Daisies in the Canyon(21)

But you won’t. The voice in her head sounded a lot like her mother’s.

No, she wouldn’t. Her mother had taught her to shoot a gun, change oil, and fix a flat and a million other things, including cooking.

“Thank you, Mama,” she mumbled under her breath on the way back to the kitchen.

“Who are you talking to?” Cooper asked.

“The voice in my head,” she answered. “I’ll put out the rest of the leftovers. The table is set. Y’all drinkin’ sweet tea?”

“Yes,” Bonnie and Shiloh answered at the same time.

Rusty nodded. “And, ladies, Cooper and I are leaving for Amarillo right after dinner, so be thinking about what you need for your cooking days.”

“Just so y’all know, on my mornings to cook, I don’t mind dusting or vacuuming or even moppin’ the kitchen floor, but I don’t clean your rooms and I don’t do your laundry. That’s your responsibility on your cookin’ days,” Bonnie said.

Yes, sir, Bonnie would do well in the army and with a little encouragement, she could go far. Abby was reminded of that old movie with Goldie Hawn where she enlisted in the army after a drunken binge. What was that thing called?

She wrinkled her brow, trying to remember and finally blurted out, “Private Benjamin.”

“Who?”

“I like that old movie,” Cooper said. “It was one of Grandpa’s favorites. Never knew him to watch much except anything that starred John Wayne and like I said before, Gone With the Wind once a year, but he did like that one.”

Bonnie flipped her blonde hair back over her shoulders and suddenly Abby felt downright dowdy. There was Shiloh in a cute little plaid skirt that skimmed her knees, high-heeled dress boots, a dark blue sweater, and big gold hoop earrings. Her makeup was flawless and her hair had been curled that morning. And Bonnie, even in her skin-tight column dress with buttons down the back and those cowboy boots, looked like a French model.

“Are you calling me Private Benjamin because I said I’m not doing your laundry?”

“No, I was thinkin’ you’d do well in the army.” Abby picked a blonde hair from the shoulder of her black turtleneck and carried it to the trash can. She quickly scanned the rest of her shirt to make sure none of Cooper’s hairs had been left behind. When she looked up, he was staring right at her and he winked as if they were thinking the same thing.

“Not me. I’m going to raise cattle, pigs, and chickens and make a garden. I’ve already been out there and checked it out. I’m thinkin’ we should enlarge it by half and put in extra potatoes and maybe some sweet potatoes. I’m here to stay and a bigger garden would cut down on the grocery bills.”

Abby had no doubt that Bonnie believed it at that moment. The determination in her expression said that no one could change her mind and they’d best not even try. But if summer in the canyon was as brutal as Abby imagined it could be, come July Bonnie might even beg Abby to suggest a recruiter.

“Y’all ready to eat?” Cooper asked.

“Soon as I get this list finished,” Shiloh said.

Abby whipped around to see both of her sisters busy writing down things on notepads they’d pulled from their purses. She hadn’t even given a second thought to what she’d cook those two days and there they were handing their lists to Rusty. Crap! She didn’t even have a notepad in her purse. For a woman who’d kept entire companies of soldiers in line, she was sure getting slow about getting her ducks lined up in a pretty row on the ranch.

“I’ll get mine done right after dinner,” she said.

“Should we compare notes so we don’t have the same thing two days in a row?” Shiloh asked.

“Rusty said we eat what’s put before us,” Abby answered. “Don’t y’all go makin’ chili pies. That’s the only thing I know how to cook.”

“I hate chili,” Bonnie said.

“There’s always peanut butter and jelly sandwiches,” Abby said.

“Steaks are ready. Food is on the table,” Cooper said.

Shiloh raised an eyebrow. “Real plates?”

“It’s Sunday,” Abby said.

“When my granny was living, we had a special meal on Sunday like this. I always looked forward to it after I went to church with her and Grandpa,” Bonnie said.

Cooper nodded. “When my granny was living, we did the same. Invited folks over to dinner after church and enjoyed the fellowship. And she always got her best plates down for that day. So who all was at church? Did I miss anything?”

“Loretta and Jackson invited us to dinner, but I told them you were cooking steaks here,” Rusty said.

“We met several people,” Shiloh said.

Bonnie continued. “Nona and Travis and a cowboy named Waylon that sure was cute.”

“I’ll tell him you said that next time I see him. Did he tell you that his spread is out there across the road from y’all?”

“He did,” Shiloh said.

Rusty passed the big bowl full of potatoes to Cooper, who handed them to Abby, their hands touching in the transfer. The instant hot sparks let her know that the sex had not ended the attraction one bit. If anything, it had intensified the sparks. She sent the bowl on down the table to Shiloh and tried to focus on the steak on her plate.