by Judi Lynn
His broad shoulders relaxed. Oh, lordy, it was getting steamy in here. Or maybe it was just her. Tessa had to get away from him, at least until he got some clothes on. She started toward the great room, Ian close behind her, when she stopped so suddenly, he ran into her. She’d have fallen over if he hadn’t reached out to grab her.
“Tessa?” His worried look darted from her face to what she was looking at.
A petite, curvy woman jutted out her hip and raised a blonde eyebrow.
“Oh, lord. Lily! It’s not what you think! My shower doors—”
She cut him off. Her blue eyes danced with amusement. “I can’t leave you alone for one minute, Ian McGregor, before you get yourself in trouble.”
Ian’s entire face flushed brick red. He stammered, then sputtered, “I was in the shower when the glass doors started to fall. Tessa tried to call for help, but had to come over to rescue me herself.”
Lily’s lips curved into a smile as she held out a hand to Tessa. Dimples came and went. “Thanks for saving my beau here. I’ve never met a man who can find trouble like he does.”
Tessa smiled, too. Would she have handled this situation so well? Hell, no. “Ian talks about you all the time. He’s waiting for the day this place is ready so you can move in with him.”
Lily turned to survey the room. “It’s clean and painted. That’s a start.”
Gripping his towel firmly, Ian said, “Tessa volunteered to help me decorate. I love her house, and she knows where to find good antiques for our place.”
Our place. Tessa hoped Lily realized how lucky she was. Ian lived, breathed, and adored his fiancée.
Lily waved away his plans and said, “I can only stay till Saturday afternoon. I have to drive to the city to be at the airport early Sunday morning. So you don’t have much time to show me around.” Her eyebrow rose as she looked him up and down. “You might want to get dressed first.”
Ian hesitated and turned to Tessa. “Do you mind if I stand you up for supper tonight? I didn’t know Lily was coming.”
Lily gave a playful tug on his towel. “I wanted to surprise you.”
“It’s a great surprise.” Tessa started to the door. “I’ve worked all day, and I’m beat. I’m going to grab some leftovers and veg in front of the TV.”
“I owe you,” Ian called after her.
“We’re neighbors. It’s what we do.” She heard Lily’s charming laugh on her way to her pickup. How wonderful it must be to feel that secure in a man’s love. Lily had never once worried when she saw Ian, in a towel, trailing behind Tessa. Her mind tried to push away the image of Gary, locked in a clinch, with Sadie. There’d been no mistaking what they were up to.
She climbed into her pickup and started the engine. She leaned back against the seat for a second and squeezed her eyes shut. Maybe Grams was right. Not every man was like Gary. But after the hurt of his betrayal subsided, she had to admit that wasn’t her only worry.
She’d been with Gary for their first three years of college. He swore he loved everything about her. And when Grandma had offered her the farm, he’d encouraged her to go for it, to follow her dreams. When he graduated in one year, he’d follow her. It had all sounded good on paper, so she’d happily dropped out of college to do what truly inspired her. Gary would join her later, and they’d make Orchard Knoll their home.
Tessa shifted the truck into drive and started for her place. It was like Ian and Lily were exactly what she and Gary could have been. The similarities practically smacked her in the face. Tessa had tried to surprise Gary, too. When the weather had turned bad that first year she’d taken over the farm, Tessa had locked up everything and driven back to St. Louis. She’d knocked on Gary’s door without warning, hoping for a happy reunion. Well, that’s not the way things had worked. No happy surprise, no sirree. Instead, there was only shock, humiliation, and hurt. Lots of hurt.
But the real doubts and fears didn’t come until later. Then, she had to wonder. Maybe she wasn’t special enough to keep a man’s interest. After all, the minute Gary graduated, he married Sadie. Tessa’s mom sent her the announcement in the newspaper. And according to any news she got from home, Gary and Sadie were living happily ever after. Sadie, obviously, had something she didn’t. And that worried her. Maybe she wasn’t enough. Maybe the same thing would happen with every man she met.
She pulled into her driveway and parked in the garage. She took a deep breath and let out the old pain and confusion with a whoosh. Perhaps if she used the beauty products her mom sent. Maybe if she wore more dresses and ribbons. But she was what she was, and she had no desire to fake it. She’d rather be alone than pretend to be someone she wasn’t. She’d be found out eventually, anyway. So why risk it?
Chapter 4
Fridays were always busy. This one had been busier than usual. Good temperatures brought more customers. People drove from other towns to shop at the bakery. When she and Grams locked up the barn, Grams headed straight for home. “Have to rest up for tomorrow.”
Tessa walked to the house and opened her refrigerator door to stare at leftovers. Nothing looked appealing. Ian was with Lily tonight. It had never bothered her to eat by herself before, but it felt lonely now. She wrinkled her nose, tossed a hot dog in the microwave, and flicked on the TV. She flipped through channels while she ate, couldn’t find anything that interested her, and reached for the newest Ilona Andrews novel. A few hours later, when she couldn’t keep her eyes open any more, she called it an early night.
Before Tessa opened the barn on Saturday morning, Luther showed up for work. She walked outside with him and got him started on the huge beds for lettuces. Greens could take cool temperatures and thrived in early spring. The boy, as usual, said as little as possible. He’d never win any prizes for charm, but seemed even moodier than usual. She thought he’d be in a decent mood today, since he was going to graduate on schedule a month from now. He hated school, always threatened to drop out, and she always encouraged him to stick it out. She told him she’d do cartwheels through her strawberry patches if he managed somehow. But he obviously didn’t feel the joy she did.
He’d already broached the subject of working full time for her, for as long as she could use him. Easy to do in the growing seasons. Not so easy once the snow fell. But she meant to line up something else for him by then. She’d ask everyone she knew if she had to.
After she left Luther, she joined Grams behind the counter of the bakery.
“How’s Luther?” Grams asked when Tessa took her place at the second cash register.
“Grumpier than usual. I thought he’d be happier, since he’s almost out of school, but I thought wrong.”
Grams gave a knowing nod. “Real life’s staring him in the face. He’s always told us he wants to move out and be on his own, but that takes money for rent and bills. It takes a full-time job.”
“I can’t offer him that. I can keep him busy seven months out of the year, but things slow down at the end of October. I think something’s bothering him. You should talk to him. You two have a special connection.”
Most people avoided Luther, considered him a pain, but Grams liked the kid. She saw something in him that other people missed.
Grams reached inside the glass case and removed one of the smaller red velvet cakes. She carried it to their tiny office, out of sight. “We’ll use that to bribe him. That boy can be had by anything chocolate.”
“Why not? It’s worth a shot.”
They didn’t have time to discuss anything else. The first customer walked through the doors and from then on, customers just kept coming. By the time they turned the sign to CLOSED at five-thirty, the glass case was empty. Shelves sat half full, and Tessa knew she’d have to dig in her cellar to restock the pickles and jams, but that could wait until Monday.
She and Grams cleaned up shop and closed out the cash register, and locked the money in the safe in the office. Then Grams took the cake to the kitchen at the back of the barn. “Get the kid,”
she told Tessa.
Tessa pulled on a sweater to find Luther. The end of April could be fickle. A breeze had blown up in the afternoon and the air had turned chilly. Luther was covering the last row of lettuce seeds with dirt, so she waved to him. “Grams put the kettle on. She saved us a cake. Meet us in the kitchen and we’ll make plans for what you should do next Saturday.”
Luther scowled, but started to put away his tools. The boy had dirty blond hair, gray eyes, and sinewy muscles. Rumors were he usually won in a fight.
Tessa didn’t wait on him. She went back to the kitchen and sank onto one of the island stools. Grams had three cups of coffee, lined up, ready to go. Three paper plates and forks waited for slices of the cake sitting on the granite counter. Tessa had finished her cup of coffee and was pouring herself another when Luther opened the door and closed it behind him.
Grams watched him hover just inside the building. “What’s the problem? Do you need a quick getaway? Or can you sit with us a minute?”
Luther grimaced. “Am I in trouble?”
“No.” Grams cut the cake and laid a slice on his plate. She put it on the counter by the stool on the end.
“Are you firing me? Did you find someone who’ll work cheaper?”
“No.” Grams poured him a cup of coffee and added lots of cream. She knew the boy’s tastes.
He fidgeted. “Then why do you want to talk to me?”
Tessa never kept him after he finished his jobs on Saturdays. She didn’t realize it would make him nervous.
“Tessa thinks something’s bothering you. Is it?” Yup, just like Grams, getting straight to the point.
Luther sighed. “I gotta get more money. I could use some insurance.”
Tessa heard the desperation in his voice. She frowned. “A new owner bought Lakeview Stables. He’s buried in odd jobs. Have you talked to him?”
“I won’t have much of a shot there. I’m not good with people, and tourists wouldn’t like me.”
Grams finished handing out pieces of cake and sat down opposite him. “You’re a hard worker, and we’d vouch for you. There are plenty of jobs that wouldn’t involve working with the lodge’s guests.”
“Maybe.” His tone dripped doubt.
“I didn’t think about insurance,” Tessa said. “If you move out, your mother can’t cover you on hers anymore, can she?”
He sniffed. “Hers ain’t worth much anyway. But . . .”
When he paused, Grams leaned across the counter toward him. “Did you find out you have some kind of health problem? Are you okay?”
Luther exhaled a sigh. “Look. If I tell you something, you can’t tell no one, understand? But I don’t know what to do, and I don’t know who to talk to.”
Oh, crap. Secrets. Tessa hated hearing secrets. Then if she slipped up, everyone would know who told.
Grams had no such problem. “You’ve got us,” she said.
He rubbed his forehead. “I got this girlfriend, see?”
Tessa blinked. This was not what she’d expected to hear.
“We love each other, and I’m gonna marry her, but I kinda . . . got her pregnant.”
Grams licked her lips. “Even if you get insurance now, it won’t pay for the baby. Companies won’t cover preexisting conditions.”
“I figured that, but the baby’s gonna need lots of care, isn’t it? Babies always need something. I have to find us a place and make more money.”
Tessa’s thoughts scrambled. She couldn’t offer him insurance. She couldn’t even offer him full-time work.
Grams raised an eyebrow at her. “You have an empty cabin, don’t you?”
Not fair. Grams shouldn’t have mentioned that without asking her first, but the more Tessa thought about it, the less it bothered her. What was she going to do with the small home? She looked at Luther. “The place was built for one person. It isn’t very big, but you might like it there until you find somewhere else.”
“But what if I find another job and can’t work for you this summer?”
“You’ll have to help out on Saturdays, and maybe your girlfriend could help us run the farm stand.”
Luther lowered his head. He looked away from them. Had they insulted him? Hurt his feelings by acting like he couldn’t handle things on his own? Tessa was about to apologize when he wiped at his eyes. Voice low, he said, “I’ll make it up to you somehow. Honest, I will.”
Grams’ eyes misted. A knot formed in Tessa’s throat. Embarrassed, she said, “Before you decide, what if I get the key and let you take a look at the place? It probably needs some work. I haven’t been inside it for a few years now.”
His cake forgotten, Luther pushed off his stool. He cleared his throat and gave a curt nod. Grams and Tessa grabbed their sweaters, and they headed to the bungalow to get the key. They found Ian on the front stoop, trying to peek in the window, to see if Tessa was home.
Tessa smacked her forehead. “I offered you an easy supper after Lily left, didn’t I?”
“No, I offered to take you somewhere for standing you up, remember?”
Tessa shuffled her feet. “I need to show Luther the cabin before he leaves.” She offered a quick introduction.
Ian grinned. “Good, I can go with you. I’ve been curious how it’s laid out.”
Tessa glanced at Luther, but he seemed all right with it, so she grabbed the key, and they crossed the side fields, planted with fruit trees and berry patches. The cabin sat back farther from the road, closer to the lake. Made of split logs, it had a rustic feel. The front stoop was small, but a screened-in deck opened off the kitchen in back. A one-car garage sat at the end of its driveway.
Tessa motioned toward the garage. “When we cleaned the cabin, we stored stuff in there. If this works, you should look through it.”
She turned the key in the lock, and Luther’s excitement got the better of him. He pushed the door open. He took a few steps inside the empty front room and his pale eyes gleamed. Dust coated the floors and surfaces, but he looked like he’d just won the lottery.
Grams smiled at him. “From that silly look on your face, I’m guessing you like the place?”
“You sure about this?” He looked out the back window at the lake. “It’s like a dream. I like to fish, ya know.” He stalked off to look at the two, small bedrooms separated by a bathroom. The farmhand had used the front room as an office. The kitchen, in back, was long and narrow with appliances and counter space on one end and an eating area on the other.
Ian studied the cabin with interest. “I’ve been thinking that someday, I’d like to add separate cabins for guests to rent on one end of my lake property. This setup is pretty efficient.”
“Gramps designed it.” Tessa couldn’t keep the pride out of her voice. “He was good at everything.”
Grams nodded. “Tessa’s right. The man wasn’t too shabby when he wanted to get something done.”
They all turned to look at Luther.
“What do you think?” Grams asked.
“When can we move in?”
“Whenever you get your stuff in order.” Tessa looked at Ian. “Luther’s going to live here and work for me on Saturdays for room and board.”
“Just Saturdays? What about the rest of the week? Has he taken a new job?”
Luther went to stand beside Tessa. “I work for her during the summers.”
“But he needs something permanent that’s year-long.” She gave Ian a meaningful look. “I can’t offer him that.”
“Are you saying he’s up for grabs?” Ian narrowed his eyes, studying her.
“It looks that way.”
“I can offer him full time, if you won’t nail me to a wall for stealing him from you. I need someone to do lawn care at my place and clean stables, all the outside work. There’ll still be plenty to do in winter—snow removal and upkeep.”
Luther started his tap dance routine again. “I need decent insurance.”
“I offer decent insurance and twelve dollars an hour,
for starters.”
Luther swallowed hard. He turned to Tessa. “Will you hate me?”
“You were a kid when I hired you. I knew you’d have to find something full time when you got out of high school.”
Luther’s expression went sullen. He glared at Ian. “Just so you know, the reason I need full-time work is my girlfriend’s gonna have my baby. Does that change things between us?”
“I don’t know. Will you still show up for work?”
Luther blinked, surprised by the question. “Well, yeah.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
Tessa watched them stare each other down and smiled. Ian recognized Luther’s moodiness for what it was—a defense mechanism.
Luther broke first. “I just wanted you to know up front.”
Ian nodded. “Duly noted. I appreciate honesty and hard work. We have a decent chance of getting along.”
Luther jammed his hands in his jacket pockets. “I’m not good with people.”
“Then stay away from them, but if they ask you something, be polite.” Ian hesitated. “When can you start?”
Luther looked at Tessa.
“He’s still in school,” she said. “But he can probably work a few hours some evenings and full time once he graduates.”
“I’ll work long hours for you on Saturdays,” Luther promised her.
“I wasn’t worried about it, but I’ll keep that in mind.”
Luther looked around the cabin again and sighed. “I won’t let my mom camp out here, I promise. She trashes whatever she has and invites her sleazy friends over. This will be for Kayla and me and our baby.”
Tessa had never considered his mom using the cabin. She glanced at Grams. Luther’s mom lived in a rundown house on a side street in town. Muscle cars and motorcycles were usually parked in its drive. She shook her head. “I don’t want your mom’s friends here.”