“In what way?” Shay asked, interested.
Her eyes sparkled as she looked at Shay. “Young lady, you don’t need extra rooms on that bunkhouse of yours, from where I stand. What you need is what we’ve been doing: building two-bedroom, single-story homes nearby for the vets you’re hiring and helping. We buy a log home package of their choice, but they do the building of it on their own, free time. We’d like you to consider something along this line, but a little different: If each vet had his own home, it would go a long way toward helping them reclaim themselves. It would help them acclimate, get used to having a home, not a room in the bunkhouse. It would instill responsibility in them, give them something to be proud of, to work toward paying a monthly mortgage. It’s a psychological thing. Having a home raises a person’s confidence, makes them proud, and they grow because of it. In a good way.”
Steve added, “All our vet wranglers who have worked two years or more for us, now have their own log home on our ranch. We’re constantly expanding and building. It gives them something money can’t buy: hope, pride in ownership, and a future. Have you thought about this angle, Shay?”
She shook her head. “No, I haven’t.” She opened her hands. “I love the idea, but we can’t afford to build a house for one vet, never mind the four who are here with me right now.”
“But what if you had the funds?” Maud prodded. “Would you consider it as a possible option?”
Shay smiled a little. “Of course I would. If I had millions of dollars, there’s so much I’d love to do around here for them.” She saw Maud give her a smile. The maven of the valley was up to something. But what?
Maud sipped her coffee, took a bite of her cookie, giving them all a thoughtful look. “Okay then. What’s to stop us, on that same weekend for the arena roof completion, from building four houses as well? Steve has been calling the ranchers around the valley with the date and what your needs are. Right now, he has seventy-five volunteers. That’s a lot of muscle, and they can’t all be working on the arena roof-raising. Just not enough room. Why don’t we put them to work on something else?”
“But,” Shay broke in worriedly, “I don’t have the funds for that. I mean, I wish I did.”
“What if you did have ’em, Shay?”
She turned to Maud, feeling her heart beat harder in her chest. “Well . . . of course, it would be a great time to do something like that. If I won the lottery.”
Steve smiled over at his wife. “Shay, we’d like to donate the money it will take to build your four houses. I figured this all out the other night. We’ll provide you the funds up front. Once the homes are built, the vets who live in them can then send us a monthly mortgage payment on the house. We don’t want to loan you the money with interest attached to it. Rather, a friend-to-friend money advance. You all right with that?”
Shay gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. Her eyes went wide as she stared at Maud, who was smiling at her. “I-I don’t know what to say.” She gave Reese a stricken look, unsure. “That’s so much money . . .”
“We can’t take it with us, Shay. Steve and I want to see good things happen to good people here in this valley. You’ve worked hard and I see the changes in the Bar C coming to life here because of the wranglers you hired. You’re trying your hardest to give them a fair shake.”
Tears ran down Shay’s cheeks. “Oh . . . Maud . . . this is just overwhelming.” She wiped the tears off her face, giving the older woman a grateful look. “Th-thank you . . .”
“It’s for them”—Maud pointed at Reese—“these men and women have been sacrificing their souls for this country. It’s about darned-good-and-well time that this country did something for them!”
Reese looked into Maud’s angry-looking eyes. “Maybe you should run for president? We can use someone like you to go to D.C. and stir that political vat. Get something done.”
Maud snorted. “I wouldn’t run, Reese. I’m too blunt and honest for most folks. What I can do is help locally, and that’s why Steve and you are gonna handle all the details and finances so that Shay can also, on that same weekend, have four new homes built on her ranch.”
Reese managed a grin. “Your heart’s in the right place.” He gave them both a grateful look. “Thank you.”
“I think it’s a grand idea,” Maud said, smiling and reaching over and patting Shay’s shoulder. “So we need to enlarge the scope of this mid-July weekend to not only finishing the roof of the arena, but building four houses for Shay.”
“Looks like,” Reese agreed.
Steve said, “Shay? Just to be clear about this, if it’s all right with you, I’m going to handle the financial side of this, but we’d like Reese to handle the construction side of things.”
Shaken, Shay said, “Th-that’s doable, isn’t it Reese?”