“And the boys get gifts? Nice ones?” Maria was worried about all the years she had only been able to send a card to Michael. She had worked while in college, but it had been barely enough to pay for her dorm room and food.
“They do,” Ephraim said. “Every year Mom makes them something. One year they each got an afghan. One year it was a pair of socks. It’s always something. They always get a couple of brand new pairs of jeans, because most of their clothes are donated by the church in town. And they each get something that suits them. Last year Michael got a football.”
“Okay. So am I allowed to bring him something?” Maria asked. She had little money, but she would get her brother a present if she was allowed.
“You are allowed,” Adam said. “But don’t waste your money this year. We have him covered. Next year get him something nice.”
Maria frowned. She knew he’d said that because he’d sensed her emotions. “I need to get him something. I’m his only living relative.”
Ephraim frowned. “I got special gifts for every boy in my house. Let’s just put both of our names on mine.” He worried about her financial situation. Adam had obviously picked up on something.
Maria squirmed, thinking about what she could give him, but then she knew what it was. There was a book of their father’s that had been special to Michael, because their dad had been reading it to him when he died. Somehow it had ended up in her possessions in a storage unit. After she finished school, she’d gone through the storage unit and found it. “I have a gift for him, but thank you.”
“You do?”
She nodded. “And it will mean more than anything I could find in any store.” Ephraim seemed to know she really had something, so he backed off. “What time should I be there Christmas morning?”
“The boys are up around seven for presents. Michael’s always up by five.”
She smiled. “I’ve always been an early riser, too. Our parents weren’t, and we spent a lot of time together in the early morning hours.”
“Feel free to come any time after five. I’m up that early as well.”
“Sick,” Gideon mumbled under his breath, but the others heard it. “No one should wake up before noon unless they absolutely have to! I hate mornings!”
No one even responded to that. They must be used to his outbursts about mornings. Maria studied him for a moment, thinking about what she’d learned earlier that day. He had the burden of his entire family on his shoulders. He was expected to marry and have seven sons. And his powers. It must be a tremendous responsibility.
Gideon seemed to understand what she was thinking, and his gray eyes met her brown. “Trust me, I’m strong. I’ve always known this would be my role in life.”
She nodded at him, glad he understood. Somehow the burden that was on Gideon had bothered her a lot. It was so much more than what his brothers seemed to have.
After the meal was over, Ephraim took her hand. “I’m going to introduce you to a few of the men who work here on the ranch. I want you to know everyone.”
The first man she met was a man named Max. He seemed to be very lost in his own thoughts. “Are you all right?” she asked.
He shrugged. “I fell in love with a girl in Idaho, and she’s moving here in about ten days. But I want her here now. Is that strange?”
“It’s not strange at all.”
“Is it too soon to tell her I love her and ask her to marry me?”
Maria wasn’t sure why he was asking her, but she could only tell him what she believed. “I don’t think it’s ever too soon. If it’s how you feel, then you should tell her!”
Max frowned. “Do you really think so?”
“I really do.”
“Okay, then tell me this…what would you think of me getting her a ring and proposing during the Christmas Eve service they do on the ranch she works on?”
“If you know she’ll be there, then go for it. It sounds very romantic to me!”
Max seemed to think about it for a minute or two. “Excuse me. I’m going to go get a plane ticket to fly to Idaho!”
“Good luck!” she called after him, turning to Ephraim with a grin on her face. “Is everyone always falling in love around here?”
“Not always. Max took the month of November off to go see one of our brothers. Max was raised here on the ranch, you see, and Mom actually raised eight boys. The eighth was an orphan left on our doorstep when I was just a baby. His name was Kevin, and he and I were three months apart. Kevin’s a pastor on a huge destination ranch in Idaho now, and that’s where Max met the love of his life.”
“That’s great! And she’s coming to work here on the ranch?”
He nodded. “She’s a social worker, and our last one ran off to get married, so we were looking for another.”
She grinned. “I think that’s wonderful.”
“I do, too. Love is certainly in the air.” His eyes met hers, and he wondered if she knew he was thinking about kissing her. She seemed to be fairly intuitive, but you never could tell for sure. “It looks like people are starting to drift off for the night. Do you want to stick around for a while? Daniel and Claire will be there, and I wouldn’t mind company.”
“I’d like that.” It was strange how much closer she felt to him, finding out they were destined to be together. She hoped that wasn’t the only reason she was attracted to him.
Ephraim walked over to Daniel and the two men stood side-by-side. Maria felt her heart flutter a little as she watched the two handsome men standing so close together. She badly wanted to just say yes, she’d marry him, even though he hadn’t asked yet. She needed to sort out her feelings first though. She wasn’t sure if she was falling in love with him, or if she was falling in love with being a member of the McClain family. She had to make sure her emotions were in the right place. Spending time with him could only help her figure things out.
When the boys saw the two men standing side-by-side, the six who lived in their cabin all drifted toward them. Maria hadn’t met them all yet, but she knew a few. She knew Jose, who had been Michael’s roommate since he came to the ranch. She knew Hunter, of course, because she’d spent a lot of time with him that day. The others she knew on sight, but she didn’t necessarily know their names.
As they walked, she fell into step beside a boy, who seemed to be younger than the others, except maybe Hunter. “Hi, I’m Maria. I’m Michael’s sister.”
“I’m Nick,” he responded, not seeming to be terribly interested in conversation.
“Are you excited for Christmas?” she asked, hoping that he’d find this an interesting topic.
Nick shook his head.
“Why not?”
He looked at her. “It’s my first Christmas without family. How could I be excited?”
“How long have you been here?”
“Beginning of October,” he said. “I hate it.”
“Really?” she asked. “Michael loves it here.”
“Michael’s parents are dead. My mom is alive.”
She winced inwardly, but didn’t comment on his rude statement. “And your dad?”
He shrugged. “Never met him. My step-dad is alive, but my mom loves him more than me.”
She was surprised that he was opening up to her so much. “I’m sorry.”
“Me too.” Nick glared at her. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this. Are you going to marry Ephraim?”
“I really don’t know the answer to that. I only just met him yesterday.”
“Yeah, you’re marrying him. Probably before New Year’s, because that’s how people do things around here. I think they put some sort of love potion in the food, and now everyone is drinking it.” He looked at Jasper, who was trotting along beside her happily. “How come you take a dog with you everywhere? I have a cat, but he stays in the cabin.”
“He’s a service dog. I have diabetes, and he alerts me if my sugar is getting too low or too high. He does a really good job, too.”
“He seems nice. I’m glad you have a dog. Does he fight with my cat?”
“No idea. I haven’t noticed if they have problems with each other, but for the most part, Jasper is very well trained. Unless the cat provoked him somehow, I think they’d be fine.”
“Well, just don’t let him hurt my cat.”
“I won’t.” Maria decided she’d need to ask Ephraim about Nick later. He seemed to have a chip on his shoulder, and she wasn’t sure why. The other boys didn’t seem to have the same problems.”
When they got to the cabin, Nick went straight to the back of the house, along with all the other boys. “Lights out is in fifteen minutes,” Ephraim explained. “Daniel and I need to supervise them.”
“All right.” Maria sat on the edge of the couch, Jasper curled up on top of her feet. She wasn’t sure why, but that was his favorite place to sleep, and she wasn’t about to complain. At the moment, he made her feel a lot less uncomfortable. She looked over at Claire. “So you’re a cook here on the ranch?”
“Yeah. I cook for the men in the bunkhouse.”
“That’s really sweet. Do you enjoy it?”
Claire nodded. “The people that live on this ranch are special. They believe love can fix everything, and after being here for a little while, I think I believe it too.”
Chapter Eight
By the time the men joined them ten minutes later, Claire and Maria had become fast friends. Claire and Daniel sat on one couch, while Ephraim and Maria sat on the other. Ephraim looked at Maria. “Did any new questions come to your mind tonight? I’d be happy to answer any of them?”
Maria tilted her head to one side. “What happens when both of you marry? Who stays with the boys? I have a feeling that you two won’t keep sharing a room with your wives…”
Daniel and Ephraim exchanged a look. “For now, I think we’re going to stay in Claire’s apartment and leave Ephraim here with the boys. If he marries…well one of us could stay with our wife, or we could even switch out every week, which I like the idea of,” Daniel said. “I don’t like the idea of not being here with the boys.”
Ephraim nodded. “I’m with you. I would get a house with my beautiful, blushing bride, and I would want to swap every other week with Daniel. I feel like we both have so much to offer the boys that we should take turns being with them. I wouldn’t want to do it daily though, because that would be a lot of moving back and forth.” He was sure there were still a couple of empty cabins there on the ranch, and if not, he could kick Adam out of his. Adam didn’t need to live on the ranch.
Maria looked at Claire. “How do you feel about it?”
Claire smiled. “I was a foster child myself. I’ll do what I can to help. I never really believed that love could change the world, but the McClains convinced me otherwise.” She rested her head on Daniel’s shoulder. “Especially this one.”
Daniel kissed the top of her head, his arm going around her. “I’m glad you see the truth finally.”
They stayed for a while longer, Maria not sitting quite close enough to touch Ephraim, but she felt his presence the whole while.
Somewhere in the middle of the talk about the future of the ranch, Ephraim got up and hurried to the kitchen, bringing back a glass of orange juice. She took it and frowned at Jasper. “You’re supposed to tell me!”
Daniel laughed. “I was starting to sense it, but he was already out of the room.”
“I’m never going to have to worry about blood sugars again with you two around.” She drank the glass down quickly and set the glass on a coaster. “Thank you.”
Ephraim nodded. “Jasper is good at sensing your sugars. I’m really amazed at how well he does. How long have you had him?”
“I got him just before my parents died. We were talking about me going to college, and my doctor said he didn’t trust me to go without a service dog. My sugars are just too crazy high and low.” Maria bit her lip. “He’s not sure how I’d do with having children either. One might be possible, but I doubt if I could have more.”
“That’s okay. Gideon will have enough for us to love on. Besides, I work at a boys’ ranch. We’ll never miss having children around us.” Ephraim knew he was talking like they were getting married, but he felt like they would. At least he hoped they would. His main worry was when it would work to ask her to marry him. She seemed a bit gun shy, but after the talk with the other women, she’d changed a bit.
“How long have you been diabetic?” Claire asked from across the room.
“Since I was two. I’ve never really known any other way of life, so this is normal for me. I think that’s why I went into nutrition, because I already had done so much research on it for myself.”
“Makes sense.” Daniel looked at her. “Do you want to come back tomorrow to meet with Hunter? We could get started early? I know it’s Christmas weekend, but I want him feeling better as soon as possible. This whole thing bugs me, because I can’t just heal him.”
Maria nodded. “I can do that. What time do y’all go to cut down the tree? I can do it before or after.”
“We’ll go in the morning, so that should give you time to do your research. Do you want us to bring him to you? Or do you want to come here?”
“I’m going to need some quiet for our discussion. Can you provide that here?”
Ephraim laughed. “Do you have an office now? I think you said you would.”
“Yeah, I do. It’s all set up, and I’m ready to open Tuesday. Not the best time for a new business, but after the first of the year, I think it will be. Everyone starts diets January first!” Maria hoped the diet craze would kick her new business into high gear.
“Why don’t I bring him and Michael to you tomorrow around two? That will give the boys time to get the tree up, and then they can take a quick break.”
She nodded, picking up her purse and pulling out one of the cards she’d had made with her address and phone number. “Sounds really good to me. I will research all morning and see what I can come up with to help him.” She frowned. “Will Michael want to leave the day before Christmas Eve?”
Ephraim sighed. “Good point. He’s too happy here to want to go so close to Christmas. Let me grab Nick instead. That boy is still fighting to find his place. I wish we had answers for him.” He exchanged a look with Daniel, and his brother frowned. They both spent a lot of time worried about their youngest charge.
“I think that’s smart.” Maria got to her feet. “It’s really late, and I think I should probably head out. I have lots of research to do tomorrow morning.”
Ephraim stood up too, and he noted that Jasper was right at her side as he should be. “I’ll walk you out.” He wasn’t going to let her go without kissing her goodnight. They’d only shared one kiss, and it was one she’d initiated. It was his turn.
She smiled at him. “Thanks.” When they got to her car, she turned to him. “Thank you for letting me follow you around today. It was very enlightening.”
He laughed. “In a lot of ways, I think.” He reached out and caught her waist, pulling her to him. “You kissed me during the barbecue, so it’s my turn.”
She looped her arms around his neck, smiling at him by the light of the full moon. “So glad it’s not a quarter moon tonight…”
“Yeah, I guess you’re safe…” He brought his lips down to hers and kissed her softly, pulling her even closer. The electricity that jumped through his system from that kiss told him everything he needed to know. She was definitely the woman that was meant for him. Never before had he felt anything like this. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She took in huge gulping breaths, feeling as if she’d just run a mile. “I think I’m starting to like you, Ephraim McClain.”
He grinned as she got into her car, buckled Jasper’s seatbelt, and drove away. He watched her go until her taillights faded from view. He had it bad for her, and he didn’t even mind.
When he walked back into the house, Daniel and Claire jumped apart. “Carry on. I�
��m just going to go to bed.”
Daniel laughed. “Goodnight.”
Ephraim raised a hand in a wave and then he went into the room he shared with his brother. A long hot shower was in order, and he was happy to be able to get it. There wasn’t always a lot of hot water in a house with eight people.
Maria woke early as was her habit, and she immediately went to her laptop. She had to research lymphangiectasia and see if she could find a way to help Hunter. Within a couple of hours of doing her research, she had a plan in place. She’d ask a few questions and see what she could make happen. She was determined to fix that boy by getting him a diet that would work for him.
After lunch, she took her laptop to her office, and she pulled out a questionnaire for Ephraim and another for Hunter. She’d been taught that teens tended to lie about their real eating habits when a nutritionist questioned them.
She did a bit more arranging of her office before Ephraim arrived with the boys, but it was more nervous energy than anything else. She had it set up the way she wanted it, and had since Thursday.
She heard the bell that alerted her to their arrival at the front door, and she hurried out into the waiting area. With Hunter being her first patient, it felt strange to even have a waiting area, but she did.
She carried two clip boards, each with a pen attached. She handed one to Hunter, and one to Ephraim. “These are surveys about what he currently eats. I would like you each to fill one out, please.”
Nick looked around her office gloomily. “There’s nothing to do here.”
“I have some nutrition magazines!” she said enthusiastically, getting the exact response she’d expected when Nick scowled at her. “I also have a few books in the back. Do you like to read?”
Nick shrugged. No teenage boy in his right mind would admit to enjoying reading.
“I have Harry Potter and the Hunger Games Trilogy. Would you enjoy either of those?”
Ephraim (Seven Sons Book 5) Page 6
