Monroe, Marla - Their Border Lands Gift [Men of the Border Lands 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read Online Free Page B

pick up. She rolled everything up and replaced the covers at the foot of her bed. Then she pulled out the last of the peanut butter and stale crackers. They quickly ate, washing it down with bottled water.
    “You ready?” Mike asked. He acted like a kid at Christmas.
    “I guess so. Let’s take the flashlights with us.” She picked up one while Mike grabbed the other.
    He helped her down from the camper, and they slowly made their way around the outside of the house to look at the back. Everything looked intact. There was even what looked like a shed with a tractor in it. If only it would work .
    They climbed up on the back porch, which seemed to be sturdy and in good repair. Mike tried the door and found the screen unlocked. He tried the door itself, but it was locked. He went from window to window until he found one open on the side of the house.
    “You stay right by the window until I come back and tell you it’s safe to climb in.”
    “I’m not going anywhere.” She sighed and watched as her brother climbed through the window into the house. She could hear him moving around inside but lost sight of him when he turned a corner.
    “You okay in there, Mike?” she called through the window.
    “Yeah, I’ll be right out to get you. Go around to the back door again. I’ll let you in.”
    She sighed and walked around to the back of the house and climbed back up on the porch. Mike appeared in the window of the back door with a big grin on his face. He unlatched the back door and opened it for her to walk inside.
    “Everything looks in good shape, Kate. I think we have a keeper.” He was like a kid in a candy store showing her around.
    “The water works! There’s gas, but no electricity. I guess that was more than we could hope for.”
    “You’re kidding. We have gas? I wonder how?” Kate hurried over to the stove and turned on the burner. It hissed but didn’t light. She quickly turned it back off.
    “We’ll need to light the pilot light. I wonder if we have gas or electric hot water heaters. I could really use a hot bath.”
    “If we don’t have gas, I can carry water from the stove so you can have a hot bath, Kate. You’ll feel better in no time.”
    “I think what we need to do first is pick a room to clean and start cleaning.”
    “I’m going to have to leave that to you and start work on that old tractor out there. We’ve got to put a garden in before it’s too late in the year.” Mike hurried out the door, leaving Kate alone in the kitchen.
    After all, I am the woman. It’s my job to take care of the house. She sighed and decided the kitchen would be the first room to clean. They could sleep in the camper another night or two if they needed to. She pulled everything out of the cabinets and stacked it on one end of the kitchen and got to work cleaning the room from top to bottom.
    At some point, she heard the tractor start up. She walked over to the back door and looked through the screen to see Mike waving triumphantly as he drove the thing around the backyard. She waved back and went back to cleaning and putting the dishes away. By the time Mike returned to the house at dusk, she had the kitchen in working order and had started on one of the bathrooms.
    “So, how did it go plowing?” she asked as he stripped off his boots.
    “Got the old garden back there broken up, but it’s going to take a lot of plowing to get it in planting shape. I’m not sure how much diesel is in the old tank back there, either.”
    “It will work out. I’m going to warm us up some soup for dinner tonight. How does that sound to you?”
    “Good, but can you add something to it? I’m starved, and neither of us got lunch today.”
    “I’ll fix it up with something. You need a bath. I’ve cleaned the majority of the bathroom. Go get cleaned up. You can handle a little cool water.”
    They made a meal out of canned soup and pinto beans. Then Mike carried hot water from the stove to the bathroom so that Kate