Page 14 of Forever His Brat

Sam laughed. “You act like if we don’t get it pinned down it will never happen. Charlie girl, I promise I’m not letting you go. Wewillget married this year. We’ve got our whole future ahead of us.”

She settled back in her chair with both hands wrapped around her coffee cup. She was overly full now, but content. The combination made her sleepy. “I know. Just can’t wait to get started, I guess.”

“Don’t wor—” He stopped abruptly, tilting his head and listening.

After a second, she heard what had caught his attention. It was a vehicle crunching slowly down the road. “I guess someone made it. That’ll help.” Maybe if she was lucky, he wouldn’t need her after all, and she could go back to bed for an hour.

“Probably Ben.” He pushed his plate back and got up. “Your oatmeal did the trick. I feel warm enough to skip the shower. I’m going to throw on some clothes and head down to the barn.”

Charlie just nodded as he got up and left the room. She enjoyed the lazy moment, leaving the breakfast dishes sitting there as she sipped her coffee. She was still there when he came back and dropped a kiss on her forehead.

“Keep an ear out for the phone. I’ll call if I need you to come down. The main road didn’t look too bad when I broke through, so we might end up with a decent sized crew despite the snow.”

“I will,” she assured him. If he’d looked over, hemighthave caught her rolling her eyes at the order, but he didn’t. He was too busy rushing out the door.

She’d learned her lesson the hard way on that particular issue. Sam had warned her repeatedly to keep a phone on her. He felt like it was a safety issue and he always worried when he couldn’t reach her.

But Charlie had never been someone who was attached to her phone 24/7 so she’d kept forgetting. The lectures had been bad enough, but Sam had finally given her a painful reason not to forget anymore.

Now it was her habit to keep it with her any time she was out of his sight. Not that it mattered when she was home. There was still an old-fashioned landline in the kitchen and one in the main barn too. They came in handy when the signal was spotty.

Sam left and she took care of the breakfast dishes. While she was straightening the kitchen and putting away the leftovers, she heard the sound of two more vehicles rolling by on the way to the barn.

That would probably be enough for the morning work, and later, as things warmed up and the snow started to melt, they might get a few more people in. Sam called as she was putting away the leftover oatmeal to confirm what she’d already guessed.

“Hey Charlie, we’ve got five guys here now. That’s enough for the morning but if you can make your way over around noon. I can use you when we make the rounds and check on the cattle.”

“Sounds good. Want me to bring lunch down with me?” On a short day it was unlikely Sam would have time to come home.

“Ah… yeah. Couple sandwiches would be great. See you then.”

Sam didn’t waste time with long goodbyes; he never did. There was a click, and he was gone— just like that she had a free morning to herself. Of course, a smart girl would have dived into her schoolwork since she hadn’t needed to rearrange things after all.

But she’d already made those alterations and she was tired. The warm bed was calling her name and she surrendered to it.

CHAPTER4

Considering the weather issues and the leisurely breakfast with Charlie it had felt like he was getting a late start. That made him antsy and rushed him out the door in fresh dry clothes, but when he got to the barn, he realized he was actually a little earlier than usual.

The plowing had taken less time than he’d expected, probably because he’d done it twice the night before, so breakfast had been right around their normal rising. Almost made him regret rushing Charlie’s spanking. She probably could have used a longer dose to straighten her up.

He used the smaller side door and left the big ones closed to keep the heat in. The barn was warm and welcoming. Ben was there already in the office, as Sam had expected.

“Hey Ben, glad to see you. I wasn’t sure anyone would get in today.”

His second in command was making a pot of coffee. The machine was new, one of thesurprisesCharlie had snuck in while he’d been in the hospital. Originally, she’d placed it in the tack room for everyone to use.

It had led to longer breaks, and a mess. No one wanted to refill the pots so every time he went in they were empty. Sometimes burned on the bottom because the hands had left it on with nothing in them.

That was why they didn’t have one in the first place, but it was paid for, so it stayed. After a couple warnings he’d simply moved it into his office. Now no one got to use it but him and Ben.

It was too big, industrial sized, and it took up a lot of space, but he’d gotten used to having it now. It was nice not to have to haul a thermos down with him every day too—though he’d started to drink a lot more coffee because of the proximity.

Ben looked up, nodding. “Main roads are still pretty slick, but I hated to leave you on your own and my heavy truck can handle a little ice. Not sure anyone else will get in though.”

Sam was in agreement on that one. “I appreciate it. Nick came in late last night, but they were pretty beat. Hate to ask him to jump in right off the bat.”

Ben nodded but didn’t comment. He’d been surprisingly mute on the subject of the new foreman. Sam had a feeling he was withholding judgment until he had a chance to see Nick in action.

---