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“Hey Tono, come on in a moment. I’m just finishing breakfast.”
She dashed back to the kitchen to finish dealing with the food. Glancing back at him, she noticed how exhausted he looked and poured him some coffee from the pot she’d just brewed.
“You look tired.”
“Thanks,” he said, taking the mug from her and sipping it appreciatively. “Boy, I needed that! I had an emergency up near Yaak, so I decided to call in and check on Blaze since I was passing. Save me a trip.”
Ellie took a plate from the cupboard and filled it with pancakes and bacon.
“You look like you could do with this, too,” she commented as she placed it in front of him and found some cutlery.
“Well, this is a treat.” He smiled and gave her a wink. “I didn’t think anyone would be up this early, but I saw the light on, so I chanced knocking. Aren’t you eating?”
“I was just keeping everything warm until the others were up. I’m not really certain what time that is, to be honest.”
Tono checked his watch. “Usually about six thirty, so you’ve got a half hour yet. The boys are like clockwork. Six thirty breakfast and six thirty dinner. Lunch in between if they’re not too far from the homestead. Otherwise a packed lunch.”
“You know them well,” Ellie observed.
“We go back a way. I was friends with their daddy, god rest his soul, so I’ve known them since they were all little tykes.”
They chatted casually until he’d finished eating his food.
“Since you’ve got a while, could you do me the favor of soothing Blaze like you did the last time? Speed me up some and my bed is surely calling.”
“Of course!” Ellie didn’t so much as hesitate. She’d been planning on getting out to see the horses again, but hadn’t yet found the time.
Clearing up the dirty dishes, she followed him out to the stables.
It hadn’t seemed like they’d been out there that long, but when they made their way back to the house, all six of the others were already digging into the breakfast, she’d made. Again. And they thoughtsheneeded the spanking?
Ezra looked her over with the merest hint of curiosity, but then said, “Six-thirty breakfast. You’re lucky you didn’t miss out.”
Ellie’s mouth hung open, and she noticed even Tono’s eyes narrowed and his mouth tightened. She thought she detected the briefest hint of disapproval, but she couldn’t be certain.
“I had Ellie help me out with Blaze, since she was up early. She has a way with the animal,” he said mildly.
Ezra had the decency to look a little sheepish, at least.
“Will you join us for breakfast?” Cody asked the vet, but his eyes followed Ellie as she rounded the head of the table and his close scrutiny sent a shiver of awareness down her spine.
“I’ve already eaten, thank you, and I pulled an all-nighter, so I’m off to get some shut eye. Just watch that horse, she’s still far too skittish for my liking. Don’t want her to hurt herself, or the new foal, by getting herself all worked up.”
Ellie plated herself the last pancake and what scraps were left of the bacon and tried not to feel put out as the rest of them finished up and left the table, leaving her to eat on her own.
It was stupid. She knew they had work to do, and now she knew they liked to stick to their schedule. But she had thought something had changed after that spanking. Certainly, it had for her.
Of course, once again, the girls disappeared almost as soon as Cody, Syrus and Ezra set foot outside, leaving Ellie all alone with the cleanup too.
Well, she’d show them. She’d have this place so tidy and sparkling they’d be able to eat their dinner off of the floor.
She scrubbed the kitchen, the utility, the boot room and the bathrooms as well as the other common areas. She vacuumed and polished her own little attic room but stopped short of the other bedrooms, en-suites and the office, because to her mind they were private, and she didn’t feel comfortable invading those spaces.
Typically, Cora, Sheri, and Carly putting an appearance just as she was finishing.
Oh, is there anything we can do to help? asked Sheri.
“Thank you.” Ellie tried to sound genuinely grateful. “But I’m about finished. I suppose you could put flowers in the vases.”
