Wrenching

Chapter 1-2

Dan wasn’t sure what specifically intrigued him about Ben Carroll’s current mechanic, but something did. The guy held his left hand in an odd way, but it was more than that. Even not bad looking…He strode out of the garage and climbed into Fred Hampton’s truck for the trip back to the ranch. Fred wasn’t one for idle chatter, so Dan had the half hour’s drive to ponder several matters that were chewing away at his peace of mind.

What was going on with his new truck? Last week, he’d had to replace the fuel pump as the original seemed to be clogged up. Now the brakes. For a near-new vehicle that was too much to be a coincidence. He could almost believe someone was tampering with his latest ride. But who and why? All his employees were long term, familiar and trusted. Most of them had worked for his dad before the old man died suddenly three years ago, leaving the ranch to Dan much sooner than he’d expected to inherit. If he could not trust them, who could he trust?

Then the next worry floated to the surface of his thoughts. Darrel, his stepbrother, was turning into a real problem. Dan suspected the kid was into drugs and probably running with a very bad set of so-called friends. A sophomore in college in Los Mercados, Darrel still came back to the ranch often, even though his mother had moved back to town after Dan Senior’s death. Dan wasn’t sure what the younger man wanted, but he hung around many weekends, sullen, surly, even bordering on hostile.

Darrel still kept a horse at the ranch and often rode off alone to be gone the better part of the day. He sometimes ate in the bunkhouse with the cowboys and more rarely had dinner with Dan in the main house, speaking only if Dan spoke first or asked him a question. Dan couldn’t figure out what Darrel wanted or why he spent so much time there when he’d always been contemptuous of the whole idea of ranching and the tedium of life some miles out of town.

Still, Dad had always expected Dan to take the younger man under his wing. “Make a man and a cowboy of him,” he’d said. Dan had tried, but it seemed his efforts were for naught.

He got along all right with Mabel, the stepmother who’d come to the ranch three years after Dan’s mother died of cancer, although she was only a few years older than he was and had brought a then twelve-year-old son with her. It was the boy who’d always been prickly, scornful, often even downright rude. Dad had shown him what Dan thought was every kindness, been totally fair and even generous to help and support him, but it didn’t seem to be enough to suit Darrel. Now all that hostility fell on Dan.

He swore under his breath as they rolled into the ranch yard. “Drop me off at the house, Fred. I’ve got to get some paperwork done, but I’ll be down to the corrals as soon as I can.”

The foreman grunted his assent and drew to a stop at the top of the curved driveway in front of the main house’s wide veranda. “Okay, boss.”

Dan climbed down and stalked into the house. At that moment, the likeness of Ben’s mechanic again flashed across his mind. What was his name? Mel? Mike? Mal? Something like that. Anyway, he had a real messed up hand, but somehow didn’t seem to let that interfere with his work. Dan had never heard anything but praise for the man’s mechanical skills during the year or so he’d been there. Ben and Dan had gone to high school together and were at least casual friends, but the somewhat younger mechanic was an unknown, a bit of an enigma or puzzle.

The young stranger had blown into town about a year ago and somehow ended up working for Ben, who’d just lost his last high school dropout helper and urgently needed a skilled mechanic. Not too many of them around Copper Canyon. Since there was only the one garage, most kids inclined to such work went off to bigger and more profitable places to ply their trade.

Not that Ben couldn’t do the work himself, but he’d confessed to Dan that the business end required more and more of his time as he slowly expanded to sell parts, gas and tires in addition to providing repair for local vehicles. He’d said the new man was a real blessing.

Dan hadn’t actually dealt with the guy before today. He found he wasn’t quite sure what to think of him. The other man seemed shy or reserved, not much of a people person, for sure. Well, most mechanics seemed to prefer tools and vehicles to dealing with the public. Greasy hands and grubby coveralls didn’t blend too well with socializing.

He huffed out a breath and went to his office to dig into the books and the latest data on improving his herd. How were the two new bulls working out and this year’s calf crop looking? Feed on the range wasn’t too great with the drought. That worried him. If he had to put out more supplement and even hay, it would cut into profits in a bad way. He might even have to reduce his stock by ten percent or more if summer rains were not early and generous.

Just what he needed was another worry about that damned truck and what was going on with it. Maybe something had just shaken loose. He’d already driven it close to ten thousand miles and many of them rough and demanding. A truck was faster than a horse to allow him to cover the wide acreage he owned and leased, but that kind of driving was hard on a vehicle.

He probably should use one of the old ranch trucks, but they were getting worn out, and breaking down miles from home was not a good alternative either. What he really needed was a full time mechanic at the ranch. The idea took him by surprise. Where would he find one, and how could he afford the luxury? But it could become a necessity the way things were going. He growled a curse as he tried to focus on the books and papers scattered across his desk.