Page 16 of Keeping His Brat

“What happened? A hell of a long day is what happened.” His hands wrapped around the mug to absorb the warmth.

She curled up against his side to listen as he started to tell her all about it.

Chapter 5

The morning went well enough except for the slowly increasing reminder that he had a sickness coming on. So far it was mostly clogged sinuses and a headache, but he had a feeling it would be worse later. He stayed as far away from everyone else as possible. Last thing he needed was a bunch of men in bed sick.

The storm had ended at some point during the night and now they were just left with the clean-up. He sent men out to check the herds, and especially to look for injuries. He was pretty sure the one they’d saved was okay, but it had been hard to tell in the dark, and there might be others who had gotten hurt. There usually were.

All the rain had left the ground slushy but it was safe enough for the horses to go out and get some exercise and they were always restless the morning after a big storm so that was a priority. No one was going to be riding them, but at least they’d be settled outside so they could meander around and socialize.

Devil, as usual, went to his own separate enclosure since he couldn’t be trusted to behave. He paced the length of his small enclosure and eyed anyone who came close. He’d gentled, somewhat, and had started to show progress finally, thanks to Sam assigning one of his best hands to give him some personalized attention.

But that was just on his good days. Other days … well, it was best to stay away from the big black stallion if you were fond of your skin and fingers.

When everyone broke for lunch Sam decided it was time to see what Charlie was getting up to. He headed back to the cabin, cursing the thick mud that pulled at his boots. He stopped at the door to brush the mess off as well as he could, and when he went inside, he left the boots sitting there.

To his surprise the first thing he smelled was not cleaning materials but the aroma of a hearty soup. He turned towards the kitchen area immediately and saw that Charlie had dragged out the big soup pot. Whatever was in it was bubbling merrily and sending clouds of steam up into the air, while she sat at the table staring intently at her computer screen.

“That smells fantastic,” he commented. “Surprised you had time.” The tone was mild, and it wasn’t a criticism, he just thought she’d be too busy to cook.

She looked up, blinking, and then looked back at the computer to check the time like she hadn’t realized how late it had gotten. “It’s my turn to make dinner. Anyway, it doesn’t take long to set up a stew, and once it’s in the pot all it needs is an occasional stir. It won’t be ready for a while though, so you’ll have to do sandwiches for lunch.”

She waved vaguely at the fridge and then went back to what she’d been doing. He didn’t take it personally. When she was working, she tended to put all her concentration into the task, and he could see she’d already forgotten he was there.

He leaned down to kiss the top of her head and then he went to the fridge to dig out lunchmeat and cheese. Sandwiches were a staple on workdays. Before Charlie had come back home, he’d usually made them in the morning and brought them to the barn with him, but now when she was home, he liked the excuse to see her at lunch.

Not that she was much company today. He leaned against the counter and watched her as he plowed through three thick sandwiches, and she barely noticed him. She would read for a bit, and then switch to a document to make notes.

The house, from what he could see had gotten some cleaning. Not everything was spotless, but he’d figured that in when she reminded him about the schoolwork. He checked when he was finished eating and was pleased with the progress. She’d followed his instructions and had been industrious enough to get the bathroom done and the bedroom looked neat enough too.

There was a pile of sheets and laundry in the corner, so it was obvious she’d stripped and remade the bed. The cabin didn’t have room for a washer and dryer, so that would go over to the big house, when one of them had time to do it.

“Good job, Charlie. How much more do you have to do?” he asked as moved up behind her.

“Bathroom and bedroom are done. Uh, living room maybe half. The fireplace needs to be cleared out and I need to dust. Kitchen I haven’t even started. Figured I might as well wait on that until last. Maybe an hour left on cleaning altogether.” The reply was prompt, but her voice was distracted as if she was answering on autopilot.

That was normal for Charlie. Maybe a Dom who didn’t know her well would get annoyed that she wasn’t giving him her full attention, but Sam appreciated her ability to focus so intently on her work. He was impressed she could answer him at all without losing track of what she was doing.

“And your schoolwork?”

“Days. Days and days of work. I’m probably going to die of overwork, and you should just consider this punishment enough and let the rest go,” she said in a mournful tone. Then she did pause to look up at him with a big dramatic pout.

He laughed and shook his head. “Nice try, darlin’, but I don’t think so. I can take you off the schedule for next week if you need to focus more on your assignments though.”

She was shaking her head before he even finished. “No way. I need the exercise to burn off all the stress. Besides that kind of work is more fun than cleaning and writing.”

“Most ofthatkind of work is also cleaning at this time of year. How is cleaning the house different from cleaning the barn?”

“It’s just different. Besides I’ll go crazy if I don’t get out to do things. The assignments will be done, I promise Daddy.” She made an X over her heart and then grinned. “I’m glad we have the whole semester to work though. Honestly, I feel bad for anyone who puts them off. It’s like five levels harder than the work I did for my masters.”

Her expression was one of distaste, but Sam knew her better than that. Charlie loved the work. She loved to study and learn new things. He wondered sometimes if she wouldn’t eventually have gone back for her doctorate even without her father’s will pushing her to it.

As much as she loved the ranch, loved the animals and working with her hands, she was more than that. Her mind needed to be kept as busy as her body. He didn’t entirely agree with the way her father had handled everything, but he had to admit that going back to school was probably good for Charlie.

What he wasn’t so sure about was Charlie’s idea that he take some classes too. He’d always regretted not getting more than his high school diploma, but he hadn’t had much choice. When his own father died, he’d been a teenager alone in the world.

Without Charlie’s father, who knew where he would have ended up. Jimmy had offered to let him stay on the ranch, saying one more mouth to feed wasn’t going to matter much, but Sam had been raised with too much stubborn pride to accept charity.

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