Patty's Homecoming, page 14
part #1 of Montana Wranglers Series
“Then I think that we should just have this as our home. You both know my brother doesn’t want the ranch and daddy will not allow it to be sold. He will more than likely leave it to you boys.” She knew that he was going to. Even before she let her feelings be known about Corbin and Blake, her father had written into his will that these boys would get it. They just didn’t know it.
“He’ll leave it to you. You’re his blood kin, after all, and it’s only right. Besides, neither I nor Blake ever want to learn the paperwork side of things.” He made a face and shuddered. “Give me a horse and stubborn herd of cattle any fucking day. Even an enraged bull is better than paperwork.”
“Well I hate to tell you, but three years ago he wrote you boys into his will,” she whispered. “Hate to tell you, but you boys are the ones that are going to inherit that ranch should anything happen to Dad, God forbid.” She watched his face and knew that was so not what he wanted to hear. “Sorry, honey.”
“Shit,” he muttered, running a hand through his hair. Dropping it with a sigh, he shot her a look. “I’m going to assume Blake doesn’t know either?” When she shook her head, he let out a string of curses. “Don’t tell him, preferably ever. I know we’ll likely have to break it to him eventually but let’s wait as long as we can.”
“Don’t worry, I don’t plan on it.” She grinned and added, “Good thing for you boys that I know how to do all aspects of the paperwork and business side huh?” She had, after all, been raised at her daddy’s knee, her momma passing when she was a young child. “So I will help you there but yeah, he’s left it to you guys.”
“Crap,” he muttered. “Why on earth would he do that? You’re his daughter and, we all know too well, you love the place just as much as he does. So why would he leave it to us over you?” He sounded genuinely confused.
“He would do that because he has always known how much you boys have meant to me,” she said honestly. “That’s what the honest truth is. That’s why he left it to you boys, because he knows that no matter what, it will remain in the family. He damn well knew that you wouldn’t let me stay in New York much longer.”
“Well, he was right about that part at least,” he said. “’Course, we were hoping to have this place presentable before you came home. Not that we knew what we were doing, but we were hopeful. Then we would have come and dragged you back. Kicking and screaming or whatever.”
“You had it perfect,” she said happily. “Besides, this place is going to have my stamp on it. It’s going to be my little slice of heaven and that’s what really matters, don’t you think? I really think that just being able to have you boys as mine and knowing how much you mean to me that I can create this home with us all in mind. Yep, I’m glad that you didn’t do anything more than you did.”
“Well, as I said, we had no idea where to go once we had it built. Oh, we knew we’d need stuff—furniture and all the bits and pieces. But I swear, we sort of looked at one another and just went blank. It was like everything we knew we needed was now an impossible task we had no idea how to manage. A stampede is easy in comparison. Though”—he looked around and shook his head—“I’m glad we didn’t try to do something with it. More than likely you’d have torn it all out, torn a strip off us both and redone it anyway.”
“All that I know is that you boys did an amazing job with the outside and bones, and you left the inside of the home for me. Which is as it should be. The inside is the heart of the home and that’s what I’m supposed to be, right?”
“You always have been.” He smiled. Pressing a kiss to her lips, he drew back. “I’m going to go and start dinner. Blake should be here in about an hour. Feel like coming to help, or are you going to stare at the wall a little longer?”
“I think I will come and help you. Maybe while we are working on making food…” Well, he was making the food and she was watching and grabbing a snack here and there while he was creating their meal. “Maybe while we are working on that, whatever I need to figure out on that wall will come to me.”
“Uh-huh.” He rolled his eyes at her. Turning, he headed for the kitchen. “If you’re coming, hit the wine rack and grab a red, will ya please? And then you can come in here and munch on the precut veggies while I keep the dinner items well out of your reach.”
“Sounds good to me.” She moved to their wine rack and grabbed a nice bottle of red. Reaching out, she took down two glasses and poured herself one and looked to him. “Would you like one as well?” Damn, this man knew her inside and out. He knew everything about her and she loved it. She loved that this man could so easily read her and loved her as he did. “Damn I love you,” she told him with a grin, and took a seat across from him and snagged a couple of sugar snap peas to munch on.
“Pour me a half glass,” he said with a grin. Then he slid a little dish toward her. “New veggie dip I’m trying, give me your take on it. It’s based around low-fat yogurt, so I may need to tweak it a bit yet.” He headed out onto the deck and came back a few minutes later. “I figure we’ll do up steaks and then whatever else I can come up with that will cook fast, plus the potato salad from last night.”
“Oh yum, steaks.” He knew her language for sure. “And the dip is good, but it seems to be missing something. I think maybe just a pinch more salt and it would be perfect.” She grinned. “But other than that it’s awesome. Just don’t tell Blake that it’s low-fat.”
“I don’t tell him anything about what he’s eating.” Corbin smirked. “But he’s feeling good and will live longer, so it all works out really well. What he doesn’t know won’t get my ass kicked.” He chuckled. Coming toward her, he set the steaks down on a cutting board, patted them dry and then began to season them.
“This is very true. We love him and want to have him with us for a very, very long time. We both want to keep him around for a great, long time.” She watched him and smiled as she watched him moving around. “I think that we will have a great time too.”
“I just want him around so he can do all the heavy lifting. I’m naturally lazy and won’t want to do it forever.” He smirked. “Gotta have one of us able to do it in a few years. So, the wall, what are you going to do with it?” His sudden change of topic was punctuated by the door shutting and they shared a look. “Blake?” he called out.
“Yup.” Blake came into the kitchen looking like he’d gone a round with a mud puddle, and lost.
“I honestly don’t know. I want us to have a shield or coat of arms of sorts,” she admitted. “Blake, what are you thinking, honey? I want to have a coat of arms created for us. A branding of sorts for our home. Is there anything that you can think of for us?”
“As long as it doesn’t have mud or a cow in it, I’m good with whatever you come up with.” He pulled his hat off, the only clean part of him, and set it on a chair. “I’ll be in the shower, yell when dinner’s ready,” he said before turning and walking away.
“I’m thinking there might have been a cow and some mud in some sort of combination that turned him that color,” Corbin said with a chuckle.
That had her grinning. “I bet.” She toyed with her napkin and licked her lips. “So what do you think? Should I go and join him in the shower or should I just give him time to let the heat of the water help ease his muscle aches and pains?”
“He could probably do with a bit of help. Given how he was walking, I’m thinking the cow and mud may have won a round or two. And take in the rub, you should put some on him when he gets out of the shower. Don’t need him growly like a bear because he’s sore.”
“This is very, very true,” she said with a nod. “I refuse to allow him to hurt if I can help it.” She winked at Corbin, leaned in and gave him a kiss before heading off with the rub and toward their bedroom and the shower that was already running. “Want some company?” Patty asked Blake from the door.
He lifted his head. His posture where he sat on the toilet lid was screaming exhaustion. “Sure,” he said with a tired smile. “Managed to get one boot off but the other was just too much. I’m thinking I should just throw myself in there as is and wash everything off. Maybe sleep in there too.”
“Let me take care of you,” she told him softly. She moved to him and took off his other boot. “Stand, babe, so that I can pull your pants and shirt off of you, okay?” she asked softly. “Let me get you undressed, in the shower, and clean. After that you can climb into bed and then I will bring you a bite to eat, deal? You need rest.” She hated that he was as exhausted as he was, but she would take care of him, truth be told.
With a deep groan, he pushed up to his feet and let her strip him down. He didn’t say anything the entire time, not even when she pushed him into the shower stall. Blake just pressed his forehead to the wall under the showerhead and let the water run down over his body. “No food. Once I hit the sheets I doubt a nuclear attack will wake me up,” he murmured quietly enough she had to strain to hear him.
“All right then.” She would let him rest. She would let him do whatever he needed. “I will tell Corbin after I have you in bed.” Actually the man likely already knew, knowing him. “You work too hard,” she whispered as her hands began to move over Blake’s body. She cleaned him as much as she massaged him.
“Someone has to do it,” he murmured. Turning when she asked, he put his back to the wall, his head back and his eyes, barely open, on her. “What did you get up to today?” he asked quietly. Rolling his head around, he yawned wide, but his eyes never left her face.
While she washed him, she talked to him. “I painted the summer room. I didn’t like the pale blue so I changed it to a sunny yellow. It looks much better now,” she assured him. “Rinse,” she said suddenly. “Come on, Blake, get rinsed off and then we will get you into bed. As for what else.” She shrugged. “Went and had lunch with Dad but other than that, not a heck of a lot of anything.”
He shoved off the wall with a groan and stood under the water until she turned it off. Then he shuffled out of the shower. He grabbed a towel, but his attempts to dry were just pitiful so she took over. When he was dry enough she herded him toward the bedroom.
Putting him into bed on his side, she pulled the blanket up and around him. “Rest. I will bring a bottle of water in to sit on the side of the bed with a couple of pain pills for later.” She was sure he would need them. Even if it was only ibuprofen. “Just sleep, love. We will be in bed with you soon.”
“No drugs,” he said, catching her hand. Tugging her down, he kissed her gently. “Water would be nice though.” He smiled, letting her loose. Yawning again, he pulled the pillow up and over his head, burrowing deeper into the bed, and then stilled.
Shaking her head, she watched him for a moment and sighed. Walking out of the room, she went back to the kitchen dressed in just a towel and leaned against the counter. “Poor guy,” she whispered. “He’s exhausted. I wonder if Daddy will listen to me now that he needs additional help.” Blake had been all but killing himself and she didn’t like it at all.
“There’s more than enough hands, too many actually. But, again, this is Trevor’s fault. He was supposed to be helping Blake on mending fences in the north pasture while another group was working the entire length of the south. But, from what little I got out of him earlier, he hadn’t bothered to show up. Your dad’s on his last nerve with him and I’ll bet Trevor gets a pink slip right off. I offered to go out and help him but we both knew it was an empty offer. I had to finish with fixing the stalls up in the new barn or your dad’s order of new horses would have been homeless come tomorrow.”
“That son of a bitch,” she muttered. “Well good. I think that we need to be rid of that little bastard,” she muttered. “And we also know that you boys don’t want me to be alone right now. Admit it.” She knew that they wanted her to have one of them with her at all times. She wasn’t totally stupid…just a little.
“We’re just being cautious,” he said quietly. Moving to her, he slipped his arms around her waist and drew her in closer. “With what you left behind and some of the shit going on with some of the hands, we’re all a little on-edge. And Blake worries about you, he’s just such a mother hen.”
“I know.” She sighed and closed her eyes. “Okay, I need to take Blake some water. Only cook enough for the two of us since he’s already sound asleep.” She reached up and touched Corbin’s cheek. “I will be right back. See you shortly okay?”
“Take him one of the shakes and get him to drink it. It will give him some calories and let him sleep easier. But he has to drink water after it, at least a half bottle so it digests properly.” Dropping a kiss to her lips, he drew back and collected the water and a glass. He poured some of the shake from the fridge into the glass and handed it to her with a straw in it.
“Sounds good.” She accepted the shake that he pulled from the fridge and pulled back. “I will be back in a moment.” She moved quietly through their home and then into their bedroom. Touching her fingers to Blake’s cheek, she whispered, “Blake, honey I need you to wake up. Come on, babe. I need you to drink this shake and then I promise I won’t wake you again.” Calories, he had used so many today that Corbin was right, he needed more.
There was nothing for a moment before a grumble came. A moment later, he pushed the pillow aside slightly to stare at her with one eye. Another grumble and he pushed up onto and elbow to take the glass. “Anyone ever told you that you’re too sexy for your own good?” he asked gruffly.
“You,” Patty said with a grin and took a seat beside him. “Come on, Corbin put a straw in it and all,” she said happily. “So it won’t be long and it will be empty and then you can go back to sleep, babe.” She stroked her hand over his hair, caressing him gently as she did so.
Grunting, he rested his cheek on her leg and began to suck on the straw. When he paused for breath now and again, he was also muttering under his breath. She didn’t catch most of it but what she did didn’t make a heck of a lot of sense so she just kept petting him.
When he had finished the shake, Patty shifted Blake so that he could once more lie down. Giving him a hug, she then moved away from him. Dimming the lights, she left him to sleep. Smelling the food that was already cooking, she felt her mouth begin to water and grinned. “That smells so very good.” And she was starving so that was even better.
Turning from the grill, he grinned at her. “You fed him the shake?” he asked. At her nod, he winked and nodded happily. “Good, he’ll thank us in the morning. Or rather, you will thank me in the morning. His stomach won’t be waking us up with an awful snarling growl resembling a grizzly with a meal in sight.”
“Good point. I love that man but his stomach does tend to be very, very loud when he doesn’t eat enough before bed.” She shrugged with a grin. “He’s going to regret not getting a hot steak.” Because she knew that Corbin more than likely had a steak on the grill for Blake as well, it would just have to be eaten heated up, which always changed the taste of steak.
“He’ll eat it cold,” he said. Shooting her a look, he nodded and rolled his eyes. “More than likely he’ll hack off a piece and gnaw on it as soon as he’s up. It’s rare he misses a meal but he does have a pattern.” He lowered the lid on the barbecue. “Let’s grab the rest of things and we can sit out here and enjoy the weather.”
“That sounds good to me.” She wanted that too. She wanted to enjoy the sunset with Corbin and time with him as well. “Think that I can possibly talk Blake into taking tomorrow off to stay home?” She hoped.
“You never know,” he said, pushing her into the kitchen. “And, if it helps at all, I’ll take on whatever he should be doing so he can have the day. Mine is relatively light in comparison.” He went to the fridge and dug out what they’d need for their meal as she got plates and silverware.
“Well that would be wonderful.” She shrugged. “I just know he needs to take a day off at least to recoup from today. I have never seen him that tired, ever, and that worries the hell out of me.” She didn’t like it when either man pushed himself too hard but it seemed Blake did more often than not.
He looked at her with an expression like he wanted to say something but was arguing with himself over it. Shooting a look over his shoulder, he leaned across the counter and crooked a finger at her. “What I’m about to share can never leave this room. He will kick my nuts into my throat and make me leave them there if he finds out. And that’s only if he’s in a semi-good mood when he finds out.”
“You know that if you tell me something in confidence it remains between us alone. So talk to me. Tell me what’s happening, honey.” she demanded. “I want to know what’s happening in his life. I need to know.” And since the man didn’t talk a hell of a lot, yeah.
He nodded slowly before shooting another look over his shoulder. “He hasn’t taken a single day off in nearly two years. If I didn’t know better I’d swear he was trying to work himself into an early grave. Even when he has days scheduled off he still does something around the ranch to stay busy. He just can’t seem to take a day and relax. But I think we both know just why he’s been avoiding taking time off,” he said softly.
“Yeah, but I am here now,” she said with a smile. “And I am damn sure going to make certain that he starts to take time off. I’m sick and tired of him not taking any time off and now that I am here, he no longer needs to work himself to death.”
Corbin arched an eyebrow and stared at her with a bland expression. “Have you never met Blake? The man is a doer. He’s not the sort to sit back and let others do what he can do just as well if not better. Plus, he’s used to the work, says he gets twitchy without something to occupy him. So, I guess, on one hand you could help him.” He grinned slowly. “Just keep his hands full of you and ever so busy.”
“Damn, that sounds like the most freaking amazing time ever. I like it, a lot. I want to do that too. I will ensure that he’s kept well and truly busy just in the way that I want him to be kept busy. I happen to really, really love keeping him busy just as I love keeping you busy.”
