“Uh, no you don’t,” she said firmly. “You don’t know me at all, Spencer.”
His face blanked and he straightened from where he’d been leaning against the case. “I’m sorry. That was…arrogant. You’re right. I don’t know you very well.”
She nodded, glad she’d established this professional boundary between them. “I am going to talk to Daddy about the job. I can text you if you give me your number.”
“Okay.” He prattled it off for her, and she put it in her phone.
“Daddy’s not super-hands-on with the new hires. He’ll probably dump you onto me, and I’ll be the one showing you around and training you about everything anyway.”
“Whatever works for you guys,” he said from the other side of the case.
Clarissa had half a mind to text her father in all caps right now.WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? DOES HE REALLY ALREADY HAVE THE JOB?would work nicely. Maybe with a double-question mark for emphasis.
She sighed as she looked up and shoved her phone in her back pocket, the demanding, shouting text unsent. “Well, come on over here, cowboy. The cleanliness of an ice cream parlor isn’t something you learn at arm’s length.”
* * *
Clarissa smelledthe charred corn before she came to a stop in front of the farmhouse where her parents lived. That meant Lee was cooking, and since it was a Wednesday, that made sense. With Cherry as the exception, as she lived in San Antonio, they each came to the homestead to make dinner one night per week. Between the four siblings, Daddy, and leftovers, there was always plenty of food at the farmhouse.
Mama was too ill to cook much anymore, but she needed good nutrition. Now that June was in full swing, they’d be bringing in a lot of fresh ingredients from the farmer’s markets and the farm’s agriculture side itself.
Summer was Clarissa’s favorite time to eat, and her mouth watered at the thought of a good chicken and charred corn taco. Lee excelled in his cooking skills too, as did her other two brothers. They’d had to fend for themselves a lot growing up, and now with their additional responsibilities in the kitchen, every Cooper could certainly put out food worth eating.
She found her eldest brother in the kitchen, scooping the corn from the grill pan and into a bowl. “Evenin’, Lee,” she said, taking a seat at the bar and surveying what he’d prepared.
“Evenin’,” he said, his perma-frown between his eyes already deep tonight. “Will you go get Daddy and Mama? They went out onto the deck with Queenie.”
“Okay.” Clarissa got to her feet and walked past the dining room table and built-in breakfast nook to the double-wide back doors. She stepped back outside to find her parents sitting in the swing on the edge of the deck. It wasn’t shaded out there, but when Mama had complained that she couldn’t see the farm from the swing’s former spot up against the house, Daddy had moved it.
Daddy would move heaven and earth for Mama.
He’d been holding on to her for five years now, and Clarissa sometimes thought the only reason her mama hadn’t passed yet was because of guilt that then Daddy would be left alone. Mama clung to the last threads of her life too, with her therapy dog, Queen Elizabeth, at her side
“Hey, you two,” Clarissa said as she approached them. Mama turned her head to look up at her, and her skin looked almost translucent today. “Enjoying the sunshine?”
“It’s glorious,” Mama said with a smile. Her papery hand covered Clarissa’s. “I heard your boyfriend came to the farm today.”
Clarissa shot a look toward Daddy, but he just kept stroking Queenie’s head and jowls.
“No, Mama,” she said sternly. “He didn’t. Daddy’s not even going to hire him. Are you, Daddy?”
“Of course I’m going to hire him,” Daddy said. “He’s the most qualified, Rissa.”
“I’m sure that’s not true,” she said through clenched teeth. She often gave her brothers a hard time for being so grouchy, but she had the fiery vein of a redhead flowing plenty hot inside her too. She could go from hot to cold in less time than it took Texas weather to change, and that was saying something.
“It’s mucking out stalls and exercising horses,” she said. “Every man, woman, and child in Texas can do that.”
“It’s so much more than that.” Daddy got to his feet and glared at her before switching his gaze to one of love and concern for his wife. “Come on, my love. I’m sure dinner is ready if Clarissa is out here.”
“Yes,” she said, regretting the argument already, and it had just begun. “Lee sent me out to get you.” She turned back to the house to find her brother opening the door.
“Did you decide to have a jaw instead?” he called, clearly not happy about the ten-second conversation they’d had about Spencer. “It’s ready and getting cold.”
“They’re coming,” she called back, plenty of bite in her tone too. Lee had zero patience, and she suspected that had something to do with his inability to get a woman to go on a second date with him.
Mama finally made it to her feet on the second try. Soon, even Daddy wouldn’t be able to get her up and out of bed. In fact, Clarissa knew that Travis had been by twice this week to do just that. She was closest to her younger brother, who elbowed the ever-griping Lee out of his way as he came out onto the deck.
“Daddy,” he said, smiling for all he was worth.Oh, boy, Clarissa thought. Something huge must have happened.