Chapter 10 #2
Tears welled up in my eyes, splashing my wrist as I plunged my hand into the bowl and scraped the sides with bare fingers. Grandma taught both Naomi and me how to make biscuits and gravy at this same countertop, and we’d delighted in the sticky mess.
This was the last place I recalled happy memories with Naomi.
Before Mom and Dad kept us away because Dad was angry and Grandpa was stubborn.
Before Naomi found friends I didn’t like, and I rushed off to college to avoid home, and Naomi fell in with people who cared nothing about her.
Her tragic and rare death after childbirth had been a devastating blow.
My heart beat an unsteady rhythm while I turned the dough. Naomi. Naomi. Is she what I sought here? Did I subconsciously bring myself to the ranch because I knew I’d find her? Or Grandma? Or a place that once loved me back?
I didn’t know.
But I didn’t need to know.
A lusty cry from the bedroom startled me from my grief spiral as I finished setting the biscuits on the cookie sheet. Sniffling, I swiped my cheeks off with my forearms, rinsed my hands, set the biscuits inside the heated oven, and hurried to the bedroom.
I cried while I prepped Lily’s bottle.
I cried while she ate.
I cried while I cleaned her up.
And then I snuggled Lily, fresh from a bath, thought of Naomi never getting to hold her, and cried some more.
A cool tingle crossed my shoulders right before warmth overtook my heart.
For a mere breath, I could have sworn Grandma embraced me, letting me know that this is exactly where we were supposed to land.
Almost like Grandma and Naomi could guide me to the life I was supposed to live, not the one that my parents gave me.
Snow and boots and beards trampled into the kitchen thirty minutes later. I was reaching for a jam jar when three large male bodies spilled into the kitchen from the back porch. The lead body stopped as quickly as he entered.
He paused, blinking, and cried, “You weren’t kidding, hoss! There’s a girl in here!”
A fast smile followed his exclamation, and before I knew what hit me, a pair of arms had me wrapped in a hug, lifted me off the ancient linoleum, and twirled me around. He smelled like hay and horses. As quickly as he picked me up, he set me down.
“Good to meet you, Miss Morgan. I’m Wyatt, but you may know me as the handsome one.”
Audacious.
I liked him immediately.
“A pleasure,” I drawled, still regaining my balance with a laugh.
Another young man advanced, bowing his head a little as he offered a hand. His periwinkle eyes twinkled, and his smile had a slant of shyness I couldn’t help but appreciate. He had a cowboy’s handshake. Firm, but gentle. A wordless promise.
“Miss Morgan, a pleasure. My name is Cody. I’m the normal one, if you can believe that.”
“Good to meet you both, gentlemen. My name is Noelle.”
“They’re extra, as my sister would say,” Cade declared. “I apologize for not warning you about all three of us coming inside. I—”
Here, his words faltered. His gaze dropped from my eyes to the stove behind me, then to the hot coffee pot, the biscuits, gravy, and bacon heaped on the table.
“Your timing is perfect,” I replied, finally grasping the jam I sought from the fridge. “I just finished making breakfast and was going to text you. Though now that I think about it, we need a better communication system. I’ll put it on the update list.”
There I went again.
We.
But I couldn’t help myself. My heart claimed this ranch, and I had no plans of letting go any time soon.
Cody and Wyatt hooted as they crowded the table. Wyatt playfully shoved Cody, who spun to slug him in the shoulder, but stopped short. His eyes widened as he shoved Wyatt back, pointing to Lily and hissing, “Stop! There’s a baby in the kitchen.”
They stilled.
Lily cooed from her car seat, a wide, though fleeting, smile splitting her wet lips. She eyed a toy hanging above her.
Wyatt immediately went limp.
“Aw sh—”
Cade cleared his throat. “That’s enough, boys.”
“This is Lily,” I said, folding my hands in front of me. Their stares continued with a touch of awe. Cody’s lips lifted in a smile. Wyatt stared in horror.
Drawling, I said, “I promise, she doesn’t bite.”
Wyatt didn’t look so sure.
“Sit down and shut up, and with gratitude,” Cade said.
“I promised you cereal, not fresh-baked biscuits and gravy, but Noelle is kind enough to fix you something hot.” He looked at me.
“Again, I apologize that I didn’t tell you to expect the knuckleheads for breakfast. If you haven’t made enough for them, they’d be happy with cereal and cold milk—”
Wyatt issued a loud boo, interrupting his statement.
“Let them eat!” I cried, laughing. “I have plenty for everyone. Lily has already had her breakfast.”
“You don’t want to eat?”
“I sure do; it’ll be a busy day.”
Cade helped me carry four plates to the table, sending discreet glares to the boys that I didn’t miss.
Judging by their rolling eyes and dramatically obedient postures, they didn’t miss his harrowing stares either.
Their hands waited on either side of their plates, fingers twitching, eyes fixated on the steaming gravy, the picture of patient compliance.
Whatever story these two had, I couldn’t wait to hear it.
I settled four forks on the table and gestured to the bowls.
“Well? Aren’t you hungry?”
Cade glared at Wyatt, whose fingers twitched toward a biscuit, but refrained.
“We have a rule,” Cade said. “We say Grace and then let ladies serve themselves first. The men don’t dish up until you’re settled. After dinner, we do the dishes. By we, I mean the knuckleheads.”
“Cowboy Code,” Wyatt supplied.
“Cowboy Code?”
Cade waved it off. “I’ll explain it later.”
I couldn’t handle my growing affection.
With my lips pursed to school a shocked smile, I lowered into the chair next to Cade.
Cade held out his hand to me, said Grace.
Anticipation built in the air as the boys waited for me to grab a biscuit, a dribble of gravy, and a piece of bacon.
The moment I set my plate down, Wyatt and Cody bounced to life like rockets.
At the same moment, Lily let out a noisy squawk.
I pushed to my feet to replace her pacifier, but Cade beat me to it.
“Got it.”
He easily replaced her pacifier, watched her to make sure she settled, and returned his attention to the table. My heartstrings tugged in a most dramatic fashion. Nothing had ever unwound me like this cowboy and his ranch hands.
Using the side of my fork, I split a biscuit in two, flicked the sides apart, and reached for the butter. The delicious breakfast steamed beautifully and smelled just right. Grandma would be proud. Naomi might even be impressed.
Well done, Noelle, I thought with a thrill of triumph. You overcame yet another hurdle. Cooking for other people in a kitchen not your own.
“So, gentlemen,” I asked, “are you the ones destined to help us revamp the house? We’ll need extra workers with the list we came up with.”
If the question—or my gumption taking the project in hand—bothered Cade, he gave no sign. He stood up to rummage through the fridge for milk, which I was fast learning was his preferred drink. Next time, I’d set it out.
Wyatt spoke first, a fork in one hand, a biscuit sandwich of bacon and dripping gravy in the other. “We’re here for anything you need, ma’am.”
“Noelle is fine. Ma’am is my mother.”
“Sorry, ma’am.” Wyatt’s young eyes caught Cade’s, and slid back to mine. He smiled. “Can’t.”
Cade nodded once with a stubborn purse of his lips, and I understood the silent message.
Both rambunctious boys couldn’t be much more than seventeen.
They had a streak of wildness in their eyes that reminded me of colts.
Cade must be what, early thirties? Their dynamic reminded me of young brothers who idolized the eldest. For his part, Cade was doing a good job whipping them into a gentlemanly shape, but I had no idea what they were to him.
Not brothers, I’d wager. Their looks were too disparate.
Cody cracked a joke about Cade’s surly disposition when the cowboy gentleman’s code was broken, and an easy conversation vaulted between the two knuckleheads.
Cade interjected well-timed quips—and even better-timed chortles—every now and then.
Their ease with each other was a testament to a deep brotherhood.
Once they finished eating, Cade motioned to Cody with a hand.
“Cody is a whiz with wood and horses, and Wyatt isn’t too bad with anything controlled by gasoline or batteries. Between the four of us, we’ll figure it out.”
“So it’s real?” Cody swirled his milk with a smile. “You got the ranch?”
Cade nodded.
Wyatt whooped, remembered the baby, and repeated it more quietly. “About dam . . . age. About damage time.”
The gibberish made no sense until I heard Cade kick him under the table. Swearing must be against this elusive Cowboy Code.
“Say that curse word and you’ll stuff another five dollars in the curse jar,” Cade threatened, and the intensity in his voice drove it home.
Wyatt shrugged carelessly. “Sometimes, a good swear word is worth the five dollars.” He grinned, clearly testing Cade.
Cade didn’t back down.
“Not with a lady present,” he growled. “Curse all you want in the barn with the livestock, but not in my house.”
Like a dog submitting to his alpha, Wyatt relented with two hands held up, head tipped down.
Not for the first time, I hid my smile.
“The ranch is real enough,” Cade muttered, casting an eye overhead, “and I have a feeling it’s just waiting to go wrong.”