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“Good job, Bella.” Lily gives her a small golf clap. “Let’s get some food. You deserve it after two hours out here.”
Lily walks off towards the house, but I hang behind with Bella.
“Does she know?” I ask Bella. Her hazel eyes are so stunning in the morning light.
“I told her last night.” She looks tired. I’m sure she was up late.
“How did she react?”
“You can ask her in a minute. She invited you in, didn’t she?”
It’s obvious Bella is giving me the brush-off.
That’s fine,I think. I don’t need Bella’s cooperation. Just Lily’s.
Kind of a shame, though.I follow Lily across the yard and leave Bella behind in the barn. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t mind getting to know Bella a lot better.
The women in Texas are different from the women back home. But I have a feeling she’d be in a league of her own anywhere. Not only because of her looks but her demeanor, too. She’s so bold and outspoken. So honest. Maybe that’s why I’m so drawn to her.
As much as she wants to put distance between us, she draws me back in like a moth to a flame.
The screen door slams with a thud when I come in.
“Coffee’s made for you, Alex.” Lily points to a mug on the table for me.
“Thank you.” I take a sip.
Lily has taken out some eggs and bacon.
“Why don’t you let me cook?” I offer to Lily. “You had a busy morning.”
“You can cook? Really?”
“I can indeed.” I step up to the stove and turn the burner on. “How do you like your eggs?”
“Wow. Scrambled, please.”
“You’re sure? I can do more elaborate things.”
She nods yes. “I like scrambled, with cheese then, if you’re making.”
Surprise is written all over her face. I shrug.
“When you have people attending to your every need – and I meaneveryneed – you want to learn to do things yourself. To prove you can.”
Lily looks on with approval. “That’s so good that you wanted to be self-sufficient. Not everyone in your position would be.”
I give a winning smile and turn to the eggs.
In my teenage years, it occurred to me that the small army of servants were my mother’s eyes and ears. I began doing more for myself for privacy as much as anything.
She pulls a cheese grater out of the drawer and stands next to me as I start stirring. When the liquid begins to turn solid, she sprinkles in the cheese.
Bella comes into the kitchen from outside and pries off her boots. She looks right at me, and I feel a surge of energy bolt through me, even though she’d murder me with it if she could.
“Alex cooked eggs!” Lily says.
“Sorry, I guess I left the medals in my other pants,” Bella says, patting her pockets. “But I suspect you have medals back home?”
