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rate she would never be ready and he wasn’t about to spend his life in a celibate state. Especially with the beautiful woman he’d married teasing his sanity at every turn. Like when she sat on her horse with the trousers pulled tightly across her backside.
    He groaned inwardly as John rode up to them. “Are you ready for your tour, Mr. McCoy?” John nodded at Calliope. “Good morning, Miss Bender. I’m glad you’re joining us.”
    Stephen’s lips twitched. “She’s Mrs. McCoy now, and yes, I’m ready for the tour.”
    The man flushed red and gave him a sheepish smile. “That will take some getting used to.”
    They turned their horses toward the fields and rode out alongside each other. John began pointing out various buildings as they passed by. Calliope jumped in with comments until she was actually the one giving the tour.
    He was impressed with how the farm was laid out, and how productive it was. He also noted there was plenty of space to set up a horse farm. It was too soon to suggest such a thing to Calliope, but he knew from working with Daniel where to get the best horses in the area, and how to find and train wild horses. He tucked all of that to the back of his mind. Right now he wanted to make sure the farm was using the most up-to-date systems.
    Calliope had been right. She was extremely knowledgeable on the farm and farming methods. Her irrigation process was excellent and the corn and wheat fields they passed were just beginning to sprout, and seemed healthy.
    The two men turned their horses to follow her as they made their way to the west side of the house. “This is my vegetable and herb garden. As you can see, it goes straight up to the back door of the house, which helps when we’re gathering items for meals or medicinal purposes.” She shifted in her saddle and turned to face Stephen, who quickly pulled his eyes from her backside.
    Given the flush on her pretty face, she must have noticed his scrutiny. Her lips tightened and she continued. “The short time I was with Rosemarie, she gave me some excellent ideas on how to expand the garden to provide even more without taking up much more space.”
    “I assume you have a winter cellar to store the bulk of this food?”
    She nodded. “Yes, it’s on the north side of the house which is much cooler in the summer. Bertha and I take a few days every fall to put up all the vegetables and fruit. During harvest we even bring quite a bit of it into town to sell on Market Saturdays.”
    “I must admit, Mrs. McCoy, I am impressed.” He gave her a genuine smile, happy to know as far as the farm went, he hadn’t made a mistake in marrying a previously unknown woman.
    “Who’s in charge of the care and feeding of the animals?” He’d noticed several hogs and two cows when they’d taken their tour. There was also a chicken coop that looked well-tended.
    “John’s son, Davey has that job.”
    “It really sounds as though you have everything well under control. I’m impressed again.”
    This time he was sure the flush on her face was from his compliment. Hadn’t her father ever told her she was doing a good job? It looked to him as though she was handling things quite well in managing the farm. He saw a few things he would change, but mostly Bender Farm was a thriving, profitable operation.
    “I could use some help in fixing a few fences that came down on the back forty, if you have time, Mr. McCoy.” John shifted in his saddle, taking quick glances at Calliope. Apparently, he was still feeling his way as to who he should report to. Right now the best way to handle it all was to make sure he didn’t give his wife any reason to balk at him taking his place at the farm.
    “It’s just, Stephen, John. You can drop the ‘mister’.” He looked over at Calliope, taking in her narrowed eyes and stiff posture. “Did you want to join us? I’m sure you know more about this than I do.”
    She relaxed at his question. “No. You can both on go