Page 1 of Vortex

Chapter 1

*~* Vortex *~*

Walking away from the Calder home, as Barbara enjoys calling it, I feel the tension slowly ebbing out of my muscles. It’s nobody’s fault that I feel this way, it’s just how I am at the moment. Seeing my brothers find their women is great and I wish them all the happiness in the world. I just can’t help wanting some of that for myself, though how I’m going to get that considering I haven’t dated in the last few years, I don’t know.

I’m so out of touch with dating I wouldn’t know where to start. I can pick up a woman for a one-night stand easily enough. That just takes a dazzling smile, a few compliments and their panties are off. I’ve never had a problem finding a woman for sex, but to find one that I want to keep, have a relationship with, settle down and start a family… Hell, that’s a different ballgame for me. I’m not sure how I’d even recognize she was the one for me.

Cannon has it all, and I envy him for it. Barbara got everything she asked for and more, including little Howie, their not so little son. The house is amazing. It is truly outstanding. Breaker has Molly and their house isn’t as outrageous as Cannon’s, but it’s a beauty. Fury and Jamie have settled into their house on the compound, and Whack has his spot marked on the map in his office. Bri and Marcia are hounding Saddle and Bank to get houses built, and if I know those two, they’ll put their men on a strict sex diet and they’ll soon get their way. That or a promise of unlimited and unrestricted sex. They’ve done that before and soon had their own way.

Walking through the rec room, I make a beeline for Pres’ office. Stepping up to the door, I realize it will be locked as he’s at Cannon’s with virtually everyone else. Damn. I’ll have to stake my claim to a plot on the map another time.

Cursing under my breath, I head out to my hog and give her a loving look over as I put my helmet on. She’s a damn fine machine, even if I say so myself. A 1941 Army hog still in original paint and with the big white stars still strikingly bright on either side of the tank. The saddlebags look perfect, and if I were going to change one thing, I’d make her a two-seater. That, however, is a moot point considering I have no one to ride pillion!

Slipping out the gate and acknowledging today's gatekeeper, Leo, I head for the club's bar. Maybe a couple of hours in my own company will lighten my mood. The ride is short but sweet. Any mile on my girl is sweet. Grabbing a beer at the bar, I’m just about to slink into a corner and do some people watching when I see an old guy waving me over to his table. It’s far enough back that I can still watch the world go by and see what he wants at the same time.

It’s not until I’m hallway to the table that I recognize the guy. Silas Booker. A local rancher whose daughter I dated a while back. Marisela was a looker, but as shallow as anyone could be. I know Silas and his wife Estrella were hoping that I’d put a ring on her finger, but that wasn’t in the cards for me. Once I saw her for what she really was, I let her down gently, and that was that.

Sitting at the table, Silas shook my hand and smiled. “Been a long time, son. How’s things in your world?”

He always called me son, and it always sat well with me. I spent most of my childhood in the system, and although I didn’t have it as bad as some, it wasn’t great either. I joined the military as soon as I was able, and they quickly became my family. “I’m good, Silas, thank you. How’s that lovely wife of yours? Still making all those delicious fruit pies? I swear I’ve never tasted anything near as good as your wife's cooking.”

“I guess I kept it pretty quiet. She passed away a little over a year ago. She fell ill and was gone in a matter of days. I think she’d been ill for a lot longer than she let on to me.”

“Hell, no. Silas, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. I would have been there had I known.”

“I didn’t want a big fuss. I wasn’t up for people being around either. It was just me and the preacher and the two guys with shovels.” His eyes look haunted by the memory.

“What about Marisela? Didn’t she come home? Didn’t any of the neighbors stand with you?” I know they had Marisela late in life. Estrella always called her their little miracle. I can’t believe the man had to stand alone as his wife was laid to rest. They had to have been married fifty years.

“Marisela turned up a week later. Some excuse or other that I didn’t care to listen to. She and that no-good husband of hers came back ‘cause they thought I would sell up, and they’d get some cash out of me. As soon as I tried to put that pair to work, they remembered they had to be somewhere’s else, and they was gone one morning when I got up. She tried to take her mom’s jewelry box, but I’d emptied that as soon as she came home. I ain’t that stupid.” He shook his head sadly, and I felt his pain.

“I would have been there had I known, Silas. I would have done what you needed me to do.” I sigh as I think how hard that must have been for him. Going through such a loss totally alone.

“If there was one thing you could have done, it would have been to tame Marisela for Estrella and me. We hoped that you’d do it and make her into a good woman, but it weren’t meant to be. She would have made your life hell, son. I know that now. She’s saddled with that no-good dumbass she calls a husband, and she seems to like the life they lead. Though God only knows what it is they get up to. I surely don’t want to know where they get their money from. It can’t be anything legal, I’m guessing.” Taking a drink of his beer, I don’t know what to say to him, so I say nothing. “Why don’t you take a ride out to see the place again? You always seemed to be at home on the ranch.”

“I’d like that. It’s certainly been a while.”

“Good. Drink up. No time like the present.” With that, he empties his glass and looks at me expectantly. Why do I get the feeling I’ve just been railroaded?

Following his pickup, I listen to my girl burbling along happily. Nothing sounds as good as a V-twin on the open road. Pulling up beside him at the front of the ranch house, I see him step onto his porch and take out a letter from a box by the door. He gives it a cursory glance and shoves it into his coat pocket.

Following him inside, I notice that the place is as clean and tidy as I remember it. I grin as I recall Estrella insisting Silas take off his work boots as soon as he came in.

“It’s my one concession since she died. I wear my boots in the kitchen now.” He grins as he must have read my face. “Coffee or a beer?”

“You have beer in the kitchen fridge now?” I seem to recall that was another of Estrella’s rules. The beer was in a fridge in his study. The kitchen fridge was not for such things, only wholesome food went in there.

Passing me an open bottle, he slips into his usual chair at the table. I slip into the one opposite him. He and Estrella always sat by each other, usually holding hands. Marisela and I sat next to each other, but she didn’t like to hold hands. In fact, the only time she was what I’d call touchy-feely was in the bedroom, and even then, under her terms. Thinking about it, I definitely dodged a bullet there.

“I’ve been thinking about what happens to the place after I’m gone. I don’t want Marisela to benefit from it. She’ll get the money from the place and then she’ll be dead in a month. I know she takes stuff she shouldn’t, they both do. I have no intention of contributing to her death. I want to prepare a will in plenty of time and make it as ironclad as I can so it can’t be contested. You’re the only person I would trust to be my executor. When I die, they’ll come crawling out the woodwork to get their pound of flesh, and I want to rest knowing I’ve prevented them all from getting a dime.” He sits back with his beer and an evil grin.

“Who, apart from Marisela, is going to contest your will? I didn’t think you had any relatives, Silas?” I never heard any mention of other family when I used to come around.

“Estrella’s family will soon descend when they hear. Her father gave us the land as a wedding gift, only he thought he was giving us a worthless gift. When we arrived, there was nothing here, not even a cabin to live in. We lived in a tent while I built the first cabin. The land was all brush and dried out. Everyone around these parts told us to sell it and move on, but I saw something in the land. When we walked it the first time, Estrella picked wildflowers as we walked. I didn’t say anything, but those flowers needed water and there weren’t any creeks or ponds that you could see.” Silas smiles, whether it’s the thought of walking with Estrella or the suspicion he had of the land, I’m not sure. “While I was building that first cabin, I bought some goats and fenced off an area for them to forage in. They went through that brush like it was some sort of caviar or fine dining. Well, whatever the goat equivalent is. I had to fence off three different areas in that first week. When they went into the third area, I caught a bunch of wild hogs. The fence had to be strengthened some to keep those beasts in, I can tell you.”

“Wild hogs wouldn’t like being fenced in. I can’t begin to imagine how you didn’t lose them all on the first night.” I know little about animals, but I’ve seen wild hogs, and they are fearsome creatures.

“I caught young ‘uns where I could. That helped some, and the fact that there was so much food for them didn’t hurt none. They weren’t nearly as fast at clearing as the goats, but they weren’t far behind. It was early in the third month that I started to see the water appearing.”