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But Nelda’s words made her want to cry. She swallowed through a tight throat and said, “Really?”
Maybe it was the tone of her voice, or maybe it was the relief on her face, but it made Nelda smile. “Really. Come on. We don’t have much time.”
Chapter 9
“All right, we’ll sendthese cows to the sale barn the day after tomorrow.”
Ezra stood, looking at the half dozen or so cull cows they’d pulled from the herd during the herd check. Four of them were open, and two of them had raised such a scrawny calf, mostly because of feet issues that kept them from grazing and getting as much food as they needed, that they’d decided to send them down the road.
It was not Ezra’s favorite thing, but it was something that needed to be done. They couldn’t keep every cow until she died of old age, or the ranch would not be profitable.
“I have the notes, and I’ll get everything typed into the computer and send a report to everyone later today,” Tobias said as he held the notebook and pen in his hand.
Some people put their information in an iPad as they were doing the check, but Ezra had found that it was safer to just use a notebook. Twice, they had whatever piece of electronics they were working with ruined when a cow got out unexpectedly. Once they had to work in the rain, and they’d ended up switching to a notebook anyway, to keep their computer from getting wet.
“I’m starving. Are you guys done chewing the fat, so we can go chew actual fat?”
“I’m not sure we’re having anything with fat in it. Alaska might have had chicken in the oven,” Ezra said absentmindedly as he looked over at the pen of weaners, who were bawling for their moms. There were some nice calves in there, and he had high hopes for them. He just wished the price was up.
“I don’t care. But I’m pretty sure I smell bacon, and I’m not going to let you talk me out of that.”
“All right. Let’s go in and see what she’s got, because we have to move these calves if we want to get to Richard’s place before dark.”
Richard owned the feedlot where they’d decided to take them. But they weren’t going to leave without eating.
Ezra pushed back away from the fence and started walking toward the house with Tobias and Caleb and Asher. Phoebe and Priscilla had gone to the barn to put the leftover vaccines and wormer away, and Ada, their younger sister, had gone with them. There were a few siblings who weren’t currently on the ranch, so there would only be seven for lunch. Ezra hadn’t given it a thought until just that moment, but he hoped that wasn’t too intimidating for Alaska. He supposed someone who wasn’t used to cooking for anyone might be a little intimidated cooking for seven people all of a sudden.
“Have you talked to Nelda lately?” Caleb asked as he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked like a hungry man toward the house.
Ezra bit back a smile. Caleb always did think about food first. “No. Why?”
“I just thought that if Alaska needed any help, Nelda would probably give it to her.”
“She’s retired. I know she still helps with the kids some, and she considers them her grandchildren, but I wouldn’t ask her to take on full-time responsibility.”
“Maybe she wants to,” Asher murmured from his other side.
“Do you think?” He hadn’t considered that. He just assumed that Nelda would enjoy her retirement. She certainly earned it after helping their mom raise twelve children.
“She always seemed like she really loved kids,” Tobias said, in that thoughtful way he had. Of all his brothers, Tobias was most like him, but Ezra liked to think that he was a little bit happier, less moody, than Tobias usually was. Not that he could blame Tobias.There were some things in his past that it would be difficult for anyone to get over.
“Hey, wait up,” Ada said, coming up beside them. “You guys were planning on going in there and eating everything before we got a chance.”
“Survival of the fittest. Isn’t that what they teach in school nowadays?” Caleb said with a grin.
“Just because they teach that in school doesn’t mean we have to live it,” Ada said with an eye roll.
Ezra sniffed the air, and a sense of foreboding overtook him. It smelled like something was burned. Not like burned a little, but like charred. On fire and burned to a complete crisp.
Burned flesh.
Everyone was going to give him a hard time if not only did Alaska represent danger to the family, but she also couldn’t cook. And not just couldn’t cook, but couldn’t cook to the point where she burned the food beyond recognition. Ezra had done that himself a few times, and he recognized the smell immediately.
It had never been his job to cook for a hungry crew after they’d worked all morning, and he supposed there was a certain amount of pressure that would put on a person. Maybe Alaska didn’t realize that, or maybe she tried too hard. Whatever it was, he found his step slowing and his hand feeling heavy as he reached for the door handle.
“Man. Something stinks. I sure hope it’s not lunch,” Caleb said with a dark look, very foreign for his face, as he stepped up on the porch.
“Whatever it is, you better not give her a hard time. It’s her first time, and she’s not used to this.” Ezra’s voice came out as commanding as it always had, even though he quaked a bit inside.
