Quint gripped his chest. “Why would you say such a thing? You wound me so.”
Gillian giggled. “I have a feeling you’ll get over it pretty quick.” She ran her finger around the edge of the cast. “Stupid thing is so annoying.”
Quint dropped his foot to the floor. “Will you let her? Work at the ranch?”
“If you’re serious, I don’t see why not. When?”
“Tomorrow if she can.” He stood. “I should probably go. Sounds like the worst of the meds have passed.” He glanced at his watch and tucked it back into his pocket. “The kids should be heading home pretty soon. Ryder has work in the morning.”
Gillian stopped messing with the cast. “Oh. Okay.” She pulled back the covers and exposed her bare legs. “I’ll walk you to the door.”
Quint swallowed hard. It took every ounce of control to snag the quilt and cover her back up. “Not necessary. I know the way.” He waved. “Take it easy.”
“Take it easy?” Gillian flopped back onto the pillows. “As if I could.”
Every inch of her flamed with desire. She’d wanted nothing more than to beg the man to crawl into the bed with her. Fear had kept her from asking. Fear he might say no. She didn’t think she could handle that kind of rejection.
Worse yet, fear he might say yes and she would spontaneously combust or lose control. Control that for her entire life she’d only been out of once, which had landed her in Wyoming.
The front door slammed. “Mom!” Heidi ran into the bedroom, eyes wide, huge grin on her face. “You said yes?”
“Calm down.” Gillian laughed. “You spoke to Quint?”
The teen jumped up and down and nodded. Her ponytail swayed back and forth.
Gillian took a deep breath. The idea of other people watching out for her daughter held great appeal. Especially men like Quint and Jacob. They’d keep a close eye on her. And at the same time, Heidi would have the normalcy she’d craved for the past year. “If it’s something you want to do.”
“Abso-freaking-lutely.”
“Mouth.”
“Mom.” Heidi rolled her eyes.
“He wants you to start tomorrow if you can.”
“This is so cool.” Heidi flopped into the club chair and plopped her long legs over the side. “Did he say why?”
“What do you mean?”
The teen toyed with the end of her ponytail. A frown pulled down her mouth and she shrugged. “I don’t know. Is it normal for someone to be so nice for no reason? First the house and then the job offer.”
Gillian’s chest constricted. A girl her age shouldn’t have so much doubt. There were many good people in the world. The Harwoods just hadn’t run across too many of them in their limited life experiences.
Gillian leaned toward Heidi and held out her hand. When the girl clasped it, Gillian squeezed it then held on tight. “Hon, I’m sorry that you even have to ask. I know it’s been hard.”
Heidi released her hand and huffed. “No big deal.” She stood. “I better go find something to wear.”
“I don’t think the horses care that much,” Gillian spoke to her retreating back.
For the millionth time, Gillian wondered if she was doing right by her daughter. She hadn’t had anyone to confide in or a shoulder to cry on for so long she could never be sure.
Then, once Rick got out of prison, life had been so chaotic and frightening, staying as far out of his reach as possible had superseded everything else. When they’d landed in the middle of nowhere—and no one knew where they were—they could breathe, if only for a little while.
If she could give Heidi as much normalcy as possible, she’d try.
Her eyes fluttered shut.
Quint hadn’t slept much, tossing and turning the night away with one thing on his mind: Gillian Harwood. Sure, he’d come up with the job for Heidi spur of the moment. But he and Jacob had talked about finding another teen to come out to the ranch and work part-time with Ryder. As the ranch grew, they’d need more and more folks.
Jacob had jumped at the idea. It would give him a little more time with the business end of ranching and boarding.
When his phone rang right after breakfast, and he’d heard Gillian’s voice, for a minute, he thought he might still be asleep. Had he been dreaming, though, she’d have been curled up next to him, not letting him know they were on the way to the ranch. He’d just hung up with Gillian, when the phone rang again.
“Just couldn’t live without me,” he said.
But instead of Gillian answering it was his dad. “Hello to you too, son.”
“Dad.” His excitement and anticipation evaporated quickly. He set his empty plate in the sink and moved into the living room. “How are you doing?”
“Better than you, I think. Your aunt told me about your accident.”
Quint groaned and mumbled, “Big mouth.”
“She didn’t mean to tell me. She thought you already had.”
He balled his fist at his side. “I’m fine. No big deal.”
“Someone tries to run you over—”
“It was an accident. Her car got the brunt of the damage. And Gillian wasn’t trying to run me down. Hence the term accident.”
“You’re on a first name basis with the woman who ran you down?”
Quint scrubbed his hand over his face. The man never listened to a word he said. “Did you need something, Dad?”
“I spoke to Craig. A spot has opened at the firm.”
“Dad.”
“Hear me out. He could bring you in on a temporary basis and once you complete your degree you could move up to junior partner in three years.”
“Thanks but no thanks. I’m happy where I’m at.”
“As a ranch hand?”
“Your sister’s husband is a ranch hand.”
“Jacob owns his own ranch.”
“Now he does. But not when they met.” Quint tucked the phone in the crook is his neck and grabbed a clean shirt from the laundry basket next to the small sofa and folded it. “You didn’t have a problem with ranch hands then.”
“You have so much potential, son.”
“And I’m squandering it away in a hole of a town in the middle of nowhere. Yeah. I know.” He folded another shirt. “We’ve had this conversation.”
His father sighed. “If history repeats itself, you’ll get bored eventually and quit, just like everything else you’ve done. I just have to bide my time.”
“I’m glad you have so much faith in me.” Quint dropped the next shirt back into the basket. “Look, I’ve gotta go. Tell Mom hi for me.” He hung up before his dad could comment.
Quint sat in the leather club chair and ran his hands through his hair as he took a deep breath. He shouldn’t let his dad get to him, but always, always when they spoke, he was right back there in high school, his algebra average teetering on failing and him missing out in the state championship. Forget the fact that he’d maintained a B in every other class. He’d only played ball to make his dad happy. Sure, he was okay at it, but it didn’t give him the thrill that working with horses, working on a farm did.
His dad seemed to forget that his great-grandfather had eked out a decent living for his family working his farm.
Half an hour passed as he sat there. “Pity party over, man.” He stood and snagged his straw cowboy hat then headed for the corral.
Heidi and Gillian stood at the gate. Heidi rubbed Mallow’s nose while Gillian eyed the horse skeptically. She turned and looked at him. “Oh, hey.” The keys jangled on the end of her fingers. “What time should I pick her up?”
“Um, I can bring her home.” Ryder stepped out of the barn.
Quint had watched how the teens kept eyeing each other. He should check with Missy and ask if she’d like him to talk with the boy.
Gillian frowned. “Okay.” She backed away. “I guess I’ll see you.”
“Hang on a sec, will ya?”
She nodded.
Quint motioned the teens to fo
llow him into the barn. “Ryder, show Heidi the basics. Where we keep the feed and the other supplies.” Once he had Ryder and Heidi working, he went looking for Gillian. Things whirled around in his head, things he wanted to say to her, ask her. But after his conversation with his father, he didn’t know up from down.
What the hell was he doing?
He didn’t know this woman from Eve, and as his father pointed out, her introductions left him sprawled on the ground and his foot wedged under the front of her car. It was a miracle he and Mallow weren’t hurt worse.
Then the damn flood where he broke her wrist. He shook his head as he crossed the corral back to Gillian. He’d felt so damn guilty he’d moved her and her kid into his home—vacant though it may be—and offered the girl a job. Hell, he’d even hinted to Manny just that morning that he could use someone to help him out at the garage. When the older man had pointed out there were no new prospects in town, he causally reminded him of the newest transplants. He’d done everything short of carrying a banner in front of the man’s garage with the words “HIRE GILLIAN”.
If kissing her hadn’t all but melted his spurs he’d just blow off everything and treat her like any other gal in town, with polite indifference. But something in him couldn’t push back and let well enough alone. Which scared him more than anything else.
When he came back to Gillian’s side, she lowered her voice and glanced toward the barn where the two teens had their heads bent close as they fiddled with a couple of curry combs. “I thought the whole point of offering Heidi the job was to keep her occupied and her mind off of Ryder.”
“I never said they wouldn’t be working together.”
Gillian released a heavy sigh. “I don’t think this is such a good idea.”
He should just hand the teen back over to her mother. But the clawing feeling of Gillian leaving town and never seeing her again tore at his gut. “Give it a day or two. See how it works. I guarantee they’ll be too busy to even think about each other.”
She gnawed on her lower lip and leaned to look past him and at the barn. “Fine.” She turned abruptly and walked to her car without a backward glance. “But if anything goes wrong, it’s your head.”
Chapter Seven
Gillian stood at the counter and looked in her all-but-empty wallet. “Last twenty dollars.” She paid for the small bag of groceries.
“Morning to ya, Ms. Gillian.”
She glanced behind her. Manny, the garage owner, stood with his hands tucked into his dark coveralls. She flashed him a quick smile. “Hi.”
“Can I help you with that?” He snagged her groceries before she could answer.
“You don’t have to.”
“I don’t mind.” He shifted the bag into his left arm and waved her on in front of him. “I came looking for you.”
A flutter tickled her stomach. “Me? Why?”
“I heard about you missing out on that job of yours.” He motioned to her cast. “I was kinda of hoping I could offer you a job.”
A job? First Heidi, now her. This town was too good to be true. “What? Why would you do that?”
He chuckled. “Well, I need some help around the garage. And I’m thinking you might be needing a job.”
They walked down the sidewalk side by side. She tilted her head toward him and narrowed her gaze. “Again, I can’t help but ask why.”
He held her gaze with his as they walked. “You don’t trust too easy, do you?”
She smiled. “No, I guess I don’t.”
“That’s a shame, but I’m not gonna pry.” He shifted the bag. “But let me tell you, this is a small town. We look out for each other.” Manny looked away. “It’s a sincere offer. I do need the help if you’re wanting to work for me.”
“I don’t know.”
“What I’m needing is someone to answer the phones and maybe double-check order forms and billing, office type work that I end having to do in the evenings. With an office worker, I wouldn’t get so far behind. How ’bout this. We can try it a bit, for…” He offered her a decent sum. “Maybe like a trial period. A couple days, maybe the rest of the week until you know for sure if it’s something you want to do.”
She frowned. The echo of conversation with Quint earlier that morning played through her head. “Can I think about it?”
“Yes, ma’am. Take all the time you need.”
What’s to think about? the little voice in the back of her head shouted. Until her arm healed, she couldn’t get a job as a masseuse anywhere. She’d actually looked around the small town and had not seen one inkling anyone was looking to hire. Paintbrush was so small it didn’t even have an employment agency. So it was either move on to a larger town or accept Manny’s offer.
They reached her home and Manny handed her the groceries. “Thank you. For carrying my stuff. And the job offer.”
“No problem, ma’am.” He turned to go.
“Hey, Manny.” She waited until he stopped halfway down the walk. “I’d love to give it a try if you’re willing to take a chance on me.”
A smile broke across his weathered, old face. “Yes, ma’am. Can you start first thing in the morning?”
“How do I look?” Gillian had dug through her clothes and came up with a pair of navy pants and paired it with the only businesslike shirt she had, a lemon yellow oxford. The shirt had been wadded up in the bottom of her suitcase. Luckily she’d found an ironing board and iron in the linen closet. “Heidi?”
“Hmm?” The teen glanced up from her bowl of cereal. “Old.”
“Brat.” Gillian tugged at the hem of the shirt. She didn’t have anything overly-dressy. But working in a garage she wasn’t sure that she needed to worry. “What’re your plans?”
“After a day at the spa, I figured I’d go shopping down at the mall and then lunch at Spagos.”
“Sounds good.” Gillian smiled. “Have fun at the ranch. And tell everyone I said hi.”
“Who’s the brat now?”
She kissed the top of Heidi’s head. “Wish me luck.” Gillian walked the few short blocks to the garage. Coffee and motor oil wafted on a breeze through the open bay door.
“Right on time.” Manny came out from the office and handed her a ball cap with “Manny’s Garage” emblazoned across the front. “For you.”
“Why, thank you.” She tucked her hair behind her ears and pulled the cap on. “What can I do first?”
“Go grab yourself some coffee.” He jerked his thumb toward the office door. “There’s some pastries on the counter if you haven’t had any breakfast.”
Manny gave her a tour of the small building—an office that held a desk, cash register and a filing cabinet, a restroom, and two garage bays. A small shed in the back held parts and extra supplies that lined the walls. He showed her his filing system and a quick rundown on how to work the three-line phone system more advanced than she’d expected in a small middle-of-nowhere town. Still, with one mechanic for the entire town—cars, trucks, tractors and all—he had a pretty brisk business.
“We service the sheriff’s vehicles whenever need be. Later this week I’ll be doing a once-over of the entire fleet. And by fleet, it’s two deputy cruisers and the sheriff’s SUV.”
She stiffened at the mention of the sheriff.
Manny paused in the middle of popping the hood of an old pick-up. He eyed her for a long moment. “You got something against the sheriff? Or vice versa?”
She pasted on an over-bright smile. “I haven’t broken any laws.” That I’m aware of.
He nodded. “That’s good.” He rested his forearms on the edge of the truck and held a wrench with both hands. “If you ever need to talk…” He trailed off and held her gaze for a long moment before he leaned under the hood. “Like, I said, small town. We look after each other.”
She’d never before let anyone into the cloistered life of the Harwoods. She and her daughter had been a duo for so long… It’d be nice to unburden herself. She wasn’t ready yet, though.
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Despite her and her daughter finding jobs and the normalcy she craved, they were in a make-believe world. Cocooned by a false sense of security that could pop wide open at any moment. She had to keep reminding herself not to get lulled into thinking they were anywhere close to home-sweet-home. A bag of clothing still sat in the closet by the front door for any potential hasty retreat.
She shook her head and reached for the phone as it rang. “Manny’s Garage…”
“Lunch.” Missy set a paper bag on the desk in front of Gillian.
“How did you…”
Missy smiled. “Heidi came in for lunch with Ryder.” She opened the bag and removed a Styrofoam container. “Three people in for breakfast mentioned it. And Manny told me when he picked up the pastries this morning.” She smiled then opened the container to reveal smothered chicken, mashed potatoes and seasoned broccoli. She waved the food under Gillian’s nose and set it in front of her. “Still hot from the oven.”
Gillian’s stomach growled.
Missy shoved a fork in her hand. “Eat.”
Gillian took a huge bite of the chicken. When she swallowed she asked, “Are people around always so nice to new folks in town?”
Missy folded her arms and leaned back. “We don’t get a whole slew of new folks here. But when we do and we like them, yes, we like to be neighborly.”
“This is a bit more than neighborly,” she said around a mouthful of broccoli.
“Hon, you don’t trust too easily, do you?”
Gillian snorted. “You’re the second person to ask me that.”
“I’m guessing ’cause it’s true.” Missy stood. “I’ve got to get back. Why don’t you and Heidi come over for dinner tonight? You’ll probably be whipped after working all day.”
“Thanks. I think we just might.”
“Manny’s lunch is in there too. Make sure he eats. Before it gets cold, please.” Missy waved as she exited the small office.
A few minutes later her new boss came in. “Did I see Missy leaving?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Aw, now don’t go calling me sir. I might get a little too full of myself. Everyone in town just calls me Manny.”
Wrong Turn, Right Cowboy: Paintbrush, Book 2 Page 8