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“What are you doing here so early?” she questioned, a sound of shock in her voice, an unimpressed look on her face. Wearing a pair of worn jeans, a thin white T-shirt, and a pink sweater over top, she stood there holding a bowl in her arm, a whisk in the other hand.
“I came by because I wanted to talk to you. It seems I’ve been more of a supervisor around here, and with the amount of work I need to do at my place, well, I don’t have the time to play that role. So, I came to see what you really needed help with around here.”
She stopped stirring the contents of the bowl and shifted her weight to her right foot. “I see. Didn’t my brother give you one of his wondrous lists of tasks to complete?” She rolled her eyes.
I chuckled under my breath. He had done exactly that. However, every day I’d gotten here, his crew had completed the entire list of things he’d given me, and I had very little left to do.
“He did. It just seems that the guys are getting everything done. So, I’m wondering if perhaps he made a mistake and didn’t give me the right list.”
“I see. Well, since I’m not sure what he told you to do, I don’t know if I can help.”
“That’s why I wanted to drop over. I can tell you what it was he told me to do. I wanted to know if there were things you needed done or if I’m simply wasting my time coming over here every day. Since I haven’t seen you since Gabe left, I figured I’d pop over this morning instead.”
I wasn’t an idiot. I knew she’d been avoiding me. She knew it too. I could tell from the look on her face when I said I felt like I was wasting my time.
“If that is how you feel, Connor, by all means…I’m more than capable of running this place,” she bit out, still stirring whatever was in the bowl with vigor. “Despite what my brother thinks.”
I chuckled. Most people would think Cadence was in a bad mood, but this was exactly how I remembered her. Grumpy because she felt people were doubting her, so sure of herself she’d never ask for help if she needed it.
“Well, Cadence, this will probably come as a shock to you, but I know you are more than capable of looking after this place. In fact, I even told Gabe that. But he insisted I be here. So, I'll start by telling you I'm not here because of you. I’m here because Gabe asked me to drop in. Now, if you don’t tell me what you need done, then I guess I’ll just be on my way.”
I turned around and began walking toward my truck when I heard her mumble a string of curse words under her breath. I did everything in my power not to burst out laughing.
“Connor, wait. I'm sorry. I shouldn’t be that way, not to you. I know you are only here to help. Look, Gabe mentioned something about the back fence needing to be repaired. He wanted to get it done before he left, but it didn’t happen. So, before I could let the cattle out into the field up front here, can you maybe look?”
I nodded, not sure why she'd reconsidered her position. Normally, she’d be ready to start a fight, and it had been coming. I could see it. One thing with Cadence, she always had been a spitfire. She’d also always been way more stubborn than she needed to be and could never accept help when it was offered. The fact that she asked me to do something for her made me wonder if perhaps she felt like she was in over her head looking after this place. But I wasn’t about to ask her.
“Not a problem. I’ll head out there now. It will probably take me a couple of hours. Will you be home when I get back?”
“Yep.” She dropped the whisk back in the bowl, turned around, and disappeared back into the house.
* * *
I sat at the kitchen table Saturday morning, drinking a hot coffee and eating a piece of toast. I didn’t feel like making breakfast this morning. Honestly, I’d barely made a meal for myself since the night before Gabe left. I hadn’t realized how much I missed being around people for meals.
It had been one hell of a morning on the ranch. I’d gone out when the ranch hands arrived, and we rotated the cattle from one field to the next. Then I had a mountain of paperwork to do, which was why I was back in the house while I left the ranch hands to come up with a way to repair the barn.
“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath as my hand hit my mug of coffee, spilling the contents all over the paperwork I’d just completed. Grabbing a cloth just as the phone rang, I dropped the cloth down onto the papers and grabbed the phone.
“Hello.”
“Connor, how are you doing?” I heard Ella’s mom’s voice come over the phone.
I closed my eyes. Today wasn’t the day for this call. I didn’t need to be reminded that Ella had died, or that the anniversary of her death had just passed. I didn’t need to hear a lot of things she’d said to me, and I didn’t want a replay of them. “Good, good. How are you?”
“Doing as well as we can be. You know, given the time of year. What about you?”
“Doing okay. Keeping busy. Lots to do around here,” I answered.
“How are you making out with the repairs?” she questioned.
I didn’t have the heart to tell her that nothing had come of it. I never should have mentioned the issues with the bank prior to Ella passing away. Then the storm hit, and I’d needed to blow off steam. I’d vented to them during one of our dinners earlier this year. It had probably been a mistake, and I hadn’t realized that until they asked me every time we spoke if I’d gotten the funds yet. Including at her funeral and every time thereafter.
“Good. Coming along nicely,” I lied.
“Good, I’m glad to hear that. So, the bank could give you access to the cash?”
I clenched my jaw. “No.”
