Page 5 of Ash on the Range
I stared at the pile of food prep, unsure where to start or what she had planned as she disappeared back around the corner and returned with a side of— Actually I had no idea what sort of meat that was, but whatever it came off, the animal left life huge.
“Nope, I’m good, but thanks.” Eve started cheerfully chopping and prepping all by herself in the empty, enormous house.
It hit me then—this was her life. Everyone else left to work for the day, doing whatever it was that they did around the ranch, and she was left here in the house, cooking and prepping and waiting for them all to come back. And the marketing and accounts and branding for the farm and whatever other things that she did, by the sounds of it. Without any help at all, from the short time I’d been about for.
“Um, okay.” I edged toward the stairs, bag in my hand, suddenly as unsure as I had been the moment that I’d climbed out of Will’s rusty truck that had more character and that he; loved more than anything glossy and shimmy that my brother had ever been given in his life. “I’ll just?—”
“Up the stairs, go along the corridor, third door on the right. The second door is the guest bathroom. Have a shower. Soak. I’m sure it’s been a long day. Or week. You can’t miss any of it,” Eve called me as the knife came down with the sort of rhythm that spoke of a woman who was used to hard work and reveled in it.
Eve and Travis obviously had a lot too, but from what I saw they earned every cent, working hard and thatmattered.She might be alone in the house but she obviously loved what she did. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask if everything was grown here—apart from the meat, obviously they ran deer not whatever was being placed in the world’s biggest bake tray as I climbed the stairs, but the moment passed and I moved along with it. I could ask later, maybe.
I made it up the stairs without disgracing myself, and passed a pair of doors closed on the left hand side, and a large bedroom with the door open on the right. That looked like it hadn't been used for a while, the floral cover pulled up neatly. I kept walking,past the bathroom, its door slightly ajar, and found the next room, the last on the right.
That one was shut. I pushed it open to find a double bed set out in the middle of the room, its cream cover decorated with a lace pattern woven through the middle laid out over a green oval rug. Matching curtains were pulled aside to let the afternoon light filter into the room. I placed my bag beside the bed, running my fingers over the sturdy wooden posts that matched the bedside tables, and leaned across to peer out the window.
This room looked over the back of the big house, giving me a view of the forest that led into the foothills of the foreboding mountain that watched over Red Hart Ranch like a sleepless sentinel. Unlike the front of the house that viewed the gold and green pastures where the deer grazed, still filled with wildflowers, my view was all evergreen conifers. I imagined it lit with snow in winter, all white caps and icicles. A chill breeze wrapped around me as the sun hid behind a cloud on cue.
Recalling Eve’s offer of a shower that suddenly seemed attractive after a week of doubtful motel basin washes that occasionally had hot water, I scrounged through my bag for fresh-ish clothes. Pulling out my only other pair of jeans that I’d managed to dry in the back of Will’s truck the day before, I found a lace, long sleeved top plus a knitted white hoodie that I could shrug over the whole lot later on once the sun set.
My meager supplies looked a whole lot less than necessary once I walked into Eve’s ‘spare’ bathroom that held everything anyone ever needed. It was like walking into a shopping mall, with everything laid out on display. I’d grabbed a few things with my remaining cash in White Cap, but the prices had been high, being a small town, and I’d put more than one thing back. Will offered to pay, but I refused his help outright. The shower beckoned. And I stepped in, forgetting my worries for a few minutes as heat drenched me all over. I washed my hair,shaved everything and scoured my body with soap. The result was a squeaky clean me I barely recognized a few minutes later, grateful for hot water that didn’t run out though I was conscious of not using it endlessly.
By the time I dressed, unpacked and headed downstairs, the basket of food Eve had been prepping was in the oven and the whole house smelled nothing short of delicious. Eve sat at the gigantic table, a laptop open in front of her.
“Coffee?” I called, finding the mug I used before and pointing to the coffee machine.
Her head raised, and she looked up at me, startled. “Yes, please.” Eve smiled, though it strained at the edges. “I was just… We should get you logged into the website. Feel better after the shower?” She stretched her arms over her head, though her face tightened and she dropped her hand to her stomach.
I didn’t say anything, turning away to focus on the coffee machine and its many functions.Not my business. Not my family.But it was Will’s, in a way, and he did offer to share it with me. I closed my eyes once I managed to get the coffee brewing, though it took me a few tries. “Okay, I am no barista,” I apologized, placing a fresh mug in front of Eve. “Feel free to hurl it at me any time.”
“Mmhm.” She made that noise she’d made before, absently clicking her laptop, then pulled a second one from under the tablet. “I made you a cheat sheet.” A laminated sheet with passwords and logins was placed on top of the laptop. “This should be everything you need while you’re here. That way if you get stuck between us we aren’t resetting things every day, okay?”
I stared. “Um, okay?” Tracing over the sheet, I ran through the list.Website, email, banking?“Uh, Eve? There’s a lot of trust passing across here. I’m not sure I want to handle all of this,” I tried, pushing the sheet back to her.
She offered me a tired smile. “Will trusts you, Cassie. Maybe you should ask him a bit about Red Hart sometime. Some of the things we’ve experienced together here. It might.. Put everything into perspective.”
“Oh.” The knot that had crept into my heart when Eve hugged Will in the house yard wrapped its tendrils tight once against and pulled tight. “Um, I will. So, where do we start?” I forced a light, cheery note into my voice that insisted on straining as much as Eve’s as I sat beside her and opened the second laptop.It’s a place to stay and be near Will.
And it hit me for the first time just how little I knew about the cowboy I’d attached myself to for the past week with no thought whatsoever of crossing half the country with him, other than that he’d been the only one in years I’d seen stand up to my brother and walk away, even if he did limp after the fact.
And the way he looked at me like I was the only thing in his world at all worth something.
But now I’d found the place he called home, and I wasn't sure I fit here at all.
Maybe the honeymoon period is officially over.
I mourned the loss of that happy connection the moment I realized, and dived into listening to Eve with my full attention, determined not to sink into the depression that usually overtook me whenever I thought about anything family.That shroud will not touch me here.The promise I made to myself that I knew I would break sooner than later, but I made it all the same.
Eventually the screen bleared my eyes. I rubbed at them, peering at a row of figures I thought was meant to be merchandise stock, but it didn't seem to quite match up with one of Eve’s other spreadsheets from her online store. No matter what I did, I couldn’t make the two reconcile.This is not my forte.Knowing I was well out of my depth and conceding I needed help, I raised my head.
“Eve, can you—” I looked at the laptop next to me, but its screen was black and the long bench seat beside me sat empty. “Uh, Eve?” I spoke to the empty room that smelled like roast and garlic and family memories.
Is this how she passes the hours on her own and forgets to be lonely?
I stood and stretched slowly. Something in my back popped and I inhaled a little deeper than I had been able to before. That turned into a yawn as I collected the coffee mugs left on the table and headed to the kitchen, peering around but Eve wasn’t anywhere. The whole place smelled heavenly, and I could see why the boys kept coming back year after year if they were fed so well after a hard day’s work on a regular basis.
Even with the still warm weather, though I was sure the nights would be chill, a fire was lit in a—matching to the theme of the house—oversized fireplace off to one side of the kitchen where a group of worn leather couches covered with knitted blankets were grouped together in a cozy collection. Chestnut hair draped out from one of the ends.
I opened my mouth to call out, but hands wrapped around my waist, pulling me back into a hard, warm body that smelled of leather, sweat and hours of work under a warm afternoon sun. The only sound that elicited out of my mouth was a soft squeak.
