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"Oh." Spending the morning with Drew's mother should cool her off a bit. "Then I'll get ready and head to the main house."
His lips curved into a smile that slashed into his clean-shaven cheeks. Hope's heart skipped a beat. Or ten. "I'm sure Mama'll appreciate it." A horn beeped. "There's Reese." Drew pushed off the bed and grabbed his jacket. "See ya later."
"Drew?"
"Yeah?"
"What should I wear? I mean, is there an expectation of how to dress? Thanksgiving with Sam was always informal, but I don't want to assume everyone has the same casual dress code we did." Yes, think about clothes. Putting them on for Thanksgiving. With his family.
"Anything is fine," Drew assured her. "We aren't much on formality either. Just be comfortable."
"Okay," Hope replied even though she was no clearer on what to wear now than she'd been before.
When Drew got to the bedroom door, he stopped and turned back toward her. "My mother usually wears something like khakis or black pants. Nothing fancy."
Appreciating how he'd obviously realized she didn't want to wear something that would make her stick out like a sore thumb, Hope smiled. "I can handle that." Finally, something she could control.
* * *
When Drew and Reese arrived at the barn, they were met by their father, Jack, and Holden. Since the farmhands had been given the day off to spend with their families, the five of them split up the duties. It was quickly decided Reese and Eli would haul round bales out to the fields for the cattle, and Drew, Jack, and Holden would feed and water the horses and muck out the stalls in the main stable.
Jack went outside to tend the horses in the corrals, and Drew and Holden took care of the ones who'd been bedded down in the stable for the night. Although it had been years since the three of them had been involved in the day-to-day operation at Lone Oaks, they fell back into an easy rhythm reminiscent of their younger days spent working alongside their father where it was expected they would all equally pull their weight.
Despite his love of horses, Drew hadn't missed the long hours associated with running a farm the size of Lone Oaks. Since two of his three brothers had also chosen careers outside the farming realm, it was a relief to know he hadn't been the only one who'd yearned for something different than running beef cattle and raising thoroughbreds.
Drew had no idea how Reese did it day in and day out. Farming was unforgiving and exhausting work, demanding more than its fair share of a man's time and energy. Even when a job was finished, it either had to be repeated the next day, or something else arose requiring immediate attention.
Since losing Olivia, Drew figured running Lone Oaks had kept Reese sane and served as a much-needed avenue of escape. By working himself to near collapse daily, his brother wouldn't have the energy to remember his loss, but more importantly, he wouldn't have to feel.
Anything.
"Tell me you don't miss this any more than I do," Holden said from the stall across the concrete aisle from him.
Drew forked manure and urine-saturated straw into the wheelbarrow. "I don't miss it at all," he affirmed, turning back to the unsavory task. "But do you think anyone really enjoys it?"
"As much time as Reese spends out here, he must find some kind of special pleasure in shoveling shit.”
Leaning on his pitchfork, Drew considered Holden’s comment. “Did he spend as much time working the farm before Olivia passed?”
Holden tossed another forkful into the wheelbarrow. "No." He propped his fork against the wall, cut the twine on a bale of straw, and scattered a handful on the clean floor of the stall. "He was busy, but it was more balanced. He did a lot more supervising, leaving the bulk of the manual labor to Boone and the farmhands," he added, referring to the foreman at Lone Oaks, Boone Randall. "Since Olivia's been gone, though..." Holden trailed off, shaking his head.
Drew tossed a chunk of alfalfa in the hay rack. "You think you'll ever feel that way about a woman? The way Reese must have felt for Olivia?"
"I sure as hell hope not." Holden picked up the fork and moved to the next stall. "Especially after bearing witness to how losing her completely gutted Reese." He went back to fetch the wheelbarrow. "I'm fine with the life I have, thank you very much. No strings. No entanglements. Heart still intact." He patted the middle of his chest. "Yeah, I'm good."
Of the four brothers, Holden had always been the most laid back and carefree. Jack had the movie star looks, but Holden, although handsome in his own right, was more roguish. A maverick of sorts. Rarely did he date the same woman for more than a few months. More likely a couple of weeks. Even less if she became too clingy or started demanding more than he was willing to give.
"Wouldn't you like to have someone waiting for you at the end of each day? Someone to share all the important things in life with?"
Holden tossed another forkful of straw into the wheelbarrow. "Bella's waiting for me every day when I get home from work," he answered, referring to his five-year-old golden retriever. "She's always glad to see me, loyal to a fault, and doesn't give me a bunch of crap if I decide to stop off for a few beers or a bite to eat after work. As for sharing the important things in life, she's a damned good listener too. If I have something I feel the need to share with someone other than Bella, well, that's what brothers are for."
"What about a mother for your children?"
A wicked gleam danced in Holden's cobalt eyes. "That can be easily accomplished almost anywhere, and it doesn't require a lifelong commitment either."
Yeah, Drew had firsthand knowledge about that.
Pulling the hose along, Holden filled the bucket in the stall with water. "What about you, big brother? You got the itch all of a sudden?"
