Page 17 of Make Her Mine
“That would be great!” Dad smiled, which was unusual. “The more hands, the easier it’ll be.”
“Cool,” Dyllan said as he dug into his meal. “We’ll see childbirth.”
Mom laughed. “It’s not exactly the same as when a woman has a baby, but it’s fascinating just the same.”
With much to go tend to, the men ate quickly, then headed out to spend the day in the cattle barn, helping the cows along with their labor. Mom and I ate much slower than they had, preferring to enjoy the food, instead of gulping it down like mountain lions.
My sister’s voice drifted down the hallway, “You look like hell, Brandon.”
“I feel like hell, Darleen,” came Brandon’s voice. “Something woke me up out of a dead sleep. With this headache, I couldn’t get back to sleep. Maybe if I eat something, then take a handful of aspirin I might live.”
Darleen wasn’t lying about Brandon’s appearance. When they walked in, he had dark circles under his eyes, his hair wasn’t neatly combed, parted to the left as usual, and he had dark stubble over his chin and jaw line.
I was staring at his face when his bloodshot eyes met mine. “Top of the morning, Ella.” He looked at my mother who sat across from me, “Mrs. Finley,” then went directly for the coffee.
I got up to get some of the tiny sausages. Standing next to him as he poured the coffee, I asked, “Why did you drink so much?”
He shrugged those massive shoulders. “I don’t know.”
“Your brothers went with my dad and brother to lend a hand in delivering calves. If you want, we can go down there on the golf cart after you eat.” I picked up another dish. “Here, let me make you a plate. You look like you’re about to fall down. Go sit, and I’ll bring it to you.”
“You’rebeing nice to me?” He looked at me with drooping eyes. “I must really look horrible.”
“Believe me, you do.” It wasn’t a joke. “Go sit down.”
Taking his coffee, he shuffled to the table and took a seat. My sister stepped up beside me, making her plate as she whispered, “Look at you being all nurturing, Ella.”
“Hush.” I grabbed a dish and put two poached eggs on a scoop of hash browns, a thick slice of Canadian bacon, a cheddar cheese scone, and then carried it to him. “Here you go. Eat as much as you can. I bet it’ll help. And there’s some chicken tortilla soup. I’ll fix a bowl of that for you, too. What kind of juice do you like? There’s plenty to choose from.”
“Water,” he said as he picked up his fork that I lay next to the plate. His eyes came up to mine. “Thank you, Ella. This is kind of you.”
My mom stared coldly at me, but I ignored it. “You’re welcome, Brandon.”
After getting his water and filling a piping hot bowl of soup topped with fresh cilantro, I took a seat across from him.
“This soup looks like it has everything but the kitchen sink in it,” Brandon said, eyeing the broth.
Mom clued him in on what was in it, “Todd makes the chicken soup with rice first. Then he cuts up fresh jalapenos, onion, and garlic, and adds them along with chopped tomatoes, salt, and pepper. The cheese from Oaxaca in Mexico goes on the bottom. Fill the bowl with soup and add some avocado and cilantro on top.”
Brandon took a bite. “This is great. But you left out the tortilla chips that are in here, Mrs. Finley.”
I spoke up, “I crushed them in the bowl before I poured the soup in.”
His blue eyes settled on mine. “Well, it’s all delicious. Thank you. I feel better already.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “You’re welcome.”
Mom got up, taking her plate with her. “I have some shopping to do in town today. Darleen, would you care to join me?”
“Yeah,” Darleen said. “I’ve got some things to do as well.”
Mom put her plate in the tray for the dirty dishes as she looked at me. “Ella, your father thinks it’s a good idea for the men to get familiar with the ranch. Could you take Brandon on a tour of the horse facilities once he feels up to it?”
“Oh, I’m up to it,” Brandon said quickly. “This miracle soup has done the trick. I’ll just shower,” he ran his hand over the dark stubble on his face, “shave, then put on some jeans and boots and meet you, Ella.”
“’Kay.” I couldn’t believe how excited I was over something so simple. “I’ll be in the garage. The golf cart is probably charged up.”
Half an hour later, on our way to the horse barn, the cold wind hitting us in the face made our cheeks red. A scarf was wrapped around my neck as I drove the two-seater cart. Brandon looked at me, then reached over and pulled it up to cover my nose. “That’ll help keep the cold wind off your face.”
