Her frown turned into a grin, and she giggled. “I guess we both made unfair judgments.”
“Looks like it.” He smiled and finished off the last bite of roast on his plate. “Now, did I hear something about cinnamon rolls for dessert?”
She pushed her plate back and stood up. “With or without ice cream?”
“With, please,” Miles said. “And since you like sunsets so much, maybe we could take it to the porch and watch whatever the sky has to offer us tonight. Then I’ll help you get the kitchen cleaned up.”
“You don’t have to do that,” she said as she got the vanilla bean ice cream from the freezer, and put a scoop on each sweet roll.
“Anytime you put a meal like this on the table, you can bet your bottom dollar I’m going to help with the dishes. My mama would take a wooden spoon to me if I didn’t.”
“Like I said before, your mother raised you right.” Lula Ann stuck a spoon in each bowl and set them on a cookie sheet since she didn’t have a proper tray. Then she poured white wine into two jelly glasses and added a long-neck bottle of Coors to the tray.
Miles pushed back his chair and picked up the tray. “Looks like the sun is sinking fast, so if we’re going to see the pretty colors, we’d better get moving.”
Miles set the makeshift tray on the small round table between two rocking chairs and waited until Lula Ann sat down before he eased down in the other one. “A gentleman waits for the lady to get her food first, but I’m having to discipline myself right now.”
Lula Ann picked up one of the bowls and scooped up a big bite of the sweet roll and ice cream. “There now. I’ve started eating, so you are free to get after it.”
“This is every bit as good as Mama makes,” he said. “I’ve taken the job up near Katy, so I’m driving up to Ringgold to get my horse, saddle, and personal things to bring down here,” he said. “Maybe we can see each other again when I get back.”
“Just give me a call.” Lula Ann blinked back tears at the very thought of him living so close, and yet when the whole truth surfaced, the relationship—if that’s what she could call it—would be over, and then the stupid tears could fall.
Chapter Four
Maribelle scrutinized her brother carefully. “There’s something different about you.”
He situated his saddle at the back of the trailer. “I hope so, since I’m going out on my own, with a place that belongs solely to me. No more living in the bunkhouse to prove that Dad isn’t giving me preferential treatment since I’m the only son. I saw a difference in you when you bought your ranch.”
She eyed him even closer. “Nope, this isn’t that. You’ve met someone that has you questioning your playboy ways, haven’t you?”
“I plead the fifth, and I’m not talking about it,” he declared.
“Why?”
“Way too early to even think of it as a relationship,” he answered as he led his horse, Star, into the trailer. “Give me a hug and bring my nieces to see me when you have a few days off.”
“I will if you introduce me to the woman who is making you—”
He wrapped his sister up in his arms and hugged her tightly before she could finish the sentence. “We’ll talk about that when you come to Katy, but not today. Love you, Sissy.”
“Love you, Bubba,” she said, using the nickname she only called him these days when they were alone. “Drive safe,
and text me when you get to the ranch. What are you going to name it?”
“Right now, the brand is Lazy M. I kind of like it, and the owners sold it along with everything else, including mineral rights.”
“If you decide to change it, give me a call, and I’ll help you come up with something,” Maribelle said. “See you in a few weeks, but know that I’m not going to forgive you for taking Elijah with you to be your foreman. I wanted him to move with me, but he wouldn’t even consider it.”
“He likes me better than you.” Miles chuckled, then got into his truck and drove away.
When he reached the end of the long lane, he checked the rearview mirror before he turned south. There was Elijah in his truck right behind him. The weathered old guy barely came up to Miles’s shoulder, and lately he had begun to walk a little slower and sit a little longer. But Miles knew from experience that Elijah was the smartest man in all of Texas when it came to the ranching business and would be his greatest asset on his new place.
Elijah would be the one who helped him hire ranch hands, those who would live in the bunkhouse and those who went home at night. He would also take care of handing out the day-to-day chores while Miles worked on the bigger issues.
They were a hundred miles down the road when Miles’s phone rang. He touched theaccepticon on the dashboard screen. “Need a break?”
“Yep, and one of those big cups of sweet tea. I’m so dry I’m spittin’ dust,” Elijah answered. “Plus, my scrawny butt feels like the bones are about to break through the skin.”
