Life After Wife by Carolyn Brown Page A

the door. “You gave her one of my Dr Peppers?”
    “I did.” Sophie smiled.
    “Then you can replace it,” he said.
    “You would have given her one if you’d gone to the house to write her a check,” Sophie argued.
    “Yes, but that would have been different,” he said.
    “No, it would not. She would have still rode off with a can of soda pop in her hands,” Sophie countered.
    “You are splitting hairs,” he said.
    “You are being obstinate. The business paid for the power washer. You can pay for a can of soda pop,” she said.
    “It’s not the money,” he growled.
    “Get over it.” She brushed past him and picked up a broom to help sweep the barn floor free of hay, dirt, and feed remnants.
    He grabbed his broom and kept up with the men on either side of him as they pushed the worst of the debris toward the back door. When that job was finished, he and Gus hooked up the power washer to the water well, and Elijah rolled up his shirtsleeves.
    He stretched out enough hose to the washer to reach all the way to the balconies surrounding three sides of the barn and started on the south side. He motioned to Gus to turn it on and held on tightly. Still, the first blast almost knocked him flat on his rear end before he adjusted his hands to a firmer hold and started washing down the walls and seats in that area. Water poured down into the barn like hard rain and ran everyone out into the heat, slapping their straw hats against their pant legs to get the water off.
    “Felt pretty good.” Gus laughed. “He said to give him half an hour and send Kendall up there to relieve him. There’s four of them all itchin’ for a turn at the washer. I figure they’ll all be cryin’ the blues with sore muscles come mornin’ time, but the old barn will look spiffy when they get done.”
    Sophie nodded. She’d seen the washer come close to whipping Elijah. She didn’t want a thing to do with it. It would prove that she wasn’t as big and strong as King Kong, and Elijah sure didn’t need to know that.
    “Well, I expect you all can handle this. I’m going to take a four-wheeler out to the pasture and take one more look at the cattle. It’s my first year without Maud to tell me which ones to sell and which ones to keep,” Sophie said.
    Gus nodded but didn’t take his eyes from the wash job going on up in the balcony. The sprayer washed years’ worth of dirt and grime away from the seats, leaving behind wood that looked practically new. New ranch owners, a new way of doing things, a new look. Gus wondered if it was time for him to retire and let a younger man step up to the plate.
    Elijah saw Sophie mount up on one of the four-wheelers and go roaring off in a cloud of dust toward the east. She’d be going out to check on the cattle they’d agreed to sell to make sure that there wasn’t a single cow that she wanted to keep another year. He’d done the same thing early that morning and, after a close check, had decided that he’d leave the list alone. There was one Angus bull, a two-year-old that had a lot of promise, that he really had misgivings about selling. His bloodline was pure, and his father was the pride and joy of the ranch, but they didn’t need another breeding bull right then. The young bull’s father was still in good health and young enough to use for another five to six years. Therewould be more calves to come along in that time that would be replacement-breeding stock.
    His thoughts left the bull and went straight to Sophie. She’d grown up from a gangly girl to a fine woman. He’d never been drawn to red-haired girls before, but there was something about that kinky red hair of hers that made him want to tangle his fingers in it to see if it was as soft as it looked.
    “Whoa, boy!” he muttered. “She’s your partner, and you’d ruin everything if you ever let your crazy heart go there.”
    But telling his heart to stay away and making it do so were two very different things. The forceful