Life After Wife (Three Magic Words Trilogy, #3)(27)

His thoughts left the bull and went straight to Sophie. She’d grown up from a gangly girl to a fine woman. He’d never been drawn to red-haired girls before, but there was something about that kinky red hair of hers that made him want to tangle his fingers in it to see if it was as soft as it looked.

“Whoa, boy!” he muttered. “She’s your partner, and you’d ruin everything if you ever let your crazy heart go there.”

But telling his heart to stay away and making it do so were two very different things. The forceful spray of water became a screen for pictures of Sophie. At the breakfast table with that gorgeous red hair all tied up in a ponytail, with strands wiggling their way out of the rubber band like disobedient children; cleaned up and smelling like springtime flowers as she picked up her purse and went off to one of her Sunday things with the girls; the love in her foggy gray eyes when she looked at Fancy Lynn and Theron’s new baby daughter; the fire in those eyes when they argued.

He was deep into the visions when Kendall tapped him on the shoulder and turned off the machinery. Elijah jumped and went into defensive military mode, catching himself just before he shot a fist out and decked Kendall.

“Sorry, man, you startled me,” Elijah said softly, the silence in the barn even more deafening than the loud power washer.

“I should’ve turned off the machine first,” Kendall said. “Didn’t think of it until I saw the look in your eyes. Scared me.”

“Sorry,” Elijah said again.

“No problem. Sure looks good where you’ve been.” Kendall nodded toward the seats and walls that were already drying in the hot wind blowing through the barn.

“I thought it would. We’ll finish up here and then work our way down the walls inside, ending with the floor. Then we’ll shut the doors. It’ll be hot but it’ll keep the tumbleweeds and dirt from blowing right back inside,” Elijah explained.

He flexed his arms and rolled his shoulders. “I’ll be back in an hour or so for another turn. Hang on tight. It’ll give you a workout.”

Kendall was a tall, lanky boy with a crop of blond hair that needed cutting and dark green eyes. He nodded and grabbed the hose with both hands. “I ride bulls on the weekends so I’m used to a workout. Let ’er rip, partner!”

Elijah grinned and flipped the switch.

Kendall laughed and yelled, “Whoa, hoss! You are a mean one, ain’t you?”

Elijah made his way down the steps and out into the yard where Gus was directing the hired hands toward the two riding lawn mowers. “I told them to mow the yard and the lawn, then at least a hundred yards around the barn. They’ll be parking their trucks over on the north side, so get a good wide swath cut over there, too. That about right, Elijah?”

“Sounds like you got it under control. Miz Sophie go to check on the cattle one more time?” Elijah asked.

Gus nodded.

“Think I’ll join her. Tomorrow things will be going pretty fast, and this might be our last time to make absolute sure what we want to sell off. Oh, and I offered for Theron and Hart to bring over a few of theirs to make our sale bigger. They do their sales in the spring, and we can take a few of ours to theirs. So they’ll be bringing theirs to the pens sometime in the morning.”

“Miz Maud did that some in the past, especially when her sale wasn’t going to be a big one. Y’all bein’ cautious this year?” Gus asked.

“Not really. We’re culling out pretty good, and then we plan to restock with some new blood,” Elijah told him.

“I think that’s a good thing. Maud, she got attached to the cows and didn’t want to sell off what she should. Sophie will do the same if you don’t keep on your toes. She’s like Maud. Hard as nails on the outside but softhearted,” Gus said.

Elijah chuckled. “I ain’t seen none of that soft part yet.”

“Nope, you ain’t, but you might. We’ll be right here mowin’ and then rakin’. That’ll take most of today, and then tomorrow the folks with the tables and all will come, right?”

“That’s about it. Tell Randy that he’s up next on the washing business, and Taylor can have the next turn after him. I’ll be back by that time and take over. It should be pretty well done by then.” Elijah mounted the second four-wheeler and rode off in the direction that Sophie had gone.

He found her sitting under a pecan tree in the shade, studying the cows grazing near a farm pond. Some were wading out into the muck surrounding the water that was evaporating too fast in the sun’s blistering heat. Some were chomping at the green grass, and some were lying down chewing their cud as contentedly as if there were no steaming heat waves rising from the water.

He stopped and dismounted like he was getting off a horse.

“Any changes?” he asked.

“No, and you didn’t have to come check on me.”

“I’m not. I wanted to take one more look. We’ll round them up tomorrow and get Randy and Kendall to hose them down.”

“You sure you don’t want to hire a hairdresser to come braid ribbons into their tails?” she asked sarcastically.

He gritted his teeth. “Stop fighting me on every issue. Big spenders like pretty stock. Hose the mud off and those cows will bring another hundred a head. Multiply that by…”