“You look fine.” His warm gaze trailed slowly over her face. He had a way of looking at a woman that made her feel beautiful, a talent she felt sure had served him well over the years. “A little sleep rumpled and tired, but you had a rough day yesterday.”
Determined to remain immune to his well-practiced brand of charm, she tried to blink the bleariness from her eyes. A yawn tried to crawl up her throat. She swallowed it back.
He shoved back his sleeve to check his watch. “I apologize for rousting you out at this hour, but here on the Lazy J we get up with the chickens. I was hoping to give you a walk-through over at the house and discuss your job duties before I start my day. I usually head out pretty early.”
Molly lost her battle with the yawn and blinked again. “Don’t apologize. It’s my own fault for staying up so late. Can you give me a few minutes? I need to grab a quick shower and get my eyes open. Then I’ll be over.”
He nodded. “Not a problem. I have milking to do and eggs to gather. How does thirty minutes strike you?”
She stifled another yawn. “Make it thirty-five, and you’ve got a deal.”
He grinned, the flash of his white teeth almost blinding. “Thirty-five, it is.”
He started to leave, then turned back, his hand coming to rest on a length of rope tucked over his belt. “I almost forgot.” He tugged the hemp free and dangled it before her nose. “I promised you a snake deterrent.” He stepped around her to advance on the wood box. After arranging the rope in a half circle on the floor, each end touching the log wall, he made his way back to her. “That should do it.”
Molly glanced dubiously at the rope. “That really works?”
“No snakes will get in the house and crawl over that rope, guaranteed.”
A short length of rope seemed pitifully inadequate to her, but he had to know a lot more about it than she did. “Thank you. Having it there will ease my mind.”
“That’s the whole idea, easing your mind.” He opened the door. “Sorry to run, but I’ve got chores. I’d best get to them.”
Sleepy-eyed, she watched as he stepped back out onto the porch. After the door crashed closed, she dropped onto the old leather easy chair to finish gulping down the coffee. Thirty minutes? That was barely enough time to prop one eyelid open. She groaned and rubbed her face. It had been too long since she’d had to get up early for work. Her body was in shock. For the last five months, she’d been restricted from taking a job, so she’d staved off boredom by volunteering at the hospital pediatric ward in the afternoons. Reading Winnie the Pooh aloud and bending flexible straws into imaginative shapes hadn’t kept her in shape for the rigors of real employment.
Getting up with the chickens was really going to suck.
Thirty minutes later, Molly knocked on the front door of the house. With every breath she exhaled, foggy puffs of steam formed. She glanced at a big, clock-faced thermometer mounted on a railing beam to her right. Thirty-five degrees? She shuddered, wishing she’d had the good sense to grab her parka. The sleeves of her loose cotton top clung to her skin where she’d failed to get completely dry after her shower, and she’d braided her hair while it was still wet. She felt like a human icicle.
From inside, she heard voices. Then came the sharp tap of boots on the interior oak floor. She expected to see Jake. Instead, a wiry older man with thinning gray hair and friendly green eyes opened the door. “Howdy!” he said warmly. “I reckon you must be Molly.” He thrust out a gnarled hand that looked none too clean. “I’m Levi.”
Molly grasped his extended fingers, expecting the usual polite shake. “I’m pleased to meet you, Levi.”
“Not as pleased as I am.” He proceeded to raise and lower her arm as if it were a pump handle. “I understand you’re one hell of a shade-tree grease monkey.”
“One hell of a—?” Molly broke off, swallowed, and revised that by saying, “You understand I’m a what?”
“A mechanic.” Instead of stepping back so she might enter the house, Levi joined her on the porch and shut the door. “My Mandy has a perplexin’ hitch in her get-along.”
Molly was beginning to wonder if they spoke the same language.
He grasped her elbow and turned her about-face. “Runnin’ rough as a cob, like as if there’s water in her gas tank. No crack in the block, though, and the fuel checks out fine. I changed all the plugs, and that didn’t help.” He led her down the steps. “Threw in a new fuel pump, and that didn’t help, either. Jake, now, he’s a fine mechanic. Most times, he can fix what’s broke. But he hasn’t had time to spare all week.”
With Molly firmly in tow, Levi walked to a battered brown Ford pickup with rusted rims and a bumper wired on with coat hangers. He slapped the front fender. “She don’t look like much, but we’re old friends. Can you tell me what’s ailin’ her?”
This was her first day on the job, and she didn’t want to be late meeting Jake. But when she looked into Levi’s worried green eyes, she couldn’t tell him no. “Well,” she said hesitantly. “I suppose I can take a look.”
She stood back as he climbed into the pickup and started the engine. The resultant roar nearly split her eardrums. Black smoke puffed from the rattling tailpipe. After the initial explosion of noise, the engine settled into an erratic pattern of sputters, coughs, and vibrations. Molly tipped her head. “That sounds like a timing problem.”
“No kidding? Can you fix her?”
Molly stared at him incredulously. Most men smirked at her mechanic skills. Women had their place, and under the hood of a vehicle definitely wasn’t it. “I, um …” She knew she should put him off until later, but his expression was so imploring she didn’t have the heart to do it. “I suppose I can try. Do you have a timing light?”
Levi spilled back out of the cab, amazingly spry for a man who looked to be well past sixty. His red cotton work shirt was spotlessly clean, the sleeves rolled back to a precise three-quarter length. “Honey, there’s not much by way of mechanic tools we don’t got. Mainly we’re lackin’ in know-how.” He flashed her a smile. “It’s glad we’ll be to have another decent mechanic on the place.”
How long could it possibly take for a woman to shower and dress?
Jake sighed and stepped to the stove to pour a third cup of coffee, a rarity for him. Here it was, seven fifteen, and he hadn’t even started his day yet. When Molly finally showed up, they would have to come to a clear understanding, namely that he expected her to be prompt.
“What’s got you in such a grump?” Hank asked when he stepped in from outside. “You look like you could chew bolts and spit out buckshot.”
“Molly’s forty-five minutes late. I told her yesterday that we aren’t much on schedules around here, and I guess she took it to heart.”
Hank chuckled. “She got waylaid.”
“By whom?”
“Levi. He’s got her working on his pickup.”
“You’re not serious.”
Hank grabbed some crackers from a plate. “If you want to chew her ass, now’s a fine time. She’s head down under the hood, with nothing but cute fanny poking out.”
Hank’s description titillated Jake’s imagination. He set his mug on the counter and strode through the house to the front door. When he stepped onto the porch, he saw that Hank had called it right. Molly’s body was angled head down over the battered grill of Levi’s pickup, the seat of her denim jeans pointing skyward. There was more of her than just fanny showing, but that was the part of her that caught and held the male eye.
Nice. As he ran his gaze over those sweetly plump contours, Jake wished, not for the first time, that the lady would wear some clothes that came close to fitting her.
Molly chose that moment to wiggle her butt, providing a display of feminine roundness that resulted in a swift arch of Jake’s eyebrows. On second thought, he wasn’t sure snugger britches would be a good thing. As it was, Benny was lingering in the doorway of the stable, his blue eyes fixed on Molly’s upturned posterior, a vacuous
expression on his craggy face. Standing behind him was Jake’s youngest hand, Danno, a redheaded twenty-year-old with more testosterone and freckles than brains.
As Jake descended the front steps and started across the yard, he shot both hired hands a warning look that jerked them to attention. Benny, the older of the two at thirty-six, ran a finger under the red bandana at his throat, collected himself, and swung around to return to the stable, only to collide with Danno, who suddenly decided to head out. In a tangle of arms and legs, they looked as though they were doing the tango for a moment.
Jake released a sigh. Nope. Snug britches on Molly would not be conducive to labor output. As he made his way across the remainder of the barnyard, he assumed a scowl, which he felt was deserved under the circumstances. Just because the lady had a world-class ass and more curves than a road atlas didn’t mean she could keep him waiting for forty-five minutes without hearing about it.
As he drew up at the fender of the truck, Jake cast a grinning Levi a narrow-eyed glance. Raising his voice to be heard over the now smooth purr of the engine, he said, “I hired this woman to cook and clean, not work on trucks.” He glanced at his watch. “We had an appointment forty-five minutes ago.”
At the sound of Jake’s voice, Molly gave such a start she dropped the timing light, rapped her head on the raised pickup hood, and almost fell off the bumper. Levi caught her from toppling with a hand on her rump, which made her jump as if he had goosed her. In a borrowed denim jacket that was several sizes too large, she looked too cute by half as she teetered on her dented chrome perch and grabbed for balance.
“Mr. Coulter!” She fixed huge, butterscotch-brown eyes on him. “Has it really been forty-five minutes?”
He struggled not to smile. It was a little hard to stay mad when she looked so horrified. “It certainly has, and I have work to do.”
She clamped a greasy hand over the smarting spot on her head. “I didn’t think I’d been out here that long. I knocked on the door precisely at six-thirty. Honestly.”
Since it was her first day and he knew Levi, Jake decided to go easy. He assured himself that his decision to be lenient had nothing to do with the worried, apprehensive look in her big brown eyes. What in God’s name had happened in her life to give her such a low estimation of men? He wasn’t going to fire her for being a few minutes late.
Softening his tone, he said, “Hank told me you got way-laid.” He glanced at his hired hand. “Levi tends to come on like a high wind sometimes.” He took the sting out of what he said next by giving her a teasing wink. “I’ll let it go this time. Just don’t let it happen again, all right?”
She gave the crown of her head another rub, then grimaced as she lowered her hand and saw the grease on her fingers.
“You about finished up?” Jake asked. “Sounds like she’s running better.”
She reached for a grease cloth lying over the radiator cap. As she wiped her hands, she said, “It was only the timing.” She flashed a sweet smile at Levi. “She needs a lot of other work done, though. The points should be replaced, and that liquid weld you put in the radiator won’t last. You might call around to some junkyards, Levi. If you can find a radiator, I’ll be happy to help you put it in when I have a day off.”
“You’re an angel, Miss Molly. I’ll get right on finding one.”
The elderly cowboy offered her a hand down. Jake observed the interaction between the two, Molly hesitant and uncertain, the old man oblivious to her shyness. Levi Trump had never met a stranger. Though she still seemed tense, it appeared to Jake that his housekeeper was already well on her way to making friends with the old codger. Unless he missed his guess, Molly needed a friend, and for all his rough edges, Levi would be a fine one. He was old enough to be safe, yet young enough to remember being on the shy side of thirty with more problems than solutions.
Jake glanced at his watch again. Molly’s cheeks went pink. “I’m ready.”
“I certainly hope. The day’s half over.” Glancing at Levi, Jake said, “I thought you and Shorty were supposed to be changing hand lines.”
“We’re headin’ out straightaway.” Levi plucked the grease rag from Molly’s fingers. “I thank you kindly for fixin’ Mandy, honey.”
“It wasn’t any big deal.” Molly’s cheeks turned a deeper pink as she peeled off the jacket and returned it to the hired hand. “I was glad to do it.”
Hooking the jacket over his shoulder by a thumb, Levi nodded and winked at Jake. “Thanks for the loan of your cook, boss. Though I gotta point out, maybe you hired her for the wrong job.”
Jake listened to the purr of the engine for a moment. “Maybe so.”
He swung a hand, indicating that Molly should precede him to the house. She set off, affording him a pleasing view of her backside as she walked. The breeze picked up, molding the loose folds of her cotton top to her body, showcasing a slender waist and full hips that could easily make a man go cross-eyed if he admired the action for too long.
“I really was at the door by six-thirty, just as agreed,” she said over her shoulder, “but Levi caught me before I got inside.”
“At least Mandy’s fixed. He’s been pestering me all week to have a look at her, and I haven’t had time.” Lengthening his stride, Jake drew abreast of her as they reached the porch. “So tell me, how did a pretty girl like you become an ace mechanic?”
She rolled her eyes, whether at the compliment or the question, Jake wasn’t sure. “I can thank my father for what little skill I have. He was into antique cars and did all the refurbishing himself.”
Jake took her arm as they went up the steps. Her hip bumped against his thigh, and he felt her stiffen. “So you developed an interest in old cars and learned a lot about engines in the process?”
“Actually, I didn’t enjoy working on cars all that much. I think I knew, even as a teenager, that I might end up single, and just in case, I wanted to have rudimentary mechanic skills.”
Jake shot her a sharp look. “Why was that?”
“It can be tough for a single woman if she knows nothing about cars.”
Jake released her arm as they gained the porch. “No, I mean why did you think you’d end up single?”
“Do you think that I suddenly woke up a plain Jane yesterday morning?”
Jake looked deeply into her beautiful eyes, and his heart caught at what he didn’t see there. No laughter, no hint that she was joking. She honestly believed she was plain.
Try as he might, he could make no sense of that. Granted, she wasn’t Jake’s usual type, but there was no denying that she was pretty. How could she possibly look at that face and not see what everyone else did?
Had someone told her she was unattractive? All too often, one’s self-image was formed by the cruel remarks of others. If Molly had been told she was plain, she would see a plain woman when she looked in the mirror. It was as simple and as heartbreaking as that.
He absolutely could not tell this woman she was pretty again. This was her first day on the job, and she was the only female on the ranch. If he paid her too many compliments, she might think he was coming on to her. A man in a position of authority had to be careful what he said and did when dealing with a female employee.
There would be no misunderstandings of that nature, not if he could help it. After showing her through the house and explaining her duties, he would give her the list of groceries they needed, write a check for the purchases, supply her with a vehicle, and leave her to manage the rest on her own.
Chapter Eight
Eight hours later, Molly entered the pantry and stared at a collection of small coolers on the top shelves. They were a variety of colors, none large enough to hold much more than a six-pack of soda pop and all sporting ground-in dirt. Why on earth were they taking up kitchen storage?
She didn’t have time to worry about it. Going into town for groceries had taken up most of her morning. She’d spent the afternoon cleaning and doing laundry. Now it was almost five. She did
n’t want to be late getting dinner on the table.
Throat constricted with nerves, she went to get the vegetables. The amount needed to fix a stir-fry for twelve people was amazing. Feeding so many, she would have to go shopping for fresh produce every few days.
She was pleased that there was an industrial range with a nice grill and a gigantic oven. There was also plenty of commercial-size cookware. She wouldn’t have the added headache of having to use three or four pots to fix enough of one thing.
She worried her bottom lip as she began peeling carrots. She’d never been a blue ribbon cook. This teriyaki dish was one of her personal favorites, and she was adding chicken because she figured they’d all like meat. She wanted to start out with a meal that everyone enjoyed. First impressions were important.
Oh, God. Why had she agreed to take this job? Rodney had hated her cooking. Now, here she was, trying to feed eleven men. Hello, Molly. Are you out of your mind?
As soon as she got the vegetables rinsed, she had to get the rice on the stove. She glanced at the wall clock. Yet another of Jake’s creations, its case was a four-leaf clover made of horseshoes, the hands fashioned with antique nails. It was unique and suited the rustic log house perfectly, as did the old Jack Daniel’s barrel that served as a sink vanity in the downstairs bath. Molly had never seen a home built by its owner from the foundation up. The plank doors and rudimentary detailing in every room created a delightful pioneer simplicity that made her feel as if she’d stepped into the past.
The clock said ten after five, leaving only fifty minutes if she meant to serve dinner at six. Looking at that silly clock soothed her frazzled nerves. Jake Coulter seemed to be a simple man with simple tastes. He would be happy with anything she cooked as long as it was edible. It was dumb to get in a dither.
Jake was starving and figured his hired hands were as well. They’d been out of bread for sandwiches that morning, so they’d all worked straight through with only crackers and peanut butter for lunch. When men did hard physical work, they needed plenty of grub to keep their strength up.
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