"No, I haven't had time yet. Those are from the bakery department at the store. But I'll have a treat baked tonight. And I'm putting beef stew in the oven."
"Beef stew. That's one of my favorites; you found the way to my heart."
Jessie laughed and shook her head at him.
"Okay, I should get back to it." Brady took his dishes to the sink and rinsed them. "Need any help in here?"
"No, I'm going to put the stew together and get it in the oven before I go outside. Go fix the fence."
Brady gave her a little salute. "Yes, ma'am!"
* * *
Riding the four-wheeler back to the far end of the pasture, Brady reflected that things would go much more smoothly if he could keep Jessie busy with projects that she was interested in. He knew there would be stormy times coming and he figured anything he could do to lessen the battles would be worth it. Jake had been clear about the reactions Brady could expect from his sister, and so far, his predictions had been right on the money. Finally, he thought, face that bridge when you come to it. It was time to get to work.
Chapter 4
A couple of days later, Brady fastened the last piece of chicken wire to the frame of the chicken coop. Jessie was watering her newly planted garden with a fine spray from the garden hose and keeping a watchful eye on Indy, who had already tried to dig a hole in the temptingly soft dirt of the garden. But, like many Aussies, she took scolding to heart and remembered the lesson.
"Hey, Jess," Brady called. "You're ready for chickens."
Jessie squealed and dropped the water hose. She hurried over to the barn, nearly jumping up and down with excitement. Brady laughed at her. She inspected every part of the chicken coop. There was a ramp up to a framed opening into the barn, where the other half of the coop was inside the shelter of the building. There were half a dozen nesting boxes bedded with fresh straw and fine gravel on the floor, inside and out.
"What kind of chickens are you going to buy?"
"I already checked them out. The Deckers have some good quality laying hens for sale, already of egg producing age. They're a little more expensive, but I'll have eggs right away. So that's what I want. And they sell feed too, so I'll get that from them."
"Okay. How about crates?"
"They've got crates I can borrow to bring the hens home, then I can return them the next day."
"Sounds like you're prepared. Want to go get them now?"
"Yes! Just let me go call the Deckers and make sure it's a good time."
Jessie got the go-ahead from Marge Decker and she put Indy in her crate. She chattered all the way to the Deckers' farm, making Brady chuckle at her excitement.
"I can't wait to make a quiche out of my own eggs, eggs I take out from under my own chickens."
Brady's expression was comical. "Quiche?"
"Don't worry; you'll love it. And while I was working in the garden, I found an asparagus patch. I cleared out all the weeds around it and we'll have fresh asparagus for the quiche before we know it."
"Asparagus quiche?"
Jessie laughed at him. "Like I said, you'll love it."
An hour later, they were putting a dozen laying hens in the newly built chicken coop. They clucked and squawked, examining their new surroundings. Jessie went to the house and got her puppy, laughing until she cried watching Indy's reaction to the strange creatures running around the chicken coop. Finally, the little dog just lay down, watching the chickens with rapt fascination. Every time one of the birds headed in her direction, the puppy's head shot up and she trembled, ready to run.
Finally, they went to the house for a sandwich. Brady said, "I'm going to drive into town and do some errands. I'll talk to the feed dealer about feed for the cattle and see if I can get some names for making your hay. I'll take my turn cooking tonight. I'm ready to try out that new grill."
"What are you going to grill? Do I need to get some meat out of the freezer?"
"Nope. I'll take care of it. Now, if you want to bake something, I wouldn't argue with you."
Jessie laughed and said, "You've got a deal."
While Brady was gone, Jessie baked an apple pie. After she took it out of the oven and set it on a cooling rack, she had to go out to see her chickens again. Indy was a little braver this time, and she seemed to realize that the chickens were trapped in the pen. She crept closer to the chicken coop, stretching out to sniff at the pen. When one of the chickens suddenly squawked and flapped toward the puppy, she yelped and ran.
Brady was gone for several hours, and when he got back, he carried in a grocery bag and an envelope. He took a deep breath, inhaling the aroma of freshly baked apple pie.
"Wow! That smells amazing."
Jessie smiled. "It's one of my specialties. I hope you like it."
"Honey, I can guarantee you right now, I'll love it." Brady set the bag on the table and pulled out a bag of salad, two large baking potatoes, a couple jars of seasoning, a pound of butter, and a container of sour cream, followed by a sizable butcher-wrapped package of steaks.
"And here's one of my specialties."
"Wow, that's making me hungry!" Jessie was impressed.
"I hope you have aluminum foil. I didn't think of getting that. I'll put the potatoes in the oven."
"I do. And I'll turn on the oven."
Jessie handed him the foil and put the salad and steaks in the refrigerator. Brady washed the potatoes and then rubbed them with butter and sprinkled them all over with coarse sea salt, one of the seasonings he had bought. Jessie watched him, fascinated, as he wrapped the potatoes in the foil, careful not to dislodge the sea salt.
"This really is your specialty, isn't it?"
"Yep. It's my impress-a-girl meal."
Jessie felt a little ripple of heat low in her belly and remembered vividly the first time she had laid eyes on Brady. Then, shocked at herself, she pushed the thought away. This guy was like a brother to her brother. It would be weird to be attracted to him.
* * *
And Brady was wondering what on earth he had been thinking when he made that remark. She was Jake's sister. That made her kind of like his sister. He blew out a breath and turned to put the potatoes in the oven.
He cleared his throat and said, "We'll give that an hour and then I'll light the grill and season the steaks. I didn't know what kind of salad dressing you liked."
"I like to make my own Italian vinaigrette. I'll do that. And I have a nice tomato to add to the salad."
"Sounds good. I don't think I've ever had homemade salad dressing before."
"Well, then, you're in for a treat."
"I sure am." There was a sudden silence, and Brady said hastily, "The apple pie. It's going to be a real treat."
Jessie was feeling a rush of heat in her groin and she said weakly, "I think I'll go check on my chickens."
"Okay. I'll be out in a minute."
Jessie walked out with Indy trailing behind her, and Brady said out loud, "Brady! You idiot, what the hell are you thinking? She's still grieving for her brother. She's not interested in you; she just wants to get the ranch going for Jake. She'll hate you forever if you come on to her. Keep your dick in your pants and knock it off. She's the same as a sister. Don't forget it."
Outside, Jessie was sitting in the grass next to the chicken coop alternating between talking to the chickens and playing with Indy. Brady had to laugh at her, she was so much like a little kid.
"Is she still scared of the chickens?"
Jessie said, "Not so much, but she's really fascinated by them. They've been in and out of the barn and they're okay with the ramp and the door. And several of them are up in the nesting boxes. I don't know if they're actually doing anything there or just checking it out."
"Morning is the most typical time to find eggs, but who knows? It doesn't hurt to check."
"I'll wait until morning. I don't want them to be stressed. They just moved to a new home and they seem to be okay with it, so I'll stick with their routine."<
br />
"How can you tell if a chicken is stressed?"
"Well, they…you're making fun of me." Jessie stuck her lip out in a pout.
"No, not really. I just never really thought about the psyche of a chicken. Do they have chicken psychologists?"
Now Jessie was laughing at him. "Smart ass. I'll bet when you bring the cows here, you'll want to keep them from getting stressed."
"Hey, I can make sure they're properly fed and housed, but they're on their own as far as facing their childhood traumas."
She laughed harder. "Well, you can make fun all you want, but I'm going to keep my chickens comfortable. Happy chickens mean lots of eggs."
"I like eggs. Be happy, chickens."
Jessie stuck her tongue out at him and turned her attention back to the chickens. Brady shook his head just a little and marveled at the way she didn't seem to realize just how sexy she really was. He swallowed hard and realized that his job was going to be more complicated than he had expected. How could he feel so protective toward her, like he would a little sister, and want to jump her bones so badly at the same time? He decided he'd better try to pick up his work pace even more. If he was too tired at the end of the day to think about things like how her eyes widened and her tongue touched her top lip when she got excited about something, then…yeah, that was going to work, all right.
"We've still got about a half hour until time to light the grill," Brady said. "Want a beer?"
"Sure, that sounds good."
"I'll be right back."
Brady went after the beer, and she walked over to the patio behind the house where there were a table and chairs and the new grill. They both sat down, and Jessie asked him about the envelope he had brought home along with the dinner supplies.
"I got prices on the feed for the cattle, specifically the grain combinations we need and some names of guys who make hay. I talked to two of them, and they're coming out tomorrow, one in the morning and the other later in the day, to look at the hayfield. I got a deal on renting an augur to dig the postholes for the second pasture. That one will be divided into two so you can separate the cows and eventually have a bull. And prices on the rest of the fencing supplies."
"Wow, you were busy."
"Yeah, there's a lot to do. And down the road, there'll be a lot more, but since you're starting small, you can take that slow too. Nobody starts out with everything they'll ever need. Breeding cattle is a long term thing."
Jessie was suddenly feeling overwhelmed. "How am I ever going to learn everything I need to know? There's so much."
Brady looked at her calmly. "You grow into that too. There are plenty of people who read every book they could get their hands on and figured they knew it all before they started out, then fell flat on their faces when they had no idea how to handle the day to day work. You're never going to know it all; you'll keep learning new things as long as you stay in this business."
"I don't know if that makes me feel better or worse."
"Don't worry; everybody makes mistakes. It's part of life. You just don't make the same one twice, and you'll be fine."
Jessie took a deep breath. "I have to say, I'm really glad right now that you're leading the way on this. It makes me even more sure that I could never have done it myself."
"Then we'd better drink to Jake. He was smart enough to set this up."
They clinked the necks of their bottles together and drank. "So what did the feed prices look like?"
"I think it's a fair price. It'll fluctuate sometimes, depending on production. I have another grain mill to visit, but I honestly don't think they can do any better. It's worth checking out, though, just to be sure."
"Sounds sensible," Jessie murmured.
"I'll go do that on Monday. Nobody is open on Sunday around here."
"We won't be working on Sunday either, except to take care of livestock. Sunday is a day of rest, or worship if that's your thing. I kind of like the little church in town."
Brady sat back and said, "My mom loved going to church on Sunday. Dad griped about it every week, but we still got dressed nice and went. I've got nothing against Sunday church."
Jessie gave him one of her luminous smiles. "Good. Jake used to bitch about it too, but he went most of the time."
Brady reflected that he could make use of the time in church to ask God to strengthen him against that smile of hers. It made him a little weak in the knees whenever she turned it on him. Well, that would change as soon as he laid the law down to her the first time.
"You still have both your parents, right, Brady?" Jessie asked.
"I do. I'm lucky with that. My sister married a local guy and still lives near them."
"Wyoming?"
"That's right. They keep a hundred fifty head of Black Angus, and they have three top quality bulls. They also use artificial insemination when needed."
"What was it like, growing up, for you?"
"Becca and I learned to work from the time we were little kids. We got plenty of playtime too, but it came after work. It was a typical ranch, a lot of hard work and good family time. Becca would get frustrated because she had to learn to run a house, cook and clean and shop for a family, and she'd rather be out working with the livestock. So now and then, Mom would cut her loose, usually after she accomplished something in the house. That's when she was the happiest, and she could handle a horse and move cows with the best of us. Dad had two cowhands most of the time. There was a little living space added on to the big barn where they stayed."
"What were your parents like?"
"Tough but fair. Dad wouldn't hesitate to pull off his belt when we needed it. Thankfully, it wasn't too often. And Mom would make us go cut our own switches. And we'd better bring back a good one. Although she also had a heavy duty wooden spoon that would serve the same purpose."
Jessie laughed. "Jake took a switch to me once. I was twelve, and I decided that I was grown up and didn't have to listen to him anymore. With Dad being sick, Jake was the one who rode herd on me most of the time. Anyway, he caught me out behind the barn smoking, and he'd had enough. He went and cut a hickory switch and laid into me good. I told him I hated him and he said since I hated him anyway, he might as well make it memorable. So he whipped my butt good. That was the first and last time it ever happened. And I only hated him for a day or two."
"Bet you never smoked again either, did you?"
"Nope. I've never touched another cigarette. So what does your sister do now? Is she a ranch wife like your mom?"
"No, Becca married a veterinarian and she works with him now. She's still working on becoming a vet herself, but she'll be done in another year or so."
"Wow." Jessie was impressed. "She really did like working with animals better than keeping house."
Brady grinned. "She does. She and her husband, Tim, share all the housekeeping chores."
"I like working outside too, but I think I'm a little more domestic than she is. I honestly enjoy cooking and gardening and keeping a nice house. Maybe someday…" Her words drifted off and she looked pensive.
"I take it you don't have a special man in your life?"
"No, I dated a little before we moved out here, but there was nobody really special. And so far, I haven't met anybody really interesting here. There's one guy who would like to be special to me, but I have no interest in him. He never quits trying."
"Who's that?" Brady had tensed a little.
"His name is Dan Whitman. He's very persistent, and I've told him over and over that it's never going to happen."
"If he bothers you, point him out to me and I'll take care of him."
Jessie laughed. "Whoa, down, boy! You sound like Jake. He's harmless; he's just a pest."
"Consider the offer still open."
"I'll keep it in mind."
"You do that. And now I'm going to light the grill and go season those steaks."
"Okay, I'll go take care of the salad and dressing."
Their dinner was deli
cious, and they finished off with apple pie and ice cream washed down with glasses of ice cold milk. Jessie offered to make coffee, but she never drank it at night and Brady preferred the milk. They cleaned up the kitchen together and settled down on the front porch swing afterward. The sky was clear and full of stars, and Jessie turned on some music they could hear from the living room softly enough so they could talk. Jessie was still fascinated by Brady's family and peppered him with questions about growing up in a real family.
"My mom plays the piano for church and we always had music at home. Dad picks a guitar and Becca plays the fiddle. I'm the only one lacking musical talent, but I can still sing a little."
"Sing something for me." Jessie smiled at him.
Brady grinned at her and launched into a bawdy, outrageous song that made her laugh. "That was from the military days," he said with a wink.
"I figured. You have a nice voice, though. Don't sing that in church."
Brady snorted. "My mom would probably hear about it and come kick my ass."
"Your mom sounds like someone I'd like."
"She'd like you."
There was a moment of silence under the stars. Jessie picked up her sleepy puppy and held her in her lap. Brady began to sing Amazing Grace and Jessie sighed in appreciation. They were both quiet as the old hymn ended.
"I think that's a good way to end the day," Jessie said. "It's time to take this tired puppy and get some sleep. Dinner was delicious; your mom would have been proud."
He smiled and said, "More likely, she'd tell me that if I could manage to make one meal, there's no reason I couldn't handle others. Next thing I know, she'd have me in the kitchen every day."
Jessie chuckled and got to her feet. "Good night, Brady."
"Night, Jess. I'll lock up."
Chapter 5
The next week slipped by, busy with work. Jessie and Brady had some heated words about Brady making an agreement with one of the farmers to make their hay.
Jessie’s Dusty Dreams Page 4
