As soon as he hung up the phone, Jeff knew he couldn’t make this decision on his own. He called his wife.
“Elaine, could you come out to the shop?”
“Sure,” she said. “What do you need? Should I put on coveralls?”
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“I need help, but you don’t need coveralls,” Jeff said.
“That’s mysterious,” Elaine said. “I’ll put on my windbreaker and be right out.”
“I’ll make you a coffee,” he said.
Jeff’s father, Dale, was already in the shop, drinking coffee by the Keurig machine while the Hansons’ farm employee, Mark, drank his usual flavoured cappuccino. “What’s all that about?” Dale asked. “The two of us can help you. This isn’t some kind of union coffee break.”
“Speak for yourself,” Mark joked.
“That call was from a guy from Victoria,” Jeff said. “Can you ask Mom to come out here too? She should be here when we talk about this.”
“Talk about what?” Dale’s wife Donna asked. She had just walked into the shop.
Dale looked at Mark. “She can read my mind,” he said. “That’s not always a good thing.”
“Let’s wait for Elaine,” Jeff said. He was pacing the shop. Donna took her turn at the Keurig. Mark noticed his pocket was empty and went to the cupboard for a fresh supply of dog treats.
When Elaine came in she had her windbreaker hood pulled up and her clothes were slightly damp from the light spring rain. “What’s going on out here? Is everyone all right?”
Jeff handed her the cup of coffee, then kept on pacing.
“Marv Warner phoned,” he said.
Elaine shrugged. “Who’s that?”
“Marv Warner,” Dale said, giving it some thought. “That must be one of old Jack’s sons?”
“Jack’s grandson,” Jeff said.
“Huh,” Dale said. “I haven’t thought about Marv Warner in years. It must be three decades since they moved away. Victoria, you said? I would’ve guessed old Jack moved to Calgary.”
“His grandson’s in Victoria now,” Jeff said. “Said he’s never even been out here.”
“Your Grandpa Ed and old Jack were good friends,” Dale said. “Jack had a rink in every bonspiel. A team in every softball tournament. He was a real part of the community. Jack’d be rolling in his grave if he knew his grandson never even came out to take a look at the place.”
“What did the kid want?” Mark said.
“I think he was older than me,” Jeff said. “But he was calling about that half section of land the Warners still own.”
“Don’t the Millers rent that?” Dale asked.
“Yeah,” Jeff said. “But Marv wants to sell it.”
“Where is it?” Elaine asked.
“It would be….” Dale counted in his head. “Seven miles north and five miles east of here.”
“What about Brian Miller?” Donna asked.
“Marv says the Millers don’t want to buy it.”
Mark snorted. “Bit late in the season for this conversation. We’ve had all the seed and fertilizer we need on hand for months. Brian probably does too.”
“I pointed that out,” Jeff said. “The guy’s in the middle of a tough divorce. He says his wife read an article about land prices, and the next thing he knew, her lawyer was setting up meetings to make sure she got her fair share.”
Jeff could see that Elaine had at least 18 questions and was trying to decide where to start.
“Why’s he calling you?” Elaine asked. “Why doesn’t he auction it? The way land’s been selling around here, who knows what he might be able to get?
“He’s looking for a quick sale. Said he didn’t have any time to waste. And he doesn’t want to pay any commission,” Jeff said.
Mark snorted again. “Quite the businessman,” he said. “How’d he get your number?”
“Brian thought of us,” Jeff said.
“Brian just bought a section and a half last winter,” Dale said. “That’s probably all the debt he wants right now.”
“Did he mention a price?” Donna asked.
Jeff took a breath before he answered. “Two hundred sixty a quarter,” Jeff said.
“Whoa,” Dale said.
Donna let out a loud breath. Elaine’s eyes widened. Even the cat meowed. Then they gave it a few seconds’ thought.
“Guess that’s why he’s in a rush,” Elaine said.
“He made his wife sound like someone you’d want to pay off in a hurry,” Jeff said.
“It’s not too far out of line. Not these days,” Donna ventured.
Mark started laughing. “My buddies back home in Alberta can only dream about low prices like this! And farmers in Ontario would jump at the chance.” One of the shop cats jumped up onto Mark’s lap. “Ow!” Mark yelped. “Keep those claws in. I’m just telling the truth.”
“You’re not wrong,” Dale said. “But it’s five times what we paid for land we bought just 10 years ago.”
“It’s high. But it’s probably what people are paying,” Elaine said.
“Especially for land so close to home,” Jeff said.
“And it’s good land,” Dale said.
“I know what Grandpa Ed would have said,” Elaine said.
The Hansons nodded quietly until Mark said, “Cut the suspense! What would Ed have said?”
All four Hansons spoke in unison. “They’re not making any more of it.”
Mark rolled his eyes. The two farm dogs, Buddy and Flora, banged into the shop through the pet door and ran toward the coffee table. Mark pushed the clawing cat out of his lap and offered dog treats, while the smell of wet dog wafted around.
Jeff looked to his dad. “Well?”
“I hope you’d give the Millers a fair shake,” Dale said.
“Yeah. I’d phone Brian before I did anything. Make sure he wouldn’t mind renting it for this year,” Jeff said. “Even if we wanted to seed it, I don’t know if we could get seed this late.”
“You’d have to buy seed from Brian,” Mark says.
“But does it make sense to buy another half? At these prices?” Jeff asked. “Do you think wheat prices can stay up? How high are fertilizer prices going? What about interest rates?”
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Dale said.
Dale lifted his coffee cup and made a show of downing the last few drops.
“Think I’ll go in the house and finish up some things in the basement.” He looked over at Donna. “You coming?”
Donna nodded. “We’ll leave the next generation to sort this out.”
Jeff, Elaine and Mark watched the older Hansons leave the shop. “You know how many farmers would love to have parents like that?” Mark asked.
Elaine nodded. “I married into the right family.”
Then Mark asked, “Do you guys want me to make myself scarce too?”
“You’re part of the team,” Jeff said. “Do you think we could get it all seeded and harvested? If we don’t rent it to Brian after this year?”
“Could be tight,” Mark said. “Might have to get your son into the grain cart.”
“Connor would love that,” Jeff said.
“I’ll call FCC. And the banker. So we know our loan options before we try to decide,” Elaine said.
“Yeah,” Jeff said.
“There’s one thing in your favour,” Mark said.
“What’s that?” Jeff asked.
“You’ve got a top-notch employee.”
