Life After Wife (Three Magic Words Trilogy, #3)(33)

“If you had, would you have sold me your half of this place?”

“No.”

“Why?”

He shrugged. “I like these rolling hills and trees, and I always felt peaceful when I visited Uncle Jesse and Aunt Maud here. When I found out I’d inherited half of the ranch, I felt like I was coming home.”

“How many brothers do you have?”

“Eight.”

She grabbed the juice and gulped it down to keep from choking.

“Eight! You are kiddin’ me, right?”

“No. Momma wanted a girl so she kept trying to get one. All she got was nine boys. I’m right in the middle. Four older. Four younger.”

“No girls?”

He shook his head. “You ought to go to one of our family reunions. Dad came from a big family. Had seven brothers and no sisters. There’re only half a dozen cousins that are girls. The rest are guys. Makes a wonderful Sunday afternoon for football.”

“I bet it does. What do those poor girls do?” Sophie asked.

“They play football with us. Joneses are tough,” he grinned. “How about you? Got brothers?”

“I’ve got two sisters. Layla is just younger than I am, and Sandy is twenty-six. No brothers.”

Elijah frowned. “Poor baby.”

“What?” Sophie’s hackles rose.

“A girl needs a big brother to protect her.”

“And a boy needs at least one sister to learn about girls,” she shot back.

He chuckled again. “Them two sisters redheaded spitfires like you?”

She shook her head. “No, they have brown hair and brown eyes like Momma. Daddy has black hair, but his grandmother was full-blood Irish, complete with red hair, green eyes, and a temper. I got the hair and temper from her, and the eyes from Daddy.”

“Pretty nice combination, but you could have wallowed around in the temper DNA a little less,” he said.

She bristled again. “And I suppose you don’t have a temper?”

He grinned. “Of course I’ve got a temper, but my Indian blood keeps it in check.”

“Yeah, right! On that note, I’m taking one more doughnut and heading to the barn. The caterer’s wagons are pulling down the lane.” She pointed to the kitchen window, and, sure enough, a line of trucks was pulling trailers going in that direction.

Elijah walked behind her, taking in the sight of her long legs. The shorts and cowboy boots were the finishing touch. She’d never been prettier than she was at that moment.

The barn was already crawling with people when they arrived. Kendall, Randy, and Frankie were helping carry folding tables of various sizes inside. The supervisor of the service was a big, burly man dressed in striped overalls, a chambray shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and dusty cowboy boots.

Sophie made introductions. “Hello, Tillman. Meet Elijah. He’s half owner of the ranch now. We are running it together.”

“He is not what I expected,” Elijah said out of the corner of his mouth.

“Hush! You’ll be amazed how well he cleans up when this part of the job is done,” she whispered back.

Elijah took two more steps and stuck out his hand. “Good to meet you. Thank you for taking on extra days on such short notice.”

Tillman’s shake was bone crunching. “We didn’t have nothing else on the calendar, so we’re glad for the work. Ain’t never seen this barn so clean. Looks like a dance hall instead of a sale barn. This is going to be a fun gig. Wish Maud would have given us a free hand like this.”

“Sophie told you what we want?” Elijah asked.

“Yes, she did. We’ll have it up and running by noon. Drinks ready for the lookers, and music playing,” Tillman said.

Elijah looked at Sophie.

She shrugged. “No live band until the sale dance. Tillman has a nephew who’s a DJ on a local radio station. He’s brought some equipment, and he’ll set up and keep country music going until ten tonight. Tomorrow, he’ll start at eight in the morning and end at ten at night, and then the next day is the sale, so it’ll be loud and noisy with the auctioneer.”

“You take care of a lot,” Elijah said.

Tillman nodded. “I’m a man of many talents.”

“I believe it. What can I do to help?” Elijah asked.

“Well, you can take over my job supervisin’ where the tables are to go and which way you want them lined up, and I’ll go ahead and start a couple of grills back behind the barn and blow the smell inside. We’ll be making shish kebabs with beef chunks for today’s finger foods,” Tillman threw over his shoulder as he headed toward the second trailer to tell the guys to unload the grills.

“So?” Sophie poked Elijah on the arm.

“All right! He’s good, and I’m glad you hired him,” Elijah said.

“Thank you. Did that hurt very much?”

“You punch like a girl. I’ve had mosquito bites that hurt worse,” he said.

She giggled. “I wasn’t talking about that little”—she stopped before she said “love tap” and paused—“that little air slap. I was talking about admitting that I was right to keep Tillman and his crew.”

“Oh, honey, you will never know how bad that hurt.” Elijah placed a hand over his heart and rolled his eyes. “But I won’t die from the pain.”