by Arlene James
He handed her up into the truck once more, resisting the urge to let himself touch her more than absolutely necessary. He couldn’t help thinking, Lord, this is not what I call solid ground. On the other hand, You’ve been known to help others walk on water.
He just hoped he wasn’t about to find himself in over his head.
They were halfway back to Loco Man when Kathryn suddenly remarked, “You’re awful quiet.”
He shifted in his seat. “Lot on my mind. First, there’s Frankie’s pony. That’s why I was late. I tried to talk to the veterinarian about it earlier. Hopefully, he can help me figure out how to tame that contrary little beast.”
“The pony, you mean,” she clarified.
“Yes, the pony,” Jake said, grinning. Shy and private she might be, but she couldn’t help those protective instincts, not when it came to Frankie, anyway. He’d called her a worrywart that first day, but she was more of a polite Mama Bear. “I’m perfectly aware that my son is no beast. He is, however, fearless on the back of a horse, even though he’s not as in control as he needs to be.”
“He’ll figure it out,” Kathryn assured him. “You’ll keep working with him, and he’ll figure it out.”
“Yeah. Eventually.”
“So what’s next?”
“Huh?”
“You said you had a lot on your mind, and first thing was Frankie and his pony. I just wondered what was next.”
“Right.” He waved a hand. “Well, there’s the shop.”
“What shop?”
“I told you I was building an auto repair shop.”
“Oh. That’s right. Where is it?”
“A few hundred yards from the house, fronting the road.”
“Sounds convenient.”
“That’s the idea. We’re putting up the concrete block walls now. Meanwhile, I’m buying all the stuff I’ll need to get operational.”
“And working on my car,” she said apologetically.
He shrugged. “Ryder’s helping out.”
“I’m sure you’ll be glad when you no longer have to drive me everywhere. That’ll be one thing off your mind.”
As if, he thought, I haven’t been able to get you off my mind since I met you.
He said, “Aw, that’s no big deal. It’s just a few minutes each way.”
“I guess you’ll need me to look after Frankie even more once your shop opens.”
Now, why hadn’t he thought of that? She was entirely right. “I will,” he told her, hoping he didn’t sound as surprised—or dismayed—as he felt. So much for temporary situations and keeping his distance.
Lord, help me, he prayed.
Why did he think this was one prayer that wouldn’t be answered as he hoped?
Chapter Six
Frankie greeted Kathryn with hugs. While he towed her off to see Tyler’s dog, Jake unloaded her stuff and hurried away. Afterward, despite Frankie’s “help,” Kathryn was able to organize and settle her sewing materials into the laundry room before Tina sent the boys upstairs to play so she and Kathryn could look through fabrics and talk decor. Frankie soon returned to usurp Kathryn’s attention, however.
“My puppies,” he pleaded.
Kathryn pulled out the stencil and took him upstairs to begin the process. He lay on the bed, his little chin propped on the heels of his hands, and watched as she drew a level line around three walls of the room. She taped the stencil to the wall to show Frankie where the puppies would go, but she couldn’t paint without first sanding the area smooth. Before she could begin that, Tina called her downstairs to talk about lunch.
They’d barely discussed the menu when a contractor arrived to consult with Tina about the massive carport that Wyatt had planned just outside the back door. According to Tina, Wyatt wanted the door, steps and stoop covered, too. That meant connecting the roof of the carport to the house. Tina’s main concern was that the carport look period appropriate and not detract from the house. While Tina and the contractor pored over architectural styles on the computer, Kathryn made lunch on her own. Tina had told her that the guys would eat almost anything but loved Mexican food in particular.
By the time Ryder came in, followed within minutes by Wyatt, Kathryn had an enormous chicken-and-rice dish on the table, along with a spinach salad, sliced melon and flour tortillas. After seeing out the contractor, Tina stood with her hands on her hips and shook her head.
“Beats the stuffing out of ham-and-cheese sandwiches.” She shook a finger at Kathryn. “I need to pick your brain about the breakfast menu for the B and B.”
Pleased, Kathryn said she’d look through her cookbooks. “I’ve got a bunch of old ones that belonged to my grandmother. There’s some good stuff in them.”
Tina waved a hand at the table against the far wall that she used as her personal desk. “There’s the computer, too.”
“I don’t know much about computers. Anything, really.”
“You’ll get the hang of it,” Tina promised, just as Jake came through the door.
“I’ll do the cooking and leave the computer to you,” Kathryn replied happily.
The boys clambered down the stairs and soon appeared in the kitchen. Tina swept them into the bathroom to wash up, while Kathryn went to the refrigerator for salsa and iced tea. As they all took their places around the table, Wyatt announced that he’d bought another bull and turned it into the south pasture.
“Hopefully we’ll grow the herd and have a few head ready for market by this time next year.”
“That’s good news,” Tina said, clasping his hand.
Everyone else linked hands then. Kathryn noticed that Jake held her hand loosely. Tyler was deputized to lead the prayer this time. He showed no signs of self-consciousness but kept it brief. Wyatt, Tina and Ryder chatted about their mornings as they filled plates.
Last to serve himself, Jake neither looked at anyone nor spoke. A whisper of unease filtered through Kathryn. Wyatt also seemed to sense Jake’s withdrawal and tried to bring him into the conversation.
“Did you get to talk to Stark?”
“Yep.”
“And did he have any ideas about what to do with that pony?”
Jake nodded, his attention fixed on his plate.
Wyatt pushed him a little. “What did Stark say?”
“He thinks we’re using the wrong tack, and he had some advice on training.”
“Which is?”
“We can discuss it tonight. I have to eat and get back on that car.”
Kathryn’s unease increased. “I—I can start paying you back for the parts next week,” she told him softly. “My last paycheck from my previous employer should be in the bank by Monday.” Jake responded with the barest of nods, prompting her to speak further. “A-and, of course, I’ll recompense you for your work, too.”
“We can discuss that later,” Jake said briskly, stirring his arroz con pollo in such a fashion that she worried he found it unappetizing. She had made it on the mild side because of the boys, but the salsa should have added enough spice for him.
“As long as you know that—”
“Later,” Jake snapped.
An awkward silence followed. Tina cleared her throat and launched into a description of what she and Kathryn had planned for the master bedroom.
“Sounds great,” Wyatt said, smiling. “Ought to be very pretty.”
“It won’t be too feminine,” Tina promised. Tina had been adamant about that. Some sort of silent communication sizzled between husband and wife. Kathryn looked away, a little embarrassed by the cozy, affectionate air that so often surrounded the couple.
Ryder forked up a bite of food and waved it at Kathryn. “This is really good.”
Kathryn smiled and said, “Glad you’re enjoying it.”
Talk turned to Tina’s visit with the co
ntractor that morning. Kathryn ate in silence, casting glances around the table. All the Smith brothers were handsome men, but something about Jake drew her and had done so from the beginning, so much so that she’d felt nervous and wary around him. This morning, she’d thought they were becoming more comfortable with each other, but now he seemed to be sending off waves of...it felt like disappointment or hostility. Or maybe it was just indifference. He seemed completely detached.
Ryder pushed back his chair and addressed her. “Can I help you with anything this afternoon, Kathryn? Tina said you wanted to do some stenciling in Frankie’s room.”
She automatically hesitated. “Oh, I wouldn’t want to interrupt your schedule.”
“It’s too hot at this time of day to work on the shop, and I’m waiting for the baseboards and paint we ordered for the bunkhouse to come in. Don’t need to tend the horses ’til evening, so if you need some prep done, I’ll be glad to help.”
Once, Kathryn would have turned down his help for fear she’d be criticized or somehow disappoint him, but that wasn’t true now. She knew exactly what she wanted to do on Frankie’s walls, and she knew that she could do a good job of it, just as she knew that she could do a good job with the rest of the house and be of real help to Tina. Why should she turn down help when it was offered?
She looked at Ryder and said, “I’d appreciate that. I’ve marked off the border on the three walls I want to paint, but the space has to be taped and sanded.”
“Consider it done,” Ryder said, getting to his feet.
Jake also rose. Looking down at Frankie, he ordered, “Stay out of the way and let Uncle Ryder work. And do whatever KKay tells you.”
Frankie nodded meekly, watching, along with everyone else, as Jake strode to the door, yanked it open and disappeared.
Tina sat back in her chair and raised her eyebrows at her husband, who reached for the serving spoon and dipped it into the arroz con pollo. “Mighty good lunch,” he said, nodding at Kathryn. Glancing at Tina, he added, “Interesting.”
What that meant, Kathryn didn’t know, but she felt a little sick, as if the ground had moved unexpectedly beneath her feet. Silently, she rose and began cleaning the kitchen.
Jake strode out to the barn, his mind whirling with doubts and confusion. He felt like a surly old dog with a bone that he kept burying and digging up. It just wouldn’t leave him alone.
Or rather, she. She just wouldn’t leave him alone. He’d kept his distance all morning, tracking down Stark and badgering him for advice about Frankie’s pony when he should have been working on her car. Through it all, she hadn’t left his mind for a moment.
Did she have some man in her life that no one knew about? Or was it possible, as Meredith Burns believed, that Kathryn had never even been on a date? He couldn’t accept that at first, but now the idea haunted him, so much so that he feared he’d do something stupid if he spent much more time in her company.
Jake had done some math and figured out that Kathryn had to be in her late twenties. If it was true that she’d never been on a date, someone should do something. Otherwise, he feared that she would spend the rest of her life alone, and what a tragedy that would be.
Someone should definitely do something. But not him.
Resolutely, he turned his thoughts to her old car. A platform of planks laid on the dirt floor of the barn created a firm foundation for his portable lift. He’d moved Kathryn’s car onto the lift the very day he’d towed it in. The car now rested about eighteen inches off the ground. The lift would raise the car to a maximum of forty-one inches when he needed to work beneath it, but the current height allowed him to work under the hood without straining his back. He opened his tool chest and started going through the drawers, choosing the tools he’d need and arranging them on a pullout tray. All the while, Jake’s thoughts kept circling back to Kathryn.
As he tackled a particularly stubborn bolt, he thought about her father. What kind of man abandoned his handicapped wife and left his quiet, shy, teenaged daughter as her only caregiver? The selfish jerk had to have known how narrow of a life he’d condemned his daughter to, but apparently he hadn’t cared.
It wasn’t fair. The kind of life she’d led just wasn’t fair.
With that thought, he threw his whole weight onto the bolt, which promptly broke off. He knew without even looking that he didn’t have a tap bit big enough to move that bolt. Disgusted with himself, he threw the wrench against the wall. What was wrong with him?
Kathryn Stepp’s life, including her social life or lack thereof, was none of his business. Still, someone should ask her out. Someone, but not him.
He couldn’t afford to be dating right now, and even if he could, Kathryn wasn’t the right woman for him. She was nothing like Jolene. Besides, it had only been a little over two years since his wife had died. Even if sometimes it felt like forever, another lifetime ago, it was too soon for him to be interested in another woman. He was just missing Jolene. And Houston. And anxious to get his new shop built. He wasn’t ready for another serious relationship, and he wasn’t sure he ever would be.
Realizing that he could do nothing more until that bolt was drilled out and replaced, he leaned against the fender of Kathryn’s old car and wiped his hands with a rag. His throat burning, he dropped the hood of the car and walked out to his truck. Briefly, he considered going into the house, but he didn’t want to see Kathryn or anyone else right now. He felt raw and vulnerable. Better to keep his distance until he felt more himself.
He got into the truck and escaped. When he reached the outskirts of Ardmore, he called Tina from his cell phone, in case she needed anything he could pick up on his way to the auto parts store—and because he felt guilty about taking off without a word to anyone. Tina gave him a list so long that she elected to text it to him before she’d even finished talking. He was glad for it. Shopping for her justified his actions somewhat.
After purchasing the correct drill bit for tapping that broken bolt, he started on Tina’s list. Nearly everything could be purchased at the home improvement store, but she wanted him to find a particular pair of work gloves for Wyatt at the ranch supply store. After he tried on the gloves and settled on the right size, he picked up a pair for himself and another for Ryder. Then he went to the tack section. Stark had suggested a particular saddle for Frankie, and a certain type of bridle for the pony. Jake could see right away why. The new saddle and bridle would give Frankie greater control of his mount. Jake bought the saddle and bridle, trying not to think about the cost.
Despite his money worries, he was in a better mood by the time he’d arrived back at the ranch house, but then Tina ambushed him the instant he walked through the door with her purchases.
“Listen,” she said excitedly, “why don’t we let Kathryn drive my old car until you get hers repaired? She wouldn’t have to depend on anyone else for transportation that way.”
A mobile Kathryn would be a lot easier to avoid. He might never see her again except in passing. Convinced it was a good idea, Jake nodded, but then he heard himself ask, “What about Ryder? That car’s his transportation. And besides, you still haven’t registered the car in Oklahoma. How would you feel if Kathryn got pulled over for having Kansas plates?”
Tina blinked. “I didn’t think of that. You’re right. I need to take care of getting that vehicle properly registered. Until I do, even Ryder could have a problem.”
“Kathryn’s shy and skittish, but she’s proud, too,” Jake went on thoughtfully. “She wouldn’t want to let us pay a fine for her. Come to think of it, how do we offer her the car without making it seem like an act of charity?”
“Maybe we could say the car is part of her compensation.”
At the rate they were already paying her? He grimaced. “I don’t want her to think she’s a burden to us.”
“No, we don’t want that,” Tina agreed. “I guess as long
as you don’t mind driving her around, we ought to just leave things as they are.”
“I don’t mind,” he said quickly, in what he hoped was a casual tone.
Tina suddenly beamed at him. “She’s a sweetheart, Jake, a real blessing. You were right about her.”
“I’m, uh, glad it’s working out,” he murmured, feeling oddly exposed all of a sudden. And foolish. What was wrong with him? He knew what he should do. Why couldn’t he do it?
Movement at the periphery of his vision caught his attention. He turned his head to find Kathryn standing near the refrigerator. The look on her face hit him like an arrow to the chest. Shyly pleased, guardedly hopeful, she gazed at him with such warmth that he knew instantly she’d overheard the conversation and put the worst possible connotation on his objections to giving her Tina’s old car to drive. The worst possible connotation and the right one. Before he could think of anything to say, she aimed a smile at Tina.
“I’ve been thinking,” she said a little too brightly. “What if we attach the bed skirt to the box springs with Velcro? It won’t move around, can be easily removed and will present no problems when you turn the mattress.”
“Wyatt will love that idea.” Tina turned a gleeful smile on Jake, explaining, “We’re going with a simple bed skirt, pleated at the corners. You know, so it’s not too frilly.” Jake made a humming sound, and she hurried on. “The bed’s so big Wyatt worried a bed skirt that completely covered the box springs would make turning the mattress difficult.”
“Problem avoided,” Jake said, tossing a congratulatory smile around the room while managing to avoid direct eye contact with Kathryn, who muttered something about getting back to work and slipped away.
He quickly handed over Tina’s goods then escaped to the barn again, where he began drilling out the broken bolt. Every time he thought of the look on Kathryn’s face when he saw her standing there by the refrigerator, he dredged up memories of Jolene and forced his mind back to the job at hand.