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“I was thinking that Annabel would rip our heads off if we said no.”
“Well, why can’t you do it? You were the one who said you’d be willing to help.”
“I’m behind. You’re not. In fact, I’m pretty sure you have everything mapped out so we’ll get done a few weeks ahead of schedule.”
“Yeah,” he moaned, “because you always fall short and I need to make up the slack. How do you expect me to do that if I’m at a different farm helping them get their place put together?”
Lucas smiled sheepishly. “I don’t know. I figured you’d do what you always do and make it work.”
Elijah dragged a hand down his face. They were finally getting to where they needed to be. He had gotten this ranch to a stable point with the help of his older brother. “What does Wade have to say about it?”
Lucas shrugged.
“You didn’t ask him, did you?”
His younger brother chuckled. “I thought that if you ended up agreeing to help, you’d be able to convince him why it’s a good idea.”
“That’s just it, Lucas. This isn’t a good idea. It’s a foolish one. The only reason any of us would be there right now is that Scarlett is there…” Wait. Scarlett is there. She’s struggling to help her father with the family farm. If she needed help, and he was the one to offer it, he might actually convince her that her absence was better for everyone.
And if she didn’t see things his way, then he could still keep an eye on her and make sure she wasn’t going to do anything stupid.
Elijah let out a part groan, part sigh. “Fine. I’ll help.”
Lucas’s smile widened knowingly. “You have a thing for her, don’t you?”
“What? No, I don’t.”
“Yes, you do,” he sang. “I can see it in the way your demeanor changed when you mentioned Scarlett. You have a crush on her, and this is your way to get close to her without her pushing you away.”
“I don’t have a crush on her,” Elijah muttered. “If anything, I want her to go back to Germany and leave us alone.”
Lucas shook his head. “You know, I don’t blame you. I think she’s smoking hot, too. I’d totally ask her out if Annabel hadn’t barged into my room last night and threatened me within an inch of my life.”
Elijah stared dumbfounded at Lucas. Annabel was making sure none of them were able to mess with Scarlett. She protected her from Elijah’s prejudice and Lucas’s flirtation. She really wanted Scarlett to stay.
His stomach soured. Already, Annabel was attached to her friend again. And could he blame her? There weren’t many people in town who seemed to want a friendship with the Keagan family. They’d been the outcasts for so long that he’d even considered it a miracle for them to enter the Callahan’s good graces.
It was only a matter of time before the rest of the town saw things the right way, but until then, Annabel desperately needed a friend.
Getting Scarlett to leave was a bad idea. He could single-handedly be the reason for Annabel’s regression if he was successful in getting her only friend to leave town.
Lucas nudged him. “See? There it is. That look in your eye that tells me you don’t really mind donating some of your time to the Perez family. So that’s settled. You’re going to help out with their farm, and I’ll keep doing what I can here.”
Elijah’s hand shot out and he grabbed Lucas by the collar of his shirt. “No.”
“No?” Lucas wheezed with a laugh. “No,what?”
“You’re not just going to keep doing what you’re doing.”
“You…don’twant me to work?”
“Oh, I want you to work. But you’re going to do twice the amount of work you usually do so we can stay on track.”
Lucas whined. “But that’s a lot.”
“It’s about a hundred and ten percent of what youshouldbe doing. It’s not like I’m asking you to do my chores and yours. I know you can’t do that.”
Lucas made a face and then pulled away from Elijah with a jerking motion. “What? So I have to do a little more? And then you’re going to help out Scarlett’s dad?”
