"I coulda been, but I wanted to be a cop, now you eating with me or what?"
Spade smiles as he hears a soft laugh outside the door. "Can I shower first or do you want me to smell like a goat?"
Nikkie giggles, "Do what you like, smell however you like, just don't run the horses off."
"Great, I'll have steak, eggs and coffee and I'll be ready in five minutes."
"Bullshit mister, you'll have eggs, hash browns and bacon same as me. I'll toss the coffee in for free." Nikkie is busy in the kitchen when there is a sudden loud yell from the bathroom.
"Holy shit! Hey, the damn water is like ice."
"That's right. Now you know how I knew you wouldn't be ready in five minutes. Usually takes about fifteen minutes after I take my shower."
Fifteen minutes later, a grumbling Spade comes in and sits down at the table to a cup of steaming coffee. "If this is the way you treat all your guests, I can see why you don't have much business."
"Well, you're not a guest mister. You're a ranch hand and if you don't be nice to me, I might shoot you in the ass just to hear ya bitch. Oh and by the way, you have to babysit my pooch too. I usually have to take him into town with me while I'm working. He's too little to leave outside, the eagles will grab him."
Spade finishes off four eggs and hash browns with bacon and biscuits. "Okay, bosslady, have you got a picture that you want me to go by for building a corral, or shall I just do it?"
"Tell you what, I bought enough pipe to build a hundred foot square. You look at the stuff I have out there, and you build it and I'll love it. As long as the top rail is six foot, it's however you want to do it. When I get home tonight, I'll help you anyway I can. Just remember I'm just a poor, weak, lil' ol' lady."
Spade looks at her, "Yea right, and now who is full of shit? Now I know why your eyes are brown."
They both laugh and Nikkie takes her computer out and puts it in her cruiser. Spade comes out grinning. Remember, don't come home with any holes in ya, lady."
"I'll try not to. You got the place to yourself mister, don't burn it down and I'll seeya tonight. Cell phone number is on the wall by the phone."
"Take care Nikkie, seeya tonight."
With a wave of her hand, Nikkie leaves in a cloud of dust and flying gravel. Spade walks back to the house, the little dog running in front. He stops and looks around, the sky beginning to brighten. He takes a deep breath and says to himself, "Damn Spade, this is starting to look like home."
By the time he finishes another cup of coffee, the sun is peeking over the hills to the east. He drags two bales of hay from the barn, shredding it into the feed bunk as the horses gather around sandwiching him between them. He feels lucky to escape with only getting his foot stepped on once.
Walking out to the machine shed, he looks over the huge pile of pipe, whistling, "Well, she wasn't wrong about having enough pipe." He starts the flatbed truck and backs it out. He checks the fuel tank for the big generator and looks over at the huge Miller welder sitting behind the generator. Finding two big sealed boxes of welding rod, he smiles, "Damn I think she means business."
Measuring, finding the pipe to be in twenty foot sections, Spade makes a sketch, figuring to build the corral in twenty foot panels. The pipe measures inch and a quarter, "That will make a nice corral for her horses."
Walking back to the shed, he finds another pile of pipe that is four inch. "Damn, I bet she wants that for posts and that means digging post holes and cementing them. I'm sweating harder just thinking about that. We might have to renegotiate my wages. I didn't sign on for no damn digging. I'll bitch about being sexually coerced by that nice lookin' butt and big boobies, maybe even threaten a big law suit. Maybe get some extra fringe benefits. Yea, wait till she gets home."
Looking around further in the shed, Spade finds a fishmouth cutter that makes for a neater looking weld. "Man, she thought of everything, hmmm, maybe she knows more about welding than she lets on." Further searching finds a post hole digger and a stack of quikcrete. "Aha, now I know I'm goin to bitch, too bad I gave up my union card."
Spade lays out and marks where the posts will be and works late into the afternoon, digging post holes and cutting the four inch pipe to ten foot lengths. Noting the abrasive wheel on the chop saw is about worn out. Looking around and not finding another he goes in the house to call. Dialing her cell number, it rings three times, "Hey Spade, hold on I'm writing a ticket, be right back.
Spade grins, "Hell bosslady, be nice and give'm a warning."
A few minutes later, "Okay, you got my attention slave, what's up?"
Well, you need to pick up some new fourteen inch chop saw discs for cutting pipe, then we have to renegotiate the money, cause you sexually coerced me.