CHAPTER 5
Maxie
I winced as I looked around the kitchen of the Mays’ house. It wasn’t great. There was a thick layer of dust and grime over everything. The cabinets had once been pine but they were all coated in what looked like cigarette smoke and grease. The table had an old phone book under one of the legs and the chairs were the old vinyl kind with more rips than vinyl left. No matter what I thought about the three men standing behind me, I couldn’t in good conscience let them live with a kitchen like that.
“Maybe you should eat outside.” I chewed on my lip and quickly pulled my hair into a bun. “I’m going to just wipe everything down in here.”
“You’re not here to clean, Maxine.” Arlo spoke from directly behind me. “We’ll take care of this.”
A shiver worked its way down my spine at the deepness of his voice but I ignored it. “I was told to get the ranch up and running. I don’t think you’re going to be very productive at work if you catch your death from whatever is growing on these countertops.”
Rhett moved to stand next to me, his elbow bumping mine. “Have you already eaten?”
I looked up at him and hesitated. Had I? I couldn’t remember. I’d been so overwhelmed and stressed when I got up that I was surprised I was fully dressed.
“That’s a no. Come on, sweetheart.” Shep took my arm and pulled me away from the kitchen. “You’ll eat outside with us. Then we can clean the kitchen together so we’ll have a spot to sit down and make a list of everything that needs to be done around here.”
I wanted to argue but I wasn’t going to fight with them. I was going to be as distant as possible until they got the point I wanted nothing to do with them. Distant but polite.
“Okay.”
Bob was waiting next to the porch when we came out and as soon as he saw me, he let out a huff and walked away to sniff at some grass. I sat on the porch steps and wrapped my arms around my knees, taking note of the holes in my jeans. It was past time to buy new ones but I hated shopping. I still got flashbacks of clothes shopping with my mom and her disappointed face when the size she thought I should be didn’t fit my body. She’d grown up in a time when skinny wasn’t skinny enough and my curves had been a constant plague upon her. It was one of the only things I hadn’t been able to change to be who she needed me to be.
Arlo sank onto the step next to me and studied me so closely that I had to fight the urge to touch my face and hair to make sure it wasn’t doing something weird. His eyes finally settled on mine and a smile stretched his lips.
“How are things?”
I hadn’t expected that question and I didn’t really have an acceptable answer. How were things? I didn’t know. Everyone around me seemed to be starting their lives and getting everything they wanted. That was good. Me, personally, though? I was still in the same place I’d been when they left ten years earlier. I hadn’t budged an inch. The first change I thought I was going to take on hadn’t even been real, it turned out. I still didn’t understand why my brothers hadn’t been clearer about what was happening with the new ranch.
“That good, huh?” He stared out at the land ahead of us and sighed. “What exactly did your brothers tell you about this place?”
I watched as Rhett and Shep settled on the steps in front of us and started opening the containers of food.
“Um… I was under the impression that it was going to be an extension of Hellstone Ranch and that I’d be managing it.”
Arlo took a biscuit and split it open to layer on eggs, bacon, and cheese.
“Mills reached out to us after that shit happened with Vera and mentioned the Mays ranch would be going up for sale soon. They knew we’d been talking about moving back to Texas and starting something of our own. They wanted to make sure whoever bought the land wouldn’t hurt Devil’s Den, or their ranch.”
I bit back a wave of frustration.
“I went back and forth to the bank for them so many times. Why?”
Shep pushed a loaded biscuit into my hands and nodded at it.
“Eat that.”
“Your brothers did put up some money. They wanted to guarantee they had first rights to the land if we decided to sell in a few years. This way, they own a portion of the ranch and we can’t just sell it to a massive corporation if we get bored. Not that we’d ever do that. They didn’t need to put any money up for us to promise them that, but they felt better about doing it legally.” Arlo chewed a bite of his biscuit and groaned. “Jesus, Maxine. Your cooking alone is enough for a man to send a man to his knees.”
I’d just taken a bite of my own biscuit and nearly choked. My cheeks warmed and I cursed my fair complexion. I was trying to come up with something to say when Rhett cursed and jumped up from where he’d been sitting.
I snorted out a laugh when I realized what’d happened. Bob had snuck over and stolen Rhett’s biscuit. Bob looked as pleased with himself as ever as he eyed the biscuit still in Shep’s hand. Covering my mouth, I tried to hide that I’d laughed at them.
“Bob! No stealing.”
He curled his lip at me and let out a dramatic sigh before turning his back on us. I thought he was going to let it go until he let out a giant fart and then walked away.
Arlo groaned and put the rest of his biscuit down.
“That horse has an attitude problem.”
Rhett looked back at me.
“How did the sweetest woman in the world end up with an asshole for a horse?”
“He’s not a butthole. He’s just…sensitive.” I fanned away the stench and stood up. “I’m going to get started on the kitchen.”
I looked under the cabinets for cleaning supplies and found nothing. The kitchen would have to wait. I turned to go back out to the porch and saw the three of them had followed me. They were standing in the doorway, watching me.
“There are no cleaning supplies. I’ll bring some from the ranch tomorrow morning.” I wrapped my arms around myself and cleared my throat. “I guess that means I’ll start outside today.”
“Why don’t we take a ride into town and buy some supplies to keep on hand here?” Rhett never took his eyes off of me. “If you need to take Bob home, we can meet you there.”
I wanted to say no and run the other way. Being alone in their truck with them seemed like a bad plan for my mental health. I wasn’t arguing or fighting with them, though, so I just nodded.
“Okay.”