Life After Wife (Three Magic Words Trilogy, #3)(46)

“It starts at eight o’clock,” he said.

“Then I suppose we’d better get up early.”

“My long-term plan is that we’ll make money on this, take out a modest paycheck like we give the guys, plow the rest of the profits back into the ranch, buy some more land that adjoins us as it comes up for sale, run more cattle, and hire more help along the way. And eventually build a couple of houses out on the new property.”

He waited for her to catch up.

“One for Hayden and one for Tanner so they’ll stay close by?” she asked.

“Man likes to have some family around,” he answered.

“You’ve been pretty busy this past month,” she said.

“I just see an opportunity here to expand, to make a good living, and to help a lot of people out at the same time. In ten years, we’ll be running an operation with a payroll of maybe a hundred people.”

“Whoa, cowboy! Are you serious?”

He nodded. “Yes, I am. Two sections this year, Sophie. Maybe one a year after that from the profits. It’s going to snowball, and pretty soon we’ll have the biggest spread in all of central Texas.”

She giggled. “Dream big if you want. But don’t ever ask me to go into debt.”

“No, ma’am. Aunt Maud and Uncle Jesse didn’t borrow against the land. We won’t either,” Elijah said.

“You got anything else to say?”

He reached across the table and took both her hands in his. “Just thank you.”

Every nerve in her body tingled at his touch. She wanted to pull her hands away before they burned into nothing but a pile of ashes right there on their future plans, but she could not. She and Elijah had just set out their future right there at the kitchen table, but she had no idea if it was totally business or if there was room for something personal, even though it wasn’t written on the paper.

“Let’s ride my motorcycle down to Baird and have some ice cream to celebrate,” he said softly.

“I’ve never ridden a cycle and besides it’s raining,” she said.

“Then, honey, you are in for a surprise. And the rain is just passing through. It’ll be gone in an hour. It’ll take us that long to finish another cup of coffee, talk some more about how much winter wheat to plant for grazing after we plow under the ashes, and for you to get ready.”





CHAPTER FOURTEEN


The morning had that fresh, new quality that comes after a big decision is reached and after a lot of work has been done. Steam rose off the ground as the hot sunrays reclaimed what moisture they could before it sunk into the dirt. A fresh, clean scent in the air mixed with excitement over riding a motorcycle for the very first time. Sophie had tucked a T-shirt into a pair of jeans, put on her work cowboy boots, and pulled her red hair back into a ponytail. When she heard the powerful Harley engine grumbling around the house to the front yard, she forgot about makeup and hurried through the house and outside.

It wasn’t her first date and it couldn’t really be classified as a date. But she was giddier than she’d been that first time when she was sixteen and went to the junior prom with Mitchell O’Malley. She kept telling herself that she was not a sophomore in high school; she was thirty-one years old and this was just a ride to Baird for ice cream.

It didn’t work. When she saw the motorcycle parked in the yard with Elijah waiting in his tight jeans, black T-shirt, and boots, her heart fluttered around like a butterfly fighting against the wind.

“Ready?” he asked.

She nodded, unable to utter a single word.

He handed her a shiny black helmet. “Better put this on.”

She crammed it down on her head and fumbled with the chin strap. He reached out and fastened it for her, then flipped the clear face guard down. His touch on the soft part of her neck did nothing to calm her already racing heart.

“Crawl on behind me and put your arms around my waist.”

She threw a long leg over the cycle and settled into the seat.

He grabbed both her hands and planted them firmly around his waist, revved up the engine, and they were on their way. Before they reached the end of the lane and turned west to the highway, she was in love. Every doubt or fear that she’d had about buying the land disappeared right along with all the bitterness of the past. When he turned onto the highway and headed south toward town, he picked up speed. Sophie felt like she was a butterfly, flying away from everything that had held her back, leaving nothing but the beautiful smell of rain and wind rushing against her skin.

She wished it was a hundred miles to the Dairy Queen, but it was only a ten-minute ride. Disappointment crept into her soul when he parked the bike, took off his helmet, and helped her remove hers. After he’d hung them on the handlebars, he offered a hand to help her off the bike.

How could a big old callused hand wrapped around hers cause such a reaction? She wondered this as he laced his fingers in hers, with his thumb making lazy circles on the top of her hand. There were few people in the Dairy Queen: one table of coffee drinkers in the back corner, old men in overalls discussing politics loudly, and two young girls poring over a catalog in a booth, giggling and pointing at items before turning the pages.

The scent of sausage and bacon from the breakfast run still permeated the air. Sophie heard the sizzle of hamburgers hitting the grill and smelled onions.