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“I can manage scrambled eggs , but that’s about it.”
    “If you want something, then go ahead. I’ll stick with my cereal.” Linda replied.
    “You’re low on eggs, ” Lane commented once he began cooking.
    “Alex should be gathering them soon.”
    Lane stopped in the act of cracking open an egg. “Gather?”
    “Yes, from our chicken house.”
    Lane continued and cracked the egg into the pan. Funny, he had never really given much thought to where his eggs came from besides down the street at the market.
    “What else do you produce here at the ranch?” Lane wanted to know.
    Ready for her sales pitch, Linda laid her paper down . “Eggs, milk, and meat. Alex also bales e xtra hay each year to sell and—” She trailed off when the kitchen door swung open and Alex came in riding on a man’s back , laughing like a loon .
    Jealousy. It was a new and foreign concept that Lane wasn’t very happy about.
    “For God’s sake, Monster. Put me down.”
    “As you wish , madam, ” he replied with mock formality. Monster twisted his body and Alex hit the ground on her backside with a thud. “Now, next time you wanna wrestle— just remember who you’re dealin’ with. Mornin’ Miz. Morgan .” He tipped his hat to her , then Lane. “Sir.”
    Lane inclined his head and watched Alex pick herself up off the floor.
    “Well, I’ll be off now.”
    “B ye, Monster.” Alex dusted off her jeans and walked to the refrigerator. She plucked out a pitcher of lemonade and poured a glass. She hadn’t wanted Monster to carry her to the house, but he had mistaken her protests. Now she was stuck there for a moment or else it would look as if she were running away.
    “Alex, you know I disapprove of you playing with the hired help, ” Linda berated quietly once Monster was out the door.
    Alex gave her mother a long considering look while she sipped her lemonade.
    “Monster’s worked here fo r years, ” Alex said calmly enough. “He’s my friend.” She sat the empty glass down in the sink with a clink and dried her hands. She tried to ignore Lane’s unnerving stare just as she had tried to pretend last night never happened. Neither was very successful.
    “Monster is an employee. ” Linda busied her hands tidying papers on the table. “He is on the payroll for this ranch. For the remaining time we are here I expect you to treat him like an employee. Not a playmate.”
    Alex could feel the color spring to her cheeks. Temper came , but she banked it. It would do no good to argue.
    “Done, ” Alex agreed and started for the door.
    “Oh, Alex.” Linda’s cold voice stopped her at the door. “ We’re low on eggs.”
    Without a word, Alex walked out into the heat.
     
    “You pluck me, I’ll deck you, ” Alex mumbled to the hen as she reached under her for an egg. She added it gently to her bucket before moving to the next chicken. “Same goes, ” s he told the next hen ominously .
    She hated gathering egg s. But that had been her chore—along most everything else— since before she could remember. Her hands were scarred because of it. She felt silly threatening the hens , but it worked better than squealing and scaring them further if they plucked her.
    She worked that way for fifteen minutes, idly threatening the hens and snatching their eggs. When she had a full bucket, she made her way back to the house.
    To her relief , the kitchen was empty. Alex se t the bucket on the counter next to the sink and turned on the tap. She took a couple egg cartons out from the pantry and began to gently scrub an egg.
    Funny, she mused, how this part of the chore had always soothed her. Her stomach had been in knots the whole day at the thought of facing Lane again. She hadn’t even given her bedroom a chance after that earth shattering kiss. She had showered and went straight to the barn to sleep.
    She hummed absently while she scrubbed and dried each fragile egg and placed them in the cartons. She looked out the window and