Chapter Six #2
“Right then.” Jed sat on the edge of the bed, pulling Lila into his lap as exhaustion settled heavily across his shoulders. “Ye’re a good sleeper, ain’t yah, Lila?”
She replied with a slow blink, then stuck her thumb in her mouth.
***
Lila was, in fact, a terrible night sleeper.
Jed could somewhat understand, even sympathize, with the poor girl.
Their shared night on the couch had been after a tumultuous day; even he hadn’t been able to stay conscious for more than a few minutes.
But now, with a full day of fun and safety under her belt, Lila revealed her cantankerous nature once tucked in for bed.
It seemed as if something bothered her every hour, on the hour.
She was too hot one moment, then too cold the next.
She viciously tore off her socks, only to loudly protest about her visible feet.
And the girl sure could eat; Jed was certain she’d polished off at least three bowls’ worth of oat porridge, along with half the bread and butter stored in the pantry.
By the time he’d helped her finish another serving, Maeve was up and about the house, starting in immediately on brewing a pot of coffee.
“Did…did Lila keep you up?” Jed asked.
Maeve shot a dirty look his way, her eyes ringed with dark, heavy circles.
The pair silently ate their first meal of the day while Lila nosily slurped up her fourth bowl of the morning. As the sun began to peak out from behind the horizon, a sudden thought occurred to Jed. “Maeve, if we’re both working on chores around the property, who’s gonna watch Lila?”
Maeve nearly choked on her second cup of coffee.
“It’s just…” Jed hesitated, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. “I know you said I’d be in charge of her, but trying to fix fences and work with sharp tools don’t seem too safe to be doing around a li'l one.”
Maeve’s brow wrinkled terribly; it was clear she hadn’t thought about Lila in the larger scheme of day-to-day work either. A familiar tension began to build between the two, until she let out a sigh.
“Suppose I’m meant to be doing most of the homemaking, ain’t I? Being the wife and all.”
Jed watched as she drained the rest of her coffee cup. She sounded entirely demoralized by the prospect. “I can come in and trade with you every few hours, if you’d like?”
She looked almost insulted at the suggestion. “You think I can’t handle Lila and some housework?”
Boy, she was quick to anger. Jed shook his head, then quickly rose to clear his plate.
The sooner he could get outside, the better.
At least the job itself was something he was familiar with; he’d had a hand in much of the physical labor back at Gedney Ranch, and Maeve’s business was only about a quarter of its size.
With any luck, he could get the main chores handled and take care of the smaller issues Maeve had listed out yesterday.
The familiar scent of wet hay greeted Jed as he opened the barn, along with the chorusing bellow of cattle.
He took the herd to pasture with a sense of ease, settling into the familiar routine of it all.
He felt the weight of his past, the long travel, and his impromptu situation with Maeve fall to the wayside as he let himself get lost in the labor.
Once the cows were let loose to wander, he turned to free his stallion, only to bite back a swear as he found his wife standing directly behind him. Lila was sat on her hip, giddily sucking on a spoon while Maeve glared daggers up at him.
“You can’t just let ‘em all charge out like that,” she stated plainly.
Jed blinked.
“The cattle? Specifically, the heifers. Now they’re all gonna cause a scene in the pasture, fighting over their spots and scaring the mamas and calves!
” Maeve immediately shoved Lila into Jed’s arms and moved for the pasture’s gate, aiming to vault up and over the side.
Jed watched her, still somewhat stunned.
Why would anyone know such intimate details about their herd?
And to be so particular about their placement, their needs—she really had committed her time to learning about each and every individual cow.
How long had it taken her to discover all her animals’ quirks?
How much more time did it take her each day to make sure they were all happy?
“You weren’t listening to a word I said yesterday, were you?” Maeve snapped. “Things gotta be done a certain way! Otherwise-”
Jed hardly had time to register Lila, never mind safely set her in a nearby pile of hay as Maeve’s foot got caught between one of the gate’s gaps. She lurched terribly, her flailing arms managing to stop herself from flying over the gate completely.
She could not, however, stop herself from falling backwards.
Without thinking, Jed lunged forward with his arms outstretched, meaning to catch Maeve’s waist and adjust her to fall against him instead.
Both hit the ground hard, with Jed’s poor spine taking the brunt of the damage.
He was surprised at how solid she felt against his chest, her deceptively full frame carrying the sort of power that only developed from a life of hard work.
He blinked furiously, his vision clearing enough to make out Maeve’s startled expression staring right at him.
He hadn’t even gotten this close during their first kiss; from here, he could make out flecks of dark grey scattered throughout her blue eyes.
Her cheeks flushed terribly, only accenting the freckles dotted across her face.
She really did remind him of a cool glass of water under a hot summer sky.
Lila clapped from her spot in the hay, laughing wildly at the pair’s tumble to the ground.
Her giggling seemed to break whatever spell had been cast over the two, and Maeve quickly shoved herself off Jed’s chest and scrambled to her feet.
To her credit, she did offer him a hand up, which he graciously accepted.
Even now, her strength took him by surprise.
What sort of life had she led until this point that had required such strength?
‘Not an easy one, that’s fer sure.’ Jed’s thought made him fully realize: Maeve had to have been running her ranch like this for months.
Meticulously, with an incredible focus on the animals’ quality of life.
There hadn’t been time for such careful detail on Gedney, and Thomas wasn’t one to empathize with the animals as closely as Maeve had shown herself to.
Coupled with the typical work—shoveling hay, fixing fences, scouting the perimeter for trouble—and Jed was surprised his new wife hadn’t driven herself into an early grave already.
“Th-thanks fer the save,” Maeve managed to stammer out.
Jed could only think to nod in return.