J.D. groaned. “Okay, we’ll be in by seven. It’s clouding up out here and we’re not going to be able to see much past that.”
“We’ll have dinner on the table waiting.”
Madge replaced the walkie-talkie and took out a large stock pot.
“Madge?”
“Yes, Rachel?” Madge asked as she began to gather the ingredients for her vegetable soup.
“Why did you tell J.D. we would serve dinner here?”
“I wasn’t trying to mislead him. If I’m not back from the sickroom, you’ll serve it by yourself, but I expect I’ll be back. Those men don’t like women in their bunkhouse.”
Rachel knew if she was sick, she’d want Madge taking care of her. But she wasn’t going to argue. Instead, she asked where clean sheets were stored so she could start making up the beds the men would need.
Madge wanted her to wait until she could help her, as soon as she got the soup started, but gave directions for finding the sheets and the bedrooms they would use.
“If necessary, I can give up my room and share yours,” Rachel offered.
“No, we have three more bedrooms. This house was built for a big family.”
“It’s a wonderful house,” Rachel said over her shoulder as she set off to prepare the rooms.
Madge caught up with her in the third bedroom. “How are you doing?”
“Fine. The bathrooms will need more towels. I didn’t know what to do about that.”
“I have some stored away. I’ll get them and put them in the baths.”
Rachel finished making the queen-size bed and gave a sigh. She enjoyed doing housework. Unfortunately, there was no money in that.
She went back to the kitchen. Already, the soup was giving off a delicious smell.
“What else do we need to do?” she asked Madge.
“Well, I’m going to go work in the barn for a couple of hours.”
“Doing what?”
“The men who were left behind were supposed to feed the animals in both barns and clean out the stalls. I won’t be able to get all of it done, but I can start.”
“I’ll come help. You’ll get twice as much done.”
“Oh, no, Rachel, that’s too hard a job for you. Besides, you have to cook dinner tonight.”
“Madge, it’s one o’clock. Let’s have a quick lunch, then we can work until five. By then you’ll need to take the soup down to the bunkhouse, and I can start dinner.”
“Are you sure?”
Rachel couldn’t resist hugging her. “I’m sure.”
After eating sandwiches, they went out to the barn. A quick learner, Rachel followed in Madge’s footsteps, feeding the animals and cleaning each stall on her side of the barn. Scooping up manure and loading it into a wheelbarrow was a new skill, but she worked hard.
Madge dragged down a bale of hay and cut the wires so they could spread fresh hay, too.
They finished the first barn by three-thirty. They raced to the second. Rachel figured it wouldn’t take as long this time, because she now knew what to do. They hurried through their work and finished right at five o’clock.
“Rachel, you worked like a demon! I am so proud of you.”
“Thanks, Madge. Let’s hurry home. I want to grab a quick shower before I start cooking.”
Madge grinned. “I figured you would.”
As the two women rushed back to the house, Madge kept throwing glances over her shoulders.
“What are you looking at?” Rachel asked.
“J.D. said something about it getting dark early. I think he meant those rain clouds. We may have a gully-washer tonight.”
“Gully-washer?”
“A big rainstorm that fills up the gullies, making them run like creeks.”
“Oh, my. That kind of rain must be a problem.”
“Can be.”
They each hit the showers, and ten minutes later Rachel was preparing dinner and Madge was carrying the big pot of vegetable soup to the bunkhouse. She’d given Ronnie several big containers of Gatorade when he went back to the bunkhouse to go to bed earlier.
Now she carried Tylenol in her pocket for everyone to keep their temperatures under control. She’d put the rolls in a plastic sack that dangled from one wrist as she gripped the soup pot. She’d already tied on a face mask, hoping to not catch the flu herself.
Rachel, meanwhile, made dinner and set the table for seven people—J.D. and his men. She figured she’d eat before they came in, and Madge, too, if she got back that soon.
Exactly at seven, as she put one of the casserole dishes on the table, the back door opened and she heard J.D. ordering his men to wash up at the sink.
When he entered, she asked him at once what she should serve the men to drink.
Instead of answering her question, he asked one of his own. “Where’s Madge?”
“She’s still down at the bunkhouse tending to the sick men.”
“She shouldn’t be doing that,” J.D. muttered. He circled Rachel and made a direct path to the phone.
Rachel greeted the other men and got them settled. She didn’t hear any of J.D.’s conversation until she started pouring tea beside him.
“Fine!” he yelled, and slammed down the phone.
She said nothing, turning and taking the drinks, two at a time, to the table.
“Rachel,” he said harshly, bringing her to a halt. “You don’t need to be serving us. Go to your room.”
She ignored him. She set down the glasses she was carrying with a smile and went back for the next two.
He stepped in front of her. “Didn’t you hear me?”
She’d just about had it. “Yes, I did notice your rudeness, but I chose to ignore it. I hope Madge did the same, because after spending all afternoon feeding the animals and cleaning out their stalls so you wouldn’t have to, I think we should be treated with a little more respect!”
Then she crossed to her bedroom and slammed the door shut behind her.
J.D. stood there, not knowing what to say. He and his men had been so glad that the barns were cleaned out that they hadn’t questioned who’d done it.
“You mean her and Madge did all that work for us?” one of the cowboys asked.
Bluey nodded. He stood up. “I reckon I’ll go see if Madge needs any help.”
J.D.’s booming voice stopped him. “Sit down and eat, Bluey. I’ll go take care of Madge. As soon as I apologize to Rachel.”
He went over and knocked on her door. No matter how quietly he spoke, he figured his men would hear their conversation. “Rachel?”
No answer.
“Rachel, I need to apologize. Then I’m going down to see if I can help Madge. Please open the door.”
She opened it about two inches. “Yes?”
“I was wrong to be so rude to you. Dinner looks really good and I’d guess you made it all on your own. Thank you for all you’ve done today.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I’m going to the bunkhouse, if you don’t mind keeping an eye on my men in case they need something.”
“I’ll be glad to,” Rachel said quietly.
She waited for him to walk away from her door before she opened it and came out. The men hadn’t served themselves, afraid they shouldn’t.
As J.D. left the house, he heard her assuring them that they should go ahead and eat, that she had plenty more in the oven.
Chapter Nine
Madge looked up as he entered the bunkhouse. “J.D., what are you doing down here? Here, put this on,” she quickly ordered, holding out a disposable mask.
J.D. took the mask and tied it on. “I came down to see if you needed any help. Do you?”
She put her hands on her hips and looked around the bunkhouse. “No, and there’s no need for me to stay longer. I’ve given everyone Tylenol and Gatorade. I’ve served them all vegetable soup. Most of them kept it down, too. So I guess I’m ready to come eat my dinner.”
“Good. I know the men appreciate
your efforts, Madge.”
“I’m not sure they’ll even remember I was here. This type of flu sure is tough.”
“Yeah,” he agreed with a sigh. “Let’s go have dinner before the others eat it all. By the way, thanks for your hard work this afternoon.”
“Who told you?” Madge asked, surprised.
“Rachel. I—I was rude to her, and she blasted me across the room.”
“Good for her. She’s been wonderful, J.D. I wouldn’t have been able to finish if she hadn’t come with me and worked nonstop.”
“I know.” He held the door to the bunkhouse open for Madge even as he removed the mask from his face. “Do you think these things work?”
“I hope so. The men are so miserable. I sure don’t want to go through their agony.”
J.D. took her arm and escorted her the short distance to the main house. When they entered the kitchen, he noticed Rachel had already set a place for Madge. As they came in the door, she took the other dish of goulash out of the oven and put it on the table. Then she replenished the bread basket.
“Tea or coffee?” she asked.
“I’ll get our drinks, Rachel,” J.D. said. “You sit down and eat.”
“I ate before you got here. Madge, what do you want to drink?”
“I’d love some coffee. The wind has turned chilly.”
“Has the rain started?” Bluey asked. He happened to be sitting beside Madge.
“Not yet, but I don’t think it’ll be long.” As if on cue, lightning lit up the sky, followed almost immediately by a loud roll of thunder. “Oh, my!”
Rachel gasped. “That must’ve been very close.”
Several of the men agreed.
Billy looked up and said, “I don’t think I’ll be able to give you a riding lesson tomorrow, Rachel.”
“That’s all right, Billy. We should probably postpone any lessons until after we’ve gotten rid of the flu.”
“Yeah,” Billy agreed, but he looked at J.D. rather than Rachel.
She took down the cake tin and put it on the counter. When she removed the lid, she heard several murmurs of appreciation behind her.
She smiled at the men. “I didn’t want you to eat so much you had no room for dessert. Let me know when you’re ready for a piece.”
Several men volunteered to go first, and Rachel took away their dirty plates and put a big slice of cake on a saucer before each.
When J.D. finished, he stood up. Rachel came to take his plate. “I can put my plate in the dishwasher, Rachel. You must be dead on your feet with all you’ve done today.”
“I think I have enough strength left to cut you a piece of cake.”
“That’ll be fine as long as you cut one for yourself.”
She nodded. “Okay. Madge, are you ready for dessert?”
“I’ll take just a small piece, Rachel, please.”
“You cut the cake. I’ll get her dishes,” J.D. said.
After he did so, he waited for Rachel to sit before resuming his own seat.
Rachel sat down opposite Bluey, since the cowboy sitting there had finished his dinner and gone off to bed.
“This sure is good cake, Madge,” Bluey said.
“Rachel made it while I took Ronnie to the doctor.” She shot Rachel a smile and turned her attention back to Bluey. “You should see those poor guys in the bunkhouse. They’re miserable.”
“I bet they’re better since you spent some time with them,” he said staunchly.
“Thank you, Bluey,” Madge said with a blush.
At that exchange, it was all Rachel could do not to give J.D. a telling look. She was right. something was brewing between those two.
When dinner was over, J.D. volunteered to clean up. “Madge, you and Rachel go on to bed.”
Rachel spoke up. “I’ll do it. Both of you should go to bed. You’re the ones who have to make an early start in the morning.”
The other two reluctantly agreed.
It didn’t take Rachel long to finish cleaning up the kitchen. She turned out the lights and headed for her bedroom, ready to drop. But before she went to sleep, she set her alarm to get up at six to help Madge with breakfast. Morning, she knew, would come too soon.
MADGE HAD JUST PLUGGED IN the coffeepot when Rachel entered the kitchen the next morning.
“What are you doing up so early?” the housekeeper asked.
“I wanted to help you with breakfast. You’ve got a lot of people to feed.”
“I could manage.”
“Of course you could, Madge. I know that. But I’d feel like a lazy person, sleeping late while you fix breakfast for all the men and then head down to the bunkhouse. That’s what you planned on doing, isn’t it?”
“Well…” Madge shrugged her shoulders.
“So let me help you.”
She gave her a hug. “You’re such a good person, Rachel.”
“Since I’m so good, do we have time for a cup of coffee before we get started?”
“I hope so. I need the caffeine.”
“You’re not the only one,” J.D. said from the doorway. “I got up early to help you, Madge, but it appears you already have a helper.”
“Yes, I do. We’re going to have a cup of coffee first. Want to join us?”
“I sure do. I’ll even let you serve me,” J.D. said, taking a seat at the table. Rachel brought J.D. his coffee and carried her own to her seat just as Bluey came into the kitchen.
“Bluey, are you ready for breakfast already?” Madge asked in surprise.
“No. I thought I’d get up and help you.”
Madge beamed. “I must be living right.” She took down another cup. “Sit down and join us.”
For the next ten minutes the four of them talked quietly about nothing important, but Rachel thought it was the first time in a week that J.D. had treated her like she was alive.
Then she and Madge began cooking. While Madge mixed biscuits and got them in the oven, Rachel fried bacon and sausage. The two men set the table, and when the others drifted in, they poured cups of coffee.
In no time breakfast was on the table, the men relishing the hot food. With the leftovers, Rachel made biscuit sandwiches and put them in plastic bags, handing each ranch hand a doggie bag. Since they expected more showers today, those snacks might be the only things dry on them for the rest of the day.
As soon as the men were out the door, she and Madge started on pancakes for the sick hands.
After Madge left to deliver the breakfast, Rachel got the dishwasher going, mopped the kitchen floor and started a load of J.D.’s clothes, along with a few of her things and Madge’s.
When the phone rang, she picked it up to hear Madge’s cheerful voice. “How are you doing, Rachel?”
“Fine.” She told her what she’d done so far, and asked if there was anything she could do at the bunkhouse.
“We’re fine here. You just enjoy your day.”
Rachel did just that. She puttered in the kitchen, making two chocolate pies, and finished the laundry. She loved the smell of clean clothes.
About five, finding herself with some free time, she switched on Madge’s little television to catch the evening news.
When the weather came on, she leaned forward intently. The radar showed more rainstorms coming their way. It looked as if the cowboys would have an uncomfortable time for several more days.
She walked over to look out the window toward the barn and, to her surprise, saw the cowboys ride in. When she noticed several of them being supported by others, she knew they either were injured or were more flu victims.
Since it would be awhile before they got to the house, she put on a big pot of coffee. Then the phone rang. It was J.D. “We’ve got a couple of guys sick, Rachel, so there will only be five of us and you and Madge for dinner.”
“All right. Is there anything I can do?”
“No, Madge doesn’t want you down here. I’m sending the rest of the men up there. They might like to take a hot sho
wer before dinner if that’s possible.”
“Of course.” She’d restocked their baths with towels already.
When the men reached the kitchen, leaving their wet outerwear on the back porch, she told them they had time to grab a hot shower before dinner if they wanted. There was a mad rush to the bathrooms.
When they returned to the kitchen, they were wearing the clean clothes Rachel had washed and folded that day. They all made a point of thanking her.
“I’m glad to do it. I got to stay inside all nice and dry. It only seemed fair to do that for you.” She started pouring cups of coffee, something else the men appreciated.
When she opened the oven and the aroma of her pot roast filled the room, the men all rushed to the table. They were passing around the dishes when the back door opened for J.D. and Madge. He opted for a hot shower before eating, but Madge sat down with the rest of them, updating them on their co-workers’ conditions.
When J.D. came to the table, cleaned up and changed, everyone passed food to him. When they were all once again eating, the cowboys made it a point to let J.D. know that Rachel had done their laundry and made this delicious meal.
Rachel was actually embarrassed by their compliments. She shook her head at J.D. as he started to add his own praise. She could feel her cheeks heating up when he gave her a long look. Throughout the rest of the meal and cleanup, she avoided his eyes.
When everything was done, he surprised Rachel by saying, “Now I’ll serve you two ladies some pie.”
They both protested, but he ordered them to sit. He brought them each a cup of coffee and poured one for himself. Then he cut three pieces of pie and joined them at the table.
“How are you two holding up?” he asked after a minute.
“Fine,” Madge said. Rachel nodded.
“I’m asking because it looks like it’s going to be a few days before we’re back to full strength. And it just so happens the weather is going to be lousy about the same length of time. Do you want me to hire some help?”
Madge shook her head. “If it was just me by myself, I’d need help. But Rachel has been filling in for me here and I’ve been able to look after the sick ones.”
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