrugged. “That money has been earmarked for my schooling almost since the day I announced my intention to train as a vet when I turned fourteen. Pa encouraged me, saved up, and deposited the money in my own account to allow my dream to become reality. But despite the recent devastating losses, both the cattle and Pa’s death, Violet is determined to rebuild the herd and carry out Pa’s vision for the ranch.”

  Simon contemplated everything he’d heard. The Campbells seemed in dire straits to his way of thinking, especially Violet. He didn’t blame Roland for taking his money and heading back to school. If Simon was this close to completion of a goal, he’d do the same.

  “Go back to Ohio and finish your schooling. I’ll buy the Triple C and I’ll watch over your sister also. She can remain living here as long as she wants, until she finds another place if that’s what she decides.” But if I have my way, she’ll become Mrs. Simon McLennon and live out her remaining days with me right here on this ranch. He wouldn’t share that thought with his friend though. Not yet anyway. But he suspected his friend knew exactly what he had planned for his sister’s future.

  “Thank you, my friend.” Roland stuck out his hand. “I knew I could count on you.”

  Simon shook hands with him. “You’re welcome. Don’t worry. It’s all decided then.”

  “Over my dead body.”

  Simon startled and glanced toward the doorway where Violet stood, glaring at him. He hadn’t heard her return, but the murderous expression on her face told him she’d heard enough of what Roland and he had discussed.

  She slammed the back door closed, rattling the kitchen window.

  Apparently, Violet disagreed with their decision.

  Chapter 2

  Violet grabbed the kettle and filled it with the dipper from the drinking water pail. “Go home, Simon. We don’t need your help.”

  Roland glared at her. “Simon agreed to buy the ranch. He’s the answer to our problems.”

  “That’s your opinion,” she argued, head held high. She tossed the dipper back into the pail and stuck the kettle on the woodstove. How dare her brother show up for a few days, say his goodbyes to their father, and then order her to sell the ranch simply because it suited his agenda? “He’s not my answer. Keeping this ranch in our family is the only option that interests me.”

  Simon rose from his chair and deposited his coffee cup on the counter, stepping around Violet before walking toward the door. “I’m heading home. I’ll let you two talk this over some more.”

  “Nothing to talk over.” Roland stood, shoved his chair up to the table. “I’m traveling back east tomorrow, and Violet will be on her own. And I doubt she can make a go of this ranch by herself. Especially if she hasn’t any—”

  “Don’t you say another word, Roland Campbell,” Violet warned her brother. Her financial situation was nobody’s business but her own. And she certainly didn’t want any McLennons learning she’d be left penniless and totally alone when her self-centered brother returned to school.

  Simon plucked his Stetson off the hook and stuck it on his head. “I’ll be back tomorrow to see if you need—”

  “We won’t,” Violet interrupted him. “Thank you anyway, but I’m perfectly capable of handling the affairs of the ranch myself.”

  Simon smiled at the beautiful woman standing there in her denims, furious with both of them. Her hair hung past her shoulders, free of the bun she normally wore it in. Despite the red-eyed evidence of a good number of tears shed in the barn, she’d never looked more beautiful.

  “Not very likely,” Roland huffed. “She’ll sell to you, Simon. Give her a couple days and she’ll realize she hasn’t another option.”

  Violet glared at her neighbor. “Goodbye, Simon. Kindly give our regards to your family. But my brother is mistaken, I won’t be calling on your help. And I most certainly won’t be selling this ranch.”

  * * *

  Simon fastened his canvas duster and stepped outside, feeling like he’d been dismissed by the teacher at the end of classes. He’d never met a more independent-minded woman than Violet. Well, his sister qualified as a close match. He recalled the day Amanda announced her intentions to open her clothing emporium in town, throwing the entire family into a tizzy, especially their pa. Of course, that enterprise had proven an enormous success. Perhaps Violet could run the ranch alone. But he’d be close by in case she faltered, prepared to lend a hand at the first sign of trouble. Roland mentioned she hadn’t any money, so that would pose a significant problem for her.

  Simon untied Hero’s reins, mounted up, and patted his gelding’s neck. “Well, I guess we’d better head home and explain to Pa that we won’t be buying the Campbell place after all. At least, not yet.” He reined the horse around and headed for home.

  For years, Simon had held the secret dream of owning a ranch of his own. Nothing as grand as the Double M, of course, but a place where he could raise cattle, share time with his wife and family, and be his own boss. With four brothers, three working on the family ranch as well as himself, Simon couldn’t get a word of instruction in edgewise to anyone. Of course, Hero listened to him but that was about it. The family often teased Simon about being the ‘quiet’ one, and he supposed that was true. Being the younger half of a set of twins taught him to yield the floor to his brother in a conversation. He’d discovered early on that a fellow could learn as much by listening as he could by flapping his jaws.

  Simon glanced back at the Triple C as he rode across the border onto Double M land. He wondered what Violet and Roland were discussing now. Were they coming to an agreement? Or shouting the roof off the house? He’d never once heard either of them raise a voice. Roland had always demonstrated a degree of their father’s level-headedness. Some women were prone to drama and useless antics, but Violet had always been reasonable and rational and even-tempered. Traits he admired in a woman, especially one he planned on making his wife one day.

  “Roland is never going to convince Violet to sell,” he muttered to Hero. “Guess we’ll bide our time until she hasn’t any choice but to part ways with that piece of land. Of course, when I buy it and propose to her, Violet will have her cake and eat it, too. In honor of her pa, I won’t even change the name of his ranch. She’ll be living on the Triple C for the rest of her days.”

  When he arrived home, Simon handed off Hero’s reins to one of the ranch hands. He seldom allowed anyone to groom his horse, believing a man should care for his own animal. But he needed to talk to his father as soon as possible. “Thanks, Davie. I owe you a favor.”

  “Not at all, Simon. Happy to do it,” the horse wrangler replied, leading Hero toward the barn.

  Simon raced up the front door steps and hurried into the house. “Pa, where are you?” he called. “We need to talk.”

  Chapter 3

  Next morning, Violet accompanied her brother into Milestone. She waited, seated on a wooden bench outside the Milestone General Store while Roland ensured his bag was loaded onto the stagecoach. He’d already withdrawn his money from the bank
; she hadn’t the heart to step inside the bank with him, fearful she’d learn there wasn’t a penny left in her father’s account to save the cattle. She’d face that discussion with the banker after her brother left for the east.

  “All aboard for Butte,” the driver announced their departure.

  Roland extended his hand and helped her to her feet. “I know we’ve been over this a hundred times. So far, we haven’t agreed on a single thing. But please reconsider what we discussed yesterday. What I suggested seems your true option.”

  Violet defiantly shook her head. “Never.”

  “Well, I’ll wish you the best of luck and leave it at that.” Roland hugged her tightly. “Simon is a good man and my best friend. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask for his help.”

  “Simon McLennon will be the last person I seek assistance from.” Violet wrung her hands. Her neighbor frazzled her nerves and discombobulated her senses every moment she spent with him. Much too handsome for his own good and with a smile that made her knees weak, Simon and his help was the last thing she needed.

  “You know he’s in love with you. He’d do anything to ensure you were all right.” Roland turned her to meet his eyes, holding an arm in each hand. “Don’t let pride stand in the way of reason. If you require help, ask for it.”

  Violet heard his desperation to leave her in good hands. He’s in love with you. Hearing her brother voice the words about Simon that she’d also suspected sent her emotions into a tizzy. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. And there are plenty of other neighbors who would help me,” she reasoned.

  “Perhaps. But none of the others want you for his wife,” Roland added.

  Violet had no intention of marrying Simon McLennon, or any other man for that matter. The moment she did, she’d be relegated to the position of housewife and never be allowed to set foot in her own barn again. Well, that most certainly wasn’t happening. With her father’s passing and being deserted by her brother, she had a ranch to run, and operate it she would. By herself. On her own terms.

  “Goodbye and good luck.” Her brother kissed her cheek and climbed into the stagecoach.

  Violet waved as the conveyance headed toward the outskirts of town. As it disappeared from sight, her eyes filled with tears and her breath caught. Her heart pounded in her chest and she feared she might faint; she’d never felt so alone in the world. Had she been too stubborn for her own good? Insisting she remain on the ranch while trying her best to revitalize it? When her father was alive, she’d helped in all areas of the operation from spring calving and branding, to autumn roundup and sorting the stock for sale. Wintering the cattle in a sheltered area of the ranch. Now faced with doing everything on the Triple C alone, it all seemed a bit beyond her capabilities.

  She was completely in charge of operating the family ranch.

  The realization almost brought her to her knees.

  Violet stumbled down the wooden boardwalk, moving farther up Main Street toward the First National Bank. After the previous manager was killed during a robbery a few years back, Harold Watson had been hired as the new manager by the bank owners in Butte. Everyone in town liked the gregarious fellow, talented with financial matters and now married to the previous banker’s widow. Life took mysterious turns, and Violet couldn’t imagine a more unexpected outcome than that. But Harold and Nancy seemed exceptionally happy together. And Nancy’s daughter, Victoria, loved her new daddy. Violet believed things happened for a reason, but finding herself in this current precarious state was certainly testing her mettle. She climbed the steps and walked into the First National Bank building. Time to face her situation head on.

  She paused a moment to allow her eyes to adjust to the interior. The bank hadn’t changed since the day it opened years ago. The same dark wood interior and metal-barred teller’s area at the front. The bank manager’s office and the intimidating vault with the door always ajar during business hours. She recalled the bank robbery a few years back, something she hoped would never be repeated in her lifetime. Especially if she was patronizing the bank at the time.

  She wandered toward the teller area. Her father accompanied her here as a child, when she barely stood tall enough to peek over the wicket counter and smile at the clerk. Her father taught both Roland and her the business end of ranching, and she’d learned a familiarity with recordkeeping. Taking over the ranch’s financial journals after her father’s sudden passing hadn’t been a hardship for her.

  “Good morning, Miss Campbell,” Milton Brown called as she approached his wicket. The bank clerk seemed an odd character to Violet, with his scrawny build and wire-rimmed glasses. The fellow must be talented at his job though since he’d worked at the bank for years now, even after the unfortunate business following the bank robbery two years ago. But that had been resolved well enough.

  “Hello, Mr. Brown. How are you today?”

  “No complaints.” He peeked at her from over his spectacles.

  “Wonderful.”

  “How may I help you?”

  “Might I have a word with Mr. Watson if he’s available?” she inquired, smiling.

  “Certainly.” Milton hurried over to the manager’s office and announced her request.

  Soon, Harold Watson strode toward her, hand outstretched. “Good morning, Miss Campbell. Come into my office.”

  “Thank you.” She shook his hand and then followed the manager inside and he closed the door behind them. His office hadn’t changed since she’d been here last, shortly after her father’s death when she’d taken over the ranch’s business dealings. Their father had willed the ranch to his children, jointly. Harold added her name to the ranch accounts, alongside her brother’s, and removed their father’s name.

  Harold seated himself behind his desk and she occupied the armless chair across from him. He leaned back and smiled. “I’ve been expecting you.”

  “You have?” she blurted, feeling her face redden. Was that a good thing? Or should she be more worried and wary than she already was?

  “Again, please accept my condolences. Your father’s tragic passing shocked the entire community, and now that Roland returned for the burial the loss hits home for everyone once more.” Mr. Watson shook his head.

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “I liked your father from the moment we met.”

  “Father often mentioned he considered you a wonderful manager. Didn’t have a moment’s hesitation to entrust his money with your bank.” Violet relaxed and leaned back in the chair, considering it a blessing how well their meeting had begun.

  “Thank you for the endorsement. I much appreciate that.” Mr. Watson smiled at her. “Now, how may I help you today? Do you require assistance with selling your ranch?”

  “Goodness, no.” Violet exclaimed and then felt her face reddening yet again. She perhaps shouldn’t have spoken so forcefully. She certainly hoped the manager wouldn’t take offense with her response or misinterpret her attitude. “I apologize for that outburst, but selling the Triple C certainly isn’t the reason for my being here.”

  “Roland mentioned you’d be selling soon. I’m sorry for the misunderstanding.” Mr. Watson shifted forward and placed his arms on the desktop. “What can I help you with then?”

  “We’ve lost a good number of our herd, but what we have remaining requires fattening for sale,” Violet said, outlining the situation. “However, Roland has withdrawn his schooling funds from his account and returned east.”

  “Yes, he dropped into the bank not an hour ago. I wished him well in his final months of training. The town will certainly appreciate having a vet so close at hand to tend their animals.” Mr. Watson smiled at her. “Your brother is a wonderful young man. In fact, I offered to lend him sufficient funds to start up his vet practice when he returns to Milestone.”

  Violet gasped. “You did? Roland didn’t mention that. Of course, he was preparing to leave on the stagecoach. He’ll probably explain it in his first letter home.” Her heart ski
pped a beat. If Mr. Watson offered to lend her brother money to start up his new veterinary enterprise, then the banker would certainly lend her the money required to save their starving stock and finalize payment of the ranch’s mortgage. She couldn’t be more pleased that she hadn’t sold out to the McLennons.

  “He mentioned being in a hurry and we finished up our business quite quickly.” Mr. Watson chuckled. “Roland was certainly looking forward to returning to school.”

  “It’s all he’s talked about since the moment he returned home.” Violet worried the comment might reveal her distain for Roland’s suggestion they sell the ranch. Hoping to soften the remark, she added, “I couldn’t be more proud of him and all his hard work.”

  “We all are.”

  “Anyway, getting back to my reason for coming in.” Violet shifted in her seat. “By my cyphering, the ranch account has been almost depleted.”

  “That it has.” The banker reached for a ledger sheet on his desk. “Roland inquired about that while he was here. We determined the account has a balance of four dollars and twenty-seven cents in it. Not a lot to move forward with, is it?”

  “Not at all. That’s the reason I’m here. I would appreciate a loan to build up our stock for sale. Once the cattle have been fattened, I can sell them, repay the loan, and meet the date for the remaining two payments on the ranch. Finally, the Campbells will own the Triple C outright.” Having outlined her strategy, Violet sat holding her breath while waiting for the banker’s reply.

  Mr. Watson leaned back in his chair, clasped his hands together, and tented his index fingers. “Oh, that’s your plan?”

  “Well, of course it is. Father isn’t with us any longer, but someone has to carry on. Father let the last of the ranch hands go last autumn after roundup, and with Roland returning to school, that leaves me to do everything. With the loan proceeds I’ll purchase feed and hay and anything else I require, and I’ll have the money to hire a ranch hand also. With the revenues I’ll pay the bank in full, and hopefully have remaining funds sufficient to carry on next year as well. On a smaller scale than Father did, naturally,” Violet said, stating her intentions in plain language.