“I have a few bills, my rent, the electric, the water, and the phone bill.” She nibbled her lip glancing up at him.
“You can keep your rent money, you won’t be living there. We’ll see about the rest later. Cindy has prepared a gorgeous meal so let’s do her the honor of eating it. Lucy, I want to see some bacon and eggs on that plate.”
“Yes sir.” She said automatically watching her mother give her a spoonful of scrambled egg and a strip of perfectly crisp bacon. She took another bite of toast with grape jelly smeared all over it. Harper stifled a grin. This pup was bright. He said on the plate, not that she had to eat it. Harper watched to see if she would eat or if she would try to top her alpha.
Everyone filled their plates once Cindy and Harper had taken their food. Harper thought it strange. She’d always been told that the males ate after the Alpha and females ate what was left. “What’s wrong?” Ryder said quietly.
“You guys eat in a different order than my pack did. Females always got scraps.” His eyes flashed. “Did I say something wrong?”
“Ryder is old-fashioned and he tends to put us on a pedestal.” Cindy said biting into a sausage link. “He thinks that women are delicate flowers and should be treated as such. It’s sweet.” She smiled. “He always makes you feel appreciated.” Harper cringed inwardly. What did that mean? Was he one of those Alphas that had a selection of bitches that he slept with? He said that there were two mated pairs, where was the other female? Was she waiting for him?
“I see some serious wheels turning up there.” Ryder murmured and nodded toward her head. “Don’t get out of sorts. Any questions that you have, I will more than happy to answer.”
“You said that there were two mated pairs, where is the other pair?”
“Well, Nicole is still in bed.” Harper watched Cindy roll her eyes dramatically.
“Her mate and Cindy’s mate are in the south field plowing already. It will be time for planting soon and we want to see what this old farm has in her, if she will provide food for next year. Nicole and Will’s pups are probably still asleep because they figured out how to get the video game to work yesterday and they were still up when we came home.”
“How many pups?” Harper speared some sausage.
“Oh they’re teens, three of them, fourteen, sixteen, and eighteen.” Cindy offered. The men started getting up one at a time and carried their plates to the sink. Each of them scraped, rinsed, and placed the dishes in a dishwasher. Harper smiled at that. “I still have to clean the pots but that little trick that I taught them, saves me time.” Cindy grinned at her. Harper already liked her and knew that she would do anything that this female asked.
“That’s a good trick.” Harper grinned back and finished her plate. Cindy reached over and tapped Lucy’s plate. The eggs and bacon were untouched so far. Lucy glanced up at Ryder who sat watching her with one brow raised. Uh-oh. Harper thought, I’d eat that if I were you little one. Lucy’s jaw worked while she sorted out what to do and finally picked up the bacon. She shoved the whole piece in her mouth and chewed.
Ryder was the last man at the table but soon he tended to his dishes too. Harper liked that they all helped each other. Bronson always left his plate on the table and went to watch TV after meals.
The men convened in the living room behind her. She heard Jack say that the mailbox was fixed and he was ready for his next assignment. Lee was headed out to tend to the stairs on the porch. The rest were headed to the attic. Ryder came back to the table. “You got this Cindy?”
“Sure thing Ry.” She took Harper’s plate and her own to the sink. “She’ll make it up to me later.” She chuckled and turned the water on in the sink.
“You and I will go to your place, pack up what you want to keep and come back here.” Harper nodded and followed him out to the SUV. He put her into the passenger seat and closed her door. She watched him round the truck and climb into the driver’s seat. She buckled her seatbelt and waited.
“My shift starts at noon at the store.” She said when he climbed in.
“Do you like your job?” She scrunched her nose and shook her head. “Call and quit.” He started the vehicle. “Any bills you have, I will pay. If you want to work though, that’s fine and I won’t stop you. If you don’t want to work that’s fine too because there is more than enough work around here to do. Like I said before, we are running a farm, rebuilding this house then building six other houses eventually.” She swallowed as he eased down the dirt road. “I want to pave the drive too. Eventually, I want trees to line it on both sides.”