Читать книгу Special Delivery - Judi Lynn - Страница 16

Chapter 10

Karli set her alarm and got up early on Saturday morning. She pulled on an old pair of jeans and a lightweight sweater but took care with her hair and makeup. Keagan would be here, after all. In a hurry, she’d fixed overnight oatmeal for Axel and was surprised when he asked for seconds.

“That’s what my mom made for us kids when I was little,” he told her. For being such a curmudgeon, the old man sure put his mom on a pedestal. She liked that.

“Want me to help you clean up before everyone gets here?” She thought he’d turn her down, but he nodded. She supported him so that he could slide into his wheelchair and then he waved her away.

“I can do the rest.”

“Okay, go for it.” The more he did for himself, the better. After she cleaned up their breakfast things, she got out the ingredients for the chicken-fried steak and had to laugh at herself. Good God, she was turning into Suzie Homemaker! She rarely cooked three days in a row, but she wanted to impress Keagan and his friends. And if food really was a way to a man’s heart, she’d cook up a storm.

The men pulled into the driveway as soon as there was sunlight. Keagan came with Brad and introduced her to Tyne and Harley when they arrived. Be still her heart. But they both wore wedding rings. Someone had already scooped them up.

What the hell was in the water in Mill Pond? Harley had a rocker look with his dark, shaggy hair and long, lean build. He made her think of an Italian on steroids. Yum! He also had a thick, gold band on his ring finger. Hands off! Brad dazzled with his golden curls, and Tyne . . . Tyne looked like a walking sex commercial with his dirty blonde hair, stubble, and awesome body. His ring was silver, but married was married. To her, not one of them was as appealing as Keagan.

She did her best smile-and-greet routine. Every man responded but Keagan. Go figure, but she was genuinely impressed with how nice each man was. Good looking and decent human beings. And faithful, if she read them right. She respected that. A triple whammy. Keagan was ready to plow right into work mode, though, so she retreated to the kitchen.

This was shaping up to be a great Saturday. Harley and Tyne were taken, but they were great eye candy. Might as well enjoy. Brad was easy on the eyes, too, but he was a player. She’d been there, done that. What she’d never done was get too serious, too attached to move on. She frowned. Did that make her a female player? She’d never worried about it before. If she plugged into Keagan, would she be able to walk away?

She wouldn’t know until she tried, right? Not that she was making any headway. She was striking out with the man. Time to up her game. And if that meant appealing to what was important to him, like food, so be it. That’s what seemed to make Axel happy, too.

She mixed flour, salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder, and a pinch of cayenne pepper for the dredge. She was going all out. She coated every cube steak, then pan-fried them. She put them in the slow cooker with a little beef broth and set it on low to keep them warm. Then she started on the gravy. There were more than enough pan drippings to give it flavor. When she dipped her finger in and liked the taste, she turned it off. She’d reheat it when the men were ready to eat. She wrapped potatoes in foil and tossed them in the oven, then opened three cans of green beans and added them to crumbled bacon and sautéed onions. Nothing too fancy. She didn’t want Keagan to think she was trying too hard.

The men plunged right into work. They started by jacking up the front porch. There was no way for her to help them, so she concentrated on dusting and sweeping upstairs. She didn’t plan on spending any time there, but it had to be healthier eliminating so much dust from the house. The second-floor bedrooms were all good-sized. She wondered when someone had walked up here the last time. Before Charlie moved out? Enough cobwebs hung in the corners that Mill Pond could have used Axel’s house for their haunted castle. The bathroom had been updated at some point. Maybe a pipe had leaked, because Axel didn’t do any more than he had to, by the looks of it. The tile and fixtures were dated, but there was a toilet, tub, sink, and shower.

She was sweeping the second bedroom when Brad touched her shoulder to get her attention. “Sorry! The vacuum’s so loud, I didn’t hear you come up the stairs.”

He grinned. “You’re a brave woman, trying to take on Axel’s house.”

“Not really. I’m not good at sitting around with nothing to do, and this definitely needs doing.”

“You’re using a vacuum on wooden floors?”

She gestured to the side of the room she hadn’t gotten to yet. “Too much dust for a broom or dust mop.”

“Are you going to move your mattress up here?”

“No, but since I’m here, I might as well get something accomplished.”

His smile dazzled. “I could help you fill some of your spare time. What if I picked you up and we went to Chase’s bar some night? I could introduce you around.”

She loved bars. She’d love to meet more Mill Pond people, but she didn’t want to encourage Brad. “That sounds like fun. You know I don’t expect to be here much longer, though, right? Either Axel lets me help him, or he doesn’t. Are you okay with just drinks and a kiss good night? Because that’s as far I’ll go.”

His smile grew wider. “One night with you? Sign me up.”

She pursed her lips. Maybe she’d worded that wrong, but it would be nice to get away from Axel for a while, to have fun and meet people. She nodded. “Next weekend?”

“Done. You’re mine on Saturday night.” He looked pretty happy with himself.

She glanced at her watch. “Boy, time’s gone fast. Are you guys ready for drinks? I bought lots of beer and pop.”

He wiggled his eyebrows. “It’s not too early for me to down a beer.”

She motioned toward the stairs. “Let’s see if the others are ready for a break.”

When she invited them in for something to drink, they all sniffed and glanced at the kitchen. “Are you hungry?”

Silly question. She nodded toward the kitchen. “Everything’s ready. If you want to serve yourselves, I have plates and silverware on the counter top.”

They stood as one. She frowned at the mismatch of plates she’d washed, but she was lucky she’d found six in the cupboard.

“Don’t forget me!” Axel called from the sun-room.

“Want to come and join us?”

The men cringed, but luckily Axel turned her down.

She had his plate in hand. “You guys go ahead. I’ll take this to Axel, then grab one for me and join you.”

The men were chatting comfortably among themselves when she brought her food to the long, cherry dining table.

“Damn, I love chicken-fried steak,” Harley said. “I’ll have to mention how good it is to Kathy. She never makes it.”

“She’s probably afraid to make anything that isn’t Italian,” Tyne said, teasing him. “Your dad makes a point of letting everyone who visits the winery know about your Italian heritage.”

Harley laughed. “Yeah, but I was born in Mill Pond. I’m a melting-pot kid. I loved chicken nuggets at school lunch. I like it all.”

Keagan turned to Tyne. “Is there any food you don’t like? You’ve traveled so much, you like it all, don’t you?”

Tyne grimaced. “No bugs. I’ve been to places where they’re considered tasty but not to me.”

“Even if we doused them in coconut milk?” Keagan asked.

“Even then.” Tyne’s brown eyes twinkled. He turned to focus on her, and she felt a flush tinge her skin. Damn, he was hot. “How’s it going with Mr. Meany? You okay?”

She shrugged. “We’re getting along all right, but he won’t sign up for any home care. I have a visiting nurse coming today to assess him, but he’s pretty set in his ways. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to help him or not.”

“His choice.” Tyne obviously didn’t mince words. “If he wants to stay here and stink and let the house fall around his ears, it’s his own fault.”

“I heard that!” Axel called.

“Good, but I bet you don’t waste time thinking about it.” Tyne must know Axel better than Karli realized. “Keagan tried to get you help, too, but you’re too damn stubborn.”

“Hmmph!”

The TV volume got louder, and Tyne shook his head. “Stubborn, old man.”

“There’s more food in the kitchen,” Karli said. “I made plenty if you want seconds.”

That must have been the invitation they were waiting for. They all went to fill their plates again. Karli noticed that Keagan took seconds of everything. When he sat down, she saw that his golden-brown hair had sawdust in it. Her fingers itched to brush it out, to touch him. His worn jeans showed off his muscular thighs. She bet he’d be great in bed.

“Everything’s delicious,” Brad told her, capturing her attention.

“Thanks.” Her gaze returned to Keagan. He was so not her type. She usually fell for guys like Brad. But there was something about her friendly mailman, something self-contained.

Tyne finished his food and pushed to his feet. “I’d better get started again. I can only stay till two. I work tonight.”

She stared at him, surprised. “You work tonight and you’re working here all day?”

“So does Harley, but we’re so happy someone’s making this old place look better, we were thinking of sneaking out here at night to fix it up in the dark.”

She laughed. “That’s pretty desperate.”

Harley stood with Tyne. “Old Mill is trying to make itself into a tourist town. We’re doing a good job, but this place is an eyesore. At least, it looks like it might not collapse now.”

Tyne turned to Keagan. “I’d love to get rid of the peeling paint. Bare wood would look better than that.”

Harley nodded. “Most of the paint’s gone anyway. If we had a full crew, it wouldn’t take long if we had two men per side. Would Axel let us scrape it?”

“Knock yourselves out!”

“How in the hell do you hear everything we say back there?” Keagan called.

Axel chuckled. “I know when to turn the TV down.”

“I’m game,” Keagan said. “Are you going to set this one up, Harley?”

“I’ll put my old man on it. He’ll offer everyone a free bottle of wine for a full day of work.”

Karli blinked, surprised. “You guys are serious about this house.”

“We have to strike while the old man’s in a good mood.” Tyne stood. “But right now, I have to get back to the porch, or I’ll have to leave you guys to it without me.”

Keagan finished the last bite on his plate, and he and Brad rose, too. “Let’s do it,” he said.

While the men went back to work, Karli cleaned up after their meal. Only two steaks remained, enough for a quick lunch someday, then she returned upstairs. She was finishing the fourth bedroom when the doorbell rang. She ran down to greet the visiting nurse. “Thanks so much for coming. Axel’s in the three-season room at the back of the house. He doesn’t want to see you, but he needs some kind of in-home care.”

The woman, in her late fifties, smiled. “No one wants to admit they can’t care for themselves, but once he hears the benefits we can offer, he’ll change his mind.”

Karli wasn’t so sure but guided the woman back to him.

Axel’s expression went sour. “Go away. I don’t want another damn nurse bothering me.”

The woman gave a pleasant smile. “I didn’t come to bother you, Mr. Crupe. I’m an RN. If you need medicine or equipment, I can help you with that.” She took out her stethoscope. “Let’s listen to your heart for starters, okay?”

He pinched her. Hard.

She jerked back. “Now, now, we can’t have that. I’m only here to help you.”

He turned his back on her.

“There’s no reason for that.”

He turned to glare at her and raised his middle finger. “This is my house. I don’t want you here. Go away.”

Her expression hard, she gathered up her things and started to leave. “I can’t help him.”

“Wait!” Karli jumped up to follow her. “He needs in-home assistance.”

“He needs to learn manners. I don’t have to deal with him.” The nurse stomped from the house.

Karli crossed her arms over her breasts and returned to Axel. “You think you’re pretty damned clever, don’t you? Well, you just blew that.”

He crossed his arms, too. “You’re bad enough, but I told you. No more people. I don’t want any little Nurse Nancy traipsing in and out of my house.”

“Fine! What are you going to do when I leave?”

“Throw myself a party.”

She wanted to throttle him. That would look bad on her nursing record, though, so she stalked out of the room instead. She worked upstairs until she finished the last bedroom, then came down to start a batch of ham sandwiches, the kind her dad made for football Sundays, on Hawaiian buns with Swiss cheese, ham, and a seasoned butter coating.

She took two sandwiches in for Axel and plopped them on his TV tray. “Enjoy real food before you’re scraping applesauce out of plastic containers again.”

“Wait till my kids get here. They’ll compete to make me happy, hoping I’ll leave everything to them.”

She snorted. “Good luck with that. When I talked to Mom, they didn’t sound like the type.”

She left him to carry the food out to the men on the almost-finished porch. Tyne and Harley had already left, but Keagan and Brad climbed down their ladders to join her.

“The porch is about done,” Keagan said. “It should last another fifty years.” He sounded awfully happy with himself.

Brad dipped right into the sandwiches. “Damn, these are good.”

Keagan ate half of his in one bite and gave her a nod of approval.

She smiled. “My dad makes them for football Sundays when buddies drop in.”

Brad gave her a look. “I bet I’d like your dad.”

“I bet you would, too. He’s pretty damned likeable.” She tossed a glance at Keagan. “You’d like him, too.”

Keagan blinked, surprised. The idea obviously hadn’t crossed his mind. He frowned. “Is your family thinking of coming to Mill Pond to see Axel?”

“Hell, no.” The words spilled out before she could edit them.

Keagan laughed. “I don’t blame them. Axel’s a pill.”

“That’s putting it nicely. How do you put up with him? He just chased the visiting nurse away.”

“That’s not good. Who does he think will take care of him when you leave?”

“His kids who come home to rescue him and inherit all of his money.”

“Like that’s going to happen. I guess I feel a little sorry for him. It sucks to get old and have to depend on people when you’ve never had to.”

Brad shook his head, nodding toward Keagan. “This guy’s too much of a softy. He can be had with a sad story.”

“And that’s a bad thing?” Karli had gotten the impression people could only push Keagan so far.

Brad thought about his answer. “Sometimes, he should put himself first. He’s happy staying in the background.”

Keagan chuckled. “I don’t have a choice when I’m with you. When we’re around women, I might as well be invisible.”

Brad reached for another sandwich. “Well, I wasn’t talking about the ladies, but really, you don’t even try. They come to our table because I flirt with them. You don’t make an effort.”

Keagan shrugged, unconcerned. “I want to get my studio up and going first. I’m not ready for women.”

Not what she wanted to hear. Karli raised an eyebrow. He’d better get ready, because she had him in her crosshairs, but it was going to take more work than she’d expected. She gathered their empty plates—his plates, the ones he’d made. She motioned to them. “I love these. I wanted to use them for lunch, but there are only four of them. How many patterns do you make?”

“I try to do something new for each season, painted any way the customer wants. You should come to the studio on my parents’ farm. I can show you my lines.”

Just herself and Keagan? “I’d love that.”

Keagan finished his beer and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “We’d better finish up. We’re almost done. Once the sun gets a little lower, it gets damn chilly. Thanks for the food.”

They climbed back up their ladders and half an hour later came to say goodbye to her. She walked out to see the finished work and smiled. She’d expected bare wood, but the men had painted it and all of the other columns so they matched. “The house looks sturdy again—neglected but solid.”

“It’s a good house.” Keagan’s voice sounded wistful. “I always think it’s sad to see a good house left to die.”

“Die?” Brad laughed at him, but Karli nodded agreement.

“A house is more than wood and nails on a foundation. It shelters people, becomes a home.”

Keagan locked gazes with her. “That’s how I feel.”

Brad laughed at both of them, then started to his pickup. “Gotta go. I’m meeting some people at Chase’s tonight. Wanna come, K?”

Keagan gestured across Axel’s dry, weedy field. “Mom invited me for supper tonight, since I’d be so close.”

“You had a choice,” Brad called. “You could hit Chase’s with me.”

“Maybe next week.”

“Yeah, right, you’ll probably hole up in your studio.” Brad pulled away.

With a wave, Keagan climbed in his SUV and left, too.

Karli had enjoyed their company. She grimaced as she walked back into the house. She got to spend Saturday night with Axel. Woo-hoo! She took a deep breath. So far, she’d struck out on everything she’d tried with the old man. Maybe she was going about things wrong.

She went out to the sun porch to straighten his TV tray and asked, “Can you drive?” She’d seen an oversized gray pickup in his garage.

Axel gave her a look. “What do you think?”

“I’m not sure. But if you don’t want people in your house, maybe you should go to them.”

Axel turned back to his TV show. “Doesn’t matter. Can’t drive, and I’m not paying.”

Back to square one. “Then we haven’t made any progress.”

“Speak for yourself. I’ve been eating high on the hog.”

If looks could kill . . . She took a deep breath. How could she make him understand? “I didn’t come here to pamper you. I’m a nurse, but I’m not your nurse. I came to help you find a nursing home or get you live-in care.”

“No worries. You’re doing that, missy. You just being here will bring some of the others, and then they can knock themselves out, trying to win my favor.”

The old man just didn’t get it. She put a hand on his forehead and shook her head. “Nope, no fever. You’re not delirious, just deluded.”

He sniffed and turned away. “Just you wait and see. They’ll be here.”

As she carried his things to the kitchen and began putting them away, she slammed doors a little harder than needed. But if any of his kids were like him, the old fool might be right.