She stood there, her beautiful lips gaping and her eyes wide. I’d stunned her, and I got a pang in my gut as tears filled her eyes and she stormed out. I pulled the cup to my mouth and cursed as I burned my lip on the fresh coffee.
I should have jumped up and gone after her and apologized for making her cry, but she hadn’t cared about my feelings and I wasn’t so sure she’d listen to me. It was better this way. I had too much work to do and I couldn’t concentrate on a damned thing with her around. I had to learn the new programs and still keep the ranch working. I had to stay on track.
When the door opened behind me an ounce of hope wanted it to be her, and my heart ached as I turned my chair.
Mason entered raking his hand through his hair and sat down beside me to sip his own cup of coffee. “When’s that truck coming?”
I turned to meet his eyes and folded my arms across my chest. “That’s it, huh? That’s all you got to say?”
“What?” Mason shrugged, his eyes shifting nervously. “We still have a truck coming, right?”
My brother had never been out all night without coming in to brag the next morning. Whether it was how much beer he drank to how much pussy he’d gotten, he always had something to say. His aloof act was suspicious and considering my mood, he’d picked the wrong day for it.
“You fucked Ella, didn’t you?” I punched his arm and shook my head. His blank expression told me I was right. Never in his life did he get a poker face until absolutely necessary. “Son of a bitch.”
“Don’t be a fucking hypocrite. Save your lecture, I feel bad enough, okay?”
“Yeah, the sun rises on your shame and remorse kicks in. I’ve been there.” I uncrossed my arms and punched softly at his arm again.
“It kicked in about four a.m. during round three when she called me Teddy.” His eyes met mine and I could tell that his ego had taken a blow to boot.
I almost spit my coffee. “You mean Davey, right?” Surely he mixed things up. Why on earth would she call out my name? David is the one she realized she loved, but, then again, it was probably another one of her games. She didn’t care about me like that, but she’d want him to think so.
“No, she said Teddy. Like Mama calls you. So then, not only am I taking a hit to my pride, but I’m thinking about my mother of all people.” He shuddered and made a face.
“Oh man!” My expression was the same as if I’d just eaten a lemon. “That’s too much information, man. I sympathize, but don’t gross me out.”
“How do you think I feel?” He swung his arm out and connected with my shoulder, leaving a sting.
“Serves you right.” I punched his arm in response.
“Well, I say we both vow that she’s off limits.” Mason held out his hand to shake and I slapped his hand away.
“That’s a deal, but I won’t shake on it. She’ll be sniffing around here later, you wait and see. She’s going to have to come around to rub it in my face.” I laughed at the thought of it bothering me, then prepared myself to ruin his day. “If it helps, you get to pick up some slack today. That should keep you busy while you nurse that bruised ego and hangover.”
“I thought it was going to be easy with the truck arriving.” He scrubbed his face with his hands. “What the hell happened?”
I hated to tell him why, but he’d know soon enough. “I fired Lauralee. So you get to do her work too.”
I glanced over my shoulder and found his chin had dropped and if the thing got any lower, he’d step on it. “You fired your girlfriend?”
“Why the hell would you say that? She’s not my girlfriend.” Anger bubbled up inside of me.
“Yeah, right.” He rolled his eyes like a little girl and I wanted to punch him square in the mouth.
“I’m not with her. You saw her at Kinsey’s last night, right? She was on a date with another guy.”
“Nah, she was there spying. That guy is always at Kinsey’s and she was alone when he came in. If he was with her, why didn’t he sit with her when he first came in?”
“What do you mean?” My heart pounded faster. How did I miss that?
“Yeah, she moved over beside him.”
I nodded. “So she approached him with me there? That’s what you’re saying. Which means she obviously didn’t want to be with me. She chose someone else like she did before.”
“Whatever, man. Give me my assignments so I can go get us caught up.”
“They’re by the door. And don’t complain to me about the workload, all right? I’m doing the best I can. We have fifteen head coming in today, but twenty going out at the end of the week, and I have got to get the baler fixed or we’re going to be hurting come next month. Not to mention all the dailies that we’re responsible for.”
He held out his hands defensively. “I hear you, okay. We’ll get this shit done. Don’t sweat it.” As he walked out I was reminded of Davey. That was the same look and speech he’d given me too, right before he’d taken off to Nashville.
Things had been good at first, and I believed they’d get better not worse. I had us all caught up and then David left and Mama came home from the hospital needing Dad’s constant attention and supervision. All I’d ever wanted was to run the farm my way, and now that I had the chance, I wish I had someone to help me. I would have to hire someone. There was no way around it and I was pretty sure Bailey was as useless as Lauralee had warned.
Days ago, I’d called in an ad in the local paper and hoped that would bring someone in, but I thought that it would take more than one hired hand to get us caught up now that I’d fired Lauralee. I was about to call and ask them to change and rerun the ad when Mason and Luke came running into the office in a panic.
Mason plopped down in the chair beside me. “We’re screwed.”
“Understatement of the year, my brother,” said Luke who turned to me. “We’re out of diesel.” He went to the log book and then pulled the fuel file out of the drawer.
“Shit, I forgot to order the fucking diesel.” I dropped my face to my palms and then threw my hat. “Dammit!”
Luke leaned against the door. “We can’t fix the baler without it, and all the tractors are running low. I’m scared to use Tilly, she’s a bitch to start when it gets too low, much less the trouble we’ll have if any one of them run completely out. Daddy is going to shit and then he’s going to kill us all slowly.”
Mason threw his hands up in the air. “We’ll have to go into town and get some damned diesel.”
Luke shook his head. “No shit, but how are we going to do that without Dad finding out? I’m surprised he hasn’t noticed the truck didn’t show up on time.”
“He’s so out of his head with Mama’s recovery that he’s probably not even paying attention, but to be sure, one of you can distract him while someone goes with me to get the damned fuel.” I got up and straightened my jeans as my brothers flipped a coin to see who got the job of entertaining the old man. Whichever did would have a hell of a task and would be in the direct line of fire when the old man realized what happened.
“Dammit,” said Mason. “How the hell am I supposed to distract him? I haven’t had a conversation with him in weeks.”
Luke laughed. “No time like the present.”
I patted him on the back. “Yeah, you could always tell him about your remorse from the party.” He cut me a glance and then looked to Luke, who eyed him suspiciously.
Suddenly our baby brother’s eyes widened. “You fucked Ella!”
“Why don’t you say it a little louder so the cows can hear.” Mason glanced out the window to make sure no one was around. Sometimes Mama would come by on her way to the garden and the walls to the office were thin.
“Would you two shut up and let’s go get this fuel before Dad comes out wondering why we’re standing around!” I didn’t have time for their petty crap. I turned to Mason. “I don’t give a shit what you tell him, but don’t let him come outside until we’re back. I’ll text you.”
“Fi
ne, but hurry up, and I want out early Friday.”
“You’re in no position to bargain, stud.” I messed up his hair and headed out to Luke’s truck.
Luke’s was the quietest one and I climbed in the passenger seat and then he drove out to the back of the barn where we loaded the few gas cans we owned.
“This is it? Four cans?” Luke asked, putting the last can in the back of his truck.
“We’ll buy a couple of extra and fill them too.” We got back in the truck and Luke drove us out the side exit, down the road from our main one and closer to the Langstons’.
“I can’t believe I forgot the damned fuel, I feel like an idiot.” I stared at the dashboard and Luke shifted in his seat beside me, fidgeting with the radio. “This day is off to a terrible start.”
“Yeah, I heard you shit-canned Lauralee. Bad start for sure.” I felt his eyes on me and I glanced over in time to see him turn his head back to the road. “What the hell happened? I understand you were upset with her, but damn. That’s Lauralee. You know you love her.”
“I don’t need a damned lecture.” I rested my elbow on the door against the window and glared out to the road ahead. “I’ve been trying to get things under control and thought I had it all worked out until this week. Dad thought that I was doing well and now he’s going to be disappointed and I’ll have to hear I told you so. I can hear him now cussing about how his paper system worked fine for decades, and now I’m screwing it all up.” I paused to check Luke’s reaction and was disheartened when he nodded in agreement. “You even know I’m right. He’s going to gloat and I’m so pissed at myself.”
“Look, we’ll get the fuel, it’s not that big of a deal. Mason will keep dad occupied.” Luke shrugged it off and I tried to relax.
The sad truth was, as much as I was upset over the fuel, I hated the way things ended with Lauralee. But another part of me realized that if I hadn’t been chasing around after her, I’d have kept my mind more on the schedules. It was time to focus on the farm and nothing else.
Chapter 14
Lauralee
Waking early was routine on the farm, even if you didn’t have to go to work, there was plenty of chores waiting to be tackled. Since my father had hired so much help, my days of cow milking and pig slopping had long been over, at least in his opinion, but I decided to help Granny with breakfast despite her protests.
Most would want help cooking any meal, but Granny saw breakfast as her sacred morning ritual and usually got you run out of the house, but I had a way to her heart and past her temper that most didn’t.
Coffee with a kick was what she called it, but we all knew that kick came from a bottle and I had found her secret hiding place long ago. I passed her a cup as she entered the kitchen, her expression was suspicious like I’d expected. “You’re up awful early, or have you even been to bed yet?” She noticed the steaming cup I’d prepared when I heard her footsteps from down the hall and took the cup into her gnarled, arthritic hands and brought it to her nose.
“I’ve been home, I didn’t sleep well though.” I opened the fridge and took out the bowl of fresh yard eggs and placed them on the counter.
“What do you think you’re doing?” She frowned at the bowl.
“You should taste that coffee. It’s your favorite.” I smiled sweetly as she put the cup to her nose and smelled it. “I made it special for you.”
The smile spread wide across her face and she pulled a long draw of coffee and swished it in her mouth. “Ah, that’s why you’re my favorite.” She winked and took her place on a stool by the window and the first morning light kissed her face. “You know you’re the only one I’ve ever let help me cook breakfast.”
“Yes, but you never have told me why. You don’t mind me setting the table or cleaning up, but what is it about the cooking?” I glanced over to see her smiling as she gazed out the window. I had no doubt she heard me, but wasn’t sure if she was paying me any attention or being aloof. “Well?”
She straightened her back and took another pull off the cup, closing her eyes as she swallowed. “I used to cook breakfast with my mother. It’s one of the only times I get to myself and I like the quiet of it now. I like to pretend that she’s still with me now and then, and that’s easier to do when I’m alone.”
“Sorry, I guess I ruined your routine.”
“No, it’s fine. My mother was a strict lady. She’d roll over in her grave if she knew I sipped whiskey before the sun had a proper rise. It’s best we don’t pretend too hard she’s here to see this.” She turned her cup up and with one long gulp, sucked down the spiked coffee like a shot. “That one was a bit weak.” She let the cup hang off her finger as she rested her hands in her lap and then she turned to peer out the window.
“I’ll kick it up a bit next time.”
“I’ll hold you to it.” She hiccupped a laugh. “You losing sleep over Ted Dawson?”
I cracked my next egg a little too hard and cursed as it collapsed in my fingers, spilling its goo all over the counter. “I don’t want to think about him. I wanted to come down and cook to get him off my mind.”
“Noted. But I’ll take that as a yes.” Once the sun had risen enough to properly light the kitchen, she got up to place the cup in the sink and sliced her fresh baked bread for toast. We enjoyed a few more minutes of peace before my father and Bailey bellied up to the breakfast table.
Halfway through our meals he and Bailey got on the subject of work and I tuned them out trying to think of something I could do. I noticed Granny had her canning supplies out from the night before. “Are you going to make any jelly today?”
“I’ve got one batch left of the blueberry and then I’m canning soup starters. Don’t tell me you want to hang out with me all day.” Her eyes widened.
My dad scraped his fork across his plate. “Don’t you have to work over at the Dawsons’?”
I hadn’t told him that I’d been fired. Mostly because I didn’t want to have to hear his “I told you so.” Daddy and Mr. Dawson had been friends their whole lives until that damned tower got in the way.
I missed the days of us kids camping, fishing, and having Sunday suppers together. We’d host one week and them the next and we even had holidays together. Football season was always the best, and we’d get together after dinner to watch the games. There was even talks to merge the farms, but that’s when Empire Communications got in the way.
Us kids had remained friends, and so had Mrs. Dawson and Granny, but Daddy and Mr. Dawson hadn’t even spoken since, nor did they have a nice word to say about each other.
“I’m not working there anymore.” I shrugged and stuffed my mouth full of egg to keep from having to elaborate.
“Well, that’s the best news I’ve heard all week. You should concentrate on stuff around here. Maybe make some new curtains or something. Your mama used to like to sew. She’d make new curtains every spring and fall.”
Granny moaned a sound of disapproval. “That’s why we have a linen closet full of ugly, outdated drapes.”
“Then make something else,” he griped as he pushed his plate aside and stood from the table and slapped my brother’s shoulder with his hat before putting it on his head. He always kept it hanging on the back of his chair so the thing was there waiting for him. “Come on, boy. Let’s get this day going.”
My brother looked up from his plate which was still full of eggs and toast. “I’ll be out as soon as I’m done.” He was mindful to watch his tone, but the frustration in his voice was apparent. Daddy had a way of rushing everyone along on his schedule.
He let out an audible sigh and left us to finish breakfast without his presence. Bailey looked up as if checking to make sure he was out of earshot. “So, why aren’t you still working next door? Did you and Ted get in a fight?”
“Me and Ted stay in a fight, it seems. What difference does it make?”
“You want me to have a talk with him? I will, if you want. He might kick my ass, but I’ll get a g
ood bruise on him.” Bailey winked and faked a slow punch in my direction.
“He’ll probably kiss your ass, truth be known. He wanted to hire you anyway.” I guess it didn’t matter if I let that out now. It wasn’t like Bailey would go work for him anyway.
“Since when?”
“Since always.” I leaned back in my chair and ran my hand through my hair. “He wanted to hire you all along. I didn’t think you’d be interested, and I wanted the money, so I told him to hire me.” Bailey’s eyes widened. “What? It ain’t like you wanted the job. Turns out he hoped you’d help with their new computer system. It’s the same program as ours and he thought you might be able to train them on it.”
Granny and Bailey both exchanged a glance and then Bailey leaned in closer, as if trying to size up my sanity. “Did you fail to tell him that you’re the one who trained me?”
“I didn’t realize until it was too late that’s what he wanted you for. I thought he needed a hand so I’ve been doing ranch duties.” I rolled my eyes as my brother gave me a look like I was out of my mind and maybe Ted was too. “I’m a lot stronger than you or Daddy give me credit for and I’m perfectly capable to do a little heavy lifting here and there.”
“I’d advise you not to tell him that. He wouldn’t like it.” Bailey finished his last bite of food and then stood.
“I don’t understand you men.” I watched my brother go, certain that he’d mumbled something in response on his way out.
“Your Daddy’s afraid.” Granny stood and stacked Daddy and Bailey’s plates atop hers. “Ever since your mama lost that last baby. He blames himself for having her out working and when she got sick, he got even worse. He didn’t mind when you was a kid, letting you help out here and there, but he isn’t going to let you do anything that might jeopardize your future as a mother.”
“That’s ridiculous. Women do that kind of work all the time. Mama didn’t lose the baby because of work. She was sick, but they didn’t realize it until it was too late.” My mama’s cancer had gone undetected until she miscarried. She was four months, but didn’t realize how far along she was until it was too late. The doctors said the cancer had spread and had likely been there for years.
Wild as the Wind: A Country Dirt Road Romance (The Dawson Brothers Book 2) Page 9
