Stefanie
Stefanie missed her mom’s homemade bread.
The bread Stefanie and Hannah made was a little too thick, a little too heavy. At least for sandwiches. Stefanie smoothed the knife over the chunky peanut butter, the thin amount that she was allowed to have. She would make up for the lack of peanut butter with homemade huckleberry jam.
She couldn’t dispel the ache of hunger gnawing at her belly. Nothing quite satisfied that ache – except for solid food that you couldn’t see the end of.
Dinners were slim anymore, food was getting scarce with money. They watched their pennies like they watched predators in the prairie.
Stefanie had skipped dinner to avoid Drake and the flood of emotions he spread throughout her body – that and the sensations he wrought on her with his closeness. His eyes...
She’d missed dinner, and mashed potatoes were her favorite, too.
She sighed, careful to spread the peanut butter as much as possible.
Ever since that morning, her discouragement had drowned her enthusiasm.
Ronan sure knew how to take the whip out of the girl.
She tried to shake off the despondency.
No, she could still do it. She could succeed. She was a Rourke after all.
Rourke’s could do anything. Look at everything she’d survived.
She just had to come up with a plan. That was all. The lamp on the kitchen island sent a pool of warm, glowing light through the kitchen and over into the dining room. Everyone else was asleep. She loved that quiet part of night.
She slapped the two pieces of bread together and lifted them to take a bite.
Drake shuffled into the kitchen.
Stefanie froze in the middle of eating, watching as his blue jeans hung just a little low on his hips. The expanse of his chest and back moved, gliding, and rippling.
Didn’t the man own a shirt?
Drake stretched. Nodding toward the sandwich, he asked, “Anything left for me?”
“We have enough for a PB and J.” Stefanie offered the almost empty bottle of peanut butter toward him. “There’s not much left. Sorry about that. I didn’t think anyone else would want one.”
“That’s all right, I’ll just get something else.” Drake opened the fridge door, blinking at the empty shelves. “Where is everything?”
He stood, closing the door, and walked over to the pantry.
Stefanie took a bite of her sandwich, chewing. She knew what he would find.
The pantry was even more bare. Plenty of jars of jelly and honey, but not much else. Their gardens had been low with lack of funds for fertilizer and no one home to till it.
The Rourke’s were getting used to hunger. All the money was going into Emma’s medical care.
Stefanie didn’t resent anything about it. She loved Emma just as much as rest of them did. What she resented was watching Emma fade even faster because she was hungry, too.
Drake closed the door and turned back to face her, crossing his arms over his chest. He tilted his head to the side and studied her. “Where’s all the food?”
Stefanie avoided his gaze. She took another bite of her sandwich. Chewing, she waited, hoping he would look away.
But he didn’t.
“We don’t have the money. We really do not have money. Even for food.” Stefanie straightened her back, turning away from him. She didn’t need judgment.
She was going to buy the house and feed everybody. She just had to figure out a way how.
Drake angled around until he stood in front of her. “Go grab your boots and let’s go.”
Stefanie put her sandwich on the plate. She looked everywhere but then glared at his chest. Exasperated, she threw her hands on her hips. “Don’t you own a shirt?”
Drake arched an eyebrow. “Does this bother you? Because if it bothers you, I’ll throw away all my shirts. I’ll walk around like this every day. Just for you.”
Stefanie huffed. “Why do I need my boots, Drake?”
Drake took her by the shoulders and turned her. “Go get your boots, Stefanie. I’ll grab a shirt to make you feel all safe and warm. And I’ll grab my boots and meet you out by my rig.”
Pure curiosity was the only thing that had Stefanie following his directions. She didn’t know how to address what happened at the watering hole that morning. Maybe just acting like nothing happened was a way to go. Heaven knew that if she studied their conversation too closely and how it affected her breathing and her pulse, she would get all kinds of confused about what she wanted.
No one needed that.
Stefanie grabbed her boots, glancing at her sandwich with regret.
If Drake made her miss out on a perfectly acceptable sandwich, he better make up for it. Ignoring her growling stomach, Stefanie pulled on her boots, and padded down the stairs on the back porch.
She stood beside his “rig”.
Moonlight from the clear skies graced the top of the hood. She hadn’t seen a paint job like that in years. She didn’t want to rest against the vehicle and risk scratching it.
Drake came out the door, boots on his feet, buttoning up a flannel. He nodded at her. “Door’s unlocked, go on, climb in.”
He jumped in the front driver’s seat.
Stefanie leaned over, opening the door. “Wow, you’re such a gentleman.” She climbed into the rig and slammed the door behind her.
Drake laughed, turning the key. “Last time I opened the door for you, we were in high school, and you said something so rude, I promised I’d never open another door for you again.” He draped his forearm across the steering wheel and looked at her. “Do you remember that?”
Stefanie leaned back in the chair, the leather already warming to her presence. She chewed on her top lip. Of course she remembered that. She had just found out that he was dating Tawnie Meridale and Stefanie had been extremely jealous. How could he have fallen for that high-maintenance-wanna-be-rodeo-queen? Drake had opened the door for her and she’d never given him any reason to date her only. It hadn’t been his fault. “Sorry about that.”
“I’m pretty easy to train, Stefanie.” Drake started the engine, the slow hum and purr vastly different from the rough start of the Rourke family truck.
“How do I know you’re not going to take me out and kill me?” Stefanie buckled her seatbelt and glanced at him, she had to do something to defuse the tension between them. It wasn’t that she didn’t like him. It was that she liked him too much. Why couldn’t a girl grow out of her crush?
“Where’s the best grocery store?” Drake pulled out of the drive, but paused at the road. They had to go one way or the other, they couldn’t just go straight. One way led to Colby and the other to Taylor Falls.
Stefanie twisted to face him, her shoulders angled as she held onto the dash for support. “This time of night? Colby’s going to be the best one, that’s forty-five minutes down.”
Drake shrugged, his long graceful hands looking anything but soft in the glow from the dash. “I don’t care, we need to get some food. Is that where you want to go?”
“We could try Taylor Falls. Their minimart might be open. It’s summer so the owner might have different hours now. I’m not sure.” She hadn’t been into town in so long that late at night. Usually her bed time was when the sun faded into the sky. Early to bed and early to rise and all that...
“Alright, Taylor Falls it is.” He turned the steering wheel and Stefanie settled back into her seat.
The short car ride passed fairly fast.
Stefanie didn’t know what to say to him. Was he being nice by driving her to the store?
Did he realize she didn’t have any money? Maybe twenty bucks she could spend on food, but every cent counted right then as she tried saving up to buy Bella Acres. How could she save up her money when she was spending it on stupid things like food?
Nate would not be happy if they brought home food and found out Stefanie had spent money on it when there were things they needed more. He had a very strict budget.
Working at the skin to the side of her thumb, Stefanie watched out the window for a sign of something in the dark. The two street lights in town didn’t light up much.
Everything was going to be okay. Stefanie could deal with it. He just wanted a loaf of bread and some sandwich stuff anyway. It wasn’t a big deal. She was hungry, too. Maybe when they got home, she’d wake Hannah up to have a sandwich, too. Heaven knew Nate needed food as well.
Drake hummed under his breath. The sound was comforting, as the dashboard lights created an ambience that matched the intimacy of the pond earlier that day. She hadn’t wanted to address it internally and quite honestly would probably never talk about it out loud. Her plan involved continuing to act like it never happened.
Drake pulled up in front of the minimart in Taylor Falls. Lights burned bright and the Open sign flashed green over the door. They climbed out of the SUV and Drake turned to the right of the doors, grabbing a cart. He nodded towards another one. “Grab another cart. I’m not going to leave this place with any food in it if I can help it.”
He was after more than just sandwich makings. Stefanie could not afford that. How did she tell him? Her gut lurched as she realized not only did she not have the funds for a shopping spree, but she was going to have to admit to Drake just how bad off they were.
The realization that she really didn’t have any money nagged at her. How was she going to change her situation to buy Bella Acres?
He started in the canned foods section, just grabbing things at random.
Stefanie had never seen such careless shopping before. He grabbed three or four of everything he could find. After he filled one cart, he pushed it to the front of the store, asking the lady at the register if she could start ringing it up.
Then he grabbed another cart, glancing at Stefanie and smiling. “You’re not getting anything. The cereal aisle hasn’t even been touched yet. Get going. Two or three of everything.”
He laughed, standing on one end of the cart and pushing off. So he could ride it, coasting down the aisle.
Stefanie followed him, chewing on the side of her cheek. Heat coursed through her in sharp bursts. “Um, Drake? I don’t have the money to pay for this.” Her face reddened. She could feel more heat as it radiated off her cheeks. She’d never forgive him for forcing her to admit that.
Drake jumped off the cart and pulled it to a stop. He turned back, stopping the cart she half-heartedly pushed by placing his hands on the front of the basket. He lowered his voice and glanced over her shoulder. “I’m not asking you to pay for anything Stefanie.”
“Well I don’t believe in stealing.” Stefanie crossed her arms and leaned on the cart, glaring at him. “We’re not stealing anything.”
Drake’s laugh filled the aisles, echoing into the empty store. “I don’t steal, love. I have the money. Don’t worry about it. Now go to the cereal aisle and get two or three of everything. Except Wheaties. I hate Wheaties.” His playful glare brought out goosebumps on her arms.
Stefanie turned around, half in a daze, but not so shocked she couldn’t answer. “Well, Nate loves Wheaties.”
Drake grinned before continuing down his aisle. Over his shoulder he tossed, “I know.”
Stefanie smiled, shaking her head. The man was incorrigible.
Hopefully, he really did have the money that he said he did. Because two of everything was going to ring up real fast. She went down the cereal aisle, starting out slow at first.
He had said two of everything. The prices made her wince. Four dollars for a box of Frosted Flakes, three-fifty for a box of Rice Krispies, two dollars for a box of oatmeal, and finally she had to stop looking.
She grabbed two of everything just like Drake instructed. Her cart quickly filled. She went up to the front, placing it next to the overflowing two he’d already placed there, and retrieved another one for the next aisle.
“Stefanie, how’s it going? We’ll go up the frozen section last.” Drake’s voice reached her as she passed his aisle.
Stefanie paused and smiled shyly at him. “I’m good. I can’t believe you’re doing this.” And she couldn’t. She couldn’t comprehend the amount of money he was sacrificing. She continued on, reaching her next aisle. She paused in her reach for the first item at the sound of Drake’s cart rolling toward the closest end of the aisle she was in.
Drake stuck his head around the corner, his eyes soft as he, too, grinned, “I can’t let my sister starve. I can’t let you either.”
Tears welled in Stefanie’s eyes. Nate was trying so hard, but he had taken on too much. She was grateful Drake was there to help, too, and truly willing to do what was needed. A little bit of food would go a long way with all of them. Maybe it would even raise Emma’s spirits.
Seven cartfuls later, Stefanie glanced at Drake as they stood beside the register. “Is your Escalade going to be able to hold all of this?”
“Sure.” Drake brushed his hands through his hair, winking at her. “My rig is bigger than you think. It may not be a truck, but it can sure do the work.”
Stefanie giggled, half-rolling her eyes. “Okay, I hope you’re sure. Or we’re going to have to push all these carts back to the house.” She warmed at his answering chuckle.
The cashier’s eyes widened as she stared out over all the carts. “Are you buying the whole store?”
Drake shrugged and glanced at Stefanie. “I was thinking about it. But I need to leave some food for the rest of the town.” His nonchalance drew another soft giggle from Stefanie. He was so relaxed about what they were doing. She’d actually had fun with him.
The woman needed over an hour to ring up the food. They had to keep the two carts of frozen items in the walk-in cooler while they worked.
Drake finally paid the bill of over four-thousand dollars. He didn’t even wince. Didn’t even react to the exorbitant amount.
Stefanie swallowed, she couldn’t believe the number. How could he have that kind of money? How could anyone spend that kind of money on food? She rubbed her suddenly damp palms on the waist of her shirt.
Was Drake seriously rich? How could she not know that? And why wasn’t Nate letting Drake help? Did Nate know something Stefanie didn’t?
As they loaded up the food into the back of his rig with the seats folded down, Stefanie couldn’t help seeing Drake differently. Maybe he really wasn’t the selfish little brat she’d always taken comfort in believing him to be. Sure, she’d always been attracted to him. Heck, who wouldn’t be attracted to the bad boy look of Drake Benson?
He’d always been the popular boy growing up.
He didn’t have money but he always acted like it.
Now that he had money he didn’t act like it.
The juxtaposition of how she thought of him and how he really was confused Stefanie enough to have her drop her guard against him.
After everything was loaded, they climbed into the stuffed Escalade. Stefanie closed the door and turned to him. “Do you mind me asking how you got all that money? I thought you guys didn’t have anything. I’m sorry, that’s so rude.” She leaned back and gave her head a hard shake.
Drake drove them toward home. He glanced at her, grinning. “You’re not rude. Ask me anything you want. As far as you’re concerned, I’m an open book. I’m really good with numbers. And my education turned out a lot better than I thought it would.”
“I’ll say.” Stefanie folded her fingers in her lap, grateful the dark interior hid her blush at his words. “If you’re good with numbers and with business, maybe I could ask you a little bit about how to go about buying the house? I don’t want you to do it, I just have some questions. I can’t ask Nate anything. He’s adamantly against me buying. This isn’t like him, either. I can’t even tell you. He just wants Emma to get better.”
Drake’s lips pressed into a thin hard line. “Your brother is married to my sister. That doesn’t make him my family. I’m sorry for that. I just can’t have any respect for a man who won’t take care of his wife. Or sisters.”
Stefanie blinked back tears. “But he’s trying. That’s the problem.”
She realized talking about buying the ranch with either Drake or Nate wouldn’t be a good idea. There was simply too much bad blood between the two men.
She had to find a cosigner. The only people she had left to consider were Cyan’s parents.