Life After Wife (Three Magic Words Trilogy, #3)(39)

She turned her head at a slant and looked at him. “What?”

“I know what every cow is worth. They are not selling beneath their value.”

“And you can control that how? Are you magic?”

He shook his head. “No, I have a personal buyer on the floor. Couple of them. Tanner and Hayden. They have a notebook, and if that cow doesn’t sell for what’s in the book, they’ll bid on her.”

“Is that legal? You are buying your own cattle.” Sophie frowned.

“Yes, it’s legal. Actually, they’re buying the cattle with my money. I told you I have a plan,” he said.

“That scares me worse than anything.”

The auctioneer made the black cow in the pen sound like her hooves were studded with diamonds and then began his lightning-fast sales pitch. When the final bid was in, Sophie could hardly believe the number that she wrote into her book. It was going to be a fantastic sale if it kept going like that.

“My brothers did not have to raise their cards. That one is going over to Breckenridge to Hart’s neighbor.” Elijah’s voice held as much excitement as Sophie’s heart did.

The cows were all sold by noon, and neither Tanner nor Hayden had bought a single one. In between cattle coming into the auction pen and those that had sold leaving it, Sophie had tried to figure out which of the cowboys were Elijah’s brothers, but the crowd was too dense. The auctioneer announced that there would be an hour break for everyone to have lunch and then the bull sale would start at one o’clock.

Sophie let out a whoosh of air. “We’ve done good so far.”

“Yes, we have.” Elijah squeezed her hand one more time then let it go. “Let’s go mingle among the buyers and have some lunch.”

“Where are your brothers?” she asked.

“Right here.” a deep voice said from right behind her. “I’m Tanner, the good-lookin’ twin, and this is Hayden, the smart one.”

She turned to find two cowboys standing against the wall. They weren’t quite as tall as Elijah, but they had the same jet-black hair. Their eyes were brown, and if it hadn’t been for different-colored shirts, she couldn’t have told them apart. Tanner wore a yellow knit shirt, and Hayden had on a pearl-snap blue plaid.

“Don’t let him kid you. I got the good looks and the brains. All he got was good looks,” Hayden teased. “Elijah didn’t tell us that you were beautiful as well as smart. Guess me and you got a lot in common.”

Elijah actually blushed. “Don’t be usin’ that flirtin’ line on Sophie. She’s way too smart to fall for the likes of you.”

He realized in that moment that his two brothers were a whole lot closer to Sophie’s age than he was, and a wicked lightning bolt of pure jealousy shot through his heart.

Hayden grinned and punched his older brother on the arm. “My flirtin’ lines are just fine, brother, and you’d do well to take some lessons from me. Forty years old and still not a filly roped in. I’d stay away from him if I was you, Miz Sophie.”

Elijah stood up and offered a hand to Sophie, who took it, but he didn’t let go when she was on her feet. “Come on, you two old renegades. If Sophie doesn’t mind, we’ll sit with you at dinner. Looks like the line is already formin’ at the buffet table, but Tillman says he can put three hundred or more through in less than twenty minutes. I swear the man works magic.”

Sophie suddenly found herself surrounded by tall, dark cowboys as they made their way down the stairs toward the food tables. And she was hungry. The butterflies had flown away after the first couple of cows had sold so well, and her pancake breakfast was long gone.

“Hey, lookin’ good.” Kate winked.

“I’m pleased with what my cows brought. Hope my two bulls do as well,” Hart said.

“Meet my brothers, Tanner and Hayden. This is Hart and Kate Ducaine, friends and fellow ranchers from over near Breckenridge.” Elijah dropped Sophie’s hand and made introductions.

Kate raised an eyebrow at Sophie and she shrugged. Hand-holding did not mean saying vows in front of a preacher.

“Y’all come on and sit with us,” Elijah said.

“Glad to. So what did you two think of the sale?” Hart asked the twins.

Sophie tuned them out and refused to look at Kate again. She loaded her plate with brisket, added a bowl of pinto beans and a chunk of cornbread, and headed toward the nearest table with room for six people. She set her plate down and started to pull out a chair only to have Hayden do it for her and sit beside her on the right. Elijah claimed the chair on her left, and Hart, Kate, and Tanner sat across the table.

An old friend of Maud’s, Myrle, claimed the end of the table. She wore her dyed red hair ratted up into a tall hairdo that went out of style in the sixties. Her jeans were skintight, and her Western shirt was tucked in behind a belt with a rhinestone double-heart buckle. “Sale is going good. I bought a cow with a calf beside her to beef up my stock a little. Was glad to get it, too. I thought that old man beside me was going to take her home, and I made up my mind if he couldn’t even flirt with me, he darn sure wasn’t getting that cow.”

“What idiot wouldn’t flirt with a gorgeous lady like you?” Hayden asked. “By the way, darlin’, I’m Hayden Jones. Elijah is my older brother—much, much older—and this other kid over here is my twin brother, Tanner. He’s kinda shy, but I know that he’s admirin’ you from afar.”