A Secret to Shatter by Katie O’Connor
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Are you ready for this?” Ira asked Ken the next morning. “Dad’s not going to take this well. He’ll resist.” They sat outside of the family home on the Bar 3, sipping take-out coffee and mustering their courage for the discussion to come.
“Yup. Dad will resist and probably threaten to fire us and kick us off his land. Have you got your facts lined up? Please tell me you do.”
“Lined up, organized, and stapled together in a report. I have it on a jump drive, complete with computer links to sources. All my calculations are shown on a spreadsheet.” He was more than ready for this. He was stoked. He’d been researching and compiling data for weeks. He was disappointed the rest of his brothers weren’t able to join them for this confrontation, and there was no doubt in his mind. This would be a confrontation.
“Let’s do this. No sense putting it off any longer. Fall is nearly upon us. We have hay left to bring in. If we go to auction now, we might get a deal on some cow-calf pairs or bred heifers.”
“I like the way you think.” They fist bumped and climbed out of Ira’s jeep.
Sue met them at the kitchen door. “About time you boys came in. What’s up? You look like someone rained on your parade.”
“Is Dad around?” Ken asked, peering into the kitchen and the living area beyond. “We’d like to talk to him.”
“He’s just gone out to check on that late calf in the barn. He’ll be back for coffee right away.” No sooner were the words out of her mouth when footfalls sounded on the back deck. “Here he is now,” she announced, grabbing her oven mitts off the counter and heading for the stove. She shut the timer off after the first beep, and extracted a steaming pan of cinnamon rolls.
“Morning, Dad,” Ira greeting his father. “How’s the calf?”
Robert looked back and forth between Ken and Ira, then at his wife, and back at his sons. “What’s going on? I smell a conspiracy. Last time I saw you two, you could barely stand each other.” He kicked off his boots and flung his hat at a hook behind the door. It thumped to the floor as he went to the sink to wash his hands.
When he turned around again, Ken spoke. “You said if we wanted to change the way the farm is run, we needed to prove it would work. Ira here,” he jabbed his thumb toward his brother, “has facts and figures to show you. “I came because I want to hear what he has to say.”
Ira didn’t crack a smile at the small lie. He and Ken had discussed the numbers and analyzed them until they were certain they hadn’t missed a single angle. “Why don’t we sit down and look at what I’ve compiled. You asked for information; I have information. Frankly, I think you’ll like what you see.” He hoped their father wasn’t too stubborn to see the facts.
Robert grunted and poured himself a coffee. He thumped it down on the table and eased into his seat.
Ira knew a moment of doubt. Raising cattle was harder physically than cutting hay. Robert wasn’t getting any younger, though he was still fit and spry, despite his heart troubles. Still, Ira was certain his plan would work. If Ira worked alongside Robert, Ken, and Justice they’d easily be able to handle the workload. There was even the possibility of working Ken’s ranch and the Bar 3 as a single unit to make things more efficient.
Sue poured everyone else coffee and joined them at the table. She sat beside Robert, holding his hand. She nudged him with her elbow. “Come on, dear. What can it hurt to take a look?” She nodded at the stack of papers Ira set on the table. “The boys obviously went to a lot of trouble.”
“Fine.”
A grudging acceptance was barely better than an outright refusal, but Ira would take it. “Look here.” He tapped the front page. “This is what new parts for the haying equipment will run us. Not much compared to an entirely new system, but too much to maintain on a yearly basis when we can expect more breakdowns, more often, as time progresses.” He tapped the page again. “This is the cost of a new rig. Same brand, same configuration.”
Robert let go a low whistle.
“I was shocked myself,” Ira confessed. “I didn’t think it would be so high. Moving on,” he flipped the page to reveal the current cost of hay and what hay futures on the stock market told him prices would be like later in the year. “These are the costs of hay, and the cost of grain. He named a figure. “You can count on spending this much per cow, per year.”
Robert studied the page, his brows furrowed. His fist tightened around his mug until his knuckles went white. Finally, he nodded. “Go on.”
“If we convert the current hay fields into grazing land in the spring, we can accommodate more livestock. There’s also a large tract of crown land right next door. If we can get the lease on it, we can fence it and graze even more animals.” He flipped the page again. “Here’s the cost to clear the fence lines, fence in the land, and buy more cows. It’s high, but I’m willing to pitch in my own money, or cosign a loan.”
“I’m not taking your money. I can sign my own damned loans.”
Ira glanced at Ken who flashed him a secret grin. If Robert was talking loans, he must be considering the idea. “Here’s the price of bred heifers, current data and projections over time. The trend is upwards, but so is the price of beef.” He tapped another table.
“What extra equipment would we need?” Ken asked, though Ira had given him the information earlier.
“More corrals, maybe an expansion of the barn and birthing pens. An extra squeeze, and maybe a larger cattle trailer, though we could hire out for transport and save maintenance costs. It’s all right here in the budget. Before you say anything. Read this over. It’s the long-term payout of costs over potential income.”
Robert leaned back and sipped his coffee. “This is delicious, dear, thank you.”
He scanned the rest of the papers. He returned to the first sheet and read them all again. Three times. As he read, his scowl lightened until it was almost a smile.
“I’m proud of you son. This is very thorough. You haven’t missed an angle.”
Danged right he hadn’t. Ira had worked with all his brothers to be sure nothing was overlooked. “We’d likely need a big loan this year, but I figure we can pay it out in only two years. Less if the market keeps on the way it does. That’s without altering our spending in any fashion. I didn’t have access to the books, except the tractor maintenance logs, so I can’t say how much we’d save in fuel and other equipment costs. We can probably get fifteen or twenty pairs for the cost of this year’s maintenance alone.” He looked at Ken as if questioning him. “Would there be value in sharing grazing land? Rotating through the crown land, your place, and this place? Give the grass a chance to rest so it isn’t grazed out of existence?”
Ken nodded, as did his father. “Solid thinking,” Robert agreed.
Knowing it was time to shut up, he took another drink of his coffee and waited.
Two more read throughs and Robert looked at Sue who had been reading over his shoulder. “What do you think?”
“It’s not up to me. My domain is the house and gardens. You’re the rancher.”
“Bull crap.” Robert laughed. “You know as much about this ranch as I do. You could run it single handedly.”
“The numbers look sound to me. In my opinion, it could work. Nice work, Ira.” She smiled at both boys as if saying she knew Ken had a hand in the work. Not much got by Sue.
“Well then,” Robert offered his hand to Ira, “I guess we’re going to get more cows. You’ve convinced me.” After they shook, he offered his hand to Ken. “Son, I may have been wrong about my hardline on not changing. I apologize.”
“No apology needed, Dad,” Ken responded. “Now, let’s talk about a new truck.”
Everyone laughed.
“Get out of my kitchen,” Robert teased. “You’re pushing your luck.”
Sue harumphed. “His kitchen. Fine then. You make breakfast. I’ll have bacon, eggs, sausages, waffles, and fruit salad.” She leaned back in her chair; arms crossed over her chest.
“Fine, fine. They can stay. But only if you cook.”
“What can I do to help? I’m great with bacon.” Ira rose to his feet.
“Ken, you can set the table. I’ll warm up some sausages. I precook them for lazy days. And Ira, I’d appreciate you cooking the bacon. An offer I can’t refuse, because cooking bacon is my least favorite kitchen task,” Sue exclaimed and hopped up from the table.
“Copy that,” Ira slipped into military slang without thought, “but what’s Dad going to do?”
“He’s on toast and a fresh pot of coffee. Let’s get this done. I’m headed into town to see if anyone has moved into Tilly’s old bed and breakfast yet. It’s a pity for it to sit empty since she’s gone. It’s a lovely home. It needs a family.”
“Tilly? Oh, I think Honey mentioned her. Didn’t she pass away recently?” Ira asked.
“She did, poor old soul. She was something of a recluse in her later years. Scuttlebutt is that her niece inherited the house, but as far as I know nobody has seen her yet.”
They settled into casual conversation as they prepared breakfast. Ira kept his proud smile to himself. No sense gloating over being right. But, dang, he’d put dozens of hours into his little presentation. Which didn’t include all the reading and studying he’d done before coming to town, and since he’d been hired on at the ranch.
Hired on sounded weird when thinking of the family ranch. He gave a mental shrug. Weird or not, that’s how it was done on the Bar 3, Robert paid everyone who worked there, family or not. A fair day’s work for a fair day’s wage. His father was satisfied with the arrangement, and his siblings seemed to be as well. Ira was surprised to realize it worked for him as well.