Daisies in the Canyon by Brown Carolyn

Author:Brown, Carolyn [Brown, Carolyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Published: 2014-12-16T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

All three Malloy sisters crowded into the front seat of the work truck the next morning. Abby drove over the muddy pathway in steady rain to where the cattle waited for breakfast. The hay would be like soggy shredded wheat, but it would be one of those eat-it-or-leave-it situations.

“Okay, are we ready to get wet?” Abby parked the truck and the cattle started coming toward it.

“Might as well be. The clouds aren’t parting,” Shiloh said.

“Next July we’ll be praying for this kind of weather. When it’s so dry the lizards start carrying canteens,” Bonnie said.

Abby was slow to get out in the cold rain. “How do you know?”

“Mama talked about the summer she was pregnant with me. When she got really good and drunk, she’d tell me about that miserable summer and how hard she worked only to have fall come late that year. I was born the third of November and she said the first frost hadn’t even hit the canyon.”

“Your mama drank?” Shiloh asked.

“No, my mama drinks. Might as well get this work over with.” Bonnie threw open the door, scrambled up over the fender, and tossed thee bales out on the ground before the other two could get the clippers out of their hip pockets.

Abby snipped wire as fast as she could and Shiloh crawled into the truck bed to help Bonnie toss the bales out. The lightning bolt that ripped through the sky at the top of the canyon wall was behind them so they didn’t see it. But all three women ducked and covered their heads when the thunder sounded like the whole canyon was falling in on itself.

“Holy shit!” Abby yelled. “Where did that come from?”

“My heart almost jumped out of my chest,” Shiloh said. “I hate storms.”

“Me, too. Let’s get these chores done and go home,” Bonnie said.

“One more load of hay, then you’d better drive the truck to and from the barn so you can get the milk to the house. The hens might get mad at getting wet when Shiloh gets the eggs, but the hogs won’t care if their feed is a little soupier than normal,” Abby said.

If someone had told her a month ago that she’d be working on a ranch with her sisters and enjoying it, she would have thought they were batshit crazy. But there she was, in the middle of a canyon, in the winter, doing chores with siblings and hoping to hell neither of them left.

“And then we get to stay in the rest of the day until chores tonight, right?” Shiloh asked.

“Yes, ma’am. Can’t plow mud, and the barn is clean and ready for whatever happens. Let’s hope we don’t have a problem with a pregnant cow. Either of y’all ever pulled a calf?” Bonnie asked.

“Have you?” Shiloh asked.

“Couple of times, but it’s been a while.”

“You might have to show us if that happens,” Abby said.

Instead of being jealous that her younger sister knew so much more than she did, Abby breathed a sigh of pure, unadulterated relief.

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