Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 68004 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68004 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
“I feel terrible that the job you needed me for the most, I won’t even be able to do. I’ll understand if you need to hire someone else,” she told him numbly.
“Milking the goats wasn’t the main job I hired you for. Worse comes to worst, I can milk the ornery things myself. What I need you the most for is to give Ginny a hand with Freddy. Are you allergic to him?”
“No.” Alanna winced when she tried to smile at his teasing.
“Then we’re good.”
Alanna sniffed something in the air.
“I just put some steaks on the firepit before coming here. Want to keep me company while I finish grilling them? There might be a steak in it for you.”
“I couldn’t impose …” She shook her head, not wanting anyone to see her, especially Matthew.
“No imposition. The boys won’t be back until late. All the boys are at the Hardy’s to set their fence and gate. Al didn’t want them to set it without him being there, so they had to wait until he got off work. You could wash the potatoes for me, so I don’t have to take my eyes off the steaks.”
Alanna couldn’t resist; the smell was driving her crazy. “You win. I’m starving.”
“Then let’s get you fed.”
Walking to the firepit didn’t take long. Alanna had seen it yesterday when Silas had taken her to the trailer. As she stared at the huge number of steaks on the grill, her mouth began to water.
“How many potatoes do you want me to wash?”
“Twenty should be enough in case any of them want seconds.”
“Or thirds,” she joked. “What do I do with them after I wash them?”
“Bring them here and the foil from the pantry. I’ll bury them in the ash.”
“Oh …” she said excitedly. “I’ve never had them that way before.”
“First time for everything.”
Alanna nodded, turned toward the house, then paused. “You don’t happen to have marshmallows, do you?”
“I do.” Silas grinned. “You’ll find them in the pantry. There are graham crackers there, too. And if you look under the drawer in the refrigerator, you’ll find some chocolate bars.”
“I don’t want to put you to trouble.”
“No trouble. You can make them.”
“Deal.” Alanna rushed off, anxious to toast marshmallows. She’d never done it before over a fire.
Quickly washing the potatoes, she put them in a large bowl then gathered up the rest of the other items she needed.
When she came back, she saw Silas had put out two folding chairs near the firepit and placed a folding table within reach.
She set the items down, and they got busy wrapping the potatoes, then he showed her how he buried them in the hot ashes.
When she went to do one, he wouldn’t let her.
“I think you’ve had enough mishaps for the day. If you want to help, you could gather up a few sticks for the marshmallows.”
“I can do that. What size should I get?”
Silas showed her the desired length, and she was lucky enough to find a cluster of sticks sitting not far away. That was when she saw something.
Staring at the structure hidden behind a mass of vines, she wondered what it was supposed to be.
Returning to the firepit, she asked Silas.
“You must be talking about the old fort Dad built for us boys to keep us out of his hair. We used to love playing there. Even when we got older, we would sneak out to spend the night there until Leah and Ginny stole it from us, making it a pretend cabin, and they had to save their dolls and stuffed animals from grizzly bears and wolves.”
Ginny moved her chair closer to the firepit. “Not possums or raccoons?”
“No, and those are what they should have been watching out for. Popeye stole Ginny’s favorite doll. I had to spend two days looking for it.”
“A one-eye raccoon, who was the bane of my father’s existence for many years. He loved to turn our trash cans over if one of us boys forgot to place a big rock on top when we took the trash out at night.”
Alanna laughed. “Were you able to find the doll?”
“No, but we did have a memorial service for Minnie.”
She laughed so hard that she had to hold her stomach. “I bet it was nice growing up with so many brothers and sisters.”
“It was. Do you plan on having a large family?”
Alanna sobered instantly. “No. I never plan to have children.”
“Do you mind me asking why? I saw you holding Freddy. You seem to have a natural affinity to them.”
“My parents died when I was young. I’ll never take a chance that I’ll leave a child the way I was left.”
“I’m sure they didn’t want to.”
“They might not have, but they didn’t take any precautions either. My parents went into an area marked ‘do not enter,’ nor did they make arrangements for my care if anything happened to them.”