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As he entered the dining room, Parker’s stomach growled at the abundance of food. There would be none for leftovers either.
Louise Smith had long realized that leftovers were not ever going to be a thing in her house. Parker reached for a piece of chicken, and just then, his mother slapped his hand. “I made this dinner for Poppy. You can take after she’s decided on the first piece.”
Poppy smiled at him, and he watched as she took the smallest piece of chicken, leaving the monster breast for him. She knew that he loved chicken, especially fried. He loved her so damn much. She was a sweetheart, sexy, and so fucking funny, and all wrapped in one package. He looked forward to getting her underneath him, or between his brothers.
He just wanted to love her, and any way he could have her, he would.
His mother tutted. “That will not do, honey. You need some meat on those bones, and don’t you worry. They are going to eat like animals, so you have nothing to worry about.”
Poppy giggled as Louise loaded up her plate. There were at least three pieces of chicken, and so many chili cheese fries.
“You get started,” Louise said.
Bruce and Elijah were on either end of the table, and his mother took a seat in the center between the two. Poppy sat beside Shawn. He and Casey sat on either side of their mother.
Poppy took the first bite, and Shawn watched as her eyes closed. She did love food, but just recently, he’d barely seen her eat, and she was wasting away. He didn’t like it.
“So, what’s the plan now, Poppy?” Elijah asked.
He watched as she swallowed, and then glanced around the table. “I volunteered at Mrs. Bunt’s charity shop where Mom did. There’s not a lot at the trailer, but I guess I’m going to have to talk to Arnold the owner to see if he’d let me live there, and work out a rent deal.”
“Actually, Parker, Shawn, and I were thinking, and we wanted to ask you about something,” Casey said.
“What?” Poppy asked.
“We’ve taken on twenty more ranch hands, and Mom’s going to need the extra help. She already cooks for half of them, and as we’ve bought more land, and more cattle, our place is in serious need of a cook.”
Their parents had built them their own house several miles from their parents’ house. They still worked and lived on Smith land. Each one of them had a dream for the ranch, and their dads had allowed them to do it.
“We’d love it if you’d be willing to stay with us, cook, clean the ranch, and handle stuff around the place,” Casey said.
“We were going to put an ad in the paper, but we didn’t want just anyone answering, and we know you’re a damn good cook and you can clean,” Shawn said.
“What about the trailer?” Poppy asked.
“You can stay there, and one of us will drop you off and collect you. We’ll take you wherever you need to go,” Parker said.
He wanted her to agree. If she did, that was step one of their planned seduction complete. The next step would be getting her to stay. They already had a room they were decorating, and hoped she’d one day stay in it.
Each of them had a part to play, and before Cathy had died they had all gotten her blessing.
Of course, the final decision had to be with Poppy.
“Erm, yes, I’d love to. You know I love it here.” She turned to Louise. “You don’t mind?”
“Honey, I was the one that asked that any new ranch hands they employed, they find someone willing to feed them. I’m cooking all day long, trying to keep our lot fed.”
Poppy nodded. “Then I’d totally love the opportunity.”
“Excellent. You can start tomorrow if you’d like?” Casey asked. “I’ll pick you up, and we’ll go shopping for everything and anything you need.”
Poppy nodded, and smiled. “I’d like that.”
She picked up a piece of chicken and took a large bite. Already there was some color back in her cheeks.
It was good to see her eating.
After dinner, Shawn took her back home while he and Casey walked toward their own home.
“You think this is going to work?” Parker asked.
“I hope so. She still wears our jewelry, so I’m going to look at that as a positive,” Casey said.
Parker paused as he admired the land where their house lay. It was five bedrooms with three bathrooms. They had built it with Poppy in mind. State of the art kitchen, a nice little garden for her to do a vegetable patch, and a place for their kids to play. They had everything planned, and he hoped one day soon he’d be standing in this spot with the sun setting, watching as their woman and kids ran around playing.
