Country Kind of Love

As the morning shifted to noon Bailey was home with her folks talking to them about finances and what she could possibly sell to help save their home and Clayton’s home. Her face was flushed pink and red because well, she was flustered and upset. She didn’t know exactly how she’d even get the money so far with selling her home in the city, and any items she didn’t need she only managed to come up with 200,000. That was also only her estimate of what her things could possibly be worth.

Then it struck her. “Is the barn water tight?” She asked her brother and tapped her pen against the kitchen table. This idea that popped into her head seemed like a really good one. You see in this county there was only one Vet and he only did domestic indoor pets. He didn’t do cattle or big farm animals. Because he was after all 70 years old and almost retired. It cost the people in the town hundreds of dollars to get their cattle looked at if there was a problem because the closest vet in the county over charged them 150 dollars to just come out, and then a 75 dollar per head of cattle inspection plus if they needed medications or transport. The bills would pile up.

“Well yeah the barn is water tight, why what’s going on in that pretty little head of yours Bails?” Jake asked as he took a drink of his water.

“I’m thinking that if I upgrade the barn and get a business loan I can buy the farm and turn it into my veterinary offices. The barn sits far enough away from the house I can put up a fence between the house and the barn, and a new drive for parking and turn the barn into the office.”

“You genius!” Jake said running over and picking her up from her seat in a huge bear hug. He was overly excited.

“Farmers pay good money out these ways to take care of their animals, I remember seeing Mr. Henderson pay over a thousand dollars to do care for his heifers and his steers.” She said laughing as her brother shook her around gently in a bear hug.

“Plus I know the towns other vet is aging and slowly retiring, I heard Mrs. Grandy on the other side of us complaining about how he miss medicated her coon hound Butch, I think this town needs veterinary care and I think I’m the one to provide that!” She smiled and laughed loudly.

“You need to go tell Clayton to list this place for sale for the money he needs and we can go to the bank together.” Her mother said.

“Yes!” She kissed her mother’s cheek and walked out of the house excitedly.

Duke and Jake were hot on her heels for the half a mile walk towards Clayton’s house. She smiled seeing him fixing a hole in his fence and scolding his two steers like they were children. She couldn’t stop the smile from spreading on her lips as he talked to the bulls like they were his kids.

“You know, they’re very sorry Daddy Clayton.” She said and smiled watching him spin around to look at her and her brother. Duke barked at him which made Clayton laugh.

“How long were ya’ll standing behind me?”

“Long enough to hear you tell them you’re going to ground them?”

“Like into beef?” Jake asked.

“What? No! You know that’s not what we do with them. They’re family.” Clayton scolded lightly. “What’s up?” He asked and smiled warmly at the Cooper siblings.

“I came up with a mighty good plan to save the farm, care to sit and listen? Or work and listen?” Bailey asked him.

“I got the fence I can finish it up.” Jake said and nodded for them to go talk.

Clayton put his gloves down and took Bailey over to a swing that sat in a garden that was his mother’s pride and joy that he oh-so-manly kept up with in her memory. Bailey sat on one side of a white swing with him. “So tell me this genius idea.”

“I’m going to buy the farm from you and turn it into a business, a veterinary business for cattle and domestic pets.” She said looking at his face for any kind of reaction after a few moments of silence she groaned. “Bean come on talk to me, is it a good idea.”

“I think…. It’s a tremendous idea.” He smiled widely. “I think it’s great! The other vet in town doesn’t work with big animals and my mom was the other vet and since she passed he’s slowed down business I think it’d be great! I’ll call Mary-Anne and list the house on a private listing tomorrow, and we can go to the banks on Monday.”

Bailey grinned wide she was sure all of her teeth were showing. She cleared her throat and swung her legs in a happy way. “I’m glad you think so, because I’m going to need your help putting a fence between the barn and my parents’ house and designating a parking area. I know you took the fencing down between our farms so you’d have more land, but I’m going to need come for animals and a gate and all that. I don’t want infected animals to go over and infect yours.”

“No problem Bails, I got this, we can do that I’ll call in and reserve lumber and we will get it taken care of before anything bad happens. Do you need help with restoring the barn and maybe turning it into some exam rooms?”

“Yes that was going to be my next huge favor.”

Clayton nudged her and smiled. “So, Gloria is already in route here, she landed in the city and rented a car to come out here.”

“a car? I wonder about how far down our road she’ll get before she gets her car stuck.” She said and shook her head.

“Why won’t you give her a chance?” Clayton asked looking at her.

“I’m going to give her a chance, but until she gets here I reserve the right to be a pouty whining little child about a city girl coming into your life Bean.” Bailey said and sighed lightly. Inside it was eating her alive and outside she thought she was hiding it better than she was, but since he had taken notice of it all, she must not have been hiding it very well. Great. She’d have to work on her emotional control.

Within the week bailey had a portfolio and business plan drafted up on her laptop and printed out from her mother’s computer. “I still cannot believe ya’ll joined the digital age finally.” Bailey laughed as she fetched her papers from the printer organizing them and stapling them together.

“Well, that mighty fancy little development near the Walmart brought us a few new businesses and your father and I wanted to keep up with you and still be able to do that video web chatting thing you do with your brother.” Her mom said.

“Well it’s good, because I can use this stuff for the business too pending approval, of course.” She said smiling widely. “Tomorrow’s the big day, hopefully my credit is in line and things will be good.”

“So you’re going to Amberlyn County to their bank?”

“Yeah, to the credit union in the bigger town to the north, I feel like our little bank here won’t be able to handle a 500,000 dollar loan.” She said rubbing her neck.

“I’ve already paid off two loans and my credit is decent, I only have a little bit of student loans still out on me but it’s less than 10 thousand in student loans, because when I got my first job in the city I paid on that like every week.”

“You got this baby.” Her mother smiled.

“So while you’re in Amberlyn County you’re bringing back that new chick right?” Jake asked as he entered the office.

“Yeah, we are. That’s why I’m so, I don’t know hesitant I guess about riding up with Clayton in his truck but he’s insisting that we ride together because he wants to be there to hear the good news or the bad news.” She said weakly and rubbed her neck lightly.

“Good luck with that sis.” Jake laughed and walked out of the room laughing. Bailey huffed out lightly and rubbed her neck. Yeah good luck Bailey.
Bailey was running around the house making sure she had everything double checking her hair in every mirror in her parents’ house before she heard the horn. “Wish me luck!” She shouted to her family as she walked down the steps towards the blue Chevy four door truck, she’d ride up front the way there and gladly in the back on the way back.

“Are you excited for this?” Clayton asked instantly as they headed for the main highway towards Amberlyn County.

“No.” Was the only answer she gave.

Bailey was a completely different person while she was nervous. The outgoing and funny girl got quiet and very reserved. The look on her face alone was enough to warn that she was deep in thought and ready to have a slight breakdown. Nothing she couldn’t really handle though.

The 2 and a half hour drive seemed like it didn’t take that long as she got out at the bank she leaned against the open window. “I’ll call you when I’m out.” She smiled and winked. “Go get her cowboy.” She pat the door panel and walked off into the bank.

The nerve wrecking parts was the waiting sitting there in the little chair waiting for her name to be called so she could go into the office and sit in yet another chair and let a person judge her whole life on a computer screen. A huge breath in and she smiled at him when he walked up and held his hand out to shake her hand. “You must be Miss Cooper.”

“I am, you must be Mr. Graham.” Bailey shook his hand firmly trying to look as confident as possible even if she was actually not and freaking out slightly . . . only slightly.

Through the course of nearly a 2 and a half hour meeting they finally got down to the moment that Bailey was nervous, excited and worried for.

“Well Miss Cooper, your credit is flawless and you really have made quite the dent in paying back those student loans and you’ve completed a bank loan for an automobile?” The man started as he looked between her and the computer screen that Bailey was almost trying to look at.

“We can approve this business loan, from this plan it looks like it will profit you and our bank.” The man said Bailey felt her heart leap into her throat. Did she just get approved?

“There is one issue, the amount is a little bit high for what you want, and why is it so high?”

Just like that she felt her heart break because she figured that issue was going to be a deal breaker for the bank.

“Well the land I’m trying to buy is for sale for 450 thousand but I need that extra 100 to do updates to the barn, fencing and stuff like that to make it suitable for the animals I’d be taking care of.” She said trying to sound as professional as possible. The Man smiled a little and then stood up.

“I’ll go talk with my bank supervisor, give me just a moment.” The man walked out leaving bailey in there alone with her thoughts. She sighed heavily and rubbed her face lightly thankfully she was wearing little to no makeup on her face. She sighed heavily looking at her lap hands very shaky.

After what seemed like hours the man walked back in with a cheerful smile upon his face and held his hand out to her. “Miss Cooper you’ve got yourself a loan, we can cut the check now and then we will get things all settled and done with.” He said. “You’re looking at monthly payments of 1200 dollars.”

Bailey nodded her head. She’d find a way to keep that paid because there was no way in hell she’d let this fall through she’d work her little ass right off to make sure things got done. She called Clayton when she was sat outside the Bank on a bench leaving a message she sighed.

“Hey Bean, call me back. I’m ready to be picked up whenever you can.”

That message was left at 4pm. When the bank closed at 5pm she was still sat outside the bank her purse in her lap and her hair that was down and nice was tied up. 6pm came and went she called again, and once more got no answer. Had something happened? She became worried when 7:30pm came and the sun started to set she huffed and called her brother to come get her. She didn’t know what happened to Clayton but once Jake got her she slammed the car door shut and buckled up.

“Clayton ditched you? That doesn’t sound like him.” Jake said frowning.

“I don’t even want to hear his name Jake, he told me to call him when I was done and he’d come get me. He left me sitting here!” She ranted the whole 2 and a half hours home. They made it home by 11pm and she walked inside.

“I got the loan and once I pay this I want a 12 foot brick wall between the farms.” She said and walked upstairs slamming her door closed. Bailey was going to hold this over his head forever, but what she really wanted to know was what happened. She was betting it was something to do with Gloria.