Make Her Mine

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Ella

“Ella, get your hind end in here, girl!” Mom shouted for me.

Hurrying to see what she wanted, I knew today wasn’t the day to screw things up. Sliding into the foyer that I’d just cleaned every nook and cranny of, she was eyeing a spot up very high on the ceiling. “What’s wrong, Mom?”

“Girl, I know you can see that up there on the chandelier.” Her blue eyes met mine, a tad of aggravation in them. “They’re coming today. For the first time ever, those boys are going to see the domicile their father declined in order to be with their mother. This place has to shine, sparkle, dazzle. You know what I’m saying, right? You do get it, don’t you?”

“Sure, some brats are coming to live in their rich, old grandfather’s mansion. And we’re their servants.” I rolled my eyes so hard it actually hurt.

“I’ve told you about them, Ella.” Mom put her arm around my shoulders. “They aren’t moneyed. Well, now they are, but they weren’t before inheriting Mr. Gentry’s riches and this ranch. Look at it this way; they don’t have to keep us if we can’t make this place look as great as it can. Got me?”

“Sure, to keep this great job, and I’m being sarcastic just in case you can’t read my tone, Mom, I’ll get up on that loathsome sky-high ladder and dust that damn crystal monster overhead.” I hated dusting the lighting in the house. There were so many chandeliers it made my job miserable.

“This is a great job, young lady,” Mom chastised me. “Not many maids earn what you do.”

“A whopping fifteen dollars an hour, Mom?” I didn’t believe her. As the house manager, she oversaw the hiring and firing of the house staff. She employed my older sister, Darleen, for a few years until she went to college to become a vet. If the wages were so great, then why’d my sister quit?

“Most maids make minimum wage,” she told me. “You’re making over twice that amount. You should be thankful.”

Looking up at the shiny crystal that hung from the ceiling, I thought the wage wasn’t nearly enough for all the hazardous duty that came with keeping the place pristine. “Thankful, huh? For what? For having to climb up on a ladder, then carefully wipe down each and every little crystal teardrop up there?”

“Yep,” she said matter of factly. “And hop to it, child. The new proprietors will be here in about an hour. This room, in particular, needs to shine. It’s the first one they see.”

With a huff, I strolled to the back to get the indoor ladder out of the shed. I grumbled and growled as I carried the heavy thing inside, all the way into the lobby to set it up. “I don’t get it. Who cares if it has a little dust on it? These guys aren’t used to seeing things like this anyway. They won’t even give it a second look. They’ll be so overwhelmed by this place that they won’t look too hard at anything.”

After getting one half of it cleaned up, I climbed down the ladder to move it over to reach the other half. The front door opened as I was halfway up, and I nearly lost my balance supposing it must be the new owners. “s**t!”

“Classy, Ella,” my brother Kyle commented as he came in. He looked up at me with a grin. “You missed a spot.” He pointed at the half I was about to clean.

“You missed the bus.” What did that mean? It came out just the same. Often, I just said what came to my mind, whether it made any sense or not.

“Whatever that means.” He passed the ladder, stopped and took a step back, putting his hands on either side of it. “What if I gave this a little shake? What would you do, baby sister?”

“Kick your ass.” I held on tightly because he’d shake it and laugh as I screamed for mercy.

“Kick my a*s?” He gave it one shake. “You sure about that?”

Shrieking, I glared at him. “Stop! If you make me fall, Mom will kill you for getting this floor all b****y. And God forbid my head bust open and my brains get all over this floor, Kyle Finley!”

“Yeah, the new owners might slip on your gore and fire us all.” He laughed, then walked out of the room.

Kyle worked with our father who has been the foreman on the ranch since before any of us were even born. He and Mr. Gentry were as close to being friends as that old bastard ever got to be with anyone else. Perhaps ‘cause Dad understood the cranky old man.

The door opened again, and I chastised myself for not having the job done yet. Luckily it was Dad who walked inside.

“You better hurry the hell up, Ella. They should be here any second now. The only reason I came inside was to greet them when they arrive. And I can see up your skirt. You need to wear bigger knickers, young lady.”

Using one hand to dust and the other to hold my skirt closer, I muttered, “I don’t want to wear bigger panties. I want to stop wearing this stupid maid’s uniform and wear jeans, a t-shirt, and some freaking tennis shoes. These dumb maid shoes look horrible. And I’d love it if my job never entailed getting up on a ladder in the first place so people could see up my damn skirt.”

“Try your best to curtail your sass, Ella.” Dad gestured for me to get down. “Come on, that’s good enough. I know your momma thinks every little thing needs to shine to impress these men, but they won’t give a lick about a little dust. And their first impression shouldn’t be one where your undies are showing.”

I nearly had it done anyway. “Dad, I’m almost finished. Momma will send me back up here to finish the job. And you dang well know she’ll do it, too.”

“Well, just scurry then.” He left the lobby, shaking his head as he mumbled, “That girl is going to be the next to go. I just know it.”

Like I cared if the new guys fired me. I could get another job. Most likely one with better pay. Of course, I hadn’t gone to college after graduating from high school. That shouldn’t be important in getting a great paying job.

My parents had been asking me since my twenty-first birthday a month ago about what I’d like to do for a profession. When I told them it would be fun to be a stand-up comedian, they laughed at me. That proved I could be successful as a comic since I’d made them laugh without even trying.

However, I hadn’t really meant that. I didn’t know what I wanted to be. So, for now, a maid was it. One day that would change—I just knew it would.

“And this is the ceremonial entrance to your new home, gentlemen,” came a voice from behind me.

Looking back, I saw that lawyer Mr. Gentry had around the place a lot during the last year when he was sick. He was bringing the new owners through the back entrance, and they caught me with my guard down.

“Oh, s**t!” Scrambling down the ladder, I skipped a rung and began a fall that was sure to leave me looking like an i***t as my body splayed out on the granite floor.

Only I didn’t hit the floor. Instead, a pair of strong arms caught me. “Got ya.”

Opening my eyes, which I had squeezed shut while falling, I saw his eyes first. Blue like the sky, they twinkled as he looked down at me.

“Put me down! I didn’t ask for your help.” Damn, he’s hot! Too hot! His dark hair made those blue eyes really stand out. And talk about muscles! Whoa!

I looked at the three new owners and found them all pretty damn devastating. But the one who caught me really shook me up. And I don’t get shook up. Not ever.

“Sorry if I offended you by saving your neck.” He placed my feet on the floor.

Straightening out my shirt and skirt, I then ran my hand through my pony to make sure it was on point. “You didn’t save me.”

The man’s eyes scanned me. “I, at the very least, saved you from an embarrassing fall. Some people would say thank you.”

“I have cat-like reflexes. You’d have seen them in action had you kept your meaty paws to yourself.” Going to take the ladder down, I found the man stepping in front of me, taking it down himself. “I…”

“No, I’ve got this.” Tucking the ladder under his arm, an arm with a massive bicep bulging under the long-sleeve brown tee he wore, he kept his eyes on me. “I’m Tyrell. And you are?”

“The maid.” I reached out to take the ladder from him. “If my mom, who’s also the house manager, catches you taking that out she’ll kill me. I don’t need that today. Not with you guys here.”

The lawyer seemed taken aback as he said, “Who the hell are you?”

Mom and Dad walked into the room, both with ashen faces as my father said, “That’s Ella, our youngest.” He looked at me with a grim expression. “Get that ladder and work elsewhere, Ella.”

The man who caught me shook his head. “She’s much too small to be carrying this around. I’ll put it up. Come on, Ella. Show me where this thing goes. And by the way, these are my brothers, Jasper and Cash. ”

“Duh.” I led the way out of the room, ignoring my parents’ dropped jaws. “Come on. I’ll show you. What did you say your name is again? I missed it.” He kind of made me all wiggly inside, including inside my brain.

“Tyrell,” he said with a southern drawl. “Tyrell Gentry. And you are Ella?”

“Finley. My parents have run this place forever. I think my dad was your grandfather’s only friend.” Opening the door to the back, I pointed to the shed. “It goes in there. Thanks, Tyrell Gentry.”

“For catching you?” His eyes sparkled again.

Damn, he’s too hot for his own good. “Sure. Even though I didn’t need your help.”

“Next time I’ll let you fall.” He kicked the door shut behind him as he walked out. And I watched him walk away through the window next to the door, my mouth watering as well as other parts of my anatomy.