could be fun.”
The two men exchanged a look. And as the door closed behind her, they burst into peals of laughter.
Taking a last deep breath, Vanessa stepped from sunshine into the cavernous interior and paused to allow her eyes to adjust to the gloom. The first thing that assaulted her was the smell. It was an outhouse, only magnified a thousand times. And then there were the sounds of men’s voices raised in laughter, bouncing off the walls.
Seeing her in the doorway, the voices stilled.
Luke called, “Hey. You’re late.”
“Late?”
“Yeah. Matt said you were putting away your gear. So we decided to work a little slower than usual so you wouldn’t miss out on all the fun.”
Getting into the spirit of teasing, Reed pointed to a wall of ranch implements hanging on hooks. “Grab some gloves and join us.”
“Okay.” Vanessa crossed to where Matt was standing. “Where do I find gloves?”
“Here.” He reached into his back pocket and handed her a pair of well-worn leather gloves. “You’ll need these.”
She slipped them on and followed him to a stall, where Reed was knee-deep in wet, smelly straw.
“This is what the horses leave behind. It’s part of a rancher’s daily routine. We have to fork up the old straw and spread clean. Since you need to start slowly, we’ll do the forking and leave the spreading to you.”
“I thought…” She stopped to look around the empty stalls. “Where are the horses and sick animals?”
“No sick animals at the moment. But we turned the horses into the corral so we can get our work done in here.” Matt led her toward a stall that had recently been cleaned and showed her how to spread fresh straw.
While she bent to her task, the three brothers cleaned the rest of the stalls, keeping up a steady stream of conversation and jokes, often at their own expense.
“So.” Reed paused to rest his hands atop his pitchfork while he eyed Luke. “I heard your phone ringing around midnight. Who called?”
His brother shrugged. “Nobody.”
“Is this the same nobody who said she never wanted to see you again?”
Instead of a reply, Luke gripped the handles of the wagon. “This is pretty full. I’ll be right back.”
Vanessa couldn’t help staring at he shoved the overloaded wagon through the doors as if it weighed nothing. She’d expected his brothers to lend a hand.
He returned a short time later with the empty wagon, only to pick up his pitchfork and continue on as before without a word.
Matt joined in where his younger brother had left off. “You’re not going to evade our questions, bro. So why did this nobody phone you if she never wanted to see you again?”
Luke never missed a beat as he lifted a heavy load and deposited it in the wagon. “She didn’t say anything about never ‘speaking’ to me again.”
Matt and Reed exchanged a look before Matt deadpanned, “So when are you and nobody getting together again?”
“She wants me to join her and some friends at Clay’s Pig Sty Friday night. And she said to bring Reed along.”
Reed paused. “So she can look at me instead of you? Not that I don’t understand,” he added, “since I’m a whole lot better looking.”
“She’s invited some friends. One of them is Carrie.”
Reed snorted. “If Carrie Riddle was standing in the doorway of our barn right this minute, wearing nothing but her birthday suit, I wouldn’t bother to turn and give her a look.”
Luke gave a laugh. “Oh, you’d look, bro. You may try to pass yourself off as a saint in front of our guest, but I know you better’n that. You’d look.”
Matt and Vanessa stood back, enjoying the banter.
“Okay. So I’d look. Hell, I’m a guy. But that’s as far as it goes. I’m not interested.”
“You feeling sick?” Luke touched a hand to his brother’s forehead. “Carrie Riddle’s had the hots for you since she was fifteen. I’m not asking you to marry her. But you could at least go to town with me
The two men exchanged a look. And as the door closed behind her, they burst into peals of laughter.
Taking a last deep breath, Vanessa stepped from sunshine into the cavernous interior and paused to allow her eyes to adjust to the gloom. The first thing that assaulted her was the smell. It was an outhouse, only magnified a thousand times. And then there were the sounds of men’s voices raised in laughter, bouncing off the walls.
Seeing her in the doorway, the voices stilled.
Luke called, “Hey. You’re late.”
“Late?”
“Yeah. Matt said you were putting away your gear. So we decided to work a little slower than usual so you wouldn’t miss out on all the fun.”
Getting into the spirit of teasing, Reed pointed to a wall of ranch implements hanging on hooks. “Grab some gloves and join us.”
“Okay.” Vanessa crossed to where Matt was standing. “Where do I find gloves?”
“Here.” He reached into his back pocket and handed her a pair of well-worn leather gloves. “You’ll need these.”
She slipped them on and followed him to a stall, where Reed was knee-deep in wet, smelly straw.
“This is what the horses leave behind. It’s part of a rancher’s daily routine. We have to fork up the old straw and spread clean. Since you need to start slowly, we’ll do the forking and leave the spreading to you.”
“I thought…” She stopped to look around the empty stalls. “Where are the horses and sick animals?”
“No sick animals at the moment. But we turned the horses into the corral so we can get our work done in here.” Matt led her toward a stall that had recently been cleaned and showed her how to spread fresh straw.
While she bent to her task, the three brothers cleaned the rest of the stalls, keeping up a steady stream of conversation and jokes, often at their own expense.
“So.” Reed paused to rest his hands atop his pitchfork while he eyed Luke. “I heard your phone ringing around midnight. Who called?”
His brother shrugged. “Nobody.”
“Is this the same nobody who said she never wanted to see you again?”
Instead of a reply, Luke gripped the handles of the wagon. “This is pretty full. I’ll be right back.”
Vanessa couldn’t help staring at he shoved the overloaded wagon through the doors as if it weighed nothing. She’d expected his brothers to lend a hand.
He returned a short time later with the empty wagon, only to pick up his pitchfork and continue on as before without a word.
Matt joined in where his younger brother had left off. “You’re not going to evade our questions, bro. So why did this nobody phone you if she never wanted to see you again?”
Luke never missed a beat as he lifted a heavy load and deposited it in the wagon. “She didn’t say anything about never ‘speaking’ to me again.”
Matt and Reed exchanged a look before Matt deadpanned, “So when are you and nobody getting together again?”
“She wants me to join her and some friends at Clay’s Pig Sty Friday night. And she said to bring Reed along.”
Reed paused. “So she can look at me instead of you? Not that I don’t understand,” he added, “since I’m a whole lot better looking.”
“She’s invited some friends. One of them is Carrie.”
Reed snorted. “If Carrie Riddle was standing in the doorway of our barn right this minute, wearing nothing but her birthday suit, I wouldn’t bother to turn and give her a look.”
Luke gave a laugh. “Oh, you’d look, bro. You may try to pass yourself off as a saint in front of our guest, but I know you better’n that. You’d look.”
Matt and Vanessa stood back, enjoying the banter.
“Okay. So I’d look. Hell, I’m a guy. But that’s as far as it goes. I’m not interested.”
“You feeling sick?” Luke touched a hand to his brother’s forehead. “Carrie Riddle’s had the hots for you since she was fifteen. I’m not asking you to marry her. But you could at least go to town with me
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