San Joaquin Valley, California
Yesterday, Murdoch left to spend a week in Sacramento. Leading up to his departure, Johnny and I had Kinsey convinced he was meeting with the Good Sisters of Mercy when in fact it was a Cattlemen’s Association business trip. The girl had been an absolute angel until Murdoch finally made us fess up the morning of his departure. He said the deceit had gone on long enough. I presented this “deceit” was more of a “reprieve” therefore suggesting the judge should rethink his verdict. My father pointed out it was fortunate I did not pursue law after Harvard. It became obvious life was back to normal as I sorted through paperwork Murdoch had left on his desk.
The slamming door announced the presence of someone in the hacienda. Johnny’s echoing voice narrowed it down to whom.
“Scott!”
“In here.”
“Scott!”
“I’m in the study!”
“SCOTT!”
Scott sat back, folded his arms, stared at the doorway and estimated the time it would take Johnny to investigate all thirty-plus rooms before arriving at the study.
“Scott! Didn’t you hear me?” Before his older brother could respond Johnny continued. “You need to have a discussion with your cousin.”
“Hold it.” Scott held up his hand. “Hold it right there, little brother. I want you to explain to me when Kinsey is a ray of sunshine she’s half-pint, darlin’, and just cute as a button, however, when a storm starts to brewin’ she suddenly becomes MY cousin.”
Johnny opened his mouth to respond. “No. I don’t want to hear what she’s said and I don’t want to hear what she’s done. You handle it.”
Being cut short on several attempts of a rebuttal, Johnny finally nodded. “Fine. I’ll handle it. It’s not like I can’t handle it. Done. Handled.”
Soon after Johnny left still muttering how he was going to “handle it” a door slammed once again followed by a familiar cry.
“Scott!”
“In here.”
“Scott!”
“I’m in the study!”
Standing in front of Murdoch’s desk with water still dripping from her nose Kinsey lamented. “Look what your brother did!” It appeared Johnny’s water-in-the-face strategy had failed this time.
“Wait.” Scott held up his hand. “Wait right there, Freckles. I want you to explain to me when Johnny is at your beck and call he is extraordinary, glorious, and your knight in shining white armor, however, when he decides to disagree with you by putting his foot down he promptly becomes MY brother.”
“He tried to drown me!”
“No. I don’t want to hear your sad tale of woe. What I want is for you to turn around, go find Johnny, and work it out. Leave. Now. You’re getting the floor wet.”
“Fine. I’ll work it out. Let’s just see how that goes. Working. It. Out.”
The demise of “working it out” was announced by a slamming door and Johnny’s bellowing voice.
“SCOTT!”
Scott closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Look what your cousin did.”
Scott gradually opened his eyes to view what was once Johnny’s new hat that currently resembled…well…Scott wasn’t quite sure what it resembled but definitely not a hat. With a furrowed brow, he picked up his younger brother’s hat to examine it closer.
“My new hat, Scott. She has zero respect for other people’s property!”
“Johnny, deal with it. You need to go find Kinsey, sit down and deal with it.”
Johnny retrieved his mangled hat. “Deal with it.” Shaking the hat in front of Scott’s face Johnny announced “Dealing with this right now.”
Scott didn’t try to continue with Murdoch’s paperwork but simply waited for the inevitable seeing that he had a fairly good idea how Johnny was going to “deal with it”.
Slam.
Kinsey, with Johnny’s mauled hat firmly planted on her head was now red faced, totally disheveled and rubbing her backside. Holding back his laughter Scott found was almost painful.
“Do you know what your brother did? ”
“Considering your current state I believe I do. Kinsey, I’m not mediating. I’m not coming to the rescue. I’m not solving this problem for you. You and Johnny need to come to terms with whatever this is about and you better do it soon. My patience is diminishing quickly.”
After several minutes of uninterrupted silence, Scott resumed his task of sorting through Murdoch’s endless paperwork.
“Scott?”
Startled, Scott raised his head to discover Johnny quietly standing in the middle of the room, hands on hips, staring at the floor.
“She’s in the barn crying and I can’t get her to stop. This all started over that stupid stray calf.”
“Sawyer.”
Johnny rolled his eyes. “Yeah, Sawyer. You know he has to be put back into the herd before he gets much older. She’s so damn attached to that animal.” Johnny's gaze drifted to the outside through the large window behind Scott. “She just keeps crying.”
Scott studied his younger brother and smiled. “I have the utmost confidence you will find the right words to say to Kinsey.” Johnny stared out the window a few minutes more, nodded and left.
Fortunately, Johnny found the right words to say. My understanding is tomorrow there will be an official ceremony to welcome Sawyer back into the herd. There is talk of champagne being served. I have come to realize watching MY brother and MY cousin fall in love will be a satisfying but exhausting experience.
~ S.
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