Alice reached for a cookie and stood up. “Man, this is a good show. I think maybe we should name the donkey Winn-Dixie.”
“Silly girl.” Ivan laughed. “That’s a dog’s name. Our cookie plate is empty. Can we have some of yours?”
“If we can have some of your popcorn.” Faith answered for her. “You haven’t even touched it.”
“We can get popcorn any old time. We can even make it for ourselves in the microwave but we don’t know how to make cookies like these,” Nelson said.
“Let ’em have the cookies that are left. I want some more popcorn.” Gabby stretched out her legs and bent her head forward to touch her knees.
“Me too.” Sasha piped up as she stretched out on her back and then did half a dozen sit-ups.
“You’re blushing,” Cade whispered for Retta’s ears only.
“Yes and with good reason,” she said. “We shouldn’t start something…”
He nodded. “No, we shouldn’t but…”
She shook her head. “No buts.”
Before he could say another word, Skip had settled back into his chair. “Intermission has ended. Everyone ready for the second half of the movie?”
The kids resumed their positions on the floor without a word.
Retta settled into the corner of the sofa. “No buts” meant keeping her hand away from the popcorn. She glanced over at Cade just moments before the lights went out, and he gave her one of his sly winks that said the conversation definitely was not over.
Chapter Twelve
One week down, Retta thought that Wednesday morning as she poured a cup of coffee and carried it to the porch.
“Mornin’,” Skip said from one of the rocking chairs. “Your kids movin’ as slow as mine this mornin’? I’m goin’ to light a fire under my boys’ butts after breakfast. I’m going to put Nelson with Benjy and Ivan with Kirk.”
“Why?”
“They need to learn to work with someone else. I switch them up every week and give them different things to do. Up until now we’ve let them choose but now it’s time for them to learn to work with someone else and to follow instructions.” He chuckled and took a sip of coffee. “It’ll be miserable today but that’s the way I do things and it all pans out in the end.”
“So what are they going to do?”
“Nelson and Benjy are going to help me weed the garden and gather in the vegetables. Kirk and Ivan will be with Levi today, moving cattle from one pasture to the other and whatever else he needs done. Breakfast in fifteen minutes.” He eased his tall, lanky frame up from the chair. “Bones are gettin’ stiff. I reckon a day in the garden might loosen ’em up a little.”
“Don’t forget your hat and a few bottles of water,” she said.
“Essentials of any outside job in Texas this time of year. Here comes my boys, divided into their little chosen couples. They ain’t goin’ to like me much today.” Another chuckle and he was gone.
Sasha and Gabby were both yawning when they finally made it outside. Retta nodded at them and they headed off toward the house, where Faith and Alice were already helping in the kitchen. Poor little darlins had no idea that she was about to implement Skip’s plan into their lives, too. Teamwork required getting to know all the team and working with each one, and it was beginning today.
With a sigh, she stood up and started toward the house. Beau bounded out from between the two bunkhouses and hurried on ahead of her. Gussie was right behind him, but she kept winding herself around Retta’s legs, trying to talk her into some serious petting.
“I’ll miss animals when I’m in the city,” she muttered, taking time to squat down for a minute to rub Gussie’s fur. When she realized that someone was right behind her she gasped and jumped to a standing position.
“Didn’t mean to startle you,” Cade said as he joined her from the shadows. “And yes, you will. Didn’t you miss the farm animals when you moved away from Waurika?”
“At first I didn’t because I was so busy getting adjusted, but then I went home for Thanksgiving and my cat had died while I was gone. Daddy buried her with my other pets out by the pond and…” She let the sentence hang.
“We’ve got a place out behind the barn,” he said.
They stepped up on the porch at the same time and his hand brushed against hers again. It seemed like there was a magnet in each of their bodies that drew them together.
If you can’t fight ’em, join ’em—she could almost hear Tina saying that and then picking up a third margarita on girls’ night out. But this was more than wanting another drink and yet, did it have to be? Couldn’t it simply be two consenting adults who had some chemistry between them? Two grown-up people who could shake hands at the end of a fun summer and say good-bye with no regrets.
“Your mind is a million miles away, Retta.” He chuckled as he opened the door for her.
“Yes, it was, but I’m back in the present now.”
“Retta, guess what?” Alice ran to meet her. “Me and Faith, we got to make the scrambled eggs all by ourselves this morning. I can’t wait to make breakfast for my sisters when I get home.”
“That’s wonderful. Maybe I can help y’all finish up and get it on the table,” Retta said.
“You’ll have to get your orders from Mavis. She’s the boss of the kitchen,” Alice said seriously.
“Only if you are under thirteen years old.” Mavis giggled. “Mornin’, Retta. I can see by the glow on your face that you’re settlin’ in on the ranch really good.”
“I thought that something else made a woman glow,” Skip said.
“I love the smell of a big breakfast.” Retta’s face burned with a crimson blush.
“Most important meal of the whole day,” Mavis said. “Faith, you keep stirring that gravy. It’s almost done. And Alice, you go on and help Retta set the table.”
Mavis pointed toward the clock. “Five minutes and we’ll call in all the guys. Gabby, you’ll find napkins in that drawer by the sink. And Sasha, you can take those biscuits off the cookie sheet and put them in the basket.”
“See,” Alice whispered. “She’s the boss of the kitchen but I love her.”
Cade filled a coffee cup and carried it to the living room where the other guys waited with four boys. “So what’s on the agenda today, guys?”
“Kirk and Ivan are going to be with Levi,” Skip said. “Think you boys can learn how to get cattle from one pasture to another?”
“But…,” Ivan stammered.
“I’m with Nelson. I don’t care what job you give us. We’ll do whatever you say, but he’s my partner,” Kirk argued.
“He was your partner, son,” Skip said. “But in order for a team to work, they have to learn to work with everyone in it. So today, you and Ivan are going with Levi. Benjy and Nelson are going to the garden with me.”
Faith stormed into the room and flopped down on the sofa. “I’m supposed to tell y’all that breakfast is ready. I don’t like this switching us around. Me and Alice was doin’ fine in the kitchen and now we have to go work in the garden. I hate getting my hands dirty.”
“Do you good to figure out where the food you eat comes from,” Cade said.
“I don’t give a…” She shot a dirty look toward Cade and started over. “I don’t give a darn where it comes from, out of cans or jars or microwave containers. I don’t like this one bit.”
“You have the option of not doing anything at all today,” Cade reminded her.
“You okay working with Nelson today, Benjy?” Retta asked.
“Skip said for me to so I will,” he said. “I like Skip—a lot. Vegetables are good for you. They have fiber and vitamins. Meat has protein and that makes good muscles. You should eat both.”
“And I like you a lot.” Skip patted him on the shoulder.
Benjy didn’t shy away from him like he did when other people got too close.
“Good spirit,” Retta said. “We could all learn from Benjy.”
Faith hu
ffed. “Well, we might as well eat breakfast and get on with it.”
“So how do you feel about working with Skip today?” Cade leaned toward her and asked.
“If the boss man says that’s where I need to be, then that’s where I’ll go,” Retta said.
“The boss man would rather work on tractors with you, but you and Skip might both be needed to settle arguments today,” he said.
“Truthfully, I enjoy gardening, so this is no hardship.”
“Are you absolutely sure about not stayin’ in the ranchin’ business?”
She shrugged. “I sold the farm, remember?”
“Time to eat. I’m hungry and then it is time to pull the weeds. Weeds rob the roots from the water they need to make vegetables, which need lots of water.” Benjy put his hand in hers and tugged her toward the dining room.
Retta felt like she’d just been given a jeweled crown.
With her hat firmly on her head, Retta joined Faith and Sasha in the garden that morning along with Skip, Benjy, and Nelson. The girls both gave her dirty glances, but if looks could kill she’d already have been nothing but a greasy spot on the kitchen floor when she told Gabby that she would be joining Alice in that area.
She held up a huge blue plastic bowl. “Mavis says that she needs this bowl full of green beans for dinner. If y’all will help me pick them, Gabby and Alice and I will take them inside for Mavis to snap. And we also need at least a dozen good ripe tomatoes and a few radishes for a nice salad for lunch today.”
“I hate green beans,” Faith grumbled.
“Mavis makes good green beans,” Benjy said.
“I’ll help you girls. You want to pick the ones that are about the length of your finger. Leave the little ones for another day.” Retta set the bowl in the middle of a row, bent over, and started to gently pull the beans from the vines.
“Want to pull weeds?” Benjy asked.
“No, thank you!” Faith said. “And me and Sasha, we can pick enough green beans for dinner real quick."
“Good.” Retta straightened up. “And if you fill the bowl up two or three times, we can get some ready for later in the week. I’m looking at my phone. Let’s see if you can do the job in less than thirty minutes.”
“If we win?” Sasha asked.
“Then you get to keep picking,” Retta said.
“If we lose?” Faith asked.
“Then the guys can pick the next bowl full and you can pull weeds,” Retta answered.
“Get busy, girl,” Sasha said as she began to lift the broad leaves and pull beans.
“Don’t tell me what to do,” Faith said, but she didn’t waste a bit of time following Sasha’s lead.
Skip stepped back into the shade and leaned on a garden hoe. Retta removed her hat and fanned herself with it as she joined him.
“Some folks might think we’re gettin’ free labor with these kids, but I swear, I could do the work in half the time if I wasn’t havin’ to show them how to do stuff or else settlin’ arguments,” he said.
“They get paid for what they do, so that’s not free labor,” Retta said.
“We don’t just give them all their paycheck in money. We take them to town and they have to use part of it for school clothing, shoes, and supplies. About half of it goes home with them or less if they want to spend it wisely. We hesitate to give it all to them for fear that it winds up in their parents’ hands and is used for something other than for the kid who worked for it,” Skip said in a low tone.
“Yep, that’s right,” Cade said right behind them.
Retta was getting used to him appearing out of thin air, but it still startled her. “How do you do that?”
“What?” Skip asked.
“Twice today Cade has snuck up on me and made me nearly jump out of my skin,” she answered.
“He learned it from his daddy.” Skip grinned.
Cade moved around her to watch the kids. “I was really expecting a bigger argument than we had from them.”
“It’s amazing how fast two enemies can become workin’ buddies,” Retta said.
“Your dad teach you that?” Cade asked.
“No, sir.” She shook her head. “My first boss sent me to leadership class with a woman that I could not tolerate even for five minutes. We might not have been best friends when it was over, but we did learn to work together.”
Skip wandered back out into the garden, leaving them alone. Retta checked her phone. “They seem to have worked out a plan. Faith is working one side of the row of beans and Sasha is working the other so that they do a good job.”
Cade pushed his hat back on his head, leaving a mark on his forehead where it had been. “I figured you told them how to do that.”
She tried to focus on the puffy white clouds, the garden, or anything else, but she really wanted to sink into his blue eyes and never even come up for air. He removed his hat, raked his fingers through his hair, and then resituated the hat back to the original position. What would it feel like to have his hands on her body for more than a short little makeout session in the tack room? She shivered in spite of the heat and looked down at the phone in her hands.
“Expecting a call?” Cade asked.
“No, just checking the time again.”
“How much longer have they got and what’s the stakes?”
She nodded and told him what was happening.
“Don’t expect they’ll be pulling weeds as fast as they’re going,” he said. “Think they’ll learn to like it.”
“Now that part might take a miracle. But I believe in them, especially after Benjy held my hand this morning,” she said.
“You are good with them, Retta. I figured Faith would spend her day in the bunkhouse rather than get her hands dirty. That’s magic,” he teased.
“No, darlin’, that’s the root of all evil workin’ out there pickin’ them beans,” she flirted.
“What?”
“The love of money,” she said.
“Done!” Faith raised both hands in the air.
Sasha pushed a few red curls away from her sweaty forehead and held up a hand. Faith slapped her hand against it and brought the bowl to Retta.
“Good job, girls. I knew y’all could do it if you worked together,” Retta said.
“You want us to pick the rest of them all the way to the end of the row?” Sasha asked.
“That would be wonderful. Y’all get a bottle of cold water from the cooler over there and I’ll empty the bowl and bring it back,” Cade answered. “Magic, pure magic,” he whispered for Retta’s ears only while they were getting the water.
The cattle had been moved. The garden looked great. The girls in the kitchen had snapped two big bowls of green beans. Lunch had been served, and they were ready to go outside and learn how to throw a spiral football through a tire suspended from the frame of an old swing set. And then a flash of lightning and rolling thunder brought in a heavy rainstorm. The kids barely made it back to the ranch house without getting soaked. The thunder stopped in twenty minutes but the low-hanging dark clouds brought a nice slow drizzling rain that, at any other time, Cade would have appreciated. But he’d looked forward to playing football, not only with the kids, but also maybe seeing what Retta could really do when it came to throwing the ball.
“Well, rats,” Nelson grumbled. “I betcha I could put a football through that tire if I could practice and then I might be able to play in school next year.”
“What do we do when it rains?” Faith asked.
“Well, me and Justin are going to the barn and clean it up. Tack room is awful and the stalls need a good cleanin’. There’s always something to do whether it’s sunshine or rain,” Levi answered.
Kirk raised his hand. “Can I go with you?”
Another hand went up. “I’ll go if I can pet Little Bit,” Alice said.
“Well, y’all ain’t goin’ without me,” Gabby declared.
Then five more hands were in the air and Faith glanced over
at Retta. “What are you going to do all afternoon?”
“She’s going to help me in the office with a ton of computer work,” Cade answered. “You did know that she has a college degree in business, right?”
“Really?” Sasha asked.
“Yep.” Retta nodded.
“And that she yells for Oklahoma at the OU/Texas games.” Justin chuckled.
“No!” Faith clamped her hands on her cheeks.
“I like baseball better. Don’t matter who is playing. It makes more sense. Hit the ball and run. Football has too many rules. I know them, but I like baseball better,” Benjy said.
“I like football better,” Kirk said. “But you are shhhh…kiddin’ me, about yellin’ for the Sooners aren’t you?”
“’Fraid not,” Retta said. “I’m Boomer Sooner all the way.”
“And I was just beginnin’ to like you.” Nelson groaned.
“We might convert her,” Skip offered.
“Not for a million bucks,” she said and added and a sexy cowboy in her thoughts.
“Cade, does that mean you can’t marry her? Marriage is a contract between two people and they promise to live together forever until they die, but if she doesn’t like the Longhorns, then you can’t marry her, can you?” Benjy asked.
“Well, shucks.” Cade grinned. “I’d already found an engagement ring in a Cracker Jack box that I was plannin’ on givin’ her, but you’re right, Benjy. I’ll save it for a girl who is a Longhorn fan.”
“Well, there goes my chance at a big fancy wedding but I could never marry someone who yells for Texas.” Retta sighed dramatically.
“And on that note, we’d better load these kids up in a couple of trucks and get them out to the barn while this rain has slacked off a little bit,” Skip said. “We’ll see y’all at supper time.”
Mavis shooed them out the back door and then said, “There’s a slow cooker full of baked potato soup and one of chili on the counter. Hot dogs are in the refrigerator if anyone wants a chili dog. Loaf of fresh bread is already sliced. I’m going home for the afternoon. Retta and the girls can get supper on the table tonight.” She took off her apron and got her purse. “Our Sunday school class is playin’ poker this afternoon. They do it once a month and I never have gone because we don’t want to leave you boys in a tight place, but with Retta and the girls helpin’, well, I’m goin’ this time.”
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