by Amber Kelly
“Great speech. It sounds less than convincing though.” Silas chuckles.
“I’m trying. Sophie says I have to let Elle grow up. If I could, I’d keep her little, so I could make sure she was safe and sound forever.”
He has always been overprotective of Elle. Back in the day, he could keep most hormonal teenage boys away from her with one look, but she’s not a teenager anymore, and there is no doubt that, sooner or later, some man is going to step up and be willing to go toe-to-toe with him to have her.
We finish up and head in for supper. Silas goes on home to Chloe, and Braxton and I join the rest of them. Suppertime has come to serve as an informal business meeting of sorts lately. It’s the time when Sophie and Jefferson have us all in one place to go over plans.
“I have everything booked for the auction weekend. I have four rooms at The Elizabeth in Fort Collins.”
Our eyes come to Sophie as she speaks, “I know it’s not your usual shithole of choice, but I got it for close to the same cost. When Elle and I aren’t tagging along for the ride, you guys can stay in whatever run-down place makes you feel the most rugged and masculine, but we prefer comfy beds and room service.
“The day laborers we are contracting to get the fence up should be close to completion before we leave, but Silas and Pop are staying behind to make sure everything gets done before we get back with the cattle. We are taking the fifty-foot fifth-wheel we have. Daddy and Emmett will hitch it up to their truck. I think we should buy one of the tri-axle cattle pots while we are there as well. We can tether it to Braxton’s truck and drive it home.”
“I thought we were going to bid on another fifth-wheel?” Jefferson interjects.
“We still can if that’s what you want to do, but I think the tri-axle is a better idea. The herd we take to auction is going to be a lot larger next season if everything goes right with the new cows. The tri-axle has easier load capabilities and will hold more than the fifth-wheel; plus, it’s easier to clean and more comfortable for the cattle. It expands if we need it and has more floor,” Sophie pleads her case.
Jefferson looks at Pop. “What do you think, old man?”
Pop looks at Sophie. “You think it’s for the best and we can afford it, even with the new livestock purchase?” he asks her.
“I do. It’s not that much more than a fifth-wheel, and if the new herd produces as well as expected, we’ll either need a third fifth-wheel or we’ll have to make multiple trips to get the calves to auction. This makes much more sense,” she adds.
He looks back to Jefferson. “I trust Sophie. If she says it’s a good idea and we can manage it, then I know we can manage it.”
“Okay, it’s settled. We’ll have a look at what they have to offer when we get there.”
Sophie smiles triumphantly, and Braxton winks at her.
Damn, City Girl keeps coming up with surprises, and in the short time she’s been here, she has managed to get Jefferson’s stubborn ass to make the changes Braxton and I have been fighting for, for years.
“Elle, will you be available at all next week to help with classes?” Madeline changes the subject.
“I sure will. We’ve worked my schedule to where Sophie has me Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings, and you have me Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays if you need me,” she answers.
“That’s great. I have a new mother wanting to add her daughter, Clara, who has cerebral palsy to my hippotherapy class and a few new riders who want to start next week if the weather allows. Chloe can work with the riders if you want to help me with Xander’s and Clara’s therapy.”
“I’d love that,” Elle says thoughtfully.
I watch her as she smiles a secret smile to herself. She likes being useful. I can tell how much the family’s confidence in her means.
Aunt Doreen brings a covered plate and sets it beside me. “For Edith,” she says.
She always remembers to set aside a meal for Momma.
“Thank you,” I say, and she shoos away my gratitude.
It’s been a long day, and I’m exhausted, but I go to Mom’s to make sure she eats and to check on her one last time before I head to the shack.
She’s asleep in the recliner when I get there. The television is on and turned up loud enough to wake the dead. There is a half-eaten bag of pretzels beside her. Not exactly a nutritious dinner, but at least it’s something.
I place the plate in the fridge, and then I turn the television off and pick her up in my arms. She’s light as a feather. I carry her to her bedroom and tuck her in. She rolls to her side and curls up in a ball on the big bed. I kiss her cheek.
“Sweet dreams, Momma,” I whisper before tiptoeing out and gently pulling her door closed.
I spend about a half hour tidying up the living room and taking out the trash before I let myself out and lock up.
Looks like the sun took care of my need to shovel for her this time.
Thank goodness.
I usually head to Fast Breaks, the pool hall in town, on Tuesday nights, but my aching body is ready for a hot shower and then bed.
I must be getting old.
Elle
“He lost his job again, so he dropped me off, and I’m letting him use my car to go put in applications,” Sonia explains over breakfast.
“Seriously? He lost another one? That’s, like, the fourth job this year,” I complain.
“I know, but this time wasn’t his fault. He can’t help that his car broke down and that he didn’t have a way to get there,” she defends him.
Sonia and Ricky have been dating since February. In that time frame, he has gone from one job to another and spent the summer lounging around her apartment. She rents a small one-bedroom place above her mother’s fabric and crafts store in town. She also does everyone’s alterations and embroidery. She’s the best seamstress in Poplar Falls.
I love Sonia to death. We’ve been best friends since I sat behind her in Mrs. Carter’s English class in sixth grade. She is the sweetest person on the planet, but she has horrible taste in men. She always finds these fixer-uppers and spends an unwarranted amount of time and money trying to help them. Like injured birds, she nurses them, drives them around, lets them crash with her when they get kicked out of their own homes, and spends all her hard-earned money from her job as a CNA, working for the town’s home health care agency and keeping them happy. I hate that she gets taken advantage of all the time. She gives her whole heart to these losers, just to have it stomped on over and over again. I swear, if I could, I’d punch Ricky in the balls and tell him to kick rocks, but the one thing I have learned is that I have to let the relationship run its course and be as supportive as I can manage until she figures it out on her own and throws him to the curb.
I can’t wait for her Prince Charming to show up one day, someone who deserves her special love and devotion and will return it to her tenfold. Until then, I’m here to catch her when it all falls apart.
“Well, hopefully, he finds something today. Until then, you can hang out with me,” I say as I loop my arm through hers.
Today is her scheduled weekday off. I love when we get to spend our days together. It’s rare now. You used to never see one of us without the other or Bellamy—the third side to our bestie triangle—but now that we are grown-ups, full days together are few and far between. We’re both excited that Bells will graduate from the University of Chicago this coming spring and be back in Poplar Falls. At least until she decides where she wants to end up permanently.
We grab our mugs and head out to the front porch. Aunt Doreen is sitting in one of the rocking chairs, enjoying the morning. Sonia and I plop down on the porch swing beside her.
“What are you two up to today?” Aunt Doreen asks.
“We’re not sure. We were thinking about going riding for a few hours,” I tell her as Walker drives up and hops out of his truck.
“Hey, Walk. Do you think it’s okay for us to take a couple horses out for a ride?”
He looks to the pasture behind the barn and then joins us on the porch. “I don’t believe it’s a good idea. The ground is so saturated from the melting snow, and it’s a slushy, muddy mess out there today. I’d hate for your horse to pull a shoe or strain a tendon,” he says.
Sonia frowns. “Well, poo,” she says.
“I can pull the four-wheelers out if you guys want to go sling mud around for a while,” he suggests.
I look at Sonia. “What do you think? We can ride out to Braxton and Sophie’s place. You haven’t seen the new house yet.”
“That sounds like a plan.”
We say our good-byes to Aunt Doreen and follow Walker out to the equipment barn. He slides the door open, and front and center is the new Yamaha Raptor 700 that Braxton brought home last month.
“Oh, can we take this?” I ask as I glide my hand down the sleek racing quad.
“I don’t think so. That thing flies, and you aren’t used to driving it. Probably not a good idea to take it out on a day like today for your first time,” he says as he walks deeper into the barn.
“Please, Walker. We’ll be careful,” I plead.
He turns and looks at me, and I place my folded hands under my chin like I’m praying while I blink my eyelashes at him.
His dimples pop out at my antics, and he gives in. “You sure you can handle it? It has a lot more horsepower than the ATVs you usually ride.”
“Of course I can,” I say as I straddle the cool cobalt-blue machine.
He walks over, carrying two helmets and a set of keys. He hands one helmet to Sonia, and he places the other on my head.
As he starts to adjust the strap, he talks, “All you have to do is pull the clutch in and shift to what gear you want.” Once my helmet is secured, he leans in and takes the clutch to demonstrate and continues, “Then, you slowly let the clutch out, and you’ll feel it start to move forward. Then, lightly tap the gas to get it going and let the clutch out all the way before you apply more gas. Once you get moving, it’ll be easier to shift, and you have to do the same thing to downshift. Got it?”
“Got it,” I tell him.
He backs away and moves to the side of the door.
I start the machine. Then, I pull the clutch in and shift into first gear. I give it too much gas as I let off. The bike jumps forward, and I shoot out of the barn faster than I expected. In my surprise, I let off the throttle completely and hit the brakes hard, which jerks me forward, and I lose my hold on the handles as it slams to a stop.
I go flying off the front-left side and hit the ground—hard.
Everything goes black.
I rouse after what I think is only a few seconds at most. Disoriented, I open my eyes to see nothing but blue sky.
Oh, right. I was just bucked off the Raptor.
I blink a couple times, and then I hear footsteps pounding toward me.
Before I can pick myself up, Walker is on top of me and lifting me from the ground, pissed off that I let it get away from me that quickly.
“Shit, woman, are you all right?” He has me on my feet and is frantically checking me from head to toe for injuries.
“I’m fine,” I assure him as I swat his hands away.
He throws his arms around me, presses his lips to my forehead, and just holds me there.
I wrap my arms around his middle and pull back to look up at him. A mix of panic, relief, and anger are all evident in his expression.
“I’m fine,” I whisper again.
He kisses the tip of my nose before releasing me. “Jeezus,” he rasps out as he bends over at the waist, putting his hands on his knees. “You scared the devil out of me. If you had been tossed a few feet to the right, that damn quad would have run right over you,” he rants.
Embarrassed, I back up and sit on the seat of the quad.
“Oh no, you don’t, woman.” He starts shaking his head as he advances toward me.
“Walker, it wasn’t that big of a deal. I just hadn’t expected it to take off so quickly; that’s all. I can drive it now that I know.”
I look back at Sonia, who is standing at the entrance to the barn with her eyes wide.
“Come on. Hop on,” I yell to her.
She gives me an apprehensive look as she slowly steps forward.
“Elle, you are not taking off on this thing. You flip it and break your neck, and Braxton will have my ass,” he starts as he grabs the keys from the ignition.
“Hey,” I protest as I try to snatch them back.
He holds them up above his head, which is far out of my reach.
“Walker, give them back. I’m telling you, I can drive it.”
I try jumping up onto the seat to get to the keys dangling above my head.
“Calm down, woman. The Raptor can be hard to control. Even for me. I’m not risking you rolling it over or colliding with a damn tree and killing yourself,” he says as I settle back down in the seat. “I’ll teach you how to drive it. I can’t this morning because I don’t have time, but I promise I will, and once I think you have a good handle on it, you can take it anytime you want. For now though, you are switching to the side-by-side.”
“You mean, the UTV. Really?” I huff.
He leans in close and wraps his big hand around the back of my neck. He brings my face to his, our noses almost touching. “Yes, really. You’re precious cargo, remember? I’m not letting you ride off on something that’s not safe, okay?” he asks, and the sincerity is clear in his tone.
He thinks I’m precious cargo.
“Okay. Whatever,” I say, giving in.
He closes his eyes for just a brief moment, and I swear he inhales like he is breathing me in. Then, he releases me and walks back into the barn.
I just sit there until Sonia is by my side.
“What was that?” she asks as her gaze follows Walker’s back.
“That was Walker taking away our fun,” I grumble.
She cuts her eyes back to me. “That’s not what I’m talking about, and you know it.”
I shrug. “It’s Walker treating me like I’m five years old or something. He’s probably scared Braxton will give him shit if he finds out we took his shiny, new toy.”
“Uh-uh, that wasn’t it either. You should have seen the look on his face when you came off this thing. He was freaked. I mean, I was, too, kind of, but he totally lost it,” she informs me of something I already know.
“Exactly. He’s overreacting and being ridiculous,” I whine.
“He’s being something all right,” she agrees.
“It’s Walker, Sonia. There is nothing more to it than that,” I say as I dismount the Raptor.
Walker pulls up beside us in the side-by-side.
“If you say so,” she sings.
I roll my eyes and stomp over to the driver’s side. He hops out and hands me the keys.
I look at the macho golf cart, and anger flares again.
“Changed my mind. We’re going to take one of the trucks to Sophie’s. Wouldn’t want the children out having too much fun on their day off or anything, now would we?” I ask in a snit as I stomp right past him.
“Hey,” he says, drawing my attention to him.
I stop and turn to face him.
He touches my cheek with his fingers. “Don’t be mad. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
I deflate a little at his soft touch and words.
I give a slight nod, not willing to speak my concession out loud.
He backs up as Sonia joins us, and she and I take off toward the house to get truck keys.
Before we turn the corner and I can’t see him anymore, I look back at him one last time over my shoulder. Walker is still standing there, watching us go. Then, I cut my eyes back to Sonia, who is contemplating me wordlessly.
“Oh, shut up,” I say, and she starts laughing.
Walker
It takes me a good twenty minutes to get my heart rate back down. Seeing Elle sail through the air off that damn quad alm
ost gave me a stroke, and the crazy woman thought I’d let her crawl back on the thing and take off. She’s out of her mind.
I blow into the main barn and head to grab my coveralls that are hanging on the hook by the shower. I pull them over my jeans and thermal and hook them.
Silas walks in a few minutes later and does the same.
“The truck with the fencing supplies is backing in now,” he says.
I grunt in his direction and stomp over to grab a pair of leather work gloves.
“Who pissed in your coffee this morning?” he asks as he follows me from the barn out to the tool shed to load the power augers.
“Nobody. I’m just ready to get this show on the road. We’re burning daylight,” I say as I fish in the back of the shed for the extension rods.
“Braxton isn’t even back from town with the fuel,” he says as I toss the rods in his direction.
I stop and look at him.
He has an expression of amused confusion as he takes in my strange mood.
I need to pull it together.
“I reckon we need the fuel to use these augers,” I say as I stop the frantic search and scratch my head.
Why am I so agitated?
“You think?” Silas answers as he gives me a what the hell look.
I sigh. “I’m just worried we won’t get this fence up in time. We’re hitting it awfully close,” I try to explain away my odd behavior.
“We’ll get it done. We always do,” he assures me.
“We might as well go load up on coffee until he gets here,” I suggest.
We walk to the front of the house, and Doreen is still rocking with her mug in hand.
“Good morning,” Silas greets her as we ascend the steps to the porch.
“Isn’t it?” she replies.