by Marla Monroe
“I’m sure. It’s waited this long, another few days won’t hurt.” Travis backed him up.
They climbed out of the truck. Travis helped Angela down. He grabbed two bags of groceries while Travis got the other two. When Angela started to grab her things, Travis told her to leave them for now.
“We’ll come back out and get them. Come see if this will be okay for you.” He led her up the steps to the little porch and juggled the bags to open the door.
When Randy followed them inside, it was to hear Angela gasp in obvious pleasure. By the smile on her face, she was more than happy with it. He couldn’t take his eyes off of how her bright blue eyes sparkled.
“It’s lovely! I never would have imagined anything this nice when you said it was just a little cabin.” She followed them across the room to the tiny kitchen where they set their bags down on the short counter and the small bar area that separated the kitchen from the rest of the cabin.
“Why don’t you put away the groceries so you’ll know where everything is? I’m going out to get your things.” Travis gave Randy a hard stare before he walked back out the door.
He knew his brother was warning him to be on his best behavior. He had every intention of doing that. He’d screwed up and wasn’t planning on doing it again.
“There isn’t a dishwasher, but the microwave and fridge are brand new. The stove has barely been used. I hope you’re okay with gas.” Randy watched her as she explored the kitchen as she started putting away the food.
“Oh, there’s no need for a dishwasher for just one person. This is all so nice and clean. I can’t wait to cook something.”
The door opened and Travis walked back in carrying her duffle bag and set it on the couch before walking over to where Randy stood propped against the bar.
“As soon as you finish that, we’ll show you around the cabin,” his brother said.
She nodded and quickly finished what she was doing, storing the empty bags as well. After giving the kitchen one more glance, she indicated she was ready to look around. Travis retrieved her things and led the way to the bedroom in the back.
“Oh, my goodness! This is perfect!” Angela put her hand to her mouth as she took in the room around her.
The bedroom was almost as big as the front part of the house with a queen-size bed and matching chest and dresser. The headboard had been their mom’s from when she’d been a little girl and was hand carved. There was a small chair off to one side with a lamp and table that he knew would be a perfect spot to sit and read. She opened one of the two doors and cooed over the large walk-in closet then checked the next door and gasped at the very modern bathroom complete with whirlpool tub and separate walk-in shower. When the previous owners had built the cabin, it had been for their wife’s sister to give her some privacy. Once he and his brother had bought the ranch it had only been used as a guest house when their family visited on occasion.
“This is so nice. I never would have imagined anything like this.” Angela turned away from them and walked over to the window.
Randy wasn’t fooled. He’d seen the sheen of tears in her eyes. Why would she cry about a two-room cabin? He looked over at his brother. He looked as baffled as Randy felt. When she turned back around she had regained her composure and was smiling.
“Thanks so much for letting me stay here. It’s perfect. Are you sure I can’t start work tomorrow? I want to get busy.”
“We had much rather you rest and settle in and start fresh on Monday. Besides.” Travis grinned at her. “You promised to cook for us, remember? You can do that tomorrow night, after you’ve rested up some.”
Randy had to swallow hard when she literally beamed at them. It gave her entire face an angelic glow that suited her name. How could anyone have put her out on the side of the road? He wished he could have just five minutes alone with the bastard. Just like that, it hit him. He was already a little in love with their Angela. How the hell had that happened so fast?
Chapter Four
Angela rushed through her shower, nerves sending dolphins splashing around in her stomach. Why was she letting a simple dinner get her so upset? Sure, they were her new bosses, but they weren’t hiring her on the basis of how well she could cook. As soon as she had dried off, she pulled on a pair of jeans and one of the blouses from the shelter. It looked brand new, and the deep blue color looked nice on her.
The clock on the bedside table indicated she had fifteen minutes before they would arrive. There would be plenty of time to finish setting the table and check everything. She wanted everything to be perfect. They were like her fairy godmothers or something. The least she could do to thank them was cook them a good home-cooked meal and do her best at the job.
No sooner had she filled the glasses with ice than there was a knock at the door. Angela glanced around to be sure she hadn’t forgotten something before hurrying over to the door. She swallowed around the knot in her throat and drew in a deep breath before opening the door.
The first thing she saw when she opened the door was a bouquet of wild flowers hiding the faces of the two men standing at the door. Stunned, she didn’t say anything for several seconds until the sound of one of the men clearing their throats caught her attention.
“Oh, my goodness. Come in. I–I was startled by the flowers. They’re beautiful.” She stepped aside to let them in.
“Thought they would help brighten the room up for you.” Travis took the vase of flowers from Randy’s hands and set it on the table in the open living area. “Hope you’re not allergic or anything.”
Angela shook her head no when she noticed Randy frown at his brother’s statement.
“No. I’m not allergic to anything that I know of. I’ve got dinner ready. Would you like tea or water?”
Randy smiled again. “Tea would be great.”
“I’ll have tea, too,” Travis said.
She pulled the pitcher from the fridge and poured three glasses full. Before she could grab them, Travis carried all three of them to the table. When she turned around to see about the food, Randy stood right behind her.
“Need help with the food? That”—he indicated the platter with the roast and potatoes—“looks heavy.”
“Um, yes, thank you.” She picked up the bowl with the peas in one hand and the bowl of rice in the other.
Once everything was on the table, she sat and waited for them to dig in. Instead, they stared at her. What had she forgotten? She started to panic.
“You first, Angela,” Travis finally said.
“Oh, goodness. You didn’t have to wait on me.” She quickly picked up the peas and after spooning some onto her plate, passed it around.
They quickly filled their plates, and when Randy and Travis started eating, Angela breathed a sigh of relief. It must be okay since they were plowing through it so fast.
“This has got to be the best home-cooked meal I’ve had since the last time mom and the dads were here,” Randy said.
“Um, dads? I don’t understand.” She frowned.
“Our mom is married to two men. We have two fathers,” Travis explained. “Ménage relationships are not unusual around River Bend.”
“Oh.” She really didn’t know what to say to that.
The men continued to talk about her cooking ability as she tried to comprehend the unorthodox relationship they seemed to accept as normal. Angela scolded herself for not paying attention to what the brothers were talking about. She should be paying attention to them.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had anything this good before,” Randy was saying.
“You’re not kidding. I think we hired her for the wrong thing.” Travis reached over and squeezed her arm before he went back to eating.
Angela felt her heart lighten at the praise. No one had ever really complimented her on anything before. Well, outside of her mom. It felt good to hear it. She just prayed she would be able to do as well with the job she was hired for when the time came. She had never really worr
ied about being able to do her job back home, but she had no idea what to expect on a ranch. There were bound to be things she didn’t know anything about.
“What are you frowning for, Angel?” Travis asked.
“Angel?” Angela smiled.
“You’re pretty as an angel and cook like one, too,” he said. “Do you mind if I call you Angel?”
“No, I don’t mind. No one’s ever shortened my name before.” She could feel a blush warming her neck and cheeks.
“Let’s get these dishes washed so we can sit out on the porch and enjoy the sunset.” Randy stood up and began gathering the dirty plates and silverware.
“Oh, goodness. You don’t have to help. I’ll get them later. You’re my guests.” Angela rushed to take them from his hands.
Randy chuckled and held them over her head. “Of course we’re going to help. We asked you to cook for us. I’m not leaving you with a ton of dirty dishes to wash up.”
Travis had grabbed some bowls and was right behind his brother. With nowhere to go but farther into the kitchen area, Angela ran water in the sink and added soap. She supposed they would be doing the dishes after all. Travis hip bumped her out of the way and began washing while his brother dried. When Randy handed her a dry plate, she put it away with a sigh. Despite the area being small, they somehow managed to all fit in and get the dishes washed and put away without breaking anything or stepping on anyone’s toes, though there were several hip bumps here and there.
“See. That didn’t take long at all with all three of us doing them.” Travis ushered her toward the door. “Now we have time to sit on the porch and watch the sunset.”
“Um, guys. I don’t have any chairs on the porch to sit in,” she said.
“Oh, we’re going to walk over to ours. Besides, you can see more up there than down here.” Randy took her hand and dragged her through the door and down the steps.
When he didn’t let go, Angela resigned herself to being carried along as they walked toward the main house that sat up a small rise about a hundred and fifty yards away. As soon as they stepped up on the porch, Randy steered her to the middle rocking chair.
“What would you like to drink, Angel?” Travis asked.
“Oh, nothing right now, thanks.” She settled back and let herself relax as the men claimed chairs on either side of her.
“I think this is my favorite part of the day,” Randy said. “Sitting here after dinner, watching the sky darken as the sun sets.”
“Watching the sun rise with a steaming cup of coffee is nice, too,” Travis added.
“Do you do this every night?” Angela couldn’t imagine being able to enjoy this view all the time.
Back home there had always been something that needed doing and even when she had some spare time, there wasn’t a view like this to enjoy. They had lived close to the catfish ponds, and the bugs were terrible there. Just the idea that it was available when she had time was awesome. She could easily get used to seeing the way the blue sky changed colors as the sun dipped low over the horizon.
“We do every chance we get. During calving season we’re pretty busy, but we manage to catch the show at least once or twice a week regardless,” Randy answered.
They all remained silent while the sun slowly sank from the sky. The beauty of it seemed to add peace to her soul. Angela wanted to sit there forever and bask in the quiet wonder of being alive. Unfortunately, this wasn’t her home and she was their employee, not their girlfriend. She needed to remember that and stop noticing how good they filled out their jeans or how tantalizing it was to watch their muscles ripple beneath the material of their shirts.
With a soft sigh, she stood up and stretched. It was time she returned to her little cabin and got ready for bed. She wanted to get plenty of rest and be ready come Monday to start her new job.
“I really enjoyed the sunset, guys, but I need to head back to the cabin.” She started across the porch but Randy stopped her with a hand on her arm.
“What’s the rush? Tomorrow’s Sunday. You can sleep in and relax tomorrow.”
“Besides, we wanted to get to know you a little better, Angel.” Travis stood up as well.
Angela looked up at both of them, her mouth suddenly dry as she noticed how their voices had deepened. She tried to swallow and ended up coughing instead.
“Come on inside. We’ll get you something to drink.” Travis walked across the porch and opened the door, leaving his brother to usher her inside.
She reached up and took Randy’s outstretched hand and let him pull her to her feet. He smiled down at her before running his hand down her arm and over to her lower back, where he rested it as he ushered her inside their home.
The entrance had a homey feel right away. A coat rack on the wall next to the door held plenty of room for lots of coats with a place to take off your boots beneath it. The rich hardwood floors were clean but not polished. She could easily imagine how they would look with a nice shine to them. Randy urged her left, where the room opened up into a roomy living area complete with a stone fireplace and massive wall-mounted TV. The chairs and couches all looked like real leather that they obviously used on a regular basis.
A small entryway separated the living area from the large eat-in kitchen. As she stepped into the room, a feeling of home enveloped her. Though the design screamed out old-time farm kitchen, it had been totally updated with state-of-the-art appliances complete with a massive industrial-sized refrigerator. Angela couldn’t even imagine how you would ever fill it up. The beautiful marble-topped counters and generous cabinets had her itching to explore. A four-person bar separated the kitchen proper from the eat-in breakfast area where a table large enough to seat at least eight people sat in the center of the room.
“Wow! You’ve got a really nice house. I love the kitchen.” Angela wanted to slap her hand over her mouth at how country that sounded.
“Thanks. We haven’t really done anything to the place since we bought it several years ago. It needs some work.” Travis had pulled three glasses down from the cabinets. “What would like to drink? We’ve got iced tea, lemonade, water, and beer.”
“Oh, um, lemonade sounds good.”
Randy led her over to the bar and helped her climb up on one of the comfortable bar stools. His hand left her back to rest along the top of her stool. Somehow she could still feel the heat of it against her skin. A small shiver raced down her spine as she took a sip of the lemonade Travis set in front of her.
“Mmm, this is good.”
“Lemonade and tea are about the only things our momma managed to teach us that tastes decent every time,” Travis said with a chuckle.
“Yeah, I’m thinking maybe we should hire Angela to be our cook instead of wasting her on office work.” Randy looked serious when she glanced his way.
“Naw, I think we’ll keep her in the office and maybe she’ll take pity on us and cook us a meal once in a while.” Travis grinned at her as he leaned on the counter across from her.
“I’ll cook for you anytime you want me to. I don’t mind one bit. Cooking is easy.”
“Not for us it isn’t. We tend to burn most things we cook.” Randy sipped on his lemonade.
“Ain’t that the truth, brother?” Travis tapped his glass against Randy’s before taking a swallow. “How do you like the cabin? Do you need anything?”
“I love it! It’s perfect for me.” She couldn’t help but grin at the thought of the lovely little cabin.
“Good. We want you to be comfortable and enjoy your downtime. You’re going to find out that the office can be real stressful at times.” Randy frowned when she looked at him.
“Randy isn’t kidding, Angel. That’s why we’re so happy that you’re going to take it off our shoulders.” Travis smiled, his warm chocolate eyes capturing hers with their beauty.
The ringing of one of their cell phones jerked her back to awareness. She couldn’t believe she’d zoned out like that just looking into Travis’s eyes. She
had to get hold of herself if she was going to be working for the two men. She couldn’t screw up this opportunity by getting romantic feelings for her bosses. She cast a quick look in Randy’s direction as he answered his phone. Even though he’d been a little cool toward her at first, he’d relaxed some now.
“Hell. Yeah, we’ll be out there in a few minutes.” Randy stuffed the phone back in the holster attached to his belt with a sigh.
“What is it?” Travis asked.
“Couple of cows got tangled up in the barbed wire fencing somehow. Nothing deep enough for actual stitches, but there are a lot of cuts and the fence is down.”
“I better head back to my place so you can go. Thanks for the lemonade.” Angela quickly turned on the stool and tried to jump down.
Much to her embarrassment, she misjudged how far the floor was from where she was sitting and nearly fell. Randy quickly pulled her into his arms to keep her from falling.
“Whoa there, honey. No need to get in that big of a hurry. The guys have it under control. We’ll walk you back to the cabin. It’s dark and you don’t know your way yet.” He didn’t immediately release her from his arms. She shivered.
When she looked up, it was to see Randy’s intense hazel eyes peering down at her with a puzzled expression on his face. Before she could ask what was wrong, he stepped back, dropping his arms in the process. He indicated with a nod of his head that she was to lead the way back to the front door. She could feel him at her back as she walked through the living area into the entrance hall. Travis reached around her and opened the front door.
When they reached her tiny front porch, Angela turned to thank them for walking her back. Before she managed to open her mouth, Randy bent down and rested his lips against her forehead for a brief second. Then he stepped back and Travis did the same thing.
“Goodnight, Angel. Have a good night and get plenty of rest tomorrow. Monday morning starts at seven.”
She just nodded her head as they turned and disappeared into the night. After a few seconds, Angela shook her head in bewilderment before going inside and closing the door. She couldn’t help but wonder what she had gotten herself into. Like she’d learned over and over again, sometimes things were too good to be true. As much as she didn’t want that to be the case with her current situation, Angela wasn’t a fool and hadn’t been born yesterday. Travis and Randy expected her to be their office manager with fringe benefits. Despite how mouthwateringly delicious they looked, the day she couldn’t resist them was the day she would hand in her notice and leave. Nothing lasted forever. After all, her life was a testament to that.
