AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It was weird to arrive at the ranch and not have someone coming out of the house to greet her. But Gilley didn’t seem to mind. As soon as she let him out of the car, he raced in circles like he’d just found doggy heaven. Worried he was going to get into something, like Mimi’s garden, Belle put a leash on him and walked him around so he could get used to all the different smells.
The horses were in the back pasture. When Gilley saw them, he immediately started barking and carrying on. They completely ignored him, but Belle figured it would be best to tie the dog up in the barn while she got them into their stalls and fed and watered them.
Once that was finished, she untied Gilley and headed for the house. Not trusting him with Tay, she got him a bowl of water and left him in the kitchen while she checked on the cat. Unfortunately, as soon as she opened the laundry room door, Tay streaked between her legs.
“Tay!” Belle raced after her, but Gilley got to her before Belle could. He excitedly jumped around Tay like he’d been given a brand-new toy and didn’t know what to do with it. He made the mistake of getting too close and received a sharp swat on the nose for his trouble.
You would have thought his nose had been sliced completely off by the way he squealed and skittered back against the stove, staring at Tay like she was the worst kind of assailant. Tay, on the other hand, showed no fear. She merely stood in the middle of the floor with her back arched, daring the dog to come closer.
Gilley didn’t. After only a few seconds, he placed his head on his paws and fearfully watched Tay drink water from his bowl as Belle prepared the kitten some dinner.
Once she’d fed Tay, she put her back in the laundry room before going out to the car and getting Gilley’s food. But the dog refused to take a single bite. He just stood at the laundry room door and whined until Belle let Tay back out. Then, once again, he kept his distance and watched the kitten play with a little crochet mouse.
Belle laughed. “So all you needed was a cute feline to make you behave.”
Gilley looked at her as if to say “cute”?
Belle could have put Tay back in the laundry room, collected Gilley, and left. She’d done what she needed to do. But the country values her mama had instilled in her since birth kicked in. When someone was hurting, physically or emotionally, you always made them food.
So she pulled a frozen casserole from the freezer and popped it into the oven before starting some drop biscuits. In Houston, she and Liberty never had time to cook. They usually grabbed takeout on the way home from the office. But that didn’t mean they didn’t know how. While they were growing up, Mama had made sure all her daughters helped out in the kitchen.
Belle had forgotten how much she enjoyed it. After putting the biscuits in the oven with the casserole, she chopped up some vegetables for a salad. She was making a lemon Dijon mustard vinaigrette when a car pulled up in front. Only moments later, Corbin and Sunny came in. Besides crutches and a wrapped ankle, Sunny looked fine.
If not a little ticked off.
“I swear I’m going to smother you in your sleep, Cory, if you don’t stop mother-henning me.”
“I’ll stop mother-henning you when you stop being so careless.” He pulled two chairs out from the table. “Now sit down and put up your foot.”
Sunny flopped down in the chair and put her wrapped foot on the other. “I wasn’t being careless. I was dismounting when that flock of pheasants spooked Sadie Mae. My foot twisted in the stirrup before I could get it out.”
Corbin ran his hand through his hair. He looked like he’d been through hell. “You’re lucky that horse didn’t drag you all over the countryside. You could have been . . .” He let the sentence drift off and looked like he was about to pass out.
Wanting to lighten the mood, Belle spoke up. “Is anyone hungry? There’s sausage and rice casserole and biscuits in the oven.” Corbin finally turned his attention to her.
“You cooked dinner? I didn’t ask you to do that?”
Sunny groaned. “What my socially inept brother means, Belle, is thank you. We appreciate it.”
Corbin cleared his throat. “Thank you.” He glanced around. “Where is Tay?”
Belle looked down where Tay had been playing with the toy, but the kitten was gone . . . and so was Gilley. “She was just here a second ago with Gilley.”
Corbin’s eyes widened. “Gilley? You brought that wild dog with you?” He hurried out of the room and she followed after him.
“I’m sure they’re fine. Tay put him in his place right away.”
He searched the living room. “So you decided it was okay to leave her alone with him? Have you lost your mind?”
Her temper flared. “Hey, I was doing you a favor.”
“My cat ending up in your dog’s stomach is not a favor.” He headed up the stairs.
Worried that might be the case, she hurried after him. They found both Tay and Gilley in Belle’s old bedroom, now Corbin’s room. The kitten was lying in the top compartment of her cat condo with half her body dangling out the little window as she batted at Gilley’s wagging tail. The dog had somehow squeezed into the lower compartment. All you could see was his tail, a pile of fur, and two soulful eyes.
“What the hell?” Corbin said.
Sunny crutched into the room and laughed. “It looks like you overreacted again, big brother.”
