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The thought that it would be him who brought Eagle Ridge Ranch back to its marvelous former state filled Kipp with pride.
I owe it to Uncle Joe to do this.
Heck, not just Uncle Joe.
I owe it to myself too…
Even in Kipp’s wilder younger days, he always had a streak of responsibility and personal pride in him that stopped him going totally off the rails. His brother had been the same too. They might both have been involved in more than their share of scrapes and misadventures, but barely anyone would have had a bad word to say about them.
Kipp and his brother were known for being helpful, kind, and honorable. It was the family way. And if Kipp could make amends for his past errors by fixing the ranch up, then that was what he was going to do.
The threat of his cousin Leigh was something that Kipp wasn’t going to spend too much time thinking of either. If it came to a conflict, Kipp was more than happy that he would be able to resolve it without resorting to violence. The only problem was that Leigh had been getting involved with some murky characters from the next town over. Kipp was supremely confident of taking Leigh on one to one, but if there was an unknown factor of a group or even gang from another town, then that could prove to be a whole other ball game.
Still, Kipp wasn’t about to waste his time considering things that in all likelihood would never come to pass. Kipp was going to live in the now. And one very important of Kipp’s now was his canine companion, Brutus…
Kipp put his pickaxe down for a moment and watched as Brutus frolicked amongst a big pile of old leaves that had gathered by the entrance to the orchard. The orchard was full of the sweetest, most delicious apples in its prime, and Kipp was going to make it a priority to see that it was back in full, wholesome bloom before too long.
‘Yo, Brutus! Give your Daddy a bark!’ Kipp called out.
Brutus duly obliged and merrily barked in response as he continued to run and dive into the leaves.
‘He’s almost as crazy as me,’ Kipp chuckled, his shoulders heating up under the direct glare of the sun.
Kipp decided that it was time to get some sunscreen on. It might not have been much of a thing when he was growing up, but Kipp knew that skincare was important, and this was especially true in hot weather. During his early years on the road, Kipp had been sunburned more times than he cared to remember. The last thing he needed was to wake up tomorrow morning with that familiar stinging sensation across the top of his back. No, sir. Kipp was going to make sure that his strong body was creamed to the max and perfectly protected.
But as he approached his bench where the sunscreen and a big metal bottle of water waited for him, he saw that his phone was flashing up with message after message from his good friend Trey. Trey was the owner of The Tap House, an old school bar that also happened to serve some of the best damn beers in the county.
Kipp assumed that the messages were probably Trey attempting to round up all the Daddies into coming out that evening.However, as soon as he read the first message, Kipp knew that Trey was reporting something altogether on a different track…
TREY: Kipp… I’m at The Hot Plate. You need to see this.
TREY: It’s the new boy. The cute one. But there’s a problem…
TREY: He’s screwing up the orders. Everyone’s being nice about it, but it’s kind of coming off like he doesn’t give a damn.
TREY: And he just left the cash register wide open for five minutes. I’m not a rat, but thought you needed to know. Take it easy and hopefully see you at The Tap House for a beer soon.
Kipp furrowed his brow and shook his head. He was planning on heading down to The Hot Plate later. Truthfully, this was the last thing he needed to hear. Kipp’s hope was that Dale was going to settle right in and not give him any major issues to deal with. Kipp didn’t want to have to contact Max unless it was an emergency. But now it was looking like Kipp would have to leave his work at the ranch early and head on into Eagle Ridge to see precisely what his new server was doing.
I’ll give the boy a chance.
I need to see this with my own eyes.
Only then can I decide what kind of action I need to take.
Kipp took a big glug from his water bottle and hollered for Brutus to come over toward him. It was time to put his t-shirt back on and head onto the strip.
Hopefully, Kipp would be pleasantly surprised by what he saw.
And if he wasn’t, there might just be consequences for Dale…
Kipp parked his truck on the opposite side of the road to The Hot Plate and was about to step out and make his way over.
However just as he was about to do this, he spotted something that immediately drew his attention. Or rather,someone…
‘What the hell?’ Kipp growled. ‘Is he… asleep?’
Kipp couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing as he watched Dale asleep, in his diner uniform, right outside the business. This was a terrible look, and no doubt Max would have been furious had he known what was happening.
