Blue Iris Ranch (Closed)

[sandi_grl]

Blue Iris Ranch, named for the original owner’s wife’s love of the same-named flower, was once a prosperous cattle ranch. The ranch did well enough to warrant backing from a few investors who saw potential in the family owned farm. But after being passed down through several generations, not evolving enough to come into the modern era, and various financial and business blunders, in the present it did nothing more than hemorrhage money. It wasn’t until recently that the investors really came to know what was happening, and learned that the money they had put towards the ranch was drying up and fast.

This is where Encore Consulting came into play, a corporate recovery consulting firm. Encore’s main goal with any client, big or small, was to save businesses, sometimes by restructuring or utilizing holding companies. But on occasion the most viable option was to break apart a business, liquidate assets, and pay off debts as best as possible. One of the stakeholders contacted Encore and urged for immediate attention to Blue Iris. Being so late in the year, most consultants were already booked with bigger projects, or were reluctant to travel away from their families during the holidays. Being the fresh meat in the firm and thus lower in seniority, Jessica Hanson was volun-told to go out to Emerald Falls. As much as she didn’t want to end up possibly having to spend her holidays away from home, this was her opportunity to show that she was capable of handling more than individual clients. She reviewed all the information she could get her hands on, but it wasn’t much as most of the documents the ranch had were on actual paper… and apparently lost.

Dirt crunched beneath Jessica’s boot as she stepped out of the forest green Jeep Grand Cherokee. She tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear, the color of red wine, while she gazed around the property with brilliant blue eyes. It was a far cry from the normal city sights of San Francisco that she was used to. A huge ranch-style house stood before her, the exterior weathered and looking like it could use a little face lift. Despite that, the large porch was still welcoming, with a porch swing and several rocking chairs angled to look out over the property with some pillows and obviously homemade blankets distributed between them. Two big barns dominated the space behind her, not necessarily in disrepair but certainly in desperate need of some updates. The fields and rolling in the hills started, with the mountains Emerald Falls was famous for off to her right in the north. It was close to idyllic, and the pictures that had been sent to her in an email didn’t do the place justice.

“Wow,” the redhead breathed, her breath causing a small cloud of condensation to float out in front of her. Though there was no snow, it felt like it could if Mother Natured wanted to. She pulled her black duster coat snug around her tall, curvy frame in an attempt to protect herself from the chill of the air. Long, toned legs clad in a pair of figure hugging blue jeans with black tall boots over them, and a basic purple blouse underneath her coat, covering her ample bosom. She kept herself in decent shape, hitting the gym four to five times a week, typically doing resistance training or lifting weights, and sometimes using the stair machine for random stints of cardio. It did her wonders after graduation college a year prior, and going from swimming a few hours a day at the collegiate level to what was primarily a desk job.

After admiring her surroundings for a few moments, Jess grabbed her purse from the passenger seat and set off in search of someone who was in charge or could point her in the right direction. Not only did she want to start diving into what went wrong with such a beautiful place, she also needed to get her room situation sorted. She was told she’d be staying on site as the closest hotel was more than an hour away, as was any other sort of civilization.

 

[WatchingCloud]

David Trent hadn't felt good about getting the text message that morning from Mindy. It had simply said, "Come by the house ASAP." The ranch's do-everything superhero (his title for her, anyway) didn't reply when he asked what it was about.

As the last of the full-time ranch hands remaining at Blue Iris, Dave had already been out checking on the herd, despite the sun not yet cresting the horizon. He mounted Lady and urged her up to a brisk trot on the way back to the main house, passing the stockade, his one-room cabin, and the barns en route. There wasn't much point in speculating on what this was all about. These days, it was almost certainly more bad news for the ranch.

He didn't have to go inside to see what she wanted. Mindy, bundled up in her sheepskin coat, jeans, and boots, met him outside where she was standing next to her beat-up old Chevy. Dave dismounted, immediately sensing her discomfort. The news would be especially bad.

"Morning, Mindy," he said, tipping his hat.

"Morning, Dave," she said, taking a deep breath and plunging her hands deeper in her pockets. Dave wasn't a man of many words, so he let her take her time, build up to whatever it was she had to say. "I just...just wanted to let you know Kevin and I are heading to visit his parents in Montana for the holidays."

Dave nodded, knowing that couldn't be the whole story.

"And, well, we probably won't be coming back." She looked awful, like she was letting him down. Dave felt for her. She was just as attached to this place as he, maybe more so.

"Yeah," he said. "Can't right blame you."

Things had been going downhill at the ranch for years. They had the land for over a thousand head of cattle, but the herd was scarcely two hundred. Staff had been lost through attrition for years and then, when the paychecks started bouncing last month, by exodus. Mrs. Weiss, the family owner representative, hadn't been seen or heard from in weeks and wasn't answering calls or emails. There were precious few of them left; fewer now.

"Sorry." Mindy wiped her eyes, sniffled, then buried her head in his shoulder for a hug. He held her tight until she let go. She handed him the house keys. "You take care, okay?"

"You, too."

He was sad to see her go, yet relieved that she had the courage to step away from a bad situation. Him? He should have bailed as well, but someone had to take care of the cattle. He loved the place, despite its issues, and he still felt he owed those who'd given him a job when he'd needed it most. In other words, he was a sucker.

Unsure what to do with the keys, since he didn't live in the house and rarely had anything to do with the paperwork side of the business conducted there, he tucked them away in a jacket pocket and returned to his horse. He patted her on the neck, tried to convey reassuring vibes, and returned to the herd.

#

In the late afternoon, lost in his thoughts about what would happen to the ranch (was anyone still even overseeing it now?), Dave was startled by the sound of wheels on gravel. He turned and spied a green Jeep Grand Cherokee heading up the access road toward the house. It wasn't a vehicle he recognized.

The cattle could take care of themselves for a while, he figured. If whoever was coming was looking for a representative of the Blue Iris, they'd find no one over there. Suddenly, his responsibility to the ranch seemed to expand.

Riding Lady, Dave hurried to the house. He knew he fit the expectation of visitors to the ranch - rugged and fit thirty-something in dusty jeans and boots, weathered leather jacket, and black cowboy hat. His piercing eyes and strong, stubbled jawline could turn an eye without putting effort into it...at least, on the rare occasion when a woman came by.

Speaking of women, Dave spotted the visitor as she was peering in one of the front windows on the porch. Clearly, she'd tried the bell and knocking and was probably wondering what to do next. He guided Lady through the yard until the clatter of hooves got her attention.

The woman was young. She didn't have the look of a country girl, but at least she was dressed somewhat appropriately. Easy on the eyes didn't begin to describe the rest of her, though - tall, curvy, and long-legged. Despite her youth, this was a woman, not a girl. He approved.

"G'day, miss," he said from atop his mount, letting his Australian accent loose. That always threw guests off-balance for a bit. He tipped his hat for good measure. "Can I help you?"

Dave dismounted and, with lead in one hand, walked up to the porch steps, hand extended. "David Trent, by the way."

 

[sandi_grl]

Seeing no one around, Jessica made her way up the steps to the porch and knocked on the front door of the ranch house. No answer. She rang the doorbell. No answer again. "Hello?" she called out, ringing the doorbell once more knocking on the door a little harder than the first time in hopes someone would hear her. With a sigh, she wandered over to a window to see if she could spot anyone inside. If she couldn't make contact with anyone, this was going to make her job a bit more difficult.

Just as she was about to call back to the office, she saw David off in the distance, guiding his horse towards the house. Pocketing the cell phone for the time being, Jess walked to the top of the porch steps to meet him. She couldn't help but think he fit the textbook image of a cowboy, though she wasn’t expecting the Australian accent to come from him as he greeted her. She shook the hand he extended to her and gave him a soft smile. “Nice to meet you, David,” she greeted. “Jessica Hanson. I’m from Encore Consulting; one of your investors called us because they’re concerned about some troubles this place is having.”

Glancing around once more, it dawned on the redhead that the place was pretty much deserted. Maybe their problems were worse than she realized. She hadn’t been able to get much information. It was like pulling teeth to get what she had. “Could you point me in the direction of who’s in charge around here?”

 

[WatchingCloud]

"Pleasure, Miss Jessica," he said, shaking her hand. There was a strength there he appreciated. This was no dainty waif.

What further captured attention beyond first impressions of her figure was the dark red hair and bright blue eyes. He could definitely get lost in those over a campfire.

Then she mentioned who she represented. Ugh. She might not be dressed like it, but that screamed "suit" to him. He was hardly surprised that an investor had gotten involved though. Shame they were probably a few years too late.

“Could you point me in the direction of who’s in charge around here?”

Dave sighed and tipped back the brim of his hat.

"Well, now that's a complicated question there, miss," he said. "If Mrs. Weiss hadn't vanished a couple weeks ago, I'd have pointed you her way. After that, I'd have suggested taking it up with Mindy Coulson. Unfortunately, you missed her by about six hours and she might never come back."

He gave her a sorry, wry smile. "As I'm guessin' yer not here to help move the herd to the north pasture, then..." He pointed at her. "I think the person you're looking for is you."

 

[sandi_grl]

David mentioned Mrs. Weiss, the family representative for the ranch. She had been in contact with her, but barely. Over the last two weeks, the emails had gone from once a day, which was adequate, to every few days to complete radio silence. Her next hope had left six hours prior and there was a strong possibility she wouldn’t be back.

He pointed to Jessica. She was the person she was looking for? “Me?!” Oh no, she was not the one in charge. She had just gotten there, for one, nor did she know how to or have any desire to learn how to run a ranch. She gave a nervous laugh. “You’re joking, right?” But the look on the Australian’s face gave her the answer. How the hell was she supposed to do her job if there was no one there to explain how the mess started in the first place? She wasn’t even sure if liquidation would be an option if she couldn’t get her hands on the necessary paperwork.

She had an idea. When Mrs. Weiss had actually been communicating with Jess, she had mentioned that most of their work was still done on physical paper, and that she was having difficulty finding the documents Jessica had been requesting so she could do some work remotely. “There wouldn’t by chance be an office on site? Where I could find any financial and business documents?” she asked with a hopeful tone.

 

[WatchingCloud]

Dave had mixed feelings about Jessica's response to her question. On the one hand, he was greatly relieved that he could hand off any responsibility for the financial side of the business for which he had no understanding whatsoever. On the other, he felt bad for her being in a situation far worse than what she'd likely expected.

At least she didn't panic. He gave her credit for that.

"Now there is something I might be able to help with," he said, fishing the key to the house from out of his jacket pocket. He stepped up the porch past her and unlocked the front door. "After you, miss."

Inside, the house was both spacious and claustrophobic. The style was old, with high vaulted ceilings and tight rooms with narrow doorways between them. Old furniture packed the rooms and hallways, relics spanning nearly a hundred years of occupation of one sort or another. Just to their left was the sitting room where guests to the ranch would typically be received. Now, it was dim and silent, just like the rest of the house. Even the Christmas tree, unlit, failed to give it any sense of life.

Dave flicked the light switch and nothing happened. He repeated it twice.

"Well, that's not good," he muttered. Either they'd blown a fuse or the power company had cut them off. He could fix the less likely of the two possibilities.

He walked halfway down the hall that led to the kitchen and dining rooms, reaching for another switch. Still nothing.

"I'll have to go check the fuse box," he said. "In the meantime, I can show you the office. There are enough windows you should have okay daylight for another hour or two, if I can't get it fixed."

Dave showed her down the hall and took a hard right, leading the way up a set of wooden stairs with bannisters worn smooth by thousands of hands. The landing at the top led to several other doors - bedrooms and a bathroom. The nearest bedroom had been converted to an office decades ago.

"This is, unfortunately, the place you're looking for," he said, pushing the door open for her.

Gray afternoon light seeped in through the two windows, facing north and east. A massive desk was set in the corner between the windows, buried under mountains of paperwork and a computer that Dave had never seen turned on. Filing cabinets and a bookcase lined the other walls, also full of binders, boxes of loose papers, and rubber-banded stacks of mail. He was pretty sure the closet was also filled floor to ceiling, but he'd never been brave enough to look inside.

"Anything I can get you before I check on that fuse?"

 

[sandi_grl]

Dave moved past her to open the door and motioned for her to go in before her. The vaulted ceilings made it feel grander than it was, as the rooms were tight and packed in with decades of furniture, pictures lining the walls, and knickknacks taking over nearly all flat surfaces available. The place would have certainly been a dream for antique collectors and thrifters. Jessica filed the thought away as they moved through the house. In a side room, what looked to be a sitting room, there was an unlit Christmas tree. It was beautiful, yet so spiritless without the twinkling lights.

She heard the unmistakable clicking of a light switch, as Dave flicked it several times to give the dim house some light. Nothing. He tried another switch down the hall. Still no light. Had the power bill not been paid, and for how long? She also noticed that, while it was better than outside, it was fairly chilly in the house.

They made their way up the stairs, that creaked as old stairs do, to what was the office. The gray light coming through the windows did nothing to help how depressing the room felt. Stacks upon stacks of papers and folders covered what was a desk and hid a computer that looked like the one her family had when she was a child. "Oh jeez," she breathed, as she glanced over the shelves of the bookcases. She hesitantly picked up one of the stacks of mail and quickly thumbed through it, noticing several envelopes, stamped URGENT and FINAL NOTICE, unopened.

She felt like she needed a miracle if she was going to even have a chance at saving this place. "I've definitely got my work cut out for me." She looked up from the stack of mail she held in her hands and gave him a small smile. "I think I'm alright for now, but thank you."

Jess set to work on sorting through the stacks of paper that filled the desk, first transferring them to the floor before creating newer but neater piles on the desk for various categories: payroll, utilities, vet bills, and a large pile on the chair of just junk mail. She wanted to get the most recent documents she could find to see just how far in the hole this place was, and then work backwards to see where things went wrong. Was is just a mismanagement issue? Was someone embezzling money?

 

[WatchingCloud]

Dave left Jessica to the paperwork, unsure if he was relieved for her giving it attention or afraid it would only accelerate the inevitable closure of the ranch. He gave her props for not complaining or wasting time, though. Anyone who was a hard worked had his respect.

The fuse box was down in the basement, another outdated relic as they hadn't upgraded to proper circuit breakers yet. He snatched a flashlight from the hallway closet and descended to the dark, dust depths. The basement was a bigger mess than the office and he could hear the skittering of distant mice reacting to his intrusion.

Weaving his way around piles, Dave reached the box and methodically checked them over. It didn't take long to confirm his suspicion - it wasn't a fuse. The power had likely been cut off. Shit.

If it was off in the house, then his cabin would be in the same boat. More troubling, the cattles' water trough had an electric heater to keep it from freezing. He'd have to check that first thing in the morning. What else would stop working?

He gathered a box of candles and matches and returned to find Jessica already making significant progress in sorting through the mail. Beautiful and efficient. They could've used her years ago.

"No luck on getting the power back," he said. "I'm guessing we're cut off. I did bring some candles, though, and you can keep this flashlight."

He set the box in the corner by the door and out of her way. It occurred to him that her arriving this late in the afternoon meant she'd probably been told she could stay at the ranch. Many guests, from business partners to vets, had done so over the years.

"Were you planning on staying here at the ranch while doing your work? There are plenty of rooms, but without power it'll be more like camping."

 

[sandi_grl]

Jessica was so focused on trying to get through the last stack of papers before losing what was left of the light coming through the windows, she hadn't heard Dave come up the stairs. She startled as he entered the room, confirming her suspicion that the power had been cut off. She'd managed to sort the mountain of papers from the desk into several smaller, more organized piles, with the mound of junk mail that was on the chair now spilling over onto the floor. Her head was spinning with all the negative numbers, near zero balances in accounts, amounts owed for utilities and various services.

"Oh, yeah." She turned and leaned back against the large desk, stretching her arms over her head. "I mean, if that's okay with you. Mrs. Weiss had led me to believe that I could stay here, but since you're really the only one who seems to be around I figure that's kind of your decision now."

Jess pondered for a moment if staying at the house was a good idea. It was an area she didn't know, with civilization and likely any emergency help a fair distance away, with a man she'd only just met. David seemed harmless enough, though, only treating her with respect. He was easy on the eyes, too, which made staying a little more bearable in that sense, and his accent...

"What made you decide to come here from Australia?" she asked suddenly, curiosity getting the best of her.

 

[WatchingCloud]

"A long prison sentence for double murder," he said with a well practiced, straight face. After letting that hang in the air for a moment, he let her off the hook by explaining.

"See, my fiance at the time was cheating on me. On top of that, she and her lover were draining my bank accounts and then stole my identity and racked up huge debts in my name. Absolute nightmare trying to get that cleared up. What really sucked was how she got off free and clear while he only did twenty days in jail. I was so pissed, I might have done something stupid. So, I put some distance between us. Since going to the moon was impractical, this was about the best I could manage and stay in the same line of work. As a bonus, there are fewer poisonous critters here than in Australia."

He shrugged. It was far enough in the past that he seldom got upset over it any longer.

"What about you? What grievous sin did you commit to get this job?"