“Yes! Opal said she had to hide the desserts or he would sneak into the kitchen and eat them as soon as her back was turned. She says’s he was the biggest handful, I’m hoping ours is as ornery as he was.” Sloane slides her hand over her flat belly as she sprays the island with some kind of homemade cleaner and wipes it down.
Hallie pokes her head out of the pantry, a clipboard in her hand and a smile on her face, "You say that now, but just wait, my brother was super ornery and there were so many visits to urgent care for sprains, breaks, things stuck in his ear ornose… You name it, he did it."
"Well, I never had siblings in the house, and I want to experience what a big family feels like." Sloane's dreamy look drifts to the wall across from her.
Noticing the slight red rim of her eyes, I remember that Mason and his friend Jax were leaving for work this morning. I read in the family bio that two of the brothers are military, but I didn’t realize they were that kind of military.
The kind of military which gets a personal helicopter pickup at their home so they can go save the day. When I overheard Mason and Jax talking yesterday about flying out, I was surprised to hear the words in-and-out recovery mission.
My knowledge of military rankings and branches is mostly limited to the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines, and that’s only because of the commercials I saw on TV growing up. It wasn’t until I got hooked on the showEcho 3by accident that I found out the four branches I know about are only the tip of a very large iceberg.
Denying I was a little impressed would be a lie.
Sloane’s gaze lands on me, and her face brightens. "Elly! You missed breakfast."
My face turns pink because I didn't expect anyone to call me out and I didn't think of an excuse. I start to straighten the four bar stools under the lip of the island one at a time so they are the same distance away from each other.
I can’t very well say, after Marley walked in on me and Gray gazing into each other’s eyes, I was worried about being in the same room with both of them.
Instead, I clear my throat and nod. "Oh, well, I had a bit of a headache when I woke up this morning, so I thought I would stay in bed for a little longer." It sounds lame, but it came out before I could think of anything else.
Wanting to shift the attention off of me, I say, “So, what are you guys doing today?”
Hallie sets her clipboard on the counter and drags the trash can out from under the counter. “Well, today would be laundry day, but,” she shrugs her shoulders, “no washer and dryer.”
“Well, I’m about to go stir crazy, so I am at your disposal.” I squat into a sort-of curtsy, getting a laugh out of them.
The rest of the day flies by. I was put in charge of deep cleaning the library and, if I got done with that early enough, I’m supposed to move to the dining room next. The library is even more fascinating than I had originally thought, on one wall is books that seem to be bent more toward men, like farming, fence building, lots of books about horses, business management, and some computer books mixed in with fiction books.
What is most interesting are the many books about Cherokee history, the Trail of Tears, and the Cherokee involvement during the Civil War. But when I saw the leather bound journals that look so old sitting together on one shelf, my fingers were itching to pull them out and look at them.
After already snooping through Breanna’s stuff this morning, I am feeling like a grade-A big-ass snooper when I look over my shoulder to make sure I don’t see anyone in the hallway. Of the five journals, I pull out one from the middle and randomly open it to a page.
October 26, 1888
While out hunting for turkey today, I saw her again. Her garb was what you would see one of the natives wear in the wild. The buffalo skin wrapped across her shoulders was thick, but her long hair, black and shiny as a raven, fell down her back in a beautiful curtain.
She didn’t run this time, but held my eyes captive just long enough to make me want to follow her when she looked away and silently disappeared into the foliage.
She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen and I find myselfspending more time on the west side of my property to try and position myself in a way that I might bump into her.
Perhaps I could pay her family a visit, a neighborly visit, and befriend her. I will take some of the beef from my smoke shed as an offering of friendship to the family.
I read a couple more entries about the landscape and the quiet of the woods while he was hunting before I heard boots on the hardwood.
“Find something interesting?” Gray’s deep voice pulls me out of the forest with the beautiful woman with black hair and the man hunting that my mind has gone to while reading the words and I almost drop the journal.
Fumbling to keep the journal in my hands after I nearly jump out of my skin, I swing around to face him. “Hell’s bells! I didn’t even hear you come in here.” I’m breathless, like I was caught with my hand in the cookie jar.
For the first time, I see humor light his eyes and he is even more handsome as one side of his mouth tips up. “What’s got you so entranced?”
Feeling a little sheepish since I don’t know if I crossed a line, I lift the journal. “I was dusting and found these journals, they look so old and my curiosity got the best of me. I hope that’s okay.”
His eyes dip to the journal in my hand and slide to the shelf with my discarded duster. He takes a step closer and looks at the front of the journal, sending the scent of smoke, sandalwood, and musky man into my nose and my skin heats even more.
His smile gets even bigger, and he nods. “Sure, just be careful with them, they were my great-grandfather’s times three.”
I turn and reluctantly put it back. “I only read a couple of entries before you practically scared me out of my skin, but itsounds fascinating.”
