The Outsider Series

Chapter 9-2

“Wow, I never thought I could miss a place so much.” Diana shut the rear passenger door of the luxury SUV Neil had rented. Rodney was in the front seat. Danny was asleep in the car seat in back between Diana and Becky.

A young cowboy wandered out of the barn, wearing a jean jacket and pushing a wheelbarrow filled with old straw and manure.

It should have been Diana hurrying over to thank Andy’s ranch hand for helping out, but Rodney stepped over, shook the young man’s hand, and spoke with him.

Diana gazed at the six horses in the distance, grazing in the fenced-off pasture on the other side of the barn.

“I think someone else is happy to be home.” Becky lifted Danny from his car seat. “And hungry, too, I think.” Danny shoved his fist in his mouth and was smacking his lips, squawking in the baby talk he’d started the past week. Diana, for a moment, wondered if her mothering skills were lacking, as he’d flourished under Becky’s care.

Diana was aware that one of the reasons Jed wanted them home was so Rodney and Becky wouldn’t spend any more money on her and Danny. She knew he felt beholden, and she’d never told him how lavish the hotel suite was, because she worried about how he’d react. She’d offered to pay, but Rodney would hear none of it and insisted on paying for everything. Maybe that was why Jed had pushed and insisted she go home with Danny.

“Diana,” Neil called out to her and waved her over to where he stood with Rodney and the young cowboy.

“I’ll take Danny inside, heat up some pears for him. Is the door locked?” asked Becky as she stepped up to the door and turned the knob.

It opened and Diana shrugged. “We never worry much around here.”

Diana hurried over to Neil and Rodney just as the cowboy climbed in a beat-up old pickup and drove away.

“That was Andy’s ranch hand. Andy has been here, too, and they finished the roof of the barn,” said Rodney.

Diana glanced at the newly shingled roof, and a picture of Jed flashed in her mind as he turned to her and then stepped on the ladder and fell. She shut her eyes and swallowed. “Jed’s not going to like that. He doesn’t want to owe people.”

“We’re not people, Diana, we’re family. And don’t you worry about Jed. After I talk with him, he’ll relax.”

Diana looked at Neil and the mischievous glint in his deep brown eyes and frowned.

“Well, at least he’ll lighten up a bit.” Neil slung his arm around Diana’s shoulder and hugged her much like a brother does. “Right, Dad?”

Rodney just shook his head and gazed at the barn and over at the riding ring that was still missing posts. “What else needs to be done, Diana? Walk me through it. Jed won’t be doing much around here for a while yet.”

“We need to finish the riding ring. Those posts over there still need to be put in and fenced off. He was supposed to get a cover up at least so we could still work with the kids when it rains, but for now that can wait.” Diana strode into the barn beside Neil and Rodney, and of course Rodney saw the two stalls with a missing latch. There was rope instead to hold it closed.

“Some repair work in here needs done.” Neil strode into the boxlike tack room stuffed with the saddles, halters, blankets, and everything they used and needed for the horses. In the corner, she noticed the box of riding helmets for the kids. Even though the kids were supposed to have their own, they needed to expect some would show up without one.

“Some of this stuff has seen better days.” Neil rummaged through the tack box. “There is a lot to do here to get this place open. I think we need to hire some help. Dad, you and I can help finish the barn. What do you think?” Rodney glanced down at Diana. She knew he was aware of her unease, because Jed would have none of it. When she’d suggested hiring earlier, before the accident, he’d flat-out said no and had nearly bitten her head off.

“Diana, someone’s on the phone for you,” Becky shouted from the house.

“Excuse me,” she said and hurried inside.

Becky handed her the phone. Danny was strapped in his highchair, pureed pears smeared in his hair and on his face, and he smiled brightly as if pleased by what he’d done.

“Hello, this is Diana.”

“Mrs. Friessen, this is First National Bank. We’ve left several messages for your husband, Jed Friessen,” the woman barked in a sharp, irritated voice.

“My husband had an accident and fell off a ladder. He’s in the hospital in Seattle, and I just got home. Is there something I can help you with?” Diana watched Danny as he clapped and squealed to his grandma, who wiped his face and then lifted him from the high chair and carried him down the hall.

“Your husband is over sixty days in arrears on the mortgage. Until now, he’s maintained the late payments, barely, through the last six months. The line of credit he took out two months ago is maxed out, and he hasn’t made a payment on it yet.”

In that moment, everything seemed to come to a full stop after what the woman said finally sank in. “What? I don’t understand. I knew money was tight, but that’s impossible.… What line of credit? I didn’t know Jed took out a line of credit.” She must have been speaking loudly, because Becky was suddenly beside her, frowning.

“Can I get back to you?” Diana asked, because she needed to figure out what was going on. She needed some answers before she said one more thing to this banker.

She scribbled down the banker’s name and phone number and promised to call back before the end of the day, which was two hours from now and didn’t give her a lot of time.

When she looked up at Becky, she said, “Jed’s been hiding some things from me. Apparently we’re broke. That was the bank. I have to call them back. I need to talk to Jed.” She turned in a circle, placed her hands on her hips, and then looked over at Becky again.

“Diana…” Becky started to say something and then shared a meaningful look. Becky was a smart woman and knew her son well. He was a man you had to be careful with.

Diana knew Jed would be furious that his mom knew anything about his business. He didn’t share his problems with anyone, apparently not even Diana, his wife. But these were her problems, too, and she somehow needed to get that through Jed’s thick skull.

“Becky, can you watch Danny? Jed keeps all his papers in the office in the back of the barn. I need to go have a look and figure out where to begin to fix this.” Diana strode to the door and yanked it open.

“Diana… I know you know Jed, but be careful how you handle this. Pride, with a man like Jed, is a powerful thing.”

Diana glanced at Becky, and what she saw was wariness and worry etched in the deep lines around her light eyes. Diana nodded and hopped down the wooden steps, still missing a handrail, and hurried to the barn as her own confused feelings of love, mixed with frustration and the big old unknown that had clouded her good sense, began to dissipate.