by Arlene James
So much for chivalry.
* * *
Kathryn had never known how to behave around men, especially the good-looking ones, and Jake Smith definitely fit into that category. With his rumpled black-coffee-colored hair, chiseled features and straight white teeth, he was movie-star handsome, and that dark, prickly shadow practically shouted masculinity. It was the way he moved that made her so nervous, however. Every motion proclaimed him a confident, capable man who had never met an obstacle he couldn’t overcome.
Before getting into the vehicle with him, she’d reasoned that no man with a three-year-old in tow would truly present a threat, but old habits died hard. Since the age of seventeen, Kathryn had been virtually on her own, apart from the wider world, tied to her mom’s bedside by that woman’s debilitating physical condition. Always shy, Kathryn had never been very brave or confident, and from the time of her mother’s accident, she had diligently taken every precaution, especially after her father had abandoned them.
As usual, thoughts of Mitchel Stepp brought a world of worry down on Kathryn. How was she to keep him from forcing the sale of her home when she couldn’t come up with the money to buy him out? And now her car was broken down. If only she could find her mother’s insurance policy. It wouldn’t pay much, but it might be enough to satisfy her father for at least a while. Her salary as a home care provider covered her bills and allowed her to put aside a bit every month to cover the property taxes that would come due at the end of the year, but Mitchel expected thousands, half the value of her house.
As Jake pulled the metallic olive-green truck to a stop in front of Sandy Cabbot’s lonely little farmhouse, he glanced around. “Can someone here give you a ride back to town when you’re finished? I don’t see a car anywhere.”
Shaking her head, she opened the door. “I’ll manage. Thanks for your help.”
“It’s no problem,” he said. “If you want me to look at your car—”
She cut that off right away. “I can’t afford to pay you, Mr. Smith.”
He balanced a forearm against the top of the steering wheel. “Jake. I didn’t ask for payment. And the fact is you can’t go walking far in this heat.”
Stepping out onto the running board, she replied, “We do what we must.” That was one lesson she’d learned early and well.
“What time are you through here?” he asked.
She reached the ground and turned to face him. “Why?”
He pulled off his mirrored shades and tossed them onto the dash, fixing her with a hard stare. His eyes were such a dark brown they were almost black. “What time?”
“Six.” The reply was out before she could stop it.
“Then I’ll be back at six.”
Kathryn bit her lips. She knew she shouldn’t get in that truck with him again. He made her feel...well, not frightened really, but completely inadequate, and she did not need help with that. She cleared her throat anxiously. “That’s not—”
He reached across and pulled the cab door shut.
“—necessary,” she muttered, watching as he backed the truck around and drove away in a cloud of red dust.
Confident, capable, commanding—and apparently not used to taking no for an answer—he was exactly the last sort of man she should find attractive, and that she did find him attractive, wildly so, was reason enough to avoid him. She didn’t know how to deal with a man like him, but then he wouldn’t be interested in a plain, shy, unsophisticated woman like her, anyway. At least she wouldn’t have to walk back to town tonight. How she’d manage tomorrow, she couldn’t imagine, but she’d worry about that, and everything else, later. Moving toward the house, she thought of the boy and smiled.
Hey, lady.
Frankie certainly wasn’t shy. She didn’t know anything about children, but despite losing his mother at such a tender age, he seemed to be happy and well-adjusted, if a bit loud. Nevertheless, with her own mother’s death still fresh in her memory, her heart went out to him.
She wondered what had happened to the late Mrs. Smith. Illness or accident? Mia Stepp’s death had been a combination of the two, her illness a direct result of the automobile accident that had battered her body and left her paralyzed and brain damaged. Kathryn missed her dreadfully, but Frankie’s confident, carefree words concerning his own mother came back to her.
She in heben. She like it.
Kathryn prayed that was so. For both his mother and hers.
As she greeted Sandy, her elderly client, and began checking his vital signs before starting his lunch, she couldn’t help wondering how long ago Mrs. Jake Smith had passed on. And how many women were already lined up to take her place.
It made no difference. She would never see Jake Smith again after this evening.
She certainly would not think of him as her rescuer.
Even if he was.
Chapter Two
Despite Frankie’s many questions, Jake couldn’t get Kathryn Stepp off his mind. You’d think no one had ever done that woman a favor before, Jake mused as he wandered around the auto parts store, waiting for the clerk to bring up his supplies from the warehouse. It cost less for the supplier to ship his goods to the auto parts store in Ardmore than to the ranch.
“S’wat that?” Frankie pointed at a rotating display rack.
“Air freshener. It makes the car smell good.”
“I wan’ it.” Frankie reached out his hand.
Jake took the inexpensive air freshener from the display. In the shape of a fir tree, it smelled of evergreen. He scratched the odor patch on the back of the package and held it to Frankie’s nose. The boy inhaled deeply, smiled and nodded.
“Okay, but after it’s opened it stays in the truck. It’s not a toy.”
Nodding, Frankie reached for the package. Jake handed it over. Frankie immediately reached for another. “Ty’er want one,” he said.
Jake picked up another air freshener for Tyler. They continued wandering the store until the clerk signaled them a few moments later.
After loading boxes into the bed of the truck, they stopped for lunch then ran two more errands before heading home. As Jake turned toward the ranch, he thought of Kathryn Stepp again, of the tears she’d tried to hide from him and the worry in her voice.
Without that car, I can’t work, and if I can’t work, I can’t fix the car. I can’t afford to pay you, Mr. Smith.
Mr. Smith.
The contrary woman didn’t like him much, though he was just trying to help her. She did like Frankie, though, and vice versa. That counted with Jake. Besides, how could he not help when he had the skills to do so?
For most of the drive, he mulled over how to convince her to accept his assistance. Maybe Tina could talk Kathryn into letting him work on her car. Or the Billings sisters. The Billingses were a prominent ranching family around War Bonnet, greatly respected for their honesty and generosity. He wondered if he could get Tina to ride with him when he went to pick up Kathryn that evening. It would be an inconvenience. Six was the dinner hour in the Smith household. Why couldn’t Kathryn Stepp just accept his help and let that be that?
Before he could decide how to handle the problem, he came upon her old car. Instinctively, he whipped over to the shoulder of the road and got out. A quick look told him that the little coupe had a standard transmission and the door was unlocked. Jake kept a sturdy chain handy for emergencies such as this. It was the work of minutes to hook up the chain, flick on the flashers and move the car’s transmission out of gear so he could tow it.
“The lady’s car!” Frankie exclaimed gleefully as Jake slowly tugged the little old coupe into motion.
“Yep. The lady’s car,” Jake confirmed, feeling the snap and tug of the chain.
Towing a car like this was risky business, but if he slowed properly he could bring both vehicles to a halt without causing damage to either. He
guided the truck and coupe into a slow, arcing turn and made his way to Loco Man Ranch on the outskirts of War Bonnet, where he coasted to a stop in the middle of the compound yard. The coupe came to a rest right behind Tina’s old car.
Tina was driving a brand-spanking-new SUV now, and Ryder was supposed to be driving Tina’s car, but Jake had noticed that his little brother found lots of excuses for driving his brothers’ trucks instead. He couldn’t blame Ryder. All the Smith brothers stood three inches over six feet, and Ryder was by far the biggest, most muscular of the trio. A small car wasn’t a good fit.
Jake took Frankie and their purchases into the house, where Frankie instantly announced, “We got a lady an’er car!”
Tina, who was removing the lunch dishes from the newly installed dishwasher, straightened in surprise. “I need to go shopping more often. What size lady did you get?”
Jake chuckled. “We stopped to help a lady whose car broke down beside the road. I towed it into the yard so I can take a look at it.”
“Oh. Good thing you happened along. Where’s the lady?”
“I took her to work. Gotta go back and get her at six.”
“Ah. I can go get her if you want,” Tina offered lightly. “If you don’t mind eating early.”
He shrugged as if it didn’t matter. But somehow, it did. “I’ll take care of it. Besides, I need to talk to her about her car.” Tina nodded, but for some reason, Jake felt as if he needed to defend himself. “She doesn’t seem to have much money.”
Tina smiled. “Naturally you’ll help her.”
He didn’t know what to say to that, so he changed the subject. “Frankie’s got something for Tyler. To go in the new SUV.”
“Christmas tree!” Frankie declared, holding the two small packages aloft.
“So that’s why you had to have it.” Jake chuckled. “You’re four months too early, pal.”
Smiling, Tina went to take Frankie’s arm. “Tyler’s in his room. Let’s carry it up to him. Okay?”
Frankie nodded happily, and they moved toward the hallway.
“If you don’t mind keeping an eye on him for a little while,” Jake said quickly, “I’d like to get Kathryn’s car into the barn and go over it.”
Tina shot him a smile over one shoulder. “Sure. And thanks for picking up those things for me.”
“No problem.”
As he headed to the door, Jake heard her say to Frankie, “Kathryn, hmm?”
“Miss Kat’ryn,” Frankie corrected.
Tina’s soft hmm made Jake wince.
Newlyweds always thought everyone around them was trying to couple up. Well, he’d been there and done that already. Besides, even if he dared reach for such happiness again, he suspected that once in a lifetime was all anyone could expect. Maybe it was all he could endure.
* * *
“Where’s Frankie?” Kathryn asked, trying not to sound as nervous as she felt.
“Playing with his cousin.”
The truck engine idling, Jake waited patiently until she buckled her seat belt before backing the truck around and heading it down the dirt road.
Kathryn watched Sandy’s little house recede in the side-view mirror of the truck and wondered if she’d ever be back, and if not, what would become of the gaunt, pleasant old man. Nearly ninety, he got around with the help of a walker and in the average week saw just Kathryn and a rural nurse. With his family far away, he depended on professional caregivers.
Out of the blue, Jake Smith said, “I towed your car to Loco Man.”
She gasped. “You did what? I told you, I can’t afford—”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” he interrupted, shaking a hand at her. “But I couldn’t leave it sitting on the side of the road. It could’ve been hit. And I don’t know where you live, so I couldn’t tow it there. Besides, I can fix it for the cost of the parts. My shop’s not operational yet, but I’ve got everything I need to work on it in the barn.”
Hope welled up inside her. “You’d do that?”
“Sure. I can give you wholesale prices on the parts, too, but it’s still gonna cost in the hundreds,” he warned. “The engine has to be completely rebuilt.”
Her hope of a moment before waned. If only she could find that insurance policy, but she’d looked everywhere she could think to look. The company insisted that they had no record of the changes they’d agreed upon more than a decade ago. Kathryn bit her lips, noticed him watching and stopped. A moment’s thought told her she really had no other choice.
“Put together an estimate then,” she told him uncertainly. “I’ll try to figure out something.” Hopefully, her tax savings would cover it. If not...she didn’t want to go there.
“I’ll calculate the estimate tonight,” he promised. “Now, where am I taking you?”
“Oh. It’s Sixth Street. Number eleven. In War Bonnet, of course.”
They drove along in silence for some time before he abruptly announced that Frankie had begged for air fresheners for himself and his cousin because they came in the shape of Christmas trees. Kathryn had to digest that.
“You mean those evergreen car fresheners?”
“Yep.”
“You know those could be dangerous, don’t you? He shouldn’t put it in his mouth.”
“Relax, worrywart,” Jake said, grinning. “The air fresheners are still in their packages, and once they come out, they’ll be used for their intended purpose.”
“Oh. Well, you can’t be too careful.”
“Really? You mean like accepting rides from strangers on isolated Oklahoma roads?”
She started to say that she hadn’t had any other choice, but suddenly every murder mystery she’d ever read, every cop show she’d ever watched, flitted through her mind.
“Oh, come on,” Jake said. “You’re perfectly safe with me. It was a joke.”
Kathryn caught a swift breath and provided him with a weak smile. “I’m sure I am. It’s just that this has never happened before, and I can’t help worrying. A-about the car.”
“Want me to stop off at the ranch and ask my sister-in-law to ride the rest of the way with us?” he asked, clearly not fooled.
She considered it, but Sandy knew where she was and who she was with. He spent a great deal of time on the phone with his few remaining friends, and word had filtered through the grapevine that the Smith brothers were regular attenders at Countryside Church and friends of the Billings family. Besides, Jake had been very generous with his time and concern thus far. She shook her head, feeling a little foolish.
“No. Thanks for offering, though.”
He smiled, nodded and fell silent again.
It’s just that he’s so handsome, she told herself, and so big.
She was used to standing as tall as most men, or nearly so. Those she met in the grocery store and at the gas station weren’t usually as tall as him. Plus, she knew them, at least by sight or name, and if they spoke to her, she just nodded and moved on. Glancing at Jake’s broad, long-fingered hands, she wondered why none of those other men seemed as strong, capable or dangerous as him. She felt a keen sense of relief—and a puzzling disappointment—when they turned onto Sixth Street.
“This is a lovely part of town,” he remarked, slowly navigating the tree-shaded lane.
“Yes. Our house is the smallest on the street, but it’s so pretty here.”
“Our?” he queried. The word came out sharply.
“It’s my mother’s house,” she murmured, deciding not to mention her mother’s recent death. Of course, he could find out from anybody in town, but why would he? Whether he was a Good Samaritan or merely drumming up business, his only interest would be in her car. He was no threat and couldn’t have any interest in her personally. Still, she owed him no explanations.
He brought the big truck to a halt in the narrow drive, g
lancing around. “This is really nice.”
Kathryn couldn’t help smiling. She was proud of her flower beds, and she thought the green trim, which matched the shingles on the roof, made a pretty contrast to the white siding.
“About the car,” he said, abruptly switching subjects. “When should I drop off the estimate?”
She didn’t stop to wonder why he didn’t offer to call with the estimate. “I have to be at a client’s house every morning by ten and don’t get off until six.”
How she was going to get to her clients, she had no idea. Sandy had suggested she rent a car from a facility in Ardmore, but a quick telephone call had revealed that even a few days’ rental fee would consume more of her income than she could afford, and it wouldn’t fix her car. Maybe the agency for which she worked could offer a solution. Hopefully, one other than firing her.
Jake nodded. “I see. Okay, then.”
She grappled for the door handle, found it and let herself out of the idling truck. “Thank you so much for your help.”
Smiling in acknowledgment, he nodded again. She shut the door and stepped back. Within moments, he and his truck had disappeared the way they’d come. As Kathryn turned toward the house, she spied old Mrs. Trident glaring at her from the front steps of the house next door. Kathryn waved, but Mrs. Trident simply turned and went back inside.
She’d avoided the Stepp household since Kathryn’s father had stumbled up the wrong steps, drunk and belligerent, one night more than a decade ago. Soon after, realizing that Mia Stepp was never going to recover from her accident, he’d abandoned his handicapped wife and seventeen-year-old daughter, but that didn’t seem to matter to Mrs. Trident. In all those years, Kathryn hadn’t heard from her father until about six months after her mother’s death, when he’d sent a letter demanding that Kathryn sell the house and split the profit with him.