Page 22 of Rival
“Good morning, Mr. Cooper. I actually got here a while ago. I just wanted to get this little guy fed and settled for the day.”
If my voice comes out gruffer than I had planned, I hold no regrets. “Feeding your cat isn’t my problem. If you’re not ready to start at seven, then you’relate.” I don’t pay any attention to her using Mr. Cooper. Today seems to be a day I’ll enjoy it rather than feeling like an old man. “Unless this isn’t somethin’ you want to be doin’. You wastin’ my time, Hughes?”
She looks shocked by my mood, which may partly be because I got shit for sleep. But I also think Clayborn’s daughter needs to be put her in place. “N-No! I swear—”
Turning my back on her, my departure cuts her off as I leave the barn. This time, I grin at the sound of her running footsteps to keep up with me. I don’t wait as I head over to the calf barn.
“M-Mr. Cooper. I’m so sorry for—” She’s breathless as she comes up to my side.
Again, cutting her off, I snatch a rake and shove it into her fumbling hands. Holding it close to her chest, I glare. “I don’t give a fuck about excuses. Act like a grown ass woman and be ready to start when you’re supposed to. It’s not that hard.” Brushing off the way her shoulders curl over her body,I continue. “Today, I wantallthe straw changed out for the bedding. Not just the spots where they’ve shit and pissed. Think you can handle that? Or do you need to go play with your kitten a bit more?”
“No, sir,” she whispers, which irritates me.
“Knock off the simperin’ act,” I demand, annoyed with her whole attitude. “I’m not askin’ you do anythin’ other than what you did the other day. If you can’t handle it, there’s the door.” I whip my hand up to point at the exit.
I freeze when she jerks her head back, eyes immediately finding the floor. “What the fuck was that?” I ask, seething now.Fuck her for acting like I’m going to hit her.
Edith swallows convulsively, eyes wide and panicked as she stares up at me. “Nothing, s-sir.”
I want to get in her face and scold her for acting like I’m the type of guy who’d hit a woman, but when my eyes roam over her, I catch the slight tremble of her body as she holds herself rigid under my perusal.Goddamnit. This is why I don’t want a woman workin’ around here.
“For fuck’s sake,” I groan, then hold my hands in an exaggerated way, backing away from her. “I’m not gonna hit you. Just do your fuckin’ job, would you?”
She nods her head quickly, clinging to the rake like her life depends on it, eyes welling, but she doesn’t let her tears overflow. “Yes, sir.” I don’t hear the words, but she mouths them clear enough for me to understand.
“Fuckin’ hell. I’m leavin’. This shit better be done by the time I get back,” I order, circling her face with my finger, pointing out her ridiculous emotional outburst. She’s never going to make it in this job if she can’t toughen up.
Before I leave, I spin around and give her one last parting shot. “By the way, I don’t need your boyfriend showin’ up on my door to lay into me about you workin’ here. Thought you wantedto keep it secret. Tell him if he shows up again, I have a right to put a bullet in him for trespassin’. Rein him in or you’re not comin’ back here another day.”
Storming out of the barn, I leave Edith to her work and angrily saddle my horse, Austin, then drag him outside. As I click my tongue to get him moving the moment I’m seated, I see my dad waving me down.
“Whatcha need?” I call out to him.
Bill Cooper waves an envelope at me, his brows furrowed in clear frustration. I guide my horse over and hold my hand out.
“What’s this?” I ask as I skim the letter, then my eyebrows drop to match my father’s. “What the hell?”
“Apparently, Thorton thinks we still owe him a balance for the crap job he never finished out here couple of years ago. Tryin’ to charge me late fees, too.” My dad fists his hands on his hips as I reread the letter. Looks like Jaxon is trying to charge us for unused materials still sitting over at his place.
Growling, I clench the letter in my fist. “Lemme get some chores done and I’ll head over to knock some sense into that asshole. He may not know his dad fucked us over, but I’ll clear it up real quick. Mom need anythin’ from town?”
“I’ll ask. When you gonna head out?”
“I got the Hughes girl in the calf barn changin’ out straw. I’ll wait until she’s done, then go. She’s helpin’ with the church with the barn build, so I’ll just drop her off or somethin’.”
Dad tips his hat up to look up at me. “How’s that workin’ out? Havin’ her in the barns, I mean.”
“Only been a couple days,” I say, not thrilled with talking about her.
“That don’t answer my question.”
My father is a hard man, but he’s not unaware of what’s going on around him. Sighing, I take my hat off and knock the dirt off before shoving it back on hard. “I don’t know what you want meto say. She’s doin’ fine, I ‘spose. Ran her fuckin’ mouth to one of the Grahams about workin’ here. It was real fun when he showed up on my doorstep last night to warn me off of fuckin’ with the girl.”
“Andareyou fuckin’ with her?”
The corners of my lips tilt up, and I meet my dad’s eyes. “Maybe a bit. But she surprisingly does good work. Not really a Hughes’ trait, if you know what I’m sayin’.”
He snorts. “They ain’t nothin’ but trash, but she seems like a decent sort of girl.”
