To this day, I have never felt as much pride as I did at this moment.
“Your home… my god… it’s amazing. I don’t really think there is a word in the English language to describe it… Holy Moly.” I looked in her direction to see what had caught her eye.
Then it seemed like Corrine just simply floated on air, and straight into my kitchen.
Since I had dreams of this being the home where I would raise my family in, my wife deserved a top-of-the-line kitchen even if she didn’t want to cook, then I would hire someone to make all of the meals, then at least the cook could prepare all of our meals with little to no effort.
And since I saw that future with the woman that was now standing in my kitchen, “How do you like it?”
However, Corrine hadn’t said not one word to me.
I chuckled as I stared at her for a few moments before I turned around with a huge smile on my face and made my way out to the stables to finish off my list of chores.
Wiping my hat across my thigh, I used the sleeve on my forearm to wipe the sweat from my brow. This was one hot summer they were having.
As I was walking into the kitchen, Parker came running into the house like a bear was after him.
“Cougar in the southeast pasture.” Parker was winded, to say the least.
I heard the inhale from the kitchen. Even with pink cheeks and her hair all skewed, she was gorgeous.
“Please be careful. I am going to head on home. Lasagna is in the oven keeping warm, a salad is in the fridge, and garlic bread is on the stove. I also made you a few sandwiches that can be heated up orconsumed cold. I hope this will help this weekend.” Corrine offered me a smile.
“Thank you. Please be careful driving home.” I felt like an ass for being short with her, but I had seen firsthand what a cougar could do. It could be a slaughter.
For the next two hours, I and my men hunted.
When I heard a shot ring out, followed by, “Got it.” I was bone-weary.
However, the smell of the lasagna as it greeted me when I re-entered the house was simply amazing.
Just as I grabbed the hand towel to retrieve the lasagna, I saw a note lying next to the garlic bread. ‘I also made a peach cobbler. Night.’
Without thinking too much into that action, I carefully grabbed the paper to fold it as I placed it inside my wallet.
The next day I enjoyed the left-over lasagna, well what little of it that was left, that Corrine had made yesterday. How was it that leftovers always seemed to taste even better the second time around?
I had just finished timing one of my horses to make sure that it was sound enough to enter it into the Rose Race in two weeks in California when I saw one of my neighbors climb out of his truck.
I had attended the memorial service that Pete Turner had held for his wife.
“Pete.” I removed the glove from my hand as I offered it to the man for a shake.
“Denton.”
“How have you been doing?” I could only imagine losing someone after being married to them for sixty years.
“It’s harder than I ever imagined it would be.” I had no doubt of that.
“Want a cold beer?” I didn’t enjoy taking a drink in the middle of the day, but I knew there was a reason for the older man to show up to my ranch unannounced.
“That would be fine.” Pete said.
Nodding I led him to my front porch and left him sitting in one of the rocking chairs while I headed inside and grabbed us two ice-cold beers. None of that light crap either.
“It’s hard. I can’t even bear to step foot in my own home. The smell of her is everywhere” I took a pull from my own beer as I listened to Pete.
“I can only imagine.” I stared out at the herd as it moved this way and that way.
