Page 9 of Make Her Mine
“No one set the table?” I huffed while collecting the utensils. “I’ve got to doeverythingaround here today?”
Neither of them said a word as I carried the tray out. Going into the outsized dining area with a massive central table, I saw they were sitting at the far end. Brandon was at the head of the table and his brothers were on either side of him.
The way Brandon grinned made me shaky. “You’re working the dinner shift, too, I see.”
Placing the bowls and silverware in front of them, I nodded, “Yeah, the girl who normally does this called in. Stupid Tasha.”
“Looks good,” Dyllan commented as he dug right into his salad.
“Um.” I stood there, trying to remember what Todd told me to do. “Oh, yeah. You guys want something to drink?”
Clayton nodded. “A Jack and Coke would be great.”
Dyllan looked at me as he asked, “What do you have?”
Shifting my weight, I didn’t have an answer for that. “Tell me what you want, and I’m sure we can fix you up.”
I felt a hand on my arm, and turning, I found Brandon’s meaty hand there; bolts of lightning shot through me, and I jumped back. The damn heels had me stumbling backward, then those hands were on me again.
“Whoa, Ella.” He held me for a second. “Saved you again.”
“The wall would’ve stopped my fall. I’m not used to wearing heels.” I moved out of his grasp, heading toward the kitchen to get away from the man who made me act crazy.
“I’ll have sweet iced tea,” Brandon called out.
Dyllan added, “Me, too, I guess.”
In the kitchen, I tried to settle down. “Todd, I need a Jack and Coke and two sweet iced teas.” I ran my hands over the front of my skirt nervously. “God, I hate doing this. I hate wearing this.”
Suddenly a deep voice came from right behind me. “So why are you wearing it then?”
I turned to see Brandon had snuck in. “How’d…? Why…? What are you doing in here?”
“Dyllan changed his mind. He wants a Jack and Coke, too. And I want to know why you’re wearing something that makes you feel uncomfortable, Ella.” He looked at Mom as my tongue had gone limp inside my mouth. “From now on, let the staff wear whatever they feel the most comfortable in. This isn’t a five-star hotel. We don’t care what anyone wears.”
“Okay, Brandon,” Mom said with a nod. “I’ll get that memo out after dinner.”
“Thanks.” He turned to leave.
As I watched him walk away, I felt weird. “Thanks.”
He stopped and turned to look at me with a funny smile. “For?”
“For catching me.” I ran my hand down the short skirt. “And for noticing how uncomfortable I feel in this outfit.”
With a nod, he walked out, and I couldn’t take my eyes off the door until Mom yelled at me, “Ella, get out of your stupor and take the drinks out! Damn, girl!”
Chapter Five
Brandon
With so much to consider, my brothers and I hopped in one of the ranch’s trucks and drove to Dallas to talk to our parents. Having spent the night, none of us knew exactly what the right thing to do was. Plus, I wanted to know more about the situation. Like why Dad’s father was such an inflexible man?
I drove, Clayton sat in the passenger seat, and Dyllan sat in the middle of the backseat that morning. “If we sell the ranch, you might never catch Ella when she falls again,” Clayton chuckled. “Who knows? Without you around, she might finally meet her end with how clumsy she is.”
Dyllan leaned forward. “I don’t think she’s clumsy. She’s intimidated by Big Brother here. And how is it, Brandon, that you always jump to catch the filly anyway? One of us could’ve done it just as easily.”
“I didn’t see either of you jumping to do that.” I put on the blinker to get on the ramp to the highway. “And believe it or not, I don’t want to keep the ranch just to catch Ella from time to time.”
