by Leigh Smith
"Come in and get some breakfast, Chad," Madge yelled to him.
"I don't have time," he yelled back.
"You damn well better get your butt in here," she called back.
Madge Talbot had been on Bar None Ranch since before Chad Barker was born. He knew she'd come after him with a broomstick if he didn't get his butt in the house to eat.
She set a plate in front of him and told him to eat. "Hell, if I eat all this Madge, my horse will throw me."
"Well eat what you can and sit for a minute because I have a favor to ask."
"Madge, you know you don't have to ask. Hell, you're all the family I have since Pop passed."
"Well, this is kind of a big one. You know my nephew Hank, his youngest daughter has gotten into a heap of trouble and he wants to get her out of town. She didn't break the law or anything like that, just running with the wrong bunch of kids, doing mischief. He's afraid if he doesn't rein her in, it will only get worse. She's dropped out of school, refuses to get a job, and he's at his wit's end. He asked if he could send her out here for a while."
"Madge, like I said, you don't have to ask. We've got the room, but..."
"Yeah, I know, we might be sticking our head in a hornet's nest."
Chad Thomas Barker was the only son of an only son. His grandfather had bought Bar None Ranch when he returned from the war. He didn't know much about ranching but he had hired Madge Talbot's dad, Jock, a ranch hand for the former owners. Jock Talbot and Tom Barker became fast friends and the best breeders of cutting horses in the state of Wyoming.
Tom Barker had married his high school sweetheart and brought her to the Bar None for their honeymoon. She was not happy being a ranch wife and after the birth of their son Ned, she left. Tom wouldn't allow her to take Ned with her, thinking she'd be back if she had a reason. He was wrong, she never returned. Tom hired Jock's wife as a housekeeper and she had raised her daughter Madge together with Ned. Later on, when Ned's wife died in childbirth, Madge just naturally took over raising Chad, and now she was still mothering him even though he was twenty-six years old.
Two weeks later, Meredith Anne Talbot arrived with four suitcases, a trunk and an attitude. Driving to the airport to meet her, Madge told Chad she had made up a list of rules for Mere and she wanted him to be around when she laid them out, and also to back her up.
"Of course, Madge. However, she's your niece and I don't want to interfere."
"I have a feeling you are going to be more than happy to interfere, and please don't hesitate."
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