Everything That You Are Read Online Free PDF Page B

on your bad side.”
    Henry let out a deep roar of laughter and simply shook his head.
     
    * * * *
     
    Kaden woke up the next morning nervous, unsure of whether his boss still thought the trouble he seemed to constantly cause was worth the effort of keeping him on. Missy had seen the large bruises on the side of his face and started in with a barrage of questions he didn’t know how to answer. Mrs Connel , being the saint that she was, had come to his rescue by distracting the girl with a new recipe for breakfast. They both shared a passion for cooking that went well beyond his or Henry’s understanding .
    His doubts were quickly squelched, however, when Jim walked into the large dining room in the main house where the farm hands and Henry were eating breakfast at the long table. Silence descended upon the room as every man there took in the colourful bruises marking Jim’s face.
    Kaden watched from the kitchen, where he always took his meals with Missy and Cheryl. Henry stood up and glared at the other man with a look that had everyone in the room suddenly gazing down at their plates as if they contained the seven wonders of the world .
    “Pack your shit and get the hell off my ranch. I ever see you on my land again, I’ll shoot you on sight,” Henry said in a low, almost amiable voice that fooled no one.
    Jim sputtered in indignation, then turned his head to see Kaden standing to the side of the doorway leading into the kitchen. “Boss, I didn’t do nothin ’ wrong. You can’t honestly be taking the word of a little whore who was begging me to…”
    “Out!” Henry yelled. The other men sitting around the table finally looked up to take in the large bruises covering a good half of Kaden’s face, to the bruising on Jim’s face, then finally to the red, swollen knuckles of Henry’s fists clenched at his sides.
    It didn’t take them long to figure out what had happened, and Kaden felt a furious blush scald his cheeks at the humiliation of seeing the realisation dawn in every man’s eyes as they looked at him. He wanted to crawl into a corner and hide from the scrutiny of those he worked with, when one of the men raked his chair back against the hardwood floor to stand up.
    “You sick son of a…” The man strode straight over to Jim, reared back his fist and slammed it square in the centre of Jim’s nose. The sickening crack of his nose breaking filled the room, but soon after, more chairs were scraped back as more men stood.
    Kaden stared, wide-eyed, as at least three other men joined the first to crowd around Jim’s now hunched-over form, pushing him towards the door with the mass of their bodies. Threats rang out from the circle of men and one of them even booted Jim’s ass out of the front door they had so graciously opened for him.
    Kaden continued to stand, dumbfounded, in the doorway of the kitchen as the small group of men came back into the dining room and nodded to him as they sat down again to finish their meal. Henry nodded to him also, and Kaden didn’t miss the look of pride in his eyes as Henry turned to look at the men who had stood up for Kaden . It had all happened so quickly that Kaden was barely able to register the intense gratitude he felt towards these men before his boss boomed out the required chores and assignments for the day.
    His appetite lost, but for a good reason this time, Kaden helped Cheryl and Missy gather the dishes to be washed and put away once the men had vacated the dining room. Again, his sister tried to question him about what had happened, and again, he was saved by the careful interruptions of Mrs Connel .
    Once he finished his part in assisting them, he went out to the stables to grab a saddle and harness for Mockingbird. He’d been working on her progression in high jumps and manoeuvrability for the past few weeks and she was coming along really well. Most of the horses Henry kept were for breeding and racing, but a few he wanted trained for shows and