Читать книгу Captivating A Cowboy - Jill Limber, Jill Limber - Страница 13

Julie woke after a restless night. She felt like she’d been hit by a truck. Groaning, she tried to lift her hand to rub her gritty eyes, but she’d forgotten her arm was strapped to her waist. She tried her other arm and found her elbow so stiff from the stitches she couldn’t reach up.

She closed her eyes and fought back frustration, furious with herself for being so clumsy. Her plans to get the house fixed up to sell during her vacation would be on hold for at least a few weeks, if not longer.

Her wonderful timetable was ruined, her dreams on hold.

A tear leaked out from under her lids. She was about to give herself a talking to for being such a weakling when she heard her bedroom door creak.

Before she had time to be frightened, Tony stuck his head in the room.

He grinned, managing to look bashful and incredibly handsome at the same time.

“I didn’t want to wake you.”

Quickly she turned her head and wiped her eyes on the pillow case. No way was she going to let him catch her crying like some wimpy little female. He walked in and brought the smell of fresh coffee with him as he handed her a steaming mug.

“Ah,” she closed her eyes and drank in the aroma. “You stopped for coffee. Thanks.”

She sat up and used her feet to scoot herself against the headboard.

She frowned as she noticed the coffee was in a mug from her grandmother’s kitchen.

“Where did you get the coffee?”

He grinned at her again. “Out of the coffeepot.”

Besides being extremely good-looking, the man had a killer grin. She wished he would stop using it. It ruined her train of thought.

Julie guided her thoughts back to the conversation. “I have a coffeepot?”

Tony nodded. “In the cupboard above the sink.”

She really hadn’t paid much attention to the kitchen. “And ground coffee?” Her grandmother had been a tea drinker as far as she remembered.

He shrugged his wide shoulders. “I did have to go to Valley Grocery for that.”

Julie peered at the travel alarm clock beside the bed. “How long have you been here?”

“All night.”

Oh, swell, she thought, noticing for the first time he had the same clothes on he’d worn yesterday.

That would give the town gossips something to chew on.

She’d known him less than two days and he stays over. “I thought we agreed you were leaving,” she snapped.

Tony didn’t look the least bit upset at her annoyed tone. “I told you I was staying. You might have needed something in the middle of the night.”

Vaguely Julie recalled Tony coming to check on her, but she’d been so groggy from the pain pills she had no idea what time it might have been. And since when did she care what the neighbors might think?

She realized she liked knowing he’d been there and it made her temper rise. She hadn’t expected him to stay and she didn’t want to impose. She could take care of herself.

“Well, thanks,” she said grudgingly. “That was nice of you. But I don’t want to keep you from your work.”

“No problem. It’s raining and I can’t work on my house today.”

She glanced out the window and noticed the storm for the first time. “Don’t you have a regular job?”

“No. I’m building a house on my land.”

She wanted to ask how he managed that without regular employment, but didn’t know how to do it without sounding like she was prying.

Tony raised an eyebrow and the corners of his mouth turned up in a sly little smile. “Need help getting dressed?”

Obviously he’d recovered his composure after the teasing she’d given him last night. It was her turn to blush. “Ah, I think I can manage.”

“The doctor said you can leave the sling off during the day. You just have to be careful.”

Good thing, she thought. There was no way to get out of the nightshirt trussed up the way she was.

He turned and headed out her bedroom door. “I’ll wait for you downstairs. Give me a yell if you need help.”

Julie sipped on the coffee and pondered her options. She could drive back to L.A. or stay here until she healed. Then she remembered her apartment had been sublet for the summer and her car had a stick shift. No way could she make the twelve-hour drive home even if she did have a place to live.

Okay, she would stay here in Ferndale. She scooted to the side of the mattress and wiggled around until she got her feet on the floor.

There had to be things she could do to the house one-handed, so the next few weeks wouldn’t be a total loss. Julie finished the coffee, feeling better now that she had the start of a plan in her mind.

She struggled out of the sling and awkwardly managed to get into a pair of panties and sweats. A bra was out of the question, and so apparently, was brushing her hair and putting on socks. She could ask Tony’s help with the socks, and even her hair, but she would have to go braless. There was no way she’d ask him for help with that.

Remembering the way she had acted last night brought a blush to her face. She must have been out of her mind to tease him like that. She barely knew him. Maybe she could blame her behavior on the pain medication she’d taken on the way home.

She made her way downstairs and found Tony sitting in the kitchen, slicing into a coffee cake.

She inhaled the smell of cinnamon and nutmeg, her mouth watering. “Tell me you did not bake that this morning.”

He laughed. “No. Mrs. Smithy dropped it off.”

Julie didn’t recognize the name. “Why?” Why would someone bring Tony a freshly baked coffee cake at her house?

He slipped a wedge of cake onto a plate and pushed it across the table towards her. “Because she heard you had been hurt in an accident.

Julie searched her memory. “I don’t even know who she is.”

“I think she knew your grandmother. Besides, this is a small town. Folks do nice things for each other in small towns.”

He’d made it very clear yesterday that he thought small towns were highly preferable to large cities. He saw this gift of food as a good thing.

Julie frowned, looking down at the plate. She viewed it as an intrusion into her privacy. By now everyone in town probably knew that she had been clumsy enough to fall off a chair.

The coffee cake smelled so good she decided not to let the reason it was in the middle of the kitchen table get in her way of enjoying it. She set her socks, brush and a rubber band down on the chair beside her and settled in to savor some home baking. Awkwardly she forked up a mouthful.

Tony watched her uncoordinated movements and nodded in approval. “The more you use that arm the less stiff you’ll be.”

She smiled at him. “Thank you, Dr. Tony.”

He cut a huge piece of cake for himself and sat across the table from her. After he had demolished half his piece of cake he paused and cleared his throat.

Julie glanced up, waiting. Obviously he was working his way up to saying something.

Finally he said, “Julie, I know you wanted to do all the work on this house yourself, but you aren’t going to be able to manage for a while. Why don’t you hire me? I could use the money.”

She was tempted. By hiring him she could get done even sooner that she had first planned and get back to L.A. Even if she hadn’t broken her collarbone she had no illusions that she could do the work as well or as fast as someone with experience and skill.

Hiring him would solve part of her problem, but there was a hitch. She hated to admit it, but her plan to do over the house herself was based on a lack of cash.

He had made a nice offer and he deserved an explanation, even though she didn’t want to give him so much personal information.

“I can’t afford to pay you and buy materials and supplies. I get paid ten months a year. I’m really strapped for cash.”

Tony shrugged one muscular shoulder. “No problem. Pay me when you close escrow. I’m saving money for stock.”

“Stock? You play the market?” She couldn’t picture him buying and selling, gambling on the stock market. He was too…steady.

He looked puzzled for a minute, then he laughed. “No. Stock as in horses.”

“Oh.” She felt silly. Hadn’t she nicknamed him cowboy? Of course he meant horses.

“When I get my house built, I’ll start on the barn and corrals. I’m going to raise and train horses.”

Julie studied him for a moment. Horse rancher. It fit. “Let me think about it, okay?”

“Sure.” He stood up and scooped up her plate and his, carrying them to the sink. She watched him walk across the kitchen, admiring the fit of his worn jeans. The man did have one fine body.

He finished rinsing the plates and she quickly looked down at her folded hands as he turned toward her.

Tony stopped beside her chair. “I have to go check on Mrs. Trimball’s place, then I’ll be back.”

Betty Trimball, the minister’s widow and the only person in Ferndale she could call a friend, lived three blocks away.

She scooted her chair back across the worn linoleum. “When does Betty get back?” Julie wanted to see her again. There were very few people she felt that way about.

“A couple more weeks.” Tony squatted down beside her chair, took hold of her ankle and propped it on his thigh. He drew her sock onto her foot, and repeated the motion as he put on her other sock. The feel of his big square competent hands on her skin sent shivers up her legs.

In one fluid motion he stood up and picked up her brush. He drew the bristles through her hair in steady, firm strokes. Between the warmth of him at her back and the feel of the brush against her scalp, she had to brace herself to keep from sliding out of the chair.

She noticed he was very careful to be gentle over the lump on the side of her head where she had smacked her skull against the floor.

Where had he learned to deal with long hair? she wondered. An unexpected stab of jealousy spiked through her. Why did she even care?

“Ponytail?”

“What?” She tried to get her thoughts back to what he had asked.

“Do you want your hair in a ponytail, or down?”

She almost asked him how he wanted it. Stupid. Why should she care what he preferred?

“Ponytail.” She picked the elastic band off the chair beside her and held it up as far as her stiff elbow would allow.

She felt him twist the rubber band around her hair, and then he handed her the brush.

He still had a hold of her hair and he gave it a teasing little tug. “I’ll stop by before I head home to see if you need anything.”

No one had cared enough to ask her if she needed anything for a very long time. The tears that had snuck up on her earlier threatened to return. It had to be the pain medication. She blinked them back and stood, turning to face him.

“Thank you. For everything.”

He shoved his hands into his pockets, shrugged and dipped his head in an endearing little boy kind of way. “No problem. See you later.”

He was out the back door and into the summer rain, leaving her feeling that her thank you had been inadequate considering all he had done for her in the past twenty-four hours.

Julie settled back in her chair and pondered what she should do. If she hired Tony she could get the work done by the time she had to go back to L.A. That way the house would be on the market. If she waited to do the work herself, she would probably have to make at least a few extra trips back up to Ferndale. She wouldn’t be able to put the place on the market until late fall, if that soon. With the price of gas and wear and tear on her car for extra trips, it made sense to hire Tony.

The thought made her feel uneasy. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him to do a good job. After all, wasn’t he building a house all by himself? It was just that she had planned to do it alone. Be her own boss, make her own decisions.

She had already seen him in action. He liked to be in control of a situation.

She began to argue with herself. She would still be in charge. She could help him out as he worked. That would speed things up. He had the skill and expertise, and she could learn from him.

She sat for a long time as her fingers fiddled with the bristles of her brush. Money and control weren’t the only problems, she thought.

She was attracted to him.

Very attracted.

If she hired him to work, they shouldn’t start a relationship that had nowhere to go anyway. He had made it clear he liked small town living, and in a matter of weeks she would head back to her life in Los Angeles.

She stood up and gingerly stretched her sore muscles, then headed upstairs, her thoughts still swirling. So the real question was, could she work with him and maintain her distance? Just be friends?

Of course she could.

She’d been around plenty of good-looking men. Even had a few who were friends. She laughed at herself. Was she turning her rescuer into some kind of irresistible knight on a white horse?

He was just a guy.

She set her brush down on the dresser and surveyed the damaged ceiling that she’d stripped yesterday. Just the thought of lifting her arms over her head to apply the plaster made her wince.

Julie made her decision. If she and Tony could come to reasonable terms, the ceiling would be their first project.

The sound of the front doorbell interrupted her thoughts. She headed down the stairs. A middle-aged woman stood on the porch holding a dish covered with foil. Julie thought she looked vaguely familiar but it was hard to tell through the wavy old oval glass window in the door.

She opened the door and the woman smiled. “Julie, I don’t know if you remember me. I’m Jane Arnold.”

As soon as she spoke, Julie remembered. Jane Arnold had been one of the adults who led the youth group at the church. “Of course I remember.” Almost, she thought.

Mrs. Arnold held out a covered casserole. “I heard what happened. I made you some chicken.”

Of course. Hadn’t she predicted that the whole town would know? Julie remembered her manners. “Won’t you come in?”

“Thank you, dear, but I’m on my way to an appointment. Let me just put this in the refrigerator for you.”

Julie followed her to the kitchen and then back to the front door, feeling awkward over the woman’s show of concern. At Mrs. Arnold’s insistence, Julie promised to call if she needed anything.

By the time Tony returned hours later Julie had gotten tired of running up and down the stairs to answer the door and had planted herself in the front room.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, giving her a quick once-over.

His question vaguely annoyed her. She wasn’t sure how she felt about him taking on the role of her guardian.

“Tired, but otherwise pretty good.” Actually, answering the door had worn her out.

“Take any more pain pills?”

“No.” She was trying to avoid them. They made her stupid, and if she was going to be around Tony she needed to stay smart.

“Hungry?”

She thought for a moment. “Yes.”

“I’ll go get some groceries.” He started to turn toward the front door.

Julie grimaced. “Not necessary.”

She motioned to him to follow her to the kitchen and opened up the refrigerator. There were five casseroles inside. “I will be eating tuna and noodles and chicken and rice for the next week.”

Tony surveyed her newly filled refrigerator and shook his head. “Looks like a church potluck on Saturday night.”

“Yeah,” Julie remarked sourly. “People just couldn’t wait to come and see Julie, all grown up and clumsy.”

Tony shot her a startled look, but didn’t say anything. He started touching the sides of the casserole dishes, then lifted the foil on the corner of one on the second shelf. “This one is still fairly warm. Want to start with it?”

Why was he being so nice? He couldn’t like tuna and noodles that much. “Are you sure you don’t have anything better to do?”

“What, and miss a free lunch? No, ma’am.” He grinned and pulled the glass dish out of the fridge.

Julie settled down onto one of the chairs and watched him scoop a huge amount of casserole onto a plate. When he started to fill the other plate she said, “Whoa, cowboy. I need less than half of that.”

He carried the plates to the table, found some silverware, and sat down. Julie watched, fascinated as he methodically and quickly cleaned his plate.

“Do you always eat that much?”

He shrugged. “Usually. I stay pretty busy during the day.”

She shoved the food around her plate. “Speaking of that, I’ve done a lot of thinking. I’m going to need some help, but I want to make sure you have the time. I mean, that you’re not going to regret your offer.”

He studied her face. “I wouldn’t have made the offer if I didn’t want to do it.”

She felt herself warm under his direct gaze. “Well, I just wanted to be sure.”

“I do need to keep working on my place, so how about I come in three days a week? We’ll see how it goes.” Tony stood up and carried the dishes to the sink.

“Okay. How long does it take you to get here from where you live?”

“If there’s no fog and the road isn’t washed out, about an hour and a half.”

That was worse than the commute times in L.A. “You’re kidding? You live that far out?”

“Have you been down Petrolia Road to the Lost Coast?”

She’d heard of it. “No. My grandmother never allowed me to go. She thought that’s where kids went to drink and get into trouble.” Besides, she’d been such a loner in high school she’d only been invited once.

Tony grinned at her. “She was right. I’ve chased kids off my property on occasion.”

He came around and helped her as she scooted back out of her chair. “Why don’t we take a look at what needs doing.”

Stiffly she got to her feet and stretched to get some of the kinks out. “Well, you’ve already seen the ceiling upstairs.”

“You did a nice job of cleaning it up.”

“Thanks.” She felt a glow of appreciation at his approval.

They wandered through the downstairs rooms, Julie pointing out what she wanted to do, as Tony nodded and added suggestions.

By the time they went upstairs into the room where she slept they’d settled on an hourly wage and Julie had a good idea of how long things would take. She felt better about her decision to hire Tony.

He was so businesslike she felt foolish thinking they would have problems working together.

She wandered over and looked out the window at the backyard, wondering if she should just forget the outside until later. The yard was a mess. Dead bushes and scrubby patches of grass filled the yard, along with the ugly supports for a clothesline that looked like two giant croquet wickets made out of thick galvanized pipe.

If she did any work on the yard now she’d just have to keep it up until the house sold. The yard could wait until the house was finished.

This plan was going to work, she thought as she gazed down on the dead grass and scraggly shrubs. Tony was friendly but businesslike, they agreed on what needed to be done, and paying him when the house sold fit into her tight budget.

Her worries over them having a personal relationship that got in the way of their business had been silly thinking.

Julie turned to mention the yard to him and came up against a very firm male body. She hadn’t heard him step behind her.

She lurched back in surprise and lost her balance. He reached out and grasped her around the waist to steady her. She smelled soap on his skin.