Lily's Cowboys Read online

  “Come on, baby. Let us clean you up and put you to bed.” Ethan brushed Lily’s hair away from her eyes.

  Allen left for a moment and Lily heard the bathtub filling up. Lily didn’t want to go anywhere. She wanted to stay wrapped in all of their arms. Holding her safe and secure where she never had to think about the future.

  The men bathed Lily and laid her back in the master bedroom bed. Allen stayed with her when she had protested she needed to clean up the kitchen. Ethan and Caleb had hushed her and said they would take care of it. Lily didn’t have the strength to protest too much especially when Allen pulled her into his arms and held her tight against his hard length.

  “She’s still scared.” Ethan said quietly as he covered the casserole up and put it back in the refrigerator.

  “I know. We have to find out why she thinks she won’t be able to stay.” Caleb said as he sat down at the clean table.

  “What do you think she meant when she said she wanted to spend what time she had with us?” Caleb asked. A sudden thought popped into his head. It twisted his insides to the point he almost doubled over. “You don’t think she’s sick do you? That she might be dying?” Caleb whispered his fear almost afraid if he said it out loud it would make be true.

  Ethan felt the blood drain from his face at the thought of Lily dying from some illness. Clutching the counter top with both hands his knuckles stood out white against his tanned skin. “Aw, shit. I hope not. Oh, God. I never even thought of that.”

  Allen walked quietly into the kitchen. “Never thought of what?” He asked going to the refrigerator to pull out the milk.

  “Why the fuck aren’t you with Lily?” Caleb asked glaring at his brother’s bare back.

  Allen looked up from pouring the milk. “She’s sleeping. I wanted a drink. I also wanted to talk to you guys about what we are going to do to make sure she stays. I don’t want her thinking she is only going to be here for a short time. So, what was it you never thought?”

  Ethan looked at Caleb before replying slowly, “We were trying to think of why she keeps thinking she will only be here for a short time. Caleb wondered if she knows there is a reason she can’t stay.”

  “Like what? A family member needing her? We know she has never been with another man so a forgotten husband is out of the question. What other reason would she have?” Allen asked as he drained his glass of milk.

  Caleb looked at Allen before he finally answered him, “What if she’s sick? Dying? What if she knows and doesn’t want us to know?”

  Allen felt like someone had just cold-cocked him. Staggering to sit in one of the chairs at the table he sat looking wildly from one brother to the other. “Shit. God-dammit no! Do you hear me? Fucking, NO.” Allen started shaking. He fucking wasn’t going to lose her. He looked up with determination shining from his eyes. “Make an appointment in town with Doc Harley. I want him to check her out from head to toe. You’re friends with him, Ethan. You fucking tell him you want her checked out from head to toe.”

  Ethan looked at Caleb who was nodding his head in agreement. “He should check her out anyway. None of us used protection. Lily could be pregnant even now. If there is a chance she is and it could harm her I want to know. Our first duty is to make sure she is healthy.”

  Each of the men sat in silence. The thought of Lily rounded with their child was something they would all love to see but not if it meant endangering Lily. Each one fought the demon of fear that something was wrong with Lily.

  A noise at the door of the kitchen had all three men looking up. Standing holding onto the door frame was Lily. She was biting her lower lip and looking around uncertainly. Dressed in one of Caleb’s old flannel shirts that went almost down to her knees and nothing else she looked beautiful to all three of them. Her long dark brown hair was disheveled from their lovemaking and lying down. She ran her hand down her thigh.

  “Is everything okay?” She asked tentatively. She didn’t know what was wrong but she could feel the tension in the room. Her eyes suddenly filled with tears. Did they regret making love to her? Did they want her to choose one of them over the other? If so, she couldn’t do it. She wouldn’t do it. She loved all three of them so much.

  Ethan pushed away from the counter where he had been standing. “Nothing’s wrong, baby. What are you doing up? You should be resting.” He pulled her against his warm body, holding her close while he ran his hands down her back. He closed his eyes as he inhaled her sweet scent. He was calling Doc first thing in the morning, Thanksgiving be damn. He had to know she wasn’t ill.

  “I was cold.” Lily looked at Allen. “I missed you.” Looking at Ethan and Caleb. “I missed all of you.”

  Caleb and Allen rose out of their seats and came around to Lily and ran their hands over her. “We’ll always be here. One of us will always be with you, Lily. At all times.” Caleb said softly as Ethan and Allen nodded in agreement.

  “Caleb, why don’t you and Allen take her back upstairs. I’ll be up later. I have a few things I need to do before I come to bed.” Ethan said slowly releasing Lily into Caleb’s arms. He kissed Lily gently before he turned to head down the hall. He wanted to find out as much as he could about Lily. The first place he was going to start was with his aunt. He wanted to know everything Maggie knew about Lily.

  Lily sighed as Caleb lifted her gently into his arms. “Helen is coming over early tomorrow so she can help me with Thanksgiving dinner.” Lily said with a yawn wrapping her arms around Caleb’s neck and snuggling her face into his shoulder.

  “Then I guess we need to get you to bed.” Allen said teasingly looking over her head to Caleb. An unspoken message went through both men. They would not leave Lily alone, ever again. She was theirs now and forever and they would move heaven and hell if they had to too protect her.

  Chapter 9

  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 t
o 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.