The Double B

By Donna Bender Hood

The second book in the Bennington Family trilogy, The Double B continues the story of Asa Bennington, his brother Charlie, and their beloved ranch the Double B. Their shared dream of the ranch and their love for their families continues to be everything to the two men. They still share adventures but not with the ease they did when they were younger. In both their minds, the future of the ranch rests with Asas two young children who may or may not have the same dream as shared by their father and their uncle.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 12, 2010
• ISBN: 9781456804428

Donna Bender Hood

Donna Bender Hood is the author of nine other books, all of which are light fiction, romance, and evildoings. Besides writing, she enjoys gardening. Donna is also a twenty-year quilter and is active in a local quilt group that raises funds for their volunteer fire department by hosting a quality outdoor quilt show every September.

Book preview

Copyright © 2010 by Donna Bender Hood.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2010916093

ISBN: Hardcover    978-1-4568-0440-4

ISBN: Softcover      978-1-4568-0441-1

ISBN: Ebook          978-1-4568-0442-8

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

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Xlibris Corporation

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Contents

Introduction: The Dream

Chapter 1:    The First Seven Years

Chapter 2:    The Big Yellow School Bus

Chapter 3:    The Long Wait

Chapter 4:    The Wild West

Chapter 5:    Less $150

Chapter 6:    Red Pinion, Arizona

Chapter 7:    The Tenth Anniversary

Chapter 8:    The Flood

Chapter 9:    Old Bones

Chapter 10:    Questions

Chapter 11:    Charlie

Chapter 12:    River’s Edge

Chapter 13:    Charlie Rides Again

Chapter 14:    Fence Mending

Chapter 15:    Senior Year

Chapter 16:    Blink of An Eye

The Epilog

Introduction

The Dream

Having survived the War Between the States, the first Asa James Bennington and his wife sold their Ohio apple farm, joined one of the last wagon trains of 1868 and headed west for California.

Four generations later, the second Asa James and his younger brother Charlie were co-owners of one of the best cattle ranches in Wyoming. From the time, they were old enough to talk about it, running the family ranch together was their dream.

Charlie had stuck to the plan. He married his college sweetheart, Molly, and brought her home to the ranch where they raised their one daughter, Catherine.

However, Asa quit college in the middle of his third year to join the USMC and to serve in Korea. After his discharge, and a short marriage, which ended tragically, Asa bummed around for a few years and then went home to take his rightful place on the ranch, the Double B.

In his late thirties, he had not expected to remarry, but he found the love of his life in Joanna Monroe, a friend of Molly’s. In the third year of their marriage, Asa and Joanna were stunned to become the parents of twins.

Chapter 1

The First Seven Years

Little Jo-Asa and Austin Bennington had just celebrated their seventh birthday. They were unaware of the changes that had occurred on the ranch in the seven years since they arrived. The ranch was just home to the twins and that home included Mom and Dad and Uncle Charlie and Aunt Molly. To a larger extent, there was Aunt Catherine and her husband Russ, friends in the community and in Arizona, and relatives in far away California.

The first major change happened when Molly suggested that the two families change houses. From the very beginning of their marriage, Molly and Charlie and eventually their daughter Catherine had lived in the old ranch house built by Asa and Charlie’s mother, Lillian. After his return to the ranch, Asa had occupied the in-law quarters attached to the old house, first to watch over his ailing father and after his father’s passing, it just seemed right he continue to live there.

Years later, when Joanna finally accepted Asa’s second proposal, Asa immediately began building a new house for just the two of them. It featured a grand master suite and bath upstairs with a wide deck that offered a fine view of the mountains to the north. The two bedrooms downstairs were for guests. It was to be their home for now and their future golden years. By the time, the unexpected twins were three, the new house that was supposed to be for Asa and Joanna’s old age did not work well for a growing family.

Charlie and Molly still lived in the old house. Their daughter, Catherine and her husband Russ had been married almost nine years, and there was no talk of grandchildren. Molly was not the kind of mother to meddle, so she asked no questions, but it did seem that Catherine was more interested in her interior decorating business, and Russ was trying his hand at politics. In fact, the Democratic Party was indicating that they thought Russ had a possible future in politics, a fact that amused both Charlie and Asa. The Bennington family had voted straight Republican since they began voting back in old Grandpa Charlie’s time.

Molly gave the house situation much thought, and one spring morning when the twins were almost three, Molly surprised Charlie when she said, I want you to talk to Asa. I think we should trade houses with them.

What the hell? was Charlie’s response, but he didn’t finish his remark because of the look on Molly’s face.

Charlie, think about it, she said. It does not look as if we are going to be grandparents any time soon. Catherine and Russ are only a few hours away, but they don’t even come visit very often. Joanna is up there in that new house which is all wrong for raising children. This old house was made for a family. You and I are just rattling around in here. Talk to Asa.

Charlie grumbled. He did not want to move. After all, his mother built this house. He had grown up in this house. Molly gave him a curious look. OK. His brother, Asa, had grown up in this house too. In fact, as the oldest brother, Asa had lived in the house two years before Charlie was born, but if you counted the time Asa lived in California, Charlie had lived in the house longer.

In the end, it was the argument that the old house was better suited for children that pushed Charlie into agreement. Uncle Charlie and Aunt Molly were more like a second set of parents. Their affection for Jo-Asa and Austin was one more thing that made the twins feel secure. The twins were unaware that most of the ranch hands would go to hell and back for them.

Another thing that was not so obvious was the state-of-the-art computer system that kept track of everything pertaining to the ranch. Now neither brother had to go out in the cold, Wyoming winter to talk business with the other although they still preferred to stand by the pasture fence, coffee mugs in hand, to discuss things. Asa knew for a fact that in the really bad weather, sometimes, Charlie was sitting in the new house at his computer desk in his pajamas in the winter and his underwear in the summer.

Asa, because of the kids and their little friends, had discovered he could not walk around in his underwear. Joanna was sorry about that. Even after nine years of marriage she still liked looking at him in his briefs or less. The passionate sex they had enjoyed before they became parents only happened on nights when the twins had a sleep over. Since Asa, in particular, was choosy about where his children spent the night, sleep overs didn’t happen very often.

Other changes included more four-wheel drive vehicles and fewer horses and fewer side arms. The sheriff didn’t call as often for Asa and Charlie to ride out in search of some lost hunter or hiker. Joanna would not let Jo-Asa or Austin skinny dip in Lake Peetee. Too many people had long-range camera lenses or didn’t always respect the no trespassing signs. Joanna suspected when it was just Austin and his dad or Uncle Charlie or some of the wranglers that skinny dipping probably did happen, but that was OK.

The ranch now had a full time foreman even though Charlie and Asa were hands-on owners. Also in support of the ranch, there was a Certified Public Accountant, an investment manager, and a computer expert. Charlie and Asa did not do as much of the vet work as in past years, but they were still good mechanics and wrung every mile out of any vehicle or motorized piece of equipment on the place. Asa no longer broke horses, but still had the touch when it came to animals.

It remained to be seen if either twin had inherited the Bennington gift, as it was called, when it came to handling animals, particularly horses. Also, neither child seemed to have the Bennington temper, which had given their father so much trouble. Asa might be the oldest father at the PTA meetings, but he could still drive a cat or a tractor with the best and his ability was widely known and respected. It was not unusual for Joanna and Molly and the two children to go on roundup, which was a far cry from the old days when Grandmother Lillian or Great Grandmother Margarita had waited at home and worried till the menfolk returned.

Jo-Asa and Austin thought they were like any other children with too many chores and not enough TV time. But they also were beginning to understand that not all children were loved as they were. They did not comprehend the ranch was prosperous, and their family was gaining in wealth. They didn’t understand that some people viewed them as having been born with silver spoons in their mouths.

The children took it as normal the fact that the family had one-hundred-year-old quilts on loan to the county museum. The quilts had been made by some long lost relative who died out on the prairie from drinking bad water. No one knew the location of her grave. Grandma Lillian, whom they never met, had started the Valley Quilters, which was now a two hundred and seventy-five member quilt guild. Aunt Molly and their mom made quilts in the old stone cottage, which they called their quilt studio.

The children were expected to do well in school and hopefully go to college. They had no idea that their parents and Uncle Charlie and Aunt Molly wondered who would take over the running of the ranch when the time came. As Joanna liked to tell Asa, Let them have their childhood.

He agreed. He loved his children with a depth that surprised him, but then that was how he loved their mother. He wanted them to have the childhood he and Charlie had shared growing up on the ranch. The ranch had been their whole world and not much had changed.

For the twins, their birthday had been a surprise. As the date came nearer, they had talked it over, as they did everything, and were sure they were each going to receive a new horse. Instead, they each received a new bicycle and books. Austin was particularly pleased with his books because they were about outer space and rocket ships.

The Friday night following the birthday, Uncle Charlie and Aunt Molly took the twins to Layton for a movie, hamburgers, and milk shakes after which they were going to spend the night at Charlie and Molly’s house. Although Asa and his brother never talked about the private things each man shared with his respective wife, they both understood the love and loving of a good woman. Charlie stressed to Asa that the kids would not be home till late Saturday morning.

Asa took the hint and considered whisking Joanna away to Lake Peetee for a little swimming and sex under the old willow tree, but late spring storm clouds sat on the tops of the mountains, and he decided his idea was poor for this time of year. As soon as the children left, Joanna said she was going to take a bath, a long bath.

Asa was vaguely disappointed and supposed a long uninterrupted, bubble bath was a treat, and Joanna deserved it, so he settled into watching the evening news. About an hour later, he knew she had returned because he heard her lock the back door and could smell the scent of her bath soap before she drifted between him and the TV, which she turned off. She was wearing a long, filmy thing that didn’t hide much.

Joanna leaned over his lap in such a way he could see everything. She understood how to make his desire rise. You do know what you are doing to me, don’t you? he asked softly.

Yes. I do. Follow me. She started down the dimly lit hallway and lead him into the in-law quarters, which nowadays were usually for guests. It had been the first place he made love to her those many years ago.

Do you remember? she asked. Indeed he did. He remembered the whole day starting with Molly collapsing on the kitchen floor and the rush to Four Corners where they met the ambulance. Charlie went with Molly in the ambulance, and Asa found himself alone in the car driving to the hospital. Turing on the radio, he heard the first weather bulletin about an early winter snowstorm that was already causing trouble in Montana and it was heading their way. That is when he realized they had all driven off and left Joanna at the ranch alone.

By the time, he arrived at the hospital and saw Molly, she had been diagnosed with a gall bladder problem and was cussing out both Charlie and Asa for leaving Joanna behind. Out in the hallway, Charlie apologized. "Molly never talks that way. They gave her a