Chapter 40
ANNALISE
After a long, restless night, Eliza sits me down at the table and places a full plate of breakfast in front of me. Pancakes, hash browns, and over-easy eggs just the way I like them. A steaming cup of coffee comes next, mixed to a perfect light brown colour.
“Eat up, my girl. I know you’re starving after last night,” she says pointedly, continuing to rush around the kitchen.
Stacks of plates, tin containers full to the brim with the same food on my plate, and pitchers of orange juice line the end of the counter. Styrofoam cups come next, and then utensils are shoved in the food.
“I could have helped with all of this, Mrs. Steele. You’ve cooked for an army.”
“You needed the sleep. And this is nothing compared to the meals I cook up during calving season. We’re running a thinner crew right now, but these men can still eat like no other any day of the year,” she explains.
“When will they come eat? I don’t want to be in the way.”
Her smile is warm when she faces me, shaking her head. “They might as well get used to the sight of you in this house. Around the ranch too. You just sit and eat your breakfast.”
Knowing there’s no room for negotiation, I offer her a smile in return and dig my fork into the yolk of my egg, cracking it open. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, honey.”
I’ve nearly finished my plate by the time heavy footsteps trample through the house. I stiffen at the brash laughs and hard voices before looking at Eliza and relaxing. She’s excited to see these guys, and that seems to be enough for me.
Never in my life have I met anyone whose love language has so obviously been acts of service.
Brody’s grandmother truly loves cooking for others and seeing the appreciation on their faces as they dig into her food.
Brody’s cut from the same cloth, but instead of cooking, he’s all about making sure I have shovelled sidewalks and warm clothes and a custom barn for my pet cow.
I jump in my chair when a firm hand grabs my shoulder. Whipping my head to look behind me, I see it’s Wade and blow out a breath.
“Didn’t mean to scare ya,” he says. His dark circles and tired grimace tell me he’s slept as well as I did last night. “How was your night?”
“I slept well.” When I finally fell asleep, that is.
“Yeah, me too.”
“Did you have a chance to speak to Brody before he boarded this morning?”
“No.”
My heart tugs uncomfortably. If he didn’t speak with him this morning, then he hasn’t at all since before he left for Nashville. It wasn’t his grandfather that Brody called last night. It was his grandma.
Is Wade offended by that? Does he care enough to be offended?
An idea pops into my head, a no-good, nosey idea, but I let it run free before I can stop myself.
“Would you mind helping me out with Banana this morning? I know you’re probably really busy, but there are still so many things I don’t know about when it comes to her. It would be really?—”
He cuts me off with a squeeze to my shoulder. “You done eatin’? I got some time now.”
“Are you not going to eat?”
The kitchen is packed now with so many unfamiliar faces that I try to stack in my memory.
Most of them don’t bother to sit and eat, instead just holding their plates in their hands and scarfing it back like it’s the last meal they’ll ever have.
A couple of them plunk down at the table in the chairs across from me.
They’re both young guys, probably a few years younger than me.
One has shoulder-length black hair that explodes in a wild mess when he drops his hat to the table beside his plate, and the other has his blond hair shaved close to his scalp, a ratty baseball cap in his lap.
Their manners are nice to see, especially when it comes to thanking Eliza for the meal. I smile at them in approval.
“I eat before these lazy fucks have even woken up,” Wade chuffs behind me.
The guy with the long hair flashes me an easy grin. “Easy, Wade. Don’t ruin my chance with the pretty lady before I’ve even introduced myself.”
“Brody’ll lock you in the pen with Zeus and feed him the key if you try it with his woman, Johnny,” Wade warns, and I laugh at the humour beneath his threat.
“His woman? I’m not seeing him here to compete with me,” Johnny replies.
“Cool your jets, Casanova,” his friend mutters over a mouthful of pancake. “I’m Thomas, by the way.”
“Nice to meet you. Who’s Zeus?” I ask.
“The meanest bull on Steele Ranch. A nasty fucker with a love for kicking ribs in,” Thomas says with a wince.
Wade releases my shoulder and grabs my plate. He looks down at me, gaze serious. “You’ll stay clear of him.”
“I’ve got no desire to meet an angry bull.”
“Good. Why don’t you go grab a pair of overalls from Brody’s old room so you don’t ruin your clothes, and then I’ll meet you out back.”
I eye the plate in his hand. “Between you and Eliza, I haven’t had to do a damn thing around here. Please put me to work out there.”
“You got my word, darlin’. I’ll see you in a bit.” And then he’s bringing my plate to the sink and kissing his wife on the cheek before starting on the dishes waiting in the bubbly water.
I nod to the two guys at the table and set off to change my clothes.
After throwing my hair up, I step into the small closet in the room I crashed in last night and root through the clothes hanging on the rod.
I thought this may have been Brody’s old room when I first slipped inside last night, but I was too tired to snoop.
There’s not much to root through anyway, but the clothes left hanging confirm my suspicions.
None of the sweatshirts or overalls would fit Brody the man, but they would Brody the teenager.
And hopefully they’ll fit me too.
I snatch a pair of denim overalls and wiggle into them, relieved when they fit just a bit too big. I’ll have to shove the legs into my boots to keep from tripping over them. Teenage Brody was tall too.
There’s a pep in my step as I make my way through the house and put my coat and boots on before stepping on the back porch. Wade is already waiting, his hat and boots on, arms leaning on the deck rail.
“Have you ever mucked a shed before?” he asks, staring at me over his shoulder with a slight tilt of his lips.
“Never. But I’d love to learn.”
So for the next half hour, I do just that.
“I haven’t had to muck nothin’ in years,” Wade admits once we’ve finished cleaning up Banana’s shed.
Sweat slicks my forehead and makes the hairs that have fallen out of my ponytail stick to my skin. For the first time since moving here, I’m grateful for the freezing temperature.
“You really didn’t have to today either. It wasn’t the most complicated thing in the world,” I tease. Albeit incredibly gross.
He shrugs and leans his rake/fork-looking tool against the side of the shelter.
I set mine beside it, and Banana trails behind me, trotting into the snow.
She butts her head against his thigh, demanding some attention.
I roll my lips to hide a smile when the rough old man drops his hand to scratch the top of her head.
“Eliza would say the grunt work will keep me young.”
“And what would you say?”
“I’d say that it gave me some time with my boy’s woman, so I won’t complain.”
My smile is soft. “He really loves you.”
“Love him like a son.”
“Have you told him that recently?”
It’s out of my mind too fast to rein it in. I should apologize for overstepping, but I won’t. After all, this was my plan when I asked him to help me today. I wanted to get him alone and talk to him about his relationship with Brody. It matters to Brody far more than he’ll admit.
“No. I haven’t,” Wade mutters, continuing to scratch Banana.
“He thinks you resent him for leaving. That you hold his career against him and wish he’d done something else. Stayed here, maybe. Is that really how you feel?”
He flinches. “Jesus. Never knew it would kill to hear that.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize for speakin’ the truth. Not ever.”
I nod slowly, swapping my weight from one boot to the other.
“Look, I may not know any of you that well yet, but I do know Brody. And you do too. Enough to realize he’s not going to tell you these things on his own.
It’s my job now to take care of him, and I want to start by trying to help the relationship between you two.
Brody is headstrong and so damn caring. He won’t ever do or say something that he knows will hurt someone he loves. That’s where I come in, I guess.
“At the risk of getting thrown off your ranch forever, I think you’re going to regret pushing him away all these years, and especially if you continue to do it.
I grew up with a father who didn’t give a flying crap about me, and I would have loved to experience the type of love you and him share, even shoved down beneath years of pain. ”
I run my fingers through my hair, feeling like a downright rambling mess, but Wade listens contently, letting me finish.
“What I’m trying to say is that you shouldn’t waste any more of your time together. Put the past behind you both and move forward. Life is too fucking short to do anything else.”
He doesn’t say anything for a long moment. The silence hangs heavily between us, and I contemplate tucking tail and running off when he finally speaks.
“I’ve never been one to believe in any sort of afterlife. No God and pearly gates. But hell if I’m not considerin’ it now.” He swallows, staring straight at me. “’Cause there’s no fuckin’ way my daughter didn’t send you here to be with her boy.”