From the main room, they passed through a clean, neat, and functional kitchen and then a dining area with a long, distressed-wood table and six dining chairs, the backs and rungs made of sturdy tree branches with the bark still on, all varnished and polished to a high shine. The chair seats were of thick tanned cowhide, each cut from a piece of the hide where the brand had been placed so that each chair carried a different brand. Ranny may have sneered at the rustic appearance of this furniture, but Laura knew the source and the price, and she revised upward her estimation of Monty's net worth. He may have given Ranny the impression that he was just a poor dirt farmer, but Laura could tell from the house and it furnishings, and from what she had been able to see of the size and condition of the moonlit ranch, that Monty was quite well-off. He just didn't feel it necessary to bring attention to that fact, again unlike some of Laura's friends in the city.
The first bedroom down the long hallway had been converted to an office. An oak roll-top desk held a computer, printer, and phone. The shelf forming the top of the desk held a dozen books, kept in place by bookends in the form of well-molded horse heads. Mostly hard cover, some books were from Monty's college days, others acquired more recently, dealing with aspects of animal husbandry, veterinary topics, and accounting practices.
The next bedroom appeared unused and was obviously a guest bedroom. Laura guessed that it had always been used as such, and probably had not had anything changed since Monty inherited the ranch. But it, like the rest of the house, appeared clean and neat. Laura wondered if Monty was really that conscientious about housework, or if he could, in fact, have someone do that work for him. She realized, with a sudden touch of jealousy, that she was wondering if he had some woman come in to do cleaning, and if that woman was young.
The master bedroom was on the far end of the house, and was much larger than the other two. It was simply furnished, with a large queen bed, the headboard and footboard made of large pine logs, the color matching the pine dresser and end tables. A hard-back book lay on one of the end table. The table lamps used bronze sculptures of cowboys on horseback as bases, and the shades were cream parchment with depictions of an assortment of ranch brands in a faint brown. The walls were adorned with several Charles Russell Western scenes, and Laura noticed that one was not a print but an original. An older house, this had been built before large walk-in closets were deemed necessary, but the closet was a lengthy one along one wall.