You liar.
I do use the air conditioning, but I’m not going to today.
Well, for as long as we can stand it.
Messing with Miss Fancy Pants is sure to be a lot of fun. Not to mention, that shirt will be soaked very quickly and will cling to all the right places.
I laugh again.
The mud room off the kitchen is where Momma keeps a lot of her extra stuff and I know I can find a hat in there to work for Eliza. She’ll need one while out on the ranch with me. The sun is no joke and without a hat, she’ll be blind from the brightness and the glare off the land. She’ll also burn from the unrelenting rays. Can’t have that.
Reaching up, I snag a light tan hat that Momma has never worn from the closet shelf. I don’t even remember when she got it, but she never liked it and prefers her dark leather customs from in town.
Fingering the soft and smooth leather on the crown, I nod. “This is perfect for Eliza.”
Turning, I see Momma leaning quietly against the door jam. She nods at my hands. “That will be perfect. I meant to tell you to grab one earlier. That one will look really nice on her.”
I grunt, “I don’t much care what it looks like. As long as it keeps the sun out of her face and, hopefully stops her complaining, that’s what I’m after.”
Momma chuckles. “Sure you are.” She turns and waves at me to follow her back into the kitchen. “I fixed y’all a basket and a cooler to take with you. You’ll have food and water enough for the both of you. So, you should be set until dinner.”
My eyes fall onto the basket. It’s not the customary ice chest we normally take. No, this is an actual insulated basket.
My brow arches. “Really? Something wrong with my ice chest? Can you be more obvious with your matchmaking?” I shake my head. “Wasted effort, Momma. We’re headin’ out to the land. Miss Fancy Pants is going to sweat. She’s going to be uncomfortable and probably chafe from the heat. She’s going to bitch and moan and make my day a living hell. Whatever you’re hoping to accomplish with this crap is just that… crap.” Leaning down, I kiss the top of her head.
Grabbing the basket, I tuck it under my arm and walked through the house, twirling the hat in my other hand.
Momma calls out after me, “It’s a damn hot day today… probably a good day to take a little break and cool off… And you’ll be in the right area…”
Ignoring her, I call back, “We’ll be back for dinner.”
Striding out of the front door, I round the hood of my truck and see Eliza sitting in the cab with the door open. She’s fanning her face with one hand and is holding her hair up off her neck with the other hand. Opening my door, I toss her the hat. It lands near her thigh on the seat. Reaching out, she takes it and she wrinkles her nose at it, then uses the brim to fan herself.
Grinning and whistling, I roll my window down and take off for the left perimeter.
