9. Nine
Nine
Abi
To Do:
-Chicken coop: gather eggs—breakfast!
-Stables: Did Rhett muck them?
-Budget sheet.
-Feed Pigs: is Margie ready to have her babies?
-Stetson: Homework due tomorrow—can Kyla help?
-Horse chores: brush all horses, check on Gemini, muck all stalls (Rhett probably didn’t).
-Showing? Contact Mr. Hubbard.
-Meeting with Lach.
-Prep land.
I glared at my to-do list, only skimming the first few tasks before heaving a sigh and folding it back in my pocket. I wish I had time to myself. I’d have to schedule that into this massive, growing list. I laughed at the thought of actually having free time. The only free time I had was when I met Kyla for the sunset, and even then it was thirty minutes.
I cracked an egg and plopped the yolk into the pan, taking great satisfaction in stabbing it with my spatula. My mom taught me to never scramble eggs in a bowl—you scrambled them in the pan. “ Trust me Abi,” she would say. “Don’t murder it in a bowl before it’s had time to touch the perfectly seasoned iron.” When I was little, I loved cooking in the kitchen with my mom. It was a reason I started making breakfasts for everyone, she was there next to me. But now that mom prefers to sleep in—making breakfast became just another task.
What would I even do if I had time to myself? Watch a TV show? Doom scroll? Read a book?
I raised an eyebrow at the thought. I would love to be a reader. On my nightstand, I currently had a historical fiction, the bookmark still sitting in chapter six where it had been for months because every time I went to pick it up, my eyes began to drift closed. Physically reading was definitely not my thing. Listening to an audiobook maybe? I could listen.
The microwave beeped, telling me my coffee was yet again warm as I reached for my phone. There was an app for audiobooks, right? There was always an app. Grabbing my coffee from the microwave, I leaned against the counter, pulling up the App Store, my ears still focused on the scrambling eggs in the pan.
The front door opened, and boots hit the hardwood floor. Moments later, Rhett appeared.
I smiled. I’d gladly take his company while checking off the breakfast task.
“Hey,” I greeted him, setting my phone on the counter to grab the carafe for him. He never used the mugs we had here. He always had his Thermos on him and this was probably his second time filling it.
“Morning Abi.” He held out his Thermos for me to fill, but instead, I set the carafe down on the counter and gave him a stupid grin.
“When do I ever fill your coffee?” I joked, picking my phone back up.
“I have high hopes that one day you will.” He sighed, taking a drink from his Thermos.
“Did you muck out the stalls?” I glanced at him through my lashes, a single eyebrow raised awaiting the answer. I knew what it was, but he said he would.
“It’s dark out. I guarantee you the horses are still sleeping.”
I rolled my eyes at him, mentally crossing Did Rhett muck them off my list and adding an imaginary NOPE , before continuing my search for a book app.
“What are you thumbing through?” He motioned his chin towards my phone.
“I think I want to listen to an audiobook,” I answered. “I’m trying to find an app.”
“Kyla uses a few, and she’ll be over soon. She wasn’t feeling too well this morning, but she insisted I head over before Lachlan bit my head off.”
“Is she ok?” I pinched my brow and looked up at him. I had just seen Kyla the night before and she seemed fine, albeit a little quiet, but fine.
“Yeah.” Rhett shrugged his shoulder. “It’s been an odd couple of days for her, but she says she’s fine. Most likely some stomach bug.”
“Stomach bug?”
He shrugged again, raising his Thermos to his lips. “Yeah, it seems to be coming in waves. She was worried she ate something bad last night.”
“Stomach bug?” I repeated, turning back to the eggs, moving them around a few times before adding them to the mountain that grew on the plate. “And it's coming in waves?” Was my brother really that dense?
Rhett nodded again, before he turned to the stove to grab a piece of bacon from the pan. “She’ll be over soon, and then she can talk to you about books. She’s added to my collection that’s for sure,” he said.
Obviously…he was.
“Oh, I know.” I smiled. “I’ve seen her additions. I love having a book called The Friend Zone next to Rodeo through the Ages. ”
“There’s also a few cowboy romances; she’s told me about a few fictional Rhetts.”
I scoffed. “I bet she has.” I shook my head, returning my complete focus to the task. More ranch hands would be showing up soon, plus Lachlan, and I didn’t need that bacon to burn. “What’s on your agenda?”
“The west side of the roof, and a fence out in the south pasture.”
“Stetson doesn’t have school today—”
“Oh, he let us know. He’ll be back on the roof.”
I swallowed, and that single thought pushed to the front of my mind. Is Cash helping today?
I wanted to ask it aloud, but I didn’t want to spark anything. Not that Rhett would question it. He may raise his brow at me, but he wouldn’t say a thing.
Shooting that question from my mind, I blinked. I didn’t care if Cash was going to be here or not, it wasn’t any of my business.
I cleared my throat. “I’ll send him your way once he’s awake. I bet he’ll be up that ladder the second he’s dressed. Do you think Kyla will be ok to keep an eye on him once the roof is done? I have a long to-do list today.” I forced a laugh. “It’s never ending.”
“You could delegate some things, you know,” Rhett chastised as the front door opened again and more boots hit the floor. Spurs this time too. “And I’m sure Kyla will be fine.” He turned to me, narrowing his eyes. “Do you think it’s food poisoning, not a stomach bug? Since it’s coming and going?”
I raised my eyebrows at him, not even giving him the satisfaction of an answer.
“Morning Abi!” Nick, our lead foreman, smiled as he walked into the kitchen. “What’s for breakfast!?”
Nick was a morning person. A loud morning person.
“Morning, Nick. Bacon and eggs.”
“Perfect. Where’s the boss?” he asked, reaching over to grab the coffee carafe.
Lachlan appeared. “Right here. Get your breakfast and then get your ass out on the land.”
Nick saluted. “Yes sir.”
“Don’t do that.” Lachlan narrowed his eyes.
I snorted a laugh. “Come on guys, you know what to do.” I patted Nick on the back and passed by the other ranch hands as they filled the kitchen. “I’m going to go check on your wife.” I gave Rhett a small hug. “Be careful on the roof.”
I left the house, wishing I had grabbed my coat once the chill air flew through my skin. I jogged to my truck, not willing to make the quarter-mile trek to Rhett’s cabin in this temperature. I was tricked by the sun yet again. It was the beginning of March in Idaho. It could either be snowing one day or sunny and spring the next. As soon as I shut the door to my truck, I caught Cash’s truck from the corner of my eye. He climbed out, gave me a wave and smiled before he turned and went into the stable.
I inhaled, held my breath for a few seconds, and then exhaled through my lips.
He offered to help with the horses and the roof. That’s why he’s here.
Five minutes later, I was barging in through Rhett and Kyla’s front door. The warmth of their cabin greeted me, and I could smell fresh coffee.
“Hey Ky…” I shouted. “It’s just me. Rhett said you were sick—”
“Abi?” Kyla’s voice came from the bedroom, a slight distress to her tone.
“No, it’s Taylor Swift,” I teased, heading to the kitchen to get myself a fresh cup of un-microwaved coffee.
“Abi!” Kyla shouted again. “Is Rhett with you?”
“Pretty sure if he was, he would be in that room with you already.”
Kyla appeared in the bedroom doorway, her cheeks pink with a wide look on her face. I leaned against the counter, her expression already confirming what I was pretty sure I knew.
“How are you feeling? Rhett said you had a stomach bug…or…” I raised the mug to my lips and looked her up and down. “Food poisoning.” I used the cup to hide my smirk.
This girl was not sick. If anything, she was glowing.
“Abi,” she sighed. “I um…” She placed a palm to her stomach.
“Kyla…” I urged her on.
“I’m pregnant.” Her voice broke slightly as a smile spread across her lips.
I mimicked her smile, trying to keep my excitement down.
“I’m…we’re…we weren’t even trying. We wanted to go slow.”
“Yeah well, someone had other plans.” I gestured towards her tummy.
“Rhett will be happy right?”
“Rhett will be ecstatic when he finds out.” I took another sip, resting my hip against the island, watching as my sister-in-law began to pace.
“Like really…he will be, right? He wants kids, right? We haven’t really talked about that yet. We’ve been dating, and we’ve been—”
“You can’t really say you were taking things slow because you are married to the man, and he’d do anything for you.” I looked at my friend, noticing her roll her lips. Her eyes were wide, and the hand over the stomach was quivering slightly. Panic? Anxiety? I wasn’t sure. I handled my own panic differently. I bottled it and moved on. I didn’t let anyone see it. But Kyla’s anxiety was something she’d been working on not bottling up.
“I promise you he’s going to be happy.” I set my mug down and made my way over to her, placing my hands on her shoulders and giving them a little squeeze. “Are you happy?”
She let out a shaky breath. “I don’t think I’ve ever been happier.”
That’s when the tears fell. She beamed and, in an instant, I was in her arms. She laughed as she cried into my shoulder. I could feel how fast her heart was beating. These were happy tears, joyous laughs. Kyla was happy, finally really happy.
“You knew, didn’t you?” She laughed as she broke the hug, holding me at arm’s length.
I gave her a nod. “Well when Rhett said you weren’t feeling well, he jumped from stomach bug to food poisoning. I knew you weren’t sick. When did you find out?”
“Just now. The test turned positive when you walked in the door.”
“Just now?” I repeated, not even bothering to hide the shock in my voice.
“Yeah, I’ve been feeling off the past couple of days…and then I put two and two together. I went and got a test yesterday.”
“How far along are you, do you think?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “I’m not sure? I’m only a week and a half late. I’m just so sick. Were you this sick with Stetson?” Her eyes widened as she placed her hand on her stomach.
“It’s different for everyone,” I replied. “I was sick with Stetson, up until my second trimester.”
She nodded a sigh, walking past me, straight to the kitchen to grab the mug Rhett left out for her every morning. “Wait.” She stopped. “Can I drink coffee?”
“Some, yes,” I followed her. “But you’re going to want to stay away from lunch meats, shellfish, and it’s a good thing you don’t keep any of the barn cats in the house.”
Kyla looked at her mug. “How much caffeine are we talking?”
“A cup maybe? And when are you telling Rhett?”
Kyla licked her lips nervously. “When did you tell Sylas? How did he take it? How far along were you?”
My heart always paused when I heard his name. I didn’t even pay attention to her other rapid questions. Here came those emotions I had to bottle up. I swallowed and inhaled, telling myself it was normal to talk about him, normal to think about him. She just asked me a question. I should be happy to relive the memory…right? It was a good one.
“What does it say? What does it say?!” Sylas basically bounced up and down as we waited three minutes to see if the test was positive or not. “Mi Alma, tell me.”
“Sy… it’s not ready yet, hold your horses.”
“You know Luna would be running around in circles right now if she were me. There is no holding her down.”
He bounced on his feet again.
The man may be seven years older than me, but he was definitely a child at heart. His smile radiated through the room as he moved, excitement flowing from his pores. I shook my head and just watched as he danced.
I glanced down at the test. One pink line…then…two. Tears welled before I even could form words.
“Abi, Mi Reina.” Sylas stopped moving, his expression changing once he saw the look on my face. His eyes were focused on me. Not on the test, but me. He was reading me. He used his fingers to move a strand of my hair behind my ear, and I finally met his gaze. The tears fell.
“We’re having a baby,” I cried.
Sylas screamed, squealed more like it. He bent, wrapping his arms around my waist to hoist me off the ground, spinning me in a circle in the small bathroom.
“We’re having a baby,” Sylas repeated, dropping me to the ground, his lips meeting mine.
I sniffed, and pushed that away. A good memory, yes, but not one I wanted to think about often. Any memory of him still hurt too much.
“We found out together,” I finally said. “We had been trying for a few months. He was ready.”
Kyla took a deep breath. “Rhett and I are ready…right?”
“It doesn’t really matter at this point does it? That baby is going to grace us with her presence whether we’re prepared or not.”
“Her?”
“I always called Stetson a boy, we never found out the gender, and yet we had a boy. I’ll manifest a baby girl. I need to see Rhett as a girl dad.” I raised my eyebrows at her and took a long drink of my coffee. “He’s ready. You’re ready. This is going to be amazing, and I won’t say a thing.” I reached for the empty mug in her hands. “Now, let’s get you a cup of coffee, a shower and over to see Josie.”
She smiled and let out a small laugh. “Sounds amazing. Help me plan a way to tell Rhett?”
“Brainstorming Abi, at your service.”