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the
noisy men entered, the barn became silent as they saw Stormy was
standing there. Stormy noticed that Benjamin seemed to be invisible
to them, which means he probably hears a lot. She would have to get
him alone and talk to him some more. For now, she would check out
the storage places and get back to the house to work on her regular
chores.
    Stormy took one look back toward the barn as
she headed to the house. She saw Jake talking to Benjamin and he
shoved him backward. Benjamin turned and went back to work. This is
something she would certainly bring up at supper time tonight for
sure!

Chapter Nine
    Dinner tonight was one the best as far as
Stormy was concerned. Carmen had really outdone herself. Garlic
mashed potatoes, smothered steak, and beans. She pushed herself
away from the table and spoke.
    “Katie Marie, if you are done you may be
excused. I have some business to discuss with Jake”.
    “May I take my pie upstairs with me?” Katy
asked as she said goodbye to Jed and Jake.
    “Of course you can,” Stormy smiled and kissed
Katy Marie.
    Stormy looked straight at Jake and asked.
“What was going on with Benjamin this afternoon? It appears from
where I was standing you shoved him.” Jed, sitting across from her,
quickly turned to Jake.
    Jake’s eyes opened wide in surprise. “Well
you are right. I did shove the old coot but he was being
disrespectful and I won’t tolerate that.” Jake stood to his full
height, nearly 6 foot 2 inches. It was obvious his feathers were
ruffled.
    Stormy suspicioned that Benjamin didn’t have
a disrespectful bone in his body, but let it drop for now.
    Jed spoke up as Jake was reaching for his
hat. “Benjamin is just an old man. You shouldn’t have shoved
him”.
    Jake turned angry eyes toward Jed. “You
weren’t there so I suggest you mind your own business and let me do
my job!”
    Stormy could see this was getting out of
hand. “Okay, that’s enough. Let’s drop this for now, but if
anything like this happens again we will discuss it further.” With
that said Stormy scooted up to the table and put a spoonful of
apple pie in her mouth. Jake sat back down and the men followed
suit.
    The next morning Stormy’s search through the
supplies showed a few minor discrepancies but not much. However
there were purchases made that were on the books that she had not
been able to locate. Plus there was still the issue of the missing
cattle. Could there be rustlers? She knew one thing for sure, she
must investigate on her own until she knew more. If Jed, Jake, or
anyone else was conducting any kind of shady business they would be
gone in a heartbeat. Aunt Lucy’s legacy to her must remain
intact.
    Suddenly there was a knock on the door as Jed
entered since it was already open. He removed his hat from his head
and nodded to Stormy. “Afternoon”, he said. “ Just wanted to let
you know that I checked on Benjamin and he is doing fine. He didn’t
have much to say, but that’s Benjamin.”
    “Thanks, Jed. I was going to go talk to him
myself, but didn’t want any kind of retaliation being brought on
him. I don’t believe for a minute that he did anything wrong. Sweet
old guy,” she sighed.
    Jed walked closer to Stormy and got within
inches of her face. “Stormy, be careful,” he whispered. “I know you
are looking into things because Benjamin shared that much. Ranch
hands can be a rough bunch and most of them don’t like taking
orders from a woman,” he reminded her.
    “Oh, is that how you feel?” She blurted out.
“You hate taking orders from me?”
    “That is not what I meant, and I think you
know it. Just be careful. You can trust me Stormy,” he said as he
looked straight into her eyes. The feeling she got when she looked
back was epic. Everything on her mind seemed to melt away like
butter and suddenly she desperately did want to trust him.
    Jed appeared as if he were about to lean in
toward her, but again, thought better of it. “Okay, well, I must be
getting