Page 99 of The Cowboy Who Came Home

She sniffled and went to help him get out the silverware and orange juice while Alex said, “Mm hm, I’m sure that’s true,” and then several seconds later, “I’ll send you the receipt.”

Edith dished herself some eggs and set a couple of pieces of bread in the toaster for Alex. He loved sourdough, and she’d spent hours wandering the grocery store yesterday, her mind stuck in a fog and making it twice as hard and take twice as long to put their necessities in the cart.

Alex ended his call and scooped up his breakfast. “Good morning, Edee,” he said.

“Morning,” she said. “I’ve got your toast down.” She took a bite of her eggs while she stood in front of the toaster, waiting for the bread to pop up.

“Finn and I are sharing the semis for market day,” he said as he sat down at the table.

“That’s a good idea,” Edith said. The toast popped up, and she reached for it to butter it. With it ready and on a small plate, she took it over to Alex. Her brother looked up at her, and Edith wrapped her arms around him and held on.

It was awkward with her standing and him sitting, but Edith didn’t care. “I love you, Alex,” she said. “You take such good care of me, and I’m so—I appreciate it.”

“We take care of each other,” he said gruffly.

Edith nodded, sniffled some more, and then finally released him and returned to the kitchen to get her eggs. She sat in her usual spot kitty-corner from Alex and looking out the back window. “What did Finn want my help with on market day?”

He hadn’t answered her text, and she set her phone on the table so Alex could see it. “I texted him.”

“It’s not about market day,” he said.

“Aren’t we doing lunch?”

Alex finished his bite of eggs and looked out of the corner of his eye to Edith. “They’re hosting at Three Rivers. Kevin and Bethany Ann won’t be out of the house yet, so Finn doesn’t want to do it there. I didn’t think our place was big enough.”

He forked up another bite of food. “Plus, with both of us going on the same day, it’ll be dinner, and not lunch.”

Edith nodded and picked up a piece of egg. She leaned over and fed it to Frankie, who crowded out the other dogs, even those bigger than him. “Okay, so I’m not needed.”

“Edee, you’re always needed,” he said. “You know Kelly Ackerman’s phone number, and you can have as big of a role as you’d like.”

She nodded, because he was right. She tried on a smile, and it wobbled, but it stayed. “You’re right. Okay, I’ll call her today.”

“It’s not for a couple more weeks.”

“I’m sure she’ll have the menu set and half the food in the freezer by now.” Edith sniffled and drew in a breath, the tension in this farmhouse off the charts.

Alex chortled, but he didn’t argue back, which meant Edith was right.

She managed a bite of scrambled eggs, and though they’d cooled, she got them down. She fed a bite to Otto, then Gumbo, and then Olive. Bandit sulked behind all the other animals, and Edith picked up a big bite and extended it toward the last border collie.

He came toward her and took the food with a gentle mouth, and Edith asked, “So if you and Finn weren’t talking about market day just now, what were you talking about?”

Alex gave her his grumpy cowboy glare, the one that disappeared completely when Nicki walked in the room or when he got to rent big machinery or when his collies did exactly what he’d trained them to do.

“He asked me for the dimensions of the she-shed,” he said calmly. “What facilities he needs for it, that kind of thing.”

Edith’s heartbeat came to a complete stop right there in her chest. “My she-shed?”

“Edee, that man is in love with you.” Alex picked up a piece of toast and held it without taking a bite. “He is planning on doing whatever necessary to have you in his life, and?—”

“He told you that? That he’s planning to do whatever necessary to have me in his life?”

“No,” Alex said. “Not in those words. He hasn’t said he loves you either, but Edee, it’s not about what a man says. It’s what a man does.” He bit into his toast, the crunch punctuating the truthfulness of his words.

She finished her breakfast, with most of it honestly going to the animals, and then she slid Alex’s plate on top of hers and went into the kitchen. In front of the sink, she looked out the window and over the farm while the water ran. It took several long seconds to get hot here, and while she waited, Edith saw her she-shed in the corner of the yard. She saw the barns and stables and the extreme gift God had given her to be here.

Love poured over her in a strong, unrelenting stream of water, the same way it gushed out of the sink and over the dirty dishes. And just like hot water could rinse away crumbs and oils and debris, the love of God could heal all wounds in a person’s heart and soul.

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