Chapter 23: Changes

The following Monday we did buy the ranch from Mrs. Rachel Carstairs and at the same time Pop signed over his ranch to us. And on the following Wednesday we all rode in Teresa's new Expedition to Pueblo to sign the papers to set up the corporation. We ended up spending the night in Pueblo celebrating all that had happen to us so far. We have yet to taken our honeymoon trip as we have promised ourselves.

Gary was correct we moved in two days before the end of the month. Pop and Rachel Carstairs have become quite a pair never being far form each other. I had peaked into Rachel mind while we were talking once and found out she was a very lonely women who truly enjoyed Pop's company. After that, I let the wives know and we made her feel welcome and part of the family whenever possible.

Rachel was having serious doubts about moving to Austin, Texas to be near her daughter when Pop truly changed her mind by asked her to marry him. Rachel agreed but said that they would have to wait until spring to be married. When Virginia asked why Rachel said that she got married in September and had always wished to be a June bride so this time with Pop's blessing they were waiting to June 3rd!

Much to my surprise, they were moving into Pop's ranch house because the other house was "too big". We agreed to help them when the time came. Two weeks after we moved into our new house, the time came and we moved Rachel's personal possessions to Pop's. The sly old fox.

Pop and Rachel went to Las Vegas for a week in early December. When they returned we were informed there was no need to plan for a wedding in June. Rachel's daughter was slightly miffed and was thinking of causing some sort of problem when Rachel told her if she did anything to upset Pop she would not inherit a cent in fact she would never talk to her again. Rachel muttered something about her being just like Mathew, bullheaded, self-serving and domineering. That subject was never broached again.

Brenda and I had talked to Jose about his cousin. I found out that his cousin Manual was about 10 years older and had worked on a ranch in Mexico for years and was a very experienced ranch hand. Manual's wife had died last year and he wanted to see his sons come to the states so now seemed like a good time to make the move. Manual and his two sons' turned out to be excellent ranch hands.

Brenda was in her own element and had taken to running the ranch with little or no problems. All of our ranch hands were very supportive of her and would do whatever she asked. The first time Jose did question one of her requests. Brenda listen carefully to him then explained her reasoning. The outcome was they reached a compromise and we made several thousand dollars in the process. After that, the ranch crew felt they were valued and often-offered comments that helped the ranch run much smoother.

Linda had started her own business in town. When she was researching about insurance for the Ranch she found a real void of decent agents in the area. Linda opened and Investment/Insurance Company and is doing quite well. Most of the old timers started to use her when they saw that she understood their needs and was trying to help them. Linda true to her word was also the first one of my wives to get pregnant and is looking forward to the birth of our sons. That's right we are having twins which has not happened in my family in three generations. The search for the boy's names by the wives continues. None of the other wives seem to be interested in having children right now but that may change once the boys are born.

Teresa had been working in Durango for about two months when she was accepted as a transfer student in her third semester at Colorado State University starting in the spring semester. Teresa accepted the placement, resigned and has never looked back. She does however miss the family and will continue too for another 18 months when she will graduate. Virginia and I spend a week in Denver, a week in Fort Collins with Teresa then the rest of the month on the ranch.

What can I say about Virginia; Virginia is still Virginia my first wife and has the first place in my heart! She is the ruler of all that is seen and unseen. She is the glue that makes our family work without us knowing it half the time and with our heartfelt gratitude the other half.

Well that brings up to date generally with exception of the Lab. The investigator determined that the ex-lab manager and his backers were the ones trying to buy into the lab. Once this was confirmed the problem was turned over to the corporate legal department and we have not been bothered since.