“Retirement ain’t all it’s cracked up to be.”
“I’ve heard that.” Jack checked his watch. “Speaking of work… I have a phone conference to prepare for. Is there anything I can do for you before I take off?”
Carson shook his head. “It’s a whole lot of waitin’ around.”
“If you think of something—anything at all—call me. I say that knowing full well that you won’t.”
“You’ve already done enough if you can keep my Keely girl on an even keel throughout this.”
“She puts on a happy face for our kids but once they’re down for the night, she does a whole lot of staring into space.”
“I’m familiar with that. But I pace too, just to mix it up.”
Jack smiled. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a flask. “For when you’re missing your Irish and need a nip to get you through this last day.”
“Thanks.” Carson nestled it in the bag of magazines on the floor. “Comin’ from Mr. Moneybags, I imagine it’s higher quality stuff than Jameson.”
“Of course. Once I get you used to drinking Laphroaig you’ll never go back.”
La-froyg. Even the name sounded fancy. “Unlikely, but I appreciate the gesture.”
“Take care.” Jack paused before he turned the corner. “Keely…will swallow her pride and come see you.”
“I’d like that.” Carson studied him. “So you are here on her behalf?”
“She’s my wife, she’s miserable and it’s killing me that I can’t fix it for her.” He raked his hand through his hair. “So yeah, I have to at least try.”
Yep, his baby girl had done very well in choosing the man to spend her life with.
As he watched Jack walk away, phone to his ear, he knew the man couldn’t fathom retiring.
Funny how the years had crept up on him. One day he was a young, married man wondering how he’d support his growing family, then in the blink of an eye he was wondering how he’d spend his days because he had all this free time…
Carson, Cal and Charlie were at the Golden Boot discussing retirement after they’d handed over the reins of McKay Ranches. Casper hadn’t been invited for a celebratory beer after the stink he’d raised about being forcibly retired. Carson was glad his boys got along well, for the most part, with each other and with their cousins.
“So it will sink in at some point, right?” Cal asked. “That we don’t have to oversee what they’re doin’ on a daily basis?”
“I guess. None of us have been doin’ as much as we used to. Seems like I’ve been semi-retired for a while anyway,” Carson said.
“I hear ya.” Charlie sipped his beer. “What did Dad do in retirement?”
“It wasn’t like he officially retired. He couldn’t do the daily work after the first heart attack. Mentally he was fine, but ain’t a whole lot of ranch work that’s mental. Menial?” Carson grinned. “Hell yes.”
“After that last heart attack, he kept up with what his grandkids were doin’ as long as he didn’t have to venture too far from our place.”
“I doubt Kimi kept him entertained,” Charlie said. “So my question remains the same. What did he do all day?”
“He watched TV in his room.”