Lily's Cowboys (13 page)

Lily hummed along with the music she had playing as she prepared the turkey to go into the oven. Helen had come over an hour before with Clive and was busy making pies. They had laughed and hugged each other as they got started. The men were teasing them it was going to be hard to stay out of the kitchen with all the good smells coming out of it.

“
So, how was your night last night?” Helen teased.

Lily blushed a bright pink but she couldn’t keep the smile from lighting her face. Glancing up briefly into Helen’s twinkling eyes, she burst out, “Wonderful, awesome, incredible, unbelievable.”

“
What’s unbelievable?” Allen asked as he walked into the kitchen. Coming up behind Lily he wrapped his arms around her waist. Tilting her head back he gave her a deep kiss.

“
You are.” Lily said huskily. Clearing her throat, she said, “Now, what are you doing in here? You know Helen and I banned all you men from the kitchen until the food was done.”

“
I missed you.” Allen said softly. “You better get used to it, Lily. I need your touch and kisses regularly.”

Lily laughed twisting in Allen’s arms. “I love you, Allen. So much.” She leaned into his arms and gave him another kiss. “Now, out with you before Helen thinks you are here to help.”

Allen laughed and swatted Lily on the ass before heading out the back door. Less than an hour later, Ethan came into the kitchen while Lily had her hands covered in flour from making the yeast rolls. Sliding his hands down her sides, he kissed Lily’s neck as she tried shooing him away. Flour went everywhere when he bit down on her shoulder and she jerked with a squeal.

Helen finally had enough of the distractions when Caleb came in thirty minutes later pulling Lily down onto his lap as he sat down in one of the kitchen chairs. Tilting her back so she was laying in his arms he gave her a kiss that left her flushed and breathless.

“
Enough!” Helen yelled. “You boys get on outta here before I take a spoon to your asses.”

Both Caleb and Lily turned shocked eyes on Helen. Caleb laughed, “You owe Lily twenty-five cents, Helen.”

“
I’ll pay her a damn dollar if it gets you boys out of our hair long enough to get Thanksgiving dinner on the table. At the rate we’re going it’ll be next year before everything is done.” Helen said with a stern face. Her hands on her hips to show she meant business.

Caleb stood up holding Lily in front of him. He leaned over and gave her another kiss, “Ouch!” He jumped just as Lily heard a loud whack. Caleb rubbed his ass where Helen had smacked it with a large wooden spoon. “I’m leaving, I’m leaving.”

Lily laughed as she watched Helen move after Caleb threatening him with the spoon as she said, “And you tell your brothers Lily’s off limits until after dinner. Then you can have her back.”

Caleb headed out to the barn rubbing his ass. Ed and Clive raised their eyebrows in question. “Your wife has a mean streak in her, Clive. She’s wicked with a wooden spoon.”

Ed chuckled while Clive shook his head, “She must’a broken two dozen of those things on the boys’ butts as they were growing up. Got so bad they started hiding them.”

“
I can understand why.” Caleb replied. “Where’s Allen and Ethan?”

“
They’re in the barn. I think they’re brewing up a surprise for Lily after dinner.” Ed said. “A couple of weeks back I found the old sleigh you boys had when you were kids in the barn over at the old homestead. I brought it over thinking it would be fun to fix it up for taking Clive’s grandkids sleighing. Brad trained Audrey to pull a buggy so I thought we could use him.” Audrey was a grey gelding they had bought two years ago. Brad had been working with him on pulling a buggy for local hay rides and such. It was also good to have a horse to pull a wagon if they needed supplies where a four-wheel vehicle couldn’t get.

Caleb grinned and nodded. Walking into the dim interior of the barn he heard his brothers talking in the back. He walked up and leaned against the wall. “Wow. Ed did a great job. It looks brand new.”

“
Yeah. We’re going to take Lily for a ride after dinner.” Allen said with an excited grin. “Helen is going to pack up some hot chocolate and cups for us. Ethan already has some quilts ready in the office. We didn’t want her to know.”

Caleb grinned, “I’m in. Did you get a hold of Maggie last night?”

Ethan nodded with a grim smile. “She couldn’t tell me much. Seems Lily came into town on a bus. Only when I checked the bus schedule there were no buses the day Lily arrived. She said Lily told her her parents were dead and she had no other family. Seems Lily would work for a while and when the families no longer needed her she would leave. Maggie couldn’t tell me any more.”

Caleb stared off into the distance before he commented, “So, all we know is Lily appeared in town on a bus that doesn’t exist and she may not have any family.”

Allen asked curiously, “Do we even know how old she is?” He flushed a little as he looked at his two brothers. “I don’t know about you but she looks young. You don’t think she might be a teenage runaway, do you?”

Caleb blanched at the idea, “I hope to God not after the way we made love to her last night.”

Ethan shook his head, groaning, “I didn’t even think of it. God, what if she is? We need to find out.”

Caleb muttered under his breath as he turned to watch Ed and Clive walk into the barn, “Fat lot of good that will do us now. If she’s jail bait they are going to bury us under the jail for what we did to her. Shit, just thinking about it gives me a hard-on.”

Dinner was a joyful affair with good food and good friends in abundance. After dinner the guys pitched in and helped clean up the kitchen since the women did all the cooking. Soon everyone was wishing everyone well as they left with a few hidden yawns. The younger ranch hands who had joined them for Thanksgiving dinner were heading to the bunkhouse to watch football on the large screen television the men had put in the game room for them. Ed said his goodbyes not even trying to hide the big yawn on his face. Clive and Helen left with promises from Helen to be back in a few days to help start on decorating for Christmas.

Lily had just curled up on the couch in the living room tucking her legs under the thick throw and was settling down for a nap. She had already snuck time to play with the kitten in her room before deciding a nap was in order. She closed her eyes and smiled as she reflected on the day. For the first time in a long time she had felt like she belonged. She felt like she was part of a family and she loved it.

She moaned in surprise when she felt firm lips kissing her. Opening her mouth to invite the searching tongue in, she knew it was Allen before she even opened her eyes. She knew his taste. Each of the men tasted different. Each of them tasted delicious. Lily wound her arms around Allen’s neck drawing him down closer to her.

Allen pulled back and smiled tenderly down into Lily’s upturned face, “We have a surprise for you.”

Lily smiled back, “Does it involve a bed?”

Allen grinned, “Minx. Later. Right now I’m going to get you bundled up. Ethan and Caleb are waiting for us outside.”

“
But, it’s cold.” Lily groaned. It had started snowing lightly as everyone was leaving. “I was hoping to take a nap.”

“
You can take a nap later. Come on.” Allen pulled Lily into a sitting position and pulled her feet in front of him sliding her boots on her. Lily couldn’t resist leaning down and grabbing Allen’s face between her hands.

“
I love you, Allen.” Lily said softly. “Happy Thanksgiving.”

“
Happy Thanksgiving, baby.” Allen wrapped the heavy quilt around Lily’s shoulders and picked her up in his arms. He had just made it to the front door when Caleb came bursting in.

“
What’s keeping you two?” He demanded.

“
I had to convince Lily to wait on her nap.” Allen laughed as Lily nuzzled his neck.

Lily let out a cry of delight when she saw the horse and sleigh in front of the house. Her eyes glistened with tears as she remembered sleighing with her parents when she was young. It had been the only way to get into town during the winter from the farm. It brought back so many memories.

Ethan looked at Lily with concern, “Lily, are you okay?”

Lily pulled her face out from Allen’s neck where she had hid it to give her time to recover. “Yes. I was just so surprised. Thank you.” She looked from one brother to the other. How would she ever survive leaving them? She pushed those thoughts away. She had promised herself she would focus on each new day and live it to the fullest.

Caleb climbed up onto the sleigh and reached for Lily as Allen held her up. Allen climbed up to sit on the other side of her. Ethan climbed in last and took the reins. Lily sat patiently between the two men as they made sure she had plenty of covers and was warm enough. With a click of his tongue Ethan guided the horse and sleigh down the drive.

Lily loved the sleigh ride. They laughed and sang silly songs as they rode over the meadows and down a thin road. “Where are we going?” Lily asked excitedly.

“
We’re taking you to the old homestead. It’s where we grew up.” Ethan said.

“
I thought the house you live in now is where you grew up.” Lily exclaimed in surprise.

“
No. Mom and the dads built the house we live in now about twenty years ago. They wanted more room for themselves and for us. They were hoping we would marry and give them lots of grandkids.”

“
Personally, I think the dads wanted more bathrooms.” Allen said. “They were tired of trying to share with us. They were the ones to design the bathrooms.”

“
Here we are. We come here a few times a year to make sure everything is still in good repair. Even though no one is living here right now we maintain it just in case one of the ranch hands has a family and needs a place to live.” Ethan said climbing down from the sleigh.

“
We came here a few weeks ago and the house was in pretty good repair but the barn needed some work.” Caleb said holding his arms open as he helped Lily down.

“
Can I take a look around?” Lily asked curiously looking at the two story house. It wasn’t near as big as the home the men lived in now but it had a character all its own.

“
Yeah. We need to look around the barn to see what needs to be done.”

“
I want to look around the house. I’ll meet you guys in the barn in a few minutes.” Lily said already moving toward the house. The men just grinned at each other before nodding and turning to walk around the barn.

Peter looked out the second story of the window of the old house with a curse. He had had to find another place to stay before the townspeople started talking. He had followed Lily and the Simmons’ woman home the day he had seen them in town. Scouting around, he felt like he had struck pay dirt when he had stumbled upon the old abandon house. He bought a small kerosene heater and some camping gear and moved in. He hid the stuff in the attic during the day when he was scouting out ways to get to Lily. So far he had been frustrated. She hardly ever left the ranch house and when she did she never went anywhere alone. Usually she was with the Simmons’ woman but any other time she had been with one of the men. He was growing more impatient. He had limited resources and couldn’t afford to stay much longer. He was going to have to make his move soon otherwise he took the chance of losing her again and he might never have another chance, at least not during his lifetime. He watched as the men disappeared into the barn while Lily walked toward the house. Now might be the perfect opportunity. He had his car hidden not too far from here. If he could disable her and steal her away there would be no way the men could chase him with a horse and sleigh. Pulling away from the window he quietly moved down the stairs and hid.

Lily ran her hand over the railing as she walked up onto the covered porch. The house had to be a hundred years old but it was in wonderful repair. She smiled as she saw the men’s names carved into the wood near the steps. Someone had been naughty when they were bored, she thought in amusement. Walking to the front door she hadn’t expected it to be unlocked. Turning the knob she walked into what had to be the living room. It was a large room with a fireplace on one wall and lead to what looked like a dining area. She saw a set of stairs leading to the second floor and grinned as she thought about how often they probably got in trouble for sliding down the railing. She walked slowly up the stairs and looked in all the rooms. There were four bedrooms upstairs but only two small bathrooms. She laughed when she thought about the bathrooms each of the men had in their bedrooms at the main house. Both bathrooms here could fit in just one of those with room to spare. She walked down the stairs and moved into the kitchen. She closed her eyes as she imagined cooking dinner every night for her husbands and children.

Lily jerked in surprise when she felt cold metal pressing into her side. “Not a sound. I would hate to have to kill those men out there. Do you understand?”

Lily nodded stiffly.

“
Do you have any idea how long I’ve been looking for you?” The voice asked in an excited whisper.

All Lily could do was shake her head no. “What do you want?” Lily asked frightened.

“
I want what you have, Lily. I want immortality.” The voice whispered.

Before Lily could reply she felt something hard hit her in the back of the head and everything went black.