by Marla Monroe
“I’m just glad we thought about including the damn chicken coop in the fenced in area. I don’t ever want Bev outside the fence without us. It’s too dangerous.”
“I agree,” Jeff said. “Another thing we’ve got to do is comb the fenced in area for any of those dangerous plants listed in those pamphlets.”
“Crap! I forgot about that. You’re right.” Caleb sighed and tightened the puller to stretch the fencing while Jeff secured it to the post.
They worked in silence for a while, each of them lost in thought. Caleb kept thinking about how Bev had looked that morning all sweaty. Then he thought about how she’d been anxious about having anal sex the night before. If it was something she absolutely couldn’t handle, they would work around it, but it was more than that. She had been nervous around them from the beginning. He kept going back to when they had been on their way out to the house that first day. Had he screwed everything up between them by yelling at her in the buggy?
He wanted her to not just trust him, but like him as well. He wanted her to eventually love him, them. He’d never felt uncertain about anything in his life until now. When it came to ranching, he was secure in his knowledge and experience. He considered himself an expert on the subject.
Women had never worried him either. He’d always been confident in how he interacted with them. He treated them well and made sure they were always satisfied both sexually and emotionally. When many men grumbled and complained that they couldn’t understand the female mind, he had never had trouble deciphering their moods and expectations. Why was he having trouble now when it was so important? What was different about his wife? Not even a week into their new life and already he felt overwhelmed.
“Jeff?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you feel like Bev is uncomfortable around us?”
Jeff stopped what he was doing and looked at him. “What do you mean?”
“I feel like she’s shying away from us most of the time. Haven’t you noticed how she seems to avoid touching us or looking at us?” he asked.
“I guess I haven’t. I’ll pay closer attention from now on. I mean, yeah, she’s obviously shy, but I figured that is to be expected since we basically just met a few days ago.”
“Maybe I’m reading too much into it then. I’m just not used to a woman being nervous around me.”
“I wager that you’re used to a different breed of woman than our Beverly is.”
Caleb stopped what he was doing and frowned. He didn’t realize that Jeff would be able to pick up on that so easily. Had he let something slip that the man picked up on? What about Bev? Had she noticed something as well? Was that why she seemed much more reserved around him?
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“Caleb, you’re a very successful rancher worth a lot of money. I had even heard about you when I lived over a thousand miles away from you. You dated the daughters of rich ranchers and businessmen. Women who weren’t raised to work on the ranch but to act as hostesses and chair social clubs. Beverly has worked on a farm all her life. I doubt she’s ever been to a social function much less hosted one.”
“Are you saying I’m a snob?” Caleb’s hackles jumped up.
“No. I’m not saying any such thing. I’m just saying that she is probably feeling a bit intimidated by your background. Hell! I’m even a little intimidated by it. Give her some time to figure out that you don’t think less of her.”
Caleb worked on the fencing for a few minutes while he thought about it. Was that why Jeff seemed to defer to him on a lot of things? He turned his thoughts back to Beverly and what he needed to do to ease any concerns she might have. It worried him that she might feel as if she didn’t measure up. He honestly didn’t think less of her.
“Do you believe I think less of her?”
Jeff shook his head. “No. I believe you aren’t quite sure how to take her, so you’re careful around her. She can sense that, and it probably confuses her to some extent.”
Caleb swore under his breath. He didn’t regret that she wasn’t like any of the women he’d once dated. She was exactly what they needed here. She wasn’t less than those women. She was just different. How was he supposed to fix this?
Chapter Nine
Beverly eased out of bed early Thursday morning. She couldn’t wait to finish breakfast. They had finished rowing up the garden the day before, and she would finally get to plant today. Neither man had moved when she slipped out of the room after dressing. She hurried downstairs and put the coffee on. Then she set everything out for breakfast when they woke up.
Knowing it would be at least another forty-five minutes or so before they stirred, she hurried down the steps into the cellar to gather up what she needed to plant. She had already arranged the seeds in the order she would need them and packed them in a box to carry up the steps. As she picked up the box, something shifted behind her, making her jump. She whirled around but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Everything looked the same to her.
Shaking her head, Beverly climbed the steps and deposited her box by the back door. Stopping to pour a cup of coffee, she gazed through the window over the sink at the moonlit world beyond. With more than one moon to light up the night, one could easily see at night. She smiled at the sight of the freshly turned earth before setting her cup on the counter and heading back to the cellar. When she had gathered the hand tools and a pair of gloves, she looked around once more to be sure she hadn’t forgotten something before returning to the pantry and closing up the cellar door.
Just as she dropped everything on top of the box by the back door, Jeff walked in stretching his arms above his head. She couldn’t help but admire his broad shoulders and wide chest. The navy-blue T-shirt he wore did nothing to hide the rippling of muscles from her eyes.
“Morning, Beverly. You were up awfully early this morning. Did you even sleep?” he teased.
“Oh, I slept. Dreamed about my garden,” she shot back with a wide smile.
He chuckled and gave her a quick kiss before grabbing a mug and pouring his coffee. She washed her hands and started breakfast.
“Is Caleb up yet?” she asked.
“Yeah. He was dressing. He should be down in a minute.” He leaned against the cabinets. “I see you already have everything ready by the door.”
“I wanted to be ready to get started as soon as I had the breakfast dishes finished. No reason to waste time.”
“Who’s wasting time?” Caleb walked in and headed directly for the coffee.
“You are. Lying around in bed all morning,” Jeff said with a straight face.
Caleb frowned at him and shoved him out of the way. “I got up the same time you did.”
Beverly snuck a glance at Caleb to see if he was really upset over Jeff’s teasing or not. She decided he wasn’t when he took a sip from his cup and smiled. She would be glad when she felt more comfortable around them. Well, around Caleb mostly. She didn’t really feel as awkward around Jeff as she did with Caleb. She felt fat and clumsy around him.
“Morning, Bev. Breakfast smells good.” Caleb kissed her on the cheek, careful not to get in her way as she turned the eggs.
“It should be ready in about two minutes. Jeff, can you set the table for me please?”
Jeff turned and grabbed plates. To her surprise, Caleb pulled out silverware and helped. She nibbled on her lower lip. She hadn’t considered that Caleb might think he needed to help as well. Somehow asking Jeff to pitch in hadn’t seemed like such a big deal, but asking Caleb seemed wrong. Now she wondered if she might have hurt his feelings by not including him. Would he think less of her that she hadn’t already had the table ready? Why hadn’t she done that before she had even gotten her damn seeds out of the cellar? She couldn’t do anything right.
“Hey. Why the frown?” Jeff asked.
She jerked as she was pulling out the biscuits, hitting the back of her hand on the top of the oven. She dropped the pan of biscuits on the oven doo
r.
“Damn!”
“Aw, hell, baby. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. Let me look.” Jeff grabbed her hand. “Let’s get some water on it.”
“What happened?” Caleb hurried over to the sink and turned the water on.
“She burned her hand when I scared her. I’m so sorry.” Jeff urged her over toward the sink then held her hand under the cool water.
“It’s not your fault, Jeff. I’m sorry. I’m so clumsy.”
“Stop that, Bev! You’re not clumsy. Anyone could have done that if they got startled.” Caleb frowned at her. “Let’s look at it again and see if it blistered or not.”
Beverly pulled her hand out of the water and was relieved to see that, other than a red spot, there wasn’t any sign of a blister forming. She didn’t have time for something that could cause more problems.
“I’ll put a bandage on it so my gloves won’t aggravate it while I’m working,” she said.
“Maybe you should let us plant and you supervise so you don’t get it dirty.” Caleb handed her a towel to dry her hand.
“No! I mean, it’s nothing. The bandage will keep any dirt that gets under my gloves off of it. It will be fine.” She cringed that she had shouted at him.
She was so nervous around him that she couldn’t think straight half the time. The only time she seemed to relax was when they were having sex, and even then she worried that she wasn’t doing it right. An image of the toys she had discovered when she had unpacked for them taunted her. She was sure Caleb wanted to use them but he had promised they would go slow. Even as thoughts of them seeped into her mind, she realized that maybe she wasn’t as worried as she had been to begin with.
“Caleb, you know how she’s been looking forward to planting her garden. There’s no way you’re going to talk her out of it.” Jeff laughed as he carried the biscuits over to the table.
“I guess I’m lucky she didn’t attack me for suggesting she let us do it.”
Beverly looked at him and let out a relieved breath to see that Caleb was smiling as he said that. Maybe he wasn’t too upset after all. She grabbed the plate of eggs off the stove, and they sat down to eat.
Nearly an hour later, Beverly pulled on her gardening gloves after cleaning up the kitchen and carried her box and tools outside. The men had already gone out to the little barn to make sure it was ready for their horses. She had been pleased to learn they would have three so she might get to ride some with them. She hadn’t been riding in years. She missed it.
The rich, red-colored dirt seemed so odd, but then everything about Alpha was different. From the multiple moons to the blue grass, nothing reminded her of Earth. She felt a little bit of homesickness creeping in, so she stiffened her back and got to work.
By the time she had finished planting half the garden, she was slightly sweaty and her back ached. It was obvious that she hadn’t done much all the years she had been in the underground bunkers on Earth. She was so out of shape. At least she’d been working out some in the early mornings when the men were still in bed. She couldn’t tell a difference yet, but hopefully she would be able to tell something in another week. Between working in the garden and yard, something had to work.
She had just finished planting the last row when Jeff and Caleb walked up. They looked just as sweaty as she was. They looked out over her garden and nodded.
“Looks good, honey. Ready for a break?” Caleb asked.
She smiled, warmed by his praise. “Perfect timing. Let’s clean up, and I’ll fix sandwiches for lunch.”
They walked to the house and took turns in the laundry room washing up. Then Beverly pulled out the bread, meat, and condiments. When she started pulling out bread, Caleb hip checked her out of the way.
“We’ll fix our own. You have a seat and let us wait on you this time. You’ve been just as busy as we have.”
“Close your mouth, baby. You’ll draw flies,” Jeff said, grinning.
“I thought they said there weren’t any bugs around here,” she said.
The men laughed and worked on the sandwiches while she sank down in a chair. She wasn’t sure what to make of them, especially Caleb. He was the one who had grabbed the knife away from her. Maybe she hadn’t been fixing the sandwiches like he wanted them. She watched as he made each one and didn’t see any difference.
Jeff sighed and passed her a plate with two on it. “Your sandwiches are just fine, baby. We thought we would give you a break is all.”
Caleb stopped what he was doing and stared at her. She fidgeted with the napkin by her plate, uncomfortable with his scrutiny.
“What?” she asked.
“Did you think we didn’t like how you made them?”
When she didn’t answer he dropped the knife and cursed before walking off and staring out the window. Beverly struggled not to cry. She couldn’t believe she’d screwed this up as well. Why couldn’t she do anything right?
Caleb walked back over to the table and sat down across from her. He reached across and grabbed her hand in one of his.
“Bev, look at me.”
She glanced up. His eyes seemed guarded as he smiled softly across the table.
“You’re doing great, honey. I love your cooking. I know we don’t know each other very well, but it takes time. Don’t worry so much about everything.” He leaned down and kissed her fingers. “I know it’s a big adjustment to live with two men that you don’t know anything about, but we’ll work it out.”
She blinked her eyes, trying to get rid of the tears that hovered there ready to fall. She just nodded, afraid her voice would crack and she would break down and cry for real.
He sighed and released her hand before grabbing his plate and taking a bite from his sandwich. Jeff sat down and began to eat as well. Beverly swallowed around the hard knot in her throat and forced herself to take a bite from her own sandwich. It tasted like cardboard, but since he had made it, she had to eat it. She just didn’t think she could stomach more than one.
When she had finished, she picked up her plate and started to walk away, but Jeff grabbed her arm.
“You finished already? What about the other sandwich?”
“I’m full. There’s no way I could eat two. I never eat more than one.” She hastened to add. “It was delicious though, Caleb. Thanks for making them for me.”
Caleb nodded, but there was a frown line between his eyebrows that said he didn’t quite believe her. Jeff grabbed the uneaten sandwich off her plate with a grin.
“More for me, then.” He waggled his eyebrows and winked at her.
Beverly smiled and shook her head. “Don’t blame me if you get fat.”
“No way. We work too hard out there.” Jeff turned to Caleb. “Right?”
“Bev, you worked hard planting the garden. Are you sure you don’t want that sandwich?”
She nodded then turned away before he saw something in her eyes that would give her away. She was still a little hungry, but another glass of water or tea would take care of that.
While they finished up, she gathered all the lunch supplies and put them away. She still needed to water the newly planted seeds and clean her garden tools before putting them up. As she opened the kitchen door to walk outside, Caleb stopped her.
“How much more do you have to do out there?”
“Just water and clean up my mess. Did you need something?”
“No. We’re going to be in the office setting up a time to pick up the horses and meet with Sloan and Nelson. Don’t stay out there any longer than you have to. I’m not real comfortable with the fence yet.”
She looked from Caleb over to where Jeff stood in the doorway to the living room. He didn’t say anything, but she could tell he felt the same way. She nodded her head and smiled.
“I won’t be long. I promise.”
Caleb smiled at her and squeezed her hand. “Thanks.”
Beverly continued outside and looked around the backyard. She didn’t see anything unusua
l outside of the weird colors and plants. Determined to stay aware of everything around her, she hooked up the watering system and gathered her tools. It was strange not to hear birds or insects. The wind provided some noise as it swished through the trees and shrubs, but for the most part, it was eerily silent. She supposed that would change once they had horses and chickens and maybe some cows in the area. She sure hoped so. She didn’t like feeling like she was the only living thing on the planet.
Once she had everything cleaned and dried off, she moved the watering system once more and waited until she was satisfied everything had been thoroughly soaked. After putting up her tools, she would begin her diary keeping up with the garden. There had been so much talk about how fast everything grew on Alpha that she was eager to compare it to what she was used to from back home on Earth.
She hauled in the box full of tools that had originally contained her seeds and opened the cellar door. A noise from the back part of the house reminded her that the men were in the office. She decided to let the guys know she was back inside before she carried everything back down to the cellar. She wanted to look through everything while she was down there so she would know what they had available.
The office door was open, and the sounds of someone talking over the radio filtered out through the living room as she drew closer. When she stepped inside the office, both men were leaning back in a chair with their feet on the desk. Caleb held the microphone as they listened to someone talking about the cattle they would be responsible for. Neither man looked up when she entered the room.
Not wanting to interrupt them, Beverly backed out and returned to the kitchen. She’d go ahead and do what she had planned. It sounded like they would be busy for a while. She would be finished by the time they got through.
Walking down the stairs with the box proved awkward. She soon realized that she could easily fall since the box was so large she couldn’t see her feet and where she stepped. Once she’d made it down to the bottom, Beverly let out a breath of relief. All she needed was to fall and get hurt. The guys would have blown a gasket if that had happened. They wouldn’t let her come back down again without one of them with her.