WATER RIGHTS, CHAPTER 15, LIFE GOES ON

 

The new year began and Hannah’s workers and hands returned to the ranch and buckled down to get all the projects either underway or completed. Hannah and Celia had become fairly good friends and she went to a baby shower for Celia in early January. A couple of weeks later Celia gave birth to a baby boy, Liam, which was exactly what they expected. Hannah was amazed at the tender feelings this little guy engendered in her and made her want her Little Mite’s arrival to hurry up and happen.

By mid-February, Hannah didn’t think she could possibly put on another ounce without exploding. Surely Little Mite had to weigh at least 15 pounds or more. It was all she could do to walk from the house to the barn without having to stop and breathe on the way. Coming back was even more difficult and took even longer.

Finally, early morning on the 17^th, Hannah’s water broke and Dale drove her into the hospital. Dale had stayed throughout the December hiatus as had another much younger hand, Jamey, who had said he didn’t have any reason to go home for the holidays because he didn’t really have a home. Hannah also knew the young man, a couple years older than she, had a bit of a crush on her, fat belly and all. She was very careful to make sure she offered no encouragement.

At the hospital, the staff got her all squared away and Dale settled in to be her coach if she needed one. Labor and delivery were surprisingly easy and only took a few hours. Hannah couldn’t believe the feelings in her heart and head when Stephen was laid upon her chest. Even Dale, who’d stayed beside her the entire time was a bit misty eyed. Yes, Stephen, for her own dad and Thomas for her gramps, Wakefield had arrived. He was long, almost 22 inches, lean, absolutely no butt whatsoever even though he weighed almost ten pounds.

Since the day was almost over, Dr. Harvey made the decision to keep them overnight. The next morning Dale arrived and escorted Hannah and Stevie out to the car. Hannah buckled the Little Mite in and they headed for home. When they arrived at the ranch, the entire contingent of people working and living there were outside in the cold waiting for them to arrive. They crowded into the kitchen and Hannah finally had to tell them Stevie wasn’t going to be passed around any longer. Both she and the baby needed to nurse and have a bit of a nap.

Time passed and Hannah, with Stevie snuggled into a chest carrier went about her chores, conferred with Dale and Anita and any of the other workers who had a question or problem. Things were coming along nicely and the web site Anita had developed and marketed had led to bookings that would begin Memorial Day weekend. Not only that, but they were fully booked through July 4^th, and it looked as though WFR TREKS was going to be a success.

Hannah loved motherhood and believed she was a great success at the job. Her Little Mite nursed very well, gained weight as he should and was reaching or surpassing all the milestones in the baby book to which Hannah referred. She and Celia tried to get together at least every couple of weeks to compare notes and get their babies habituated to each other. All their lives were going well, and while at times when Ted was around when she visited, she felt the lack of a supportive husband or partner, Hannah always reminded herself that she had a huge family on which she could rely, a family which she herself had created.

As Stevie grew, Hannah watched for signs of Luke and seriously hoped he had inherited mostly her genes. That was a hope that didn’t come to fruition. Stevie’s skin was far more tan than Hannah’s and he didn’t have a single red or blond hair when his hair started growing. Instead, it was shiny coal black, just like Luke’s. Only his mouth and eyes could be attributed to Hannah’s genes. Oh well, she thought, I loved his daddy when he was created and I’m certainly not going to hold bad feelings because he looks like Luke.

WFR TREKS was a great success and once again, Hannah was so grateful to have Anita on hand. Anita kept everything moving forward in a straight line. There were never any problems with too many clients and not enough space. Dale’s food was excellent. The horses Joe and Dave had purchased early in the year for the trail treks were all excellent animals and Jamey turned out to be an excellent teacher when it came to showing and instructing their guests on how to take care of their mounts and tack.

Hannah led the first trek to the waterfall that August. She thought she might feel nostalgic for Luke and the time they’d spent there, but she was kept busy making sure none of the guests slipped on the rocks or drowned in the pool. Everyone who’d gone said it was one of the best experiences they’d had at WFR.

The decision had been made early on that they’d stop receiving guests after Labor Day. That decision was made because they still had the cattle in the canyons and valleys to bring down and get ready for sale. Since the new venture appeared to be successful, Hannah decided she’d ship almost all the cattle off to market that fall.

October finally arrived and WFR was once again a mostly silent place with only the ranch hands and workers on site. It was time to take stock of the little houses, fix or replace whatever needed fixing or replacing and getting them ready for the winter. It was also time to look at the other outbuildings and barn as well. Once all those chores were completed, Hannah found she could reduce her staff by at least half, if not more. And, when Anita brought her the spreadsheet with the final numbers, she found that they’d made a profit. Not a huge one, but they hadn’t lost any money either. In fact, the profit was enough to add a little bonus to each worker’s final paycheck. As the staff was reduced, Hannah met with each employee, provided a critique of the work they’d done that summer, and offered to rehire them the following April or May, depending on whether they were staff that supported the guests or staff that supported the ranch. There wasn’t a single employee that Hannah didn’t invite back and most said they’d return unless something more permanent year-round came up.

          Finally, everything was buttoned up for the winter and Dale could return to Hannah’s kitchen to cook because those remaining could be fed at the old kitchen table. Hannah liked having Dale, Dave, Joe, Jamey, Chad, Emily and sometimes Anita there for breakfast and dinner. They all doted on Stevie who was no longer a little baby. He now sat in a high chair and ate some of the same food as the rest of them. He was still nursing, but only in the morning and at night. He had been sitting up for a while and crawling in a funny frog-like manner for some time. Stevie had also begun trying to pull himself up on whatever was available. Hannah was afraid he was going to start walking any minute.

          Sure enough, before the end of October at just over nine months, Stevie let go of the chair he was holding on to and ventured forth. He was wobbly, but he managed to get to Hannah a few steps away and looked at her with this huge smile, as if to say, “Looky there. Looky at what I just did.” Hannah had to laugh through her tears as she scooped him up for neck kisses and tummy raspberries. God, I love this kid, she thought.

          They settled into a winter routine. Hannah didn’t have all that much to do, so she spent most of her time with Stevie, playing with him and reading. She went to Celia’s a bit more often and both the boys loved each other and happily shared whatever toys and fun that was available. They seemed to talk to each other in some kind of baby talk that didn’t make any sense to their mothers, but the mothers didn’t care because they loved the fact their boys were already friends.

          Liam didn’t develop as rapidly as Stevie, but he wasn’t far behind. When he saw Stevie walking on his own, it was as though he’d been issued a challenge, so the next time they got together, Liam was almost able to keep up with Stevie. Celia and Hannah both hated the way the boys seemed to be growing so fast and mourned the loss of their little babies. Celia, of course, planned to have another one in the next couple of years, but Hannah figured Stevie just might be her only one.

          Winter was flying by and before she knew it, Liam was a year old, soon followed by Stevie. They went to each other’s birthday parties and in addition to Liam and Celia, everyone who’d stayed over the winter helped her celebrate this wonderful milestone and spoiled the heck out of him. Besides his first pair of cowboy boots which Hannah bought, he received a trike he could ride in the house, other toys and clothes and best of all, Uncle Dale stole the honor of giving Stevie his first little pony with all the tack required. When Dale took everyone out to the barn and put Stevie up on the already saddled pony, it was all they could do to get him off the pony and back into the house for cake and ice cream, his favorite foods. Dale even tried to get Stevie off and allow Liam a walk around the barn on the pony. For the first time, Stevie didn’t want to share. It was a wonderful day although it made Hannah very sad when she thought about the future and not having any more children.

Some of the workers and ranch hands came back in April. And, since the bunkhouse seemed as though it was about to burst at the seams, Hannah proposed Dale move into the house and into one of the upstairs rooms. She made the same offer to Joe and Dave. Both Dale and Joe were happy to move, so two of the four upstairs bedrooms were now occupied. Over the winter, with this in mind, Hannah had used Stevie's nap times and gone through more boxes, tossed, donated or utilized some of what she found, purchased new beds, painted and did whatever she could that would make those rooms more welcoming for their occupants. Some folks might have thought it was a bad idea to have employees actually living in her house, but these men weren’t just employees, they had become family.

          By the time Memorial Day weekend rolled around again, everyone was ready to entertain the guests and make sure they had a wonderful time whether they hiked, rode horses, went to the waterfall or helped around the barn. They had a number of repeat clients from the year before as well as a waiting list. Hannah held a staff meeting to discuss whether they should continue to receive guests after Labor Day. Everyone agreed that it would be beneficial to stay open until the end of September.

          So, spring moved into summer and on to September. By now, Hannah had to keep an eagle eye on Stevie because he didn’t just walk, he ran everywhere. She and other staff tried to impress upon him the fact that some things just weren’t safe, but he didn’t always listen. And, he was a great favorite with most of the guests. His flying black hair, twinkling eyes, huge smile and eagerness to do and to know everything endeared Stevie to whoever came into his orbit. It wasn’t unusual for Hannah to think he was right beside her only to look up and see his little butt disappearing into the barn or running down the walkways at the WFR little houses.

          The one good thing about Stevie being so active is that it really helped Hannah get back in shape. Yes, she still worked hard, but running after Stevie and tossing him around tightened up her muscles, erased some of the baby fat and she had finally begun to wear her old comfortable jeans during the winter. Once she quit nursing which she now only did at night and hated the idea of giving up even though Stevie was going to turn two in just a few months, she thought she’d look pretty much like she had before she got pregnant.

          Hannah had also given some thought to cutting off her hair. Yes, she’d promised her mother she wouldn’t ever cut it, but some days it just seemed so hot and heavy. The only thing that stayed her hand with the scissors was the fact it was so easy this way. She could wash her hair without taking it out of its braid. She could wind it up and have it out of the way. It just seemed the most simple way of dealing with the hair on her head, so she kept it in the braid and rarely combed it down so it flowed over her shoulders and back.

          And so, the second season for WFR passed. It was even more successful than the first. As a result, Hannah gave some thought to adding a few more little houses, enlarging the bunkhouse, increasing the horse herd and potentially adding a swimming pool so guests, especially the older ones, wouldn’t have to ride all the way to the waterfall in order to swim.

          Hannah talked about these plans with Dale, Anita, Jamey and a couple of other employees who had been asked to take on additional and supervisory responsibilities. Everyone thought the ideas she promoted sounded great, so instead of giving everyone a final check, Hannah held a staff meeting, outlined the plans for the winter and offered anyone who wanted to stay on a job that would take them through the winter. A couple of the hands had families and couldn’t stay, but pretty much everyone else was excited about the new plans and staying on. WFR was definitely going to be an even bigger success than Hannah originally envisioned.

          The winter passed quickly and everyone was kept busy bringing in more little houses and doing whatever was required to bring Hannah’s plans to fruition. Stevie’s second birthday was even bigger than his first. He did get new cowboy boots from Hannah, but she had encouraged his various honorary aunts and uncles to be a bit more circumspect and not provide an entire toy store on the big day. For some reason Stevie expected another pony even though he hadn’t outgrown the one he’d received the year before. He was initially disappointed but comforted by Hannah that night when she nursed him for what she’d decided would be the last time. She’d been preparing Stevie for this over the past couple of weeks and he didn’t seem too upset over the idea it was his last nini. Hannah would continue to read to him and cuddle, but her shirt would remain in place from then on.

          WFR was barely ready when Memorial Day arrived and the guest list was much larger than the year before. The new swimming pool was a huge hit and the majority of the guests preferred that to the trek to the waterfall. It was mostly the much younger guests who wanted to ride out there. Again, they had many repeat guests who complimented Hannah and her entire staff on the new amenities as well as the food, treks, events and the wonderful way in which the staff seemed to provide whatever was needed, sometimes almost before the guest knew what s/he wanted.

This, WFR’s third season was even more successful than the ones that preceded. WFR bid farewell to the last guests the end of September. The various staff in supervisory positions were asked to talk to their people and provide a list of things that would need to be addressed over the winter. Once again, WFR had made money, even more than before and once again, Hannah held a staff meeting and reviewed what needed to be repaired and/or replaced, asked for new ideas for the coming season and offered full-time employment with benefits to those who wished to stay. She even offered housing for staff who had families elsewhere. After all, the little houses sat empty through the winter.

After that meeting, Hannah saddled her horse and rode up to the waterfall. It was sunny but already getting quite chilly and she'd dressed warmly. She wanted to be alone to think about everything she’d managed to accomplish since her Gramps had died and Luke had been sent away. Sitting on one of the rocks in the sunshine, Hannah ate her lunch and congratulated herself on thinking of a way to stay on the ranch and have a business. She also congratulated herself on the family she’d built with people who had been complete strangers when they came to WFR. I’m so very lucky, she told herself. My life is good. I have Stevie and all these wonderful people who make up my family. Still, when she thought of Luke, her eyes filled with tears. She let them fall freely and thought, hoped, maybe even prayed a bit that someone would come into her life that would provide experiences the would result in erasing the memories with which Luke had left her.