Chapter Eleven
"Now that's called planning," said Adam as he carried the piano bench into the house.
Micah and Joe stopped in the middle of the porch to rest from lugging the sofa up the front steps. "Planning had nothing to do with it. You're lucky it hasn't rained for the last three days," said Micah. He pointed to dark gray clouds slowly moving over the lake from the west. "You're luck is about to run out."
Jim Tyler stuck his head out the front door. "Adam, the window is back in. You should come check it before I leave."
Setting the bench down in the entryway, Adam turned to Micah and Joe. "As luck would have it, the window is the last thing that needed to be finished before it rains."
Joe folded his arms across his chest and smiled impishly. "Your wife, Older Brother, will be happy she has her piano. That's a fact. But what are you going to do with her horses, her coach and your buggy? You have no barn."
"Jim's men are working on the stable for her foundation horses, and her other horses will stay in the south corral. She'll be able to see them from our bedroom. I'll be working on a barn up here. In the meantime, the horses and the coach can stay where they are. Now if you'll excuse me, I am going to inspect a window." On his way, he stopped to watch Shiloh walk down the stairs. "Sweetheart, come make sure the piano is positioned the way you want it." Motioning for Shiloh to go ahead of him, he resumed his walk to the back of the house.
When they returned with Jim, Micah and Joe were relaxing on the sofa in the living area. Shiloh sat on a chair next to the fireplace as Adam walked Jim to the front door.
"Adam, all we have left on the stable is the inside work, so rain won't slow us down there. But Mrs. Cartwright mentioned something about a bunkhouse. I know you wanted the layout of the stable to be a surprise, so I didn't say anything about your plans."
"I appreciate that, Jim," said Adam, placing his hand on Jim's back.
"Well, I'm calling it quits for the day, but we'll be back out tomorrow morning. I'll have the men go straight to the stable, so we won't bother you."
"Sounds good. I'll see you sometime tomorrow to square the bill for the house." Adam waved as Jim mounted his horse and rode down the road leading away from the house. Turning and closing the door, he rubbed his hands together as he walked toward the living area. "Fellas, I guess that's it until the new furniture gets here."
"New furniture?" said Joe incredulously. "Didn't you have enough furniture in the other house?"
Shiloh cocked her head and smiled. "Joe, we couldn't just empty the house. Micah still lives there."
Looking around him at all the living and dining room furniture, Joe asked, "What's left?"
"I kept the study furniture, the bedroom furniture and the kitchen table," explained Micah. "I wouldn't have eaten in the dining room, and this furniture," he said, patting the arm of the sofa, "is Shiloh's. She bought new furniture for the parlor when the tree fell on the house."
Adam walked to the liquor cabinet and pulled out the whiskey, holding it up, asking if Joe or Micah wanted a drink. Both men nodded. "We'll be using my bedroom furniture from Pa's until our new furniture gets here. I've still got to order a desk for the study."
"Micah, you'll have to come over here for dinner," said Shiloh.
"Why?"
Adam stifled a chuckle.
"Because there's no one to cook for you at the Flying W. We brought the last of the boxes over today. Ming Lin almost has the kitchen the way he wants it, so he won't be back over there."
Micah looked pointedly at her after he turned up his glass for the last drop of whiskey. "Just because you never learned to cook doesn't mean I didn't."
"You mean you did?" Shiloh asked quietly with a frown.
Standing, Micah picked his hat up from a side table. "Shy, a man learns to cook when he's on the trail. If he doesn't, he starves. Until I came back here, I didn't sleep under a roof much."
She closed her eyes and lowered her head, reminded of the life he had led before he came home. "Will you ever settle down?"
"I'm runnin' a ranch and a mine, and I'm livin' in a house. How much more settled can I get?"
She looked up at him and arched an eyebrow.
"Don't you be gettin' any ideas, Little Sister. If I decide to take a wife one day, she'll be someone of my own choosing." He bent and kissed her cheek. "I need to be headin' out. I still need to ride over to the mine and see if the headstock is standing."
Joe stood and walked with Micah to the front door. "I'd better be getting back to the house. Pa'll have my head if I'm late for dinner again."
Following Joe to the door, Shiloh stepped into Adam's side, wrapping her arm around him at the same time he moved his arm around her shoulders. They waved as Joe and Micah rode away, and then turned to each other. Looking up into Adam's eyes, she softly said, "We're home."