“Lunch time was two hours ago,” Alice quipped and then playfully punched his arm as she bagged up her supplies. “But, lucky you, I had Julia bring back some barbeque sandwiches from Sheffield.” She eyed Julia in hope and her face sank at what she saw. “You remembered, right?”
Julia nodded begrudgingly, but then she gave an excited smile. “I brought lunch…” She hesitated. “But not barbecue.”
“Oh?” Alice’s brow rose.
“Have you seen that place?” Julia asked. “The parking lot is made of shredded rubber tires.”
“And?” Graham asked.
The woman’s brown eyes widened as her turquoise earrings dangled. “And that’s disgusting. And the door was a screen door. Barely on the hinges.”
“It’s an old building,” Graham defended. “Everyone knows the best barbecue is in Sheffield.”
“Well, I found someplace better.” Julia turned on her heel and stalked towards her car, her ankles wobbling on the unstable ground due to her heels.
“She would drive a sporty little death trap,” Graham mumbled.
“Be nice,” Alice whispered back. “She’s not from around here.”
“No kidding?” Sarcastically, he looked down at Alice and her narrowed gaze told him she was seriously thinking about beating him up already. “What’s she doing here, Alice?”
“She’s going to stay with me a few weeks.”
“Why? Runnin’ from somethin’?”
“No.”
“That type of woman… coming to Parks. She’s definitely runnin’ from somethin’. Why else would she come here?”
“Because I asked her to.” Alice’s annoyed tone had him glancing down at her.
“I see.”
“Don’t ‘I see’, me.” Alice pointed her finger up at him. “Be nice for once. She’s doing me a favor.”
“Gates are all secure.” Clint, another Hastings brother walked up, slapping his hat on his leg to shake the dust out, and then plopped it back onto his sweaty hair. “Lawrence took the horses back to the barn. Said he’d be up here after. I’m starving. Where’s lunch?” He looked to Alice and she nodded towards Julia leaning halfway into her back seat to retrieve a large red cooler. Clint grinned and accepted the slap to the chest Alice gave him for checking out her friend. “I do believe I need to be a gentleman.” He hurried towards Julia’s car and flashed his devilishly handsome smile, hat in hand, as he offered to carry the cooler towards the back of Alice’s truck. When he opened the lid, his smile fell. “What is this?”
Julia beamed as she reached into the cooler. “There was this charming little sandwich shop in Sheffield, sort of off the beaten path. Their menu was to die for, so I ordered one of everything. Here.” She handed him a deli wrapped sandwich.
He opened it, and his brow furrowed as he thumbed the bread down with dirty fingers to look inside the edge. “Where’s the meat?”
Julia continued smiling and gave an encouraging nod. “It’s vegan.”
Graham’s snort had Julia nervously glancing his direction.
“But just as filling,” she continued. “That one is roasted chickpeas. Great protein,” she recited to Clint. “And you can have…” She fished around inside the cooler and pulled another sandwich out. “This one.” She handed it to Graham.
He unwrapped it. “Avocado?”
She nodded.
He tossed the sandwich onto the bed of the truck. “If I wanted mushy avocado, I’d make myself some guacamole.” He stormed off towards his truck. “I’ll be at the house, eatin’ a real sandwich.” Slamming his door, he made sure to cast one last disapproving glare towards Alice’s friend. “Avocado,” he muttered in disbelief. “Over my dead body.”
“Well, that didn’t go well.” Julia closed the lid to the cooler as the group of weary, hungry cowboys dragged their feet towards their trucks.
“They all ate. That’s the important thing.” Alice closed her tailgate and smirked as she studied Julia watching the Hastings brothers walk away. “Not a bad picture, is it?”
“Hm?” Julia turned and then rolled her eyes. “Please. They’re covered in dirt, sweat, and cow manure, and I’m pretty sure half of them haven’t seen a shower and a shave in months.”
Alice shrugged. “Hard work requires a little dirt. Why don’t you follow me up towards the house? I want to make sure Graham took something for his hand.”
“I don’t think I need to be anywhere near that man. He’d probably kill me.”
“Yeah. Probably. But won’t that be fun?” Alice chuckled as she hopped into her truck and gunned the engine with the full expectation that Julia would follow along behind her.
They didn’t have to drive far. A few miles down the gravel road sat a large, wood-framed house with wrap around porch. Surprisingly, it looked pristine. White with navy shutters, a welcoming red door, and gorgeous flowers gracing its beds. When she pulled up towards the front and parked next to Alice, she watched as an orange tabby cat lazily draped itself over the porch banister, its tail twitching in welcome as Alice began to climb the few steps leading to the front door. Julia brushed her hand over its soft fur and smiled as it purred, rising to its feet to give a long stretch before jumping to the porch and winding around her ankles. Alice opened the screen door and tapped her knuckles on the front door before turning the knob and letting herself inside. “Graham!” she yelled, Julia cringing at the piercing twang.
Stomps on stairs carried from the other room and the tall man stepped into the room. He’d showered, his hair still damp, and slightly curling behind his ears and across his forehead. He was clean shaven, his jaw firm and defined, giving him an edge even when relaxed. His eyes, a deep blue, narrowed when they landed on Julia and his face turned sour. “What now?” he asked.
“Calm your tatas.” Alice pointed to his hand. “You take something for the pain yet?”
“No. I don’t need to.”
“Yes, you do,” Alice ordered.
“It’s nothing I can’t handle.”
“Tough guy, huh?” She reached forward and squeezed his hand a few inches above her stitches. He hissed and growled like an angry bear, his eyes sparking tamed fury. “Right. So here we go.” Alice butted past him into the kitchen and opened the far cabinet. Her familiarity with the place intrigued Julia, considering her friend had never mentioned the ranch or the lineup of handsome men she seemed so familiar with. Julia felt the heat of his stare before she even looked his direction. When she did, Julia met Graham’s gaze straight on.
“I’d listen to her if I were you,” she told him. “or she’ll pester you for hours.”
Her comment caused a twitch in his lips before he grew serious again, the small change in expression so fleeting she already questioned whether or not it’d actually happened.
“Alice has always been a stubborn—”
“Lady,” Alice finished for him, shoving a glass of water in his good hand and holding two pain killers in her open palm for him to take.
“Right. Lady.” Graham tossed back the pills and took a long gulp of water to wash them down. “Happy now?”
“Yes. For now. I’ll be back by tomorrow to check for infection.”
“It’s fine, Al. Leave it be. Besides, we’ve got to move the cows and calves out to pasture.” He froze, his face turning serious as he glanced at his watch. He stormed to the front door and yanked it open. “Lawrence! Hayes!”
His brother Seth poked his head around the side of the house, a water hose in his hand. “What’s up?”
“Not you,” Graham told him. “Where are the others?”
“The barn. Why?”
“Y’all pair up those calves?”
“Lawrence was going to do that here in a bit, I believe.”
“Well he can’t do it alone.” Graham stormed back into the house and grabbed his boots by the door and flopped into a chair at the small dining table.
“Graham, the others can handle pairing the calves,” Alice stated calmly. �
��I’ll even swing by the barn to remind them. If they haven’t already done it, which I’m sure they have.”
“I better check. Where’d you put that clipboard?”
“Lawrence has it.”
Graham nodded as he fitted the last of his boots on and stood. He wore a pair of clean jeans and white undershirt that seemed too bright considering the work he’d been doing earlier. Julia wondered if it was new or just washed in straight bleach day after day. Probably the latter, she mused. When he stood, he towered over both women, and Julia couldn’t help the female response of measuring him up from his boots all the way to his unruly hair. He was a sight, and a delicious one at that, if she were being honest. But the hard set of the jaw carried into his shoulders and she wondered if the man ever truly relaxed. He opened the door as the other three brothers that’d helped at the pens were clearing the front steps.
“We got’em, Graham.” Lawrence, Julia assumed, answered before the question was asked. He handed the clipboard to Graham. “All paired off and are doing fine.”
“Good.”
Lawrence slipped his hat off his head and held a hand towards Julia. “I apologize, ma’am, for not introducing myself earlier. I’m Lawrence. Lawrence Hastings. Thank you for that… delicious lunch earlier.”
Julia grinned and accepted his hand, knowing he’d suffered through his sandwich like the others. But she thought it sweet that he’d try to smooth over the debacle.
“Julia McComas.”
“Nice to meet you.” Lawrence placed his hat back on his head as Hayes introduced himself in the same manner. Clint, having already tried to charm her by helping lift her cooler earlier, just stood to the side and openly checked her out.
“Where’s Cal?” Graham asked.
“Over in the east pasture still. On the dozer,” Hayes replied.
“Good. Maybe one of us can get a full day’s work in. You talk to Philip yet?”
“No.” Lawrence took the question. “He’s on my list. I gotta go into town tomorrow so I figured I’d swing by the feed store then.”
“Fine,” Graham agreed. “Just make sure it’s about ten tons. He should be able to bulk order that for us.”
“I know,” Lawrence replied, challenging his older brother’s hard stare.
Surprisingly, Graham moved on. “Tomorrow morning, we’ll start bustling them out of the trap. Seth driving the feed truck. Rest of us on horseback.”
“Got it.” Hayes nodded as he listened.
“Calvin can finish up the east pasture. We should be able to handle the cows ourselves.”
“Got it,” Hayes repeated. “Now can we go eat something. I’m starving.” His face blanched as he realized he let his comment slip in front of Julia. A pink tinge colored his cheeks as he cleared his throat and mumbled something about a shower first.
Julia bit back a smile. She was sorry to have disappointed them all, but she loved the way they attempted to wash over the incident. It was charming, in an odd way. All of them but Graham. He just seemed to boss everyone around. “I’m sorry I didn’t buy the barbecue.”
“Oh, it’s alright, ma’am.” Hayes, still embarrassed by his slip up, took a step down the steps. “We appreciate you feeding us anyway.”
“As you should,” Alice agreed. “Now, I’m taking my friend to the bustling town of Parks and introducing her to Sloppy’s steak tonight. Any of you want to join us for supper later, come on by.”
“Steak?” Seth’s head whipped around the side of the house.
“Nosey.” Alice grinned. “Yes. We’ll be there at six.”
“We’re busy,” Graham reported, and all the brothers looked at him as if he were crazy. “And we have an early morning tomorrow since we weren’t able to finish up today.”
Alice rolled her eyes. “It’s three in the afternoon, Graham. Take a nap.”
Lawrence bit back a grin. “Steak sounds good. Count me in.”
Defying his brother seemed to please Lawrence more than the promise of steak. Julia watched as he winked towards Graham and accepted the harsh glare in response with a wide grin of his own.
“You can stay at home and rest that hand,” Alice told him. “Wouldn’t hurt to put another dose of antibiotic ointment on there tonight.”
“I know how to take care of a cut,” Graham mumbled.
“Right.” Clint guffawed. “Like that time you almost lost your foot. You did a real good job taking care of “a cut” then.”
The other brothers grinned as Graham silently took their teasing.
Alice issued a reassuring pat on his shoulder. “We’ll have a beer in your honor, sour puss.”
“That I will,” Clint agreed. “But I gotta go take care of myself if I’m to be in on makin’ an appearance in town.” He held his dirty shirt away from his body and brushed away a few crusty crumbs of dried manure. Julia’s nose curled as she watched the dark speckles land on the clean floor.
“Might want to shave that face too.” Alice rubbed her hand over his rough exterior. “Poor Julia thought she’d stumbled upon a bunch of cavemen.”
Clint rubbed his jaw, and Julia noticed the other three brothers do the same, as though they hadn’t even considered their unruly beards an eyesore. Graham was the only bare face in the bunch, and something told Julia he was the only one who kept his face clean.
“Been awhile since we’ve been to town,” Hayes defended. “Not even to church. Hadn’t had much of a reason to shave.”
“Well, now you do. If you want to be seen in public with Julia and me, you need to look the part of a gentleman.”
“Scolding us is her spiritual gift,” Seth whispered to Julia and accepted the punch to his shoulder in good humor as Alice motioned towards the door.
“Come on, Julia. Let’s leave these brutes to their clean up duty. Six ‘o clock. Sloppy’s,” she repeated to them. “Don’t be late or you’ll miss your chance of buying Julia her first drink in Parks.”
Lawrence reached and opened the door for the women as they made their way towards their separate vehicles. Julia climbed into her little red Honda and shut the door.
“She’s a pretty thing, isn’t she?” Lawrence commented as they all waved to send the ladies off.
“Pretty?” Seth whistled. “Did you see those legs?”
“I saw them first,” Clint said.
“No way, man. I’m the one who saved her from the cow. Dibs.”
Lawrence shook his head on a laugh. “Something tells me Ms. Julia doesn’t have time for ol’ rednecks like us. Right, Graham?”
Graham grunted as he stalked over to the refrigerator and grabbed himself a beer.
Clapping his hands together, Hayes stepped towards the door. “Whether I got a shot with the beautiful new face or not doesn’t matter. I’m going to get myself cleaned up so I can enjoy a tantalizing evening with a big, juicy steak. See you losers later.” He hustled down the steps towards his truck and encouraged a mass exodus of the remaining brothers as they all left Graham standing on the porch, hungry, annoyed, and sore.
∾
He had to admit he was a bit annoyed to be sitting at home while his brothers were to indulge in a nice meal in town. He watched as they headed to Parks, no doubt dressed in their best shirts and boots to impress Julia. He walked over to the refrigerator and rummaged inside for something to scrounge up for dinner. He could have sworn he’d had enough leftover spaghetti to last him a couple days. Growling, he knew the culprit who’d raided his refrigerator. Calvin. Guess he couldn’t blame his brother for sneaking in and grabbing a bite to eat. He’d been working hard on the dozer most of the day clearing the fence line in the east pasture. Work that would drive Graham nuts, being contained on a piece of machinery all day. However, that put him at a disadvantage for dinner. Like his brothers, he hadn’t ventured to town in a couple of weeks and groceries were slim. He’d finished off his last beer when Alice was still here, and he had a choice of a tomato sandwich, a jar of pickles, or he needed to make a trip t
o town for groceries. Or a steak. Which, when he thought about it, had his stomach grumbling in its favor. His pride could suffer an evening with Alice and Julia if it meant his stomach would be full.
It took all but five minutes for him to find a clean button up shirt and slip his boots on. He wasn’t about to primp for Julia like his brothers had. He’d wear what he had. Yes, his boots were a bit dirty, but it was just Sloppy’s. He’d be shocked if Julia would even step foot inside the building after her reaction to the barbecue joint in Sheffield. Reaching for his keys, he walked out of the house and ran a hand down the back of Curly, his cat, and headed to his truck.
The twenty miles into Parks never seemed like enough time for him to brace himself for socialization. He hated making trips to town, even if it was to grab a good meal with family and friends. He liked his secluded life on the ranch. No visitors unless he planned for them. No gossipers. No pretty women from out of town. Usually, anyway. He pulled into the parking lot of Sloppy’s and spotted Alice’s truck, Hayes’s truck, and Calvin’s truck as well. He assumed the other brothers carpooled with one or the other. The gravel crunched under his boots as he walked towards the door. Roughneck Randy sat on the porch in his old wooden chair with its seat cushion caving through to the porch. He beamed up at Graham and accepted the handshake. “Randy,” he greeted.
“How’s the farm?” The man’s toothless grin spit more than spoke, but he was a Parks staple, and Graham always believed in valuing those who’d helped build up the community. And back in his prime, Roughneck Randy, as the man was so affectionately called, did just that. He was but a mere shadow of the man he used to be, but his pride in Parks and the people were what seemed to stabilize him. And Sloppy was kind enough to let the old man be on the front porch of her restaurant day in and day out.
“Doing good. Worked calves this mornin’.”
“That how you got that there band-aid?”
The large white wrapping around Graham’s hand was a bit more than just a band-aid. “It is. Seth dropped the leg at the first sight of a pretty female and nearly lost my hand.”
Graham Page 2
