Monroe, Marla - Their Border Lands Gift [Men of the Border Lands 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (4 page)

Kate grew sleepy and finally let her exhaustion claim her.

* * * *

“Wake up, Kate.”

Mike shook her shoulder again. She wanted to slap his hand away, but knew they needed to get up and get on the road again. Then she remembered that they had found a house to look at and were in the front yard camping out.

She opened one eye and groaned at the light pouring in from the side window where he’d opened the curtains.

“What time is it?” she asked.

“It’s just after seven. We need to see about the house so we can move on if it’s not livable.”

Kate rolled out of the little bed and stepped over his makeshift bed that he hadn’t bothered to pick up. She rolled everything up and replaced the covers at the foot of her bed. Then she pulled out the last of the peanut butter and stale crackers. They quickly ate, washing it down with bottled water.

“You ready?” Mike asked. He acted like a kid at Christmas.

“I guess so. Let’s take the flashlights with us.” She picked up one while Mike grabbed the other.

He helped her down from the camper, and they slowly made their way around the outside of the house to look at the back. Everything looked intact. There was even what looked like a shed with a tractor in it.
If only it would work
.

They climbed up on the back porch, which seemed to be sturdy and in good repair. Mike tried the door and found the screen unlocked. He tried the door itself, but it was locked. He went from window to window until he found one open on the side of the house.

“You stay right by the window until I come back and tell you it’s safe to climb in.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” She sighed and watched as her brother climbed through the window into the house. She could hear him moving around inside but lost sight of him when he turned a corner.

“You okay in there, Mike?” she called through the window.

“Yeah, I’ll be right out to get you. Go around to the back door again. I’ll let you in.”

She sighed and walked around to the back of the house and climbed back up on the porch. Mike appeared in the window of the back door with a big grin on his face. He unlatched the back door and opened it for her to walk inside.

“Everything looks in good shape, Kate. I think we have a keeper.” He was like a kid in a candy store showing her around.

“The water works! There’s gas, but no electricity. I guess that was more than we could hope for.”

“You’re kidding. We have gas? I wonder how?” Kate hurried over to the stove and turned on the burner. It hissed but didn’t light. She quickly turned it back off.

“We’ll need to light the pilot light. I wonder if we have gas or electric hot water heaters. I could really use a hot bath.”

“If we don’t have gas, I can carry water from the stove so you can have a hot bath, Kate. You’ll feel better in no time.”

“I think what we need to do first is pick a room to clean and start cleaning.”

“I’m going to have to leave that to you and start work on that old tractor out there. We’ve got to put a garden in before it’s too late in the year.” Mike hurried out the door, leaving Kate alone in the kitchen.

After all, I am the woman. It’s my job to take care of the house.
She sighed and decided the kitchen would be the first room to clean. They could sleep in the camper another night or two if they needed to. She pulled everything out of the cabinets and stacked it on one end of the kitchen and got to work cleaning the room from top to bottom.

At some point, she heard the tractor start up. She walked over to the back door and looked through the screen to see Mike waving triumphantly as he drove the thing around the backyard. She waved back and went back to cleaning and putting the dishes away. By the time Mike returned to the house at dusk, she had the kitchen in working order and had started on one of the bathrooms.

“So, how did it go plowing?” she asked as he stripped off his boots.

“Got the old garden back there broken up, but it’s going to take a lot of plowing to get it in planting shape. I’m not sure how much diesel is in the old tank back there, either.”

“It will work out. I’m going to warm us up some soup for dinner tonight. How does that sound to you?”

“Good, but can you add something to it? I’m starved, and neither of us got lunch today.”

“I’ll fix it up with something. You need a bath. I’ve cleaned the majority of the bathroom. Go get cleaned up. You can handle a little cool water.”

They made a meal out of canned soup and pinto beans. Then Mike carried hot water from the stove to the bathroom so that Kate could have a hot bath. She carried her clean clothes inside to change into when she dried off.

She sighed as soon as she slipped into the warm water. It wasn’t exactly hot, but it was close. She hadn’t had a real bath in a week. This was heaven as far as she was concerned. She quickly bathed then just relaxed against the back of the tub and let the warm water sink into her weary muscles.

“Kate! You okay in there?” Mike knocked on the door.

She huffed out a breath in annoyance. “I’m fine, Mike. I’m just enjoying having a bath.”

“Well don’t drown while I’m out moving our stuff inside.”

Before she could stop him he was gone.
Great!
He would have them sleeping on something dirty if she didn’t get out of the tub now and direct where to put their things.
Typical man
.

Kate climbed out of the tub and quickly dried off. She pulled on her clean clothes and raced out of the house to stop him.

“Don’t, Mike.”

“Don’t what?” he asked, standing outside of the camper with his arms full.

“Nothing else is clean in the house yet. We’re going to have to sleep in the camper another night so I can clean our bedrooms next.”

“Oh. Didn’t think about needing to clean them.” He looked sheepish and tossed the stuff back in the camper.

Kate cringed at the mess he just made, but didn’t say anything. It looked like most of it was his stuff anyway. She retraced her steps back into the house and cleaned up the bathroom from her bath. She looked at the tub longingly, but reminded herself she could have another bath tomorrow.

They sat up and talked about what they would work on next and how long it might take to finish everything that needed doing around the little house. Kate was feeling pretty good about the house and making it into a home until Mike brought up the subject of finding her a couple of husbands.

“I figure there are some decent men around here in this area working their land. In a few months, we can maybe meet some of them.”

“How do you plan to do that?” She couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of her voice.

“Kate,” he began.

“No, we have a nice place here that between the two of us we can turn into a home. You can find yourself a woman and bring her home. I’ll stay out of your way. Just don’t send me off to live with a couple of strangers, Mike.”

Mike got up and stomped off toward the camper. “I’m not going to discuss this with you again.”

Kate pressed her lips together to keep from screaming at him. She sat on the porch long enough to let him get settled then made her way to the camper and climbed inside. He’d already lain down on the floor. She had to climb over him to get to the bed.

“Kate. I’m sorry. I just don’t see that I have a choice. I can’t keep you safe. There are black market thieves everywhere. If I’m out in the field plowing or out hunting for food, you’re all alone here with no one to keep you safe. They could snatch you, and I’d never see you again.”

“Let’s just see how things go, Mike. Please?” She knew he would hear the tears in her voice. They rolled down her cheeks as she lay on the little bed.

He was silent for a long time then he sighed. “Okay, Kate. We’ll see how things go.”

Chapter Four

The weeks flew by as Kate turned the little three-bedroom house into a home for them. She helped Mike plant once he had the garden tilled within an inch of its life. They figured they had enough for the two of them for the winter. Kate studied the books they’d brought with them on canning and made a list of supplies they would need come harvest time.

“There’s a city out this direction called Middleton where they say you can scavenge supplies. We probably need to make a run there and load up on whatever we can find,” Mike told her one day.

“How far is it, Mike?” She wasn’t really excited about leaving their home.

“About two hours’ drive according to the map.”

“Are you sure we need to go?”

Mike didn’t seem to catch on that she wasn’t happy about the planned trip.

“Yeah, we need to go and get whatever we can before there’s nothing left. Plus, we need some things like those canning supplies you have on your list there.” He pointed at her supply list. She almost covered it up.

“I don’t like the idea of leaving the house, Mike. What if someone comes and steals stuff from us? Maybe I should stay and guard it while you go. I can shoot the gun as well as you can.”

“Absolutely not. You go with me. I’m not leaving you here alone.”

“Mike.”

“No! End of discussion. We’ll leave first thing in the morning. I’m going to clean out the truck and the camper. We’ll need all the room we can squeeze out of them.” Mike turned and walked out of the house leaving Kate to fume.

Early the next morning, they pulled down the drive and were about to pull out onto the road when Mike stopped for another truck coming down the road. It passed them but stopped a little piece down the road.

“Mike?”

“Shh, Kate. They’re probably just interested in who their neighbors are.”

The two men climbed out of the truck and walked back toward them. To everyone’s surprise, it was the two men who’d helped save Kate back in Barter Town.

“Hi. Looks like we’re neighbors,” Mike said as they approached.

Both men walked over to Mike’s side of the truck.

“You working the Crowley place? It was in pretty bad shape last time we saw it,” Bruce said.

“We’ve been working on it for the last few weeks. Got a garden planted, so we’ll be good for winter.”

“Where you headed now?” Marcus asked with a smile.

“Middleton. I heard there are still some good pickings there, and we need supplies.”

“That’s where we are headed. You can follow us,” Marcus told them.

“That’s real nice of you. Thanks.”

“Ma’am,” Bruce said with a nod before walking back to their truck.

“They’re good men,” Mike said. “Too bad they’re still mourning their poor wife.”

“Mike!”

“Kate, I’m just making a statement. I’m not going to push you on them. That would be insensitive.”

“For them or me?” she asked with a growl.

They rode in silence the entire drive to Middleton. Kate had a lot on her mind, including the two hunky men in the truck ahead of them. They were both strong men with kind eyes. She realized that she was attracted to them, and before she knew it, her panties were wet thinking about more than just saying hi.

She let herself imagine a scenario where they were her husbands and they worshiped the ground she walked on. To have the love of such men would be heaven, she decided.