They finally rose from the hay bale and put things back to rights as she gathered their clothes, disdaining to put her cold, wet clothing back on. “I’ll just wrap myself in a towel.”
Once everything was back as it should be and the animals checked on one last time, Chris lifted her in his arms again and they walked to the ranch house. “I don’t want you to hurt your feet on the gravel, darlin’.”
“Thank you for taking care of me, guys,” she said as she rested her head against Chris’s broad chest. They murmured in acknowledgment but she didn’t think they really understood how much she was really thanking them for. She was used to doing for herself. Taking care of herself. Protecting herself. Keeping herself on track. Now her days were slipping into a comforting routine that centered around these men. She wondered at how the thought of becoming dependent on them both comforted and terrified her.
Chapter Eighteen
Early February
“Who do you suppose she’s talking to?” Chris asked as he and Julián watched her next door from the shadows of the Cook Ranch barn. She sat on Wilbur’s riding lawn mower talking on her cell phone. The day had been almost balmy and they’d stripped down to just T-shirts. The warm air felt good and Chris stretched and felt a little lazy before he returned to helping Julián unload the supplies they’d just come back from town with.
Next door, Gwen had been as industrious as ever, mowing the grass around the house even though there wasn’t enough growth to warrant mowing. She’d worked her ass off maintaining Wilbur’s place and if anything, it looked even better. Chris thought that might have to do with her having a woman’s touch.
“Whoever she’s talking to is starting to aggravate her.”
Chris squinted and asked, “How can you tell?”
Julián glanced at him and said, “How long has it been since you’ve been to the eye doctor? She just shot the finger at her phone.”
“No shit? Wish I’d seen that. And I don’t need to visit the eye doctor. Bet she’s talking to that Roger fellow. She hasn’t said much about it but I think he’s really been pestering her.”
They might know these things if they both weren’t working in tandem to wear her out in her leisure time so that she had barely a conscious thought before drifting to sleep at night. Not that he wasn’t grateful for those times though. She was the sweetest thing to sleep with.
He loved it the most when she let him talk her into sleeping on his chest. She claimed she was too heavy to lie on him like that but he’d damn near beg until she giggled and gave in, too tired to argue. Once she fell asleep, if he lay perfectly still, he could feel her heart beating against his chest.
Chris stood there with Julián and watched as Gwen used her hands while talking, showing how frustrated she was. She suddenly sat back against the seat and shook her head, swiped her hand through the air in a negative motion, nodded, and hung up the phone. For a second she looked like she wanted to throw the phone, but she put it in her pocket and then rested her elbows on the steering wheel and put her head in her hands.
“I want to go over there,” Chris said softly.
“I do too. She’s working so hard. She hasn’t taken any time off except for an hour or two here and there.”
They turned back to their work and Chris said, “She’s going for a girls’ afternoon with a bunch of the ladies tomorrow.”
“Yeah, she told me this morning. We should talk her into going out with us for Valentine’s Day next week.”
“Steak at O’Reilley’s and then dancing?” Chris asked as his stomach growled. O’Reilley’s chefs knew what they were doing with a juicy sirloin or tenderloin filet. He could almost taste it.
“Sounds good. Matter of fact, I think we need to set her up for a pre–Valentine’s Day surprise.”
“What did you have in mind?”
“You’ll see.”
Chris looked back up the hill and smiled when he saw Gwen going about her business mowing again. She didn’t let whatever aggravation she’d experienced earlier keep her from getting the job done.
“Did she ever get our Christmas present?” Gwen had sent her forwarding order to the post office in Divine but still hadn’t received the package. Julián had let him kick in half the cost of the ring Julián had purchased for Gwen so it was now considered from both of them.
“No. I verified that it was delivered. She said that her dad told her he had a bunch of mail to bring to her when they visit so he probably has it.”
“Oh hell, when will that be?” Chris wondered how that would all play out for the zillionth time. Maybe it made him a Neanderthal but he viewed Roger Bedford as competition for Gwen.