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His gaze darted to his daughter, whose pleading expression froze the rest of his resistance. He couldn’t tell her no again. If spending time with Caley made Ava happy, he’d find a way to survive the next few weeks. How hard could it be? At least he’d get a hot meal without having to order pizza every night for the next month. And who knew—maybe he and Caley could be friends.
Just friends.
“Okay, you’ve convinced me.” Brady held up both hands to fend off Ava’s excited squeal as she jumped up and down. “Caley, you can start Monday. Ava is out from school the first half of next week for teacher conferences, so she can show you the ropes at the house. And to be fair, I’ll pay you what I was paying Mary.” He named the figure, and Caley nodded with approval.
“I’d have done it for less.” She winked, and Ava laughed out loud. Brady bit back a groan. He was in trouble, all right. Trouble with a capital C.
Yet as he caught the two blondes’ excited high five, he decided trouble couldn’t come in a cuter package.
Chapter Three
Caley really hoped she didn’t regret this.
She stared up at the beautiful, sprawling Double C ranch house and paused before knocking on the solid oak door. Birds chirped a welcoming chorus she wasn’t certain Brady would agree with. His hesitation at hiring her had caught her off guard. Was it just because she was a near stranger? If he was worried about that, though, he wouldn’t have let Ava help her unpack for a few hours. So if not safety or trust, then was it her ability? Maybe he doubted her capability in the house. Well, she’d show him. She might not be a gourmet chef, but she’d learned some good recipes over the years of her life on the go, and she obviously knew how to wield a duster.
She straightened her spine and knocked. For her first day, she’d whip up Nonie’s secret-ingredient chocolate chip cookies. That’d show him.
But why she felt such a strong urge to prove herself to Brady—impress him, even, if she was honest—she couldn’t say.
The door flew open, and Ava’s beaming smile swept away Caley’s insecurities. She wasn’t here for Brady, cookies or not, approval or not. She was here for this sweet little girl who needed quality care and a positive female influence in her life. As long as she remembered that, they’d be just fine. She’d get a paycheck while waiting to hear about a job from the fire department, and Ava would get plenty of girl time.
Brady would probably just get a headache, but that was his own fault.
“Come on in!” Ava practically squealed as she grabbed Caley’s arm and pulled her through the doorway. “I cleaned my room. Dad told me I had to. I think he didn’t want to scare you off before you even started.”
She giggled, and the enthusiasm in her expression made Caley almost want to go back and agree to babysit for free, after all. But she enjoyed electricity and food.
“Sounds good. Let’s go see it.” She squeezed Ava’s hand and followed the girl toward the straight staircase leading up to the second floor. On her way, she cast a quick glance over the nearly suffocatingly pristine living room. Full bookshelves surrounded the TV on both sides, the top shelves reserved for an obviously cherished collection of bronze horse and cowboy statues. The furniture, while not new by any means, seemed as if it’d been kept up neatly. Caley made a mental note—no snacking in the living room. A worn but clean rug covered the hardwood floor under a dark-chocolate-colored coffee table, yet hardly any art decorated the walls besides a lone school picture over a side table near the front door. Talk about a man’s domain.
A neat-freak man, at that.
Ava’s room was a different story. In fact, Caley would have loved to have seen it before she cleaned it. It would’ve been like viewing a train wreck. Trash spilled from the overflowing purple wastebasket beside a short desk probably meant for homework, but covered in the remnants of an abandoned art project. Novels and textbooks on horses and farm animals were stacked haphazardly beside—not on—the short purple bookshelf, and a herd of stuffed animals grazed at all angles atop the wrinkled, crooked, purple-and-green floral bedspread. Toys peeked from beneath the bed, and a jumble of puzzle pieces had been shoved under the desk. Every drawer on the dresser was partially open with clothes hanging out.
While the room definitely needed more attention, Caley couldn’t help but smile at the ways Ava and her father were so drastically different—and yet cringe at the myriad ways this would inevitably cause more problems between the two of them. Maybe she could somehow help Ava find a balance between being herself and pleasing her father.
“What do you think?” Ava spun a slow circle in the center of her room, eyes narrowed critically. “Dad said he’d hang those glow-in-the-dark stars above my bed soon, but he hasn’t yet.”
“I think that would be awesome.” Caley moved to perch on the edge of the bed and looked up. “They’d be perfect right there.” She pointed.
“I concur.” Brady’s deep voice broke the silence as he peered around the door frame at them, his dark hair falling across his forehead without the presence of his cowboy hat. Caley ignored the tingles in her stomach. “But I told Ava she had to keep her room clean enough to see the ceiling first.”
“Da-ad.” Ava’s tone stretched the word into several syllables, tinted with embarrassment. “It’s not that bad. See?” She gestured around the room, and Caley suddenly realized the closet door actually bulged a little.
“It’s been worse.” Brady crossed his arms across the front of his plaid work shirt, muscles cording beneath the rolled-up sleeves. “But it’s been better. I don’t want you to put this off on Miss Caley. She’s here to clean for us, but that’s just basic upkeep.” His penetrating gaze registered on her, drawing her in despite her initial reserve. “I don’t expect you to clean to this degree.” An unfamiliar twinkle slowly lit his expression. “I don’t think a landfill worker could be expected to clean to this degree.”
“I don’t mind.” The words slipped from her lips before she could edit them, and she told herself it was just because of her desire to see Ava and her dad get along—and not based on any desire to make him happy personally. Caley shook her head. What was wrong with her? She’d better curb this one-sided attraction now. Brady was essentially her boss—at least until the fire department let her know what was going on. She still needed to put in some volunteer hours—not to mention spend time with her grandmother, the sole reason she was back in this town in the first place. Somehow, she’d work it all in. She had to keep her eye on the greater goals—future employment with the fire department and quality time with her blood family.
Regardless of the immediate future, this arrangement with Brady—no, Ava—was most definitely temporary.
She forced a smile, hoping it didn’t look as fake as it felt, as she stood up from the bed. “It’ll be fine. Ava and I can make it into a project.” She’d need to borrow a wheelbarrow. And that big green tractor she saw parked outside earlier. But she liked taking risks. She cast another glance at the closet door. Big risks. “What do you say, Ava?”
Ava shrugged good-naturedly. “Whatever it takes to get my stars. Besides, it’d be much more fun to do it with you than with—” Her voice trailed off as she shot a glance at her father and looked quickly away, red tinting her cheeks.
Brady’s gaze darted to the ground, then back up, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat. “I just came in to say hi and welcome.” He nodded, all hint of his former teasing gone from his eyes. “If you need anything, Ava can help you find it, or you can holler at me later. I’ll be in for dinner at six-thirty.”
He was gone from sight before he even finished speaking the words, yet the hurt in his tone lingered long after.
Caley waited, wondering if Ava would address the new elephant in the room, but the young girl simply pressed her lips together into a tight line and released a sigh through her nose. She clearly hadn’t meant to hurt her dad’s feelings, but as Caley well knew, sometimes honesty drove a sharp knife. Hopefully Brady wouldn’t take it personally. What ten-year-old girl wouldn’t rather clean her room with her new babysitter than with her rule-bearing father?
Somehow, though, the tension in the room suggested a lot more behind the scenes than that.
“Time to clean, huh?” Ava’s dismal voice suggested she’d rather go muck out the stalls in the barn—and judging from their past conversations, she’d literally prefer it. But her dad wouldn’t allow her to venture toward the animals. Did they agree on anything?
Caley gathered her inner resolve. She’d do whatever she could to make this fun for them both. She nodded, shoving her hands in her back pockets and feigning a grave expression. “I believe so. Why don’t you show me where the trash bags are?” She waited until Ava caught her eye, then she winked. “And I’ll find the chocolate.”
The smile now back on Ava’s face was more than worth the overwhelming task before them.
* * *
Brady couldn’t decide if he was more coated in dust or annoyance.
“I caught him.” His longtime best friend and only hired hand, Max Ringgold, looped Nugget’s reins around the hitching post outside the barn, then slapped at the dirt clinging to Brady’s shirtsleeves and back. “He came barreling through here like a Thoroughbred. I’d have been worried if I hadn’t seen you hobbling after him a minute later.” Max’s brow pinched in mock concern. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you to take shelter during a dust storm?”
“Funny.” Brady stepped away from the good-natured beating his friend doled out. “I’ll remember that next time.” As if he’d had a lot of choices out in the middle of the pasture, without a horse or even a saddle blanket to toss over his head. It figured that he left his bandanna in the house today of all days.
“Too bad you weren’t in the barn like I was when it blew through.” Max’s smile broadened. He was clearly finding way too much humor in his boss’s appearance.
Brady squinted off at the now calm pastures, then aimed a pointed look at his friend. “Too bad someone didn’t warn their boss.”
“What, you think I’m in the barn watching the Weather Channel?” Max adjusted the black hat on his head, still grinning. “That dust storm spiraled up in the fields from nowhere and left just as quickly.”
Max was right. It’d been unavoidable. All part of the unknowns of working a ranch—and another reason that just confirmed his instincts to keep Ava in the house, where it was safe. Away from unpredictable weather and brush fires and even more unpredictable animals—like Nugget, who had thrown him off at the first ruffle of wind. Blasted creature had gone running to the safety of the barn—leaving Brady to walk after him, gritting dirt between his teeth.
“I’m surprised you’re getting anything done out here anyway, with the new nanny inside.” Max winked. “I’m sure she’s capable, but may I say, she’s a far cry from Ms. Mary.”
A sprig of jealousy burst into full bloom. He knew his friend was just teasing, but for some reason, it rubbed him wrong. He forced a smile to look friendly, but his tone was all boss. “The new nanny is off-limits.” For both of them. For multiple reasons.
But especially for Max.
Max sidestepped as Nugget reached over to nibble the grass near his boots. “You know me, man. I’m just a sucker for a pretty face. I don’t act on it.”
Brady snorted. “You have before.” He ticked off names on his finger. “Brenda. Lucy. Michelle.”
Max shook his head, hands up in surrender. “They weren’t fellow employees.” He shaded his eyes against the sun and looked over at the main house, as if trying to get a glimpse inside. “She’s just temporary, though, right?”
Brady’s jaw tightened and Max laughed. “I’m kidding, boss. Sorry, I guess I wouldn’t be in a joking mood if I looked like you, either.” He gave Brady’s shoulder another hearty pat, and more dirt puffed from his sleeve. “Go get cleaned up. I’ll take care of the dust bunny here.” He gestured to Nugget.
“You might want to brush off his tack, too.” Brady strode toward the house, his tone leaving no question about who was in charge. He loved Max like a brother, but sometimes he wondered if hiring his best friend was a smart move. Too often they blurred the line between respect and fun, and Brady had a hard time sharpening it back into focus. He had to admit, though, if Max had been teasing about any other girl from church or town, he couldn’t have cared less. Something about Caley was different, and that made him as skittish as Nugget had been in the storm.
Hopefully things were going better in the house than they had been for him outside. The girls wouldn’t be expecting him until later this evening for supper, but he couldn’t keep doing his chores for the remainder of the afternoon until he brushed his teeth and changed shirts.
Brady strode into the house, the back door banging shut behind him harder than he meant to let it. Ava and Caley looked up with a start from the kitchen counter, where a mass of something that might be cookie dough clung to a greased sheet in tiny, uneven mounds. Ava had flour smeared on her cheeks, and a speckle of dough clung to the apron Caley had donned over her top and jeans. They both looked at him, then at their own mess, and laughed.
“I didn’t know it was flouring outside, too.” Caley clapped her hands together and a puff of white powder flurried into the air.
Brady couldn’t stay frustrated about his current condition, or even Max—not with the three of them looking the way they all did. He cracked a smile and brushed at his jeans. Dirt showered onto the floor. “Something like that.”
“Hey, Caley just swept that.” Ava’s indignant defense lost its merit when she was covered in flour. She handed her dad the broom leaning against the kitchen wall.
Caley snatched it back before Brady could figure out how to get to his room to change without tracking more dirt everywhere. “No worries. We should have waited until after the cookies were done, anyway. This was a bigger mess than I thought.”
“Those are cookies?” Brady raised an eyebrow. Who’d have thought? His stomach rumbled with protest. It might turn out that Mary and Caley were opposites in more ways than he’d expected.
Caley snorted. “Supposed to be. We’ll see when they get out of the oven. It’s a recipe my grandmother made for me my entire childhood, but...I think I forgot something.” She poked at one of the mounds with a spoon—it didn’t budge. She wrinkled her nose. “Or maybe we just should start over.”
“I think I’ll take a dirt storm over a flour storm any day.” Brady shook his head with a smile. Funny how just being around Caley brightened his mood. He and Max were going to be in more trouble than he originally thought. “I’m going to go change.” And hopefully remind himself while he was gone of all the reasons why he couldn’t think of the woman slinging dough in his kitchen as anything other than a temporary employee.
“You don’t want to stay and help?” Ava’s hopeful expression cast a shadow on his brightening mood. Brady sighed. Here he went, about to disappoint his daughter once again. He hated keeping score, but he couldn’t help but feel as if the board would read Brady: 0, Caley: 2. Or was she up to 3 by now? Either way, he was far behind in the game of good graces. He still smarted from Ava’s comment in her room earlier that morning.
But the ranch wouldn’t run itself, and Ava should be old enough to understand that by now. If he stayed in the kitchen and made cookies all afternoon, who would feed the animals? Who would fix the broken barbed-wire fence in the south pasture? Who would clean the rest of the stalls he’d started that morning and check on the pregnant mare? Not to mention the stack of invoices he needed to mail for the hay he’d sold last week. Max helped out, but the ranch was more than enough work for two men.
In fact, if he thought about it long enough, he’d go insane from the pressure. He was stuck and couldn’t please everyone. He had to support them, and as much as he’d like to play with Ava all day, he just couldn’t. That’s what Mary was for—and now, Caley. One day, he’d get caught up and be more available. One day.
Brady stepped gingerly toward the kitchen door leading into the living room, aware of his dusty tracks. “I’m sorry, honey. I’ve got a lot more to do outside. That storm just caught me off guard, is all. Need to change and get back to it.” He tried to overlook Ava’s crestfallen expression and Caley’s pursed lips, and lifted his tone in an effort to lighten the suddenly somber mood. “I’ll see you for supper, though.”
They ignored him, except for Ava’s bottom lip poking farther out.
He attempted a joke. “Hopefully supper turns out better than those cookies.”
Two sets of eyes simultaneously flicked his direction and narrowed. Not the time for humor, obviously.
“If you can’t stay in here, then can I come help you outside?” Ava’s timid voice held zero hope, as if she already knew the answer. And she did.
Brady shook his head slowly. “You know the rules. Your chores are in the house, not with the animals. It’s too dangerous.”
“But, Dad—” Ava broke off as Caley nudged her in the side. She sighed. “Yes, sir.”
He was proud of her for remembering her manners, but couldn’t find the words to say so. It wouldn’t matter, anyway. That wasn’t what she wanted to hear. Brady slipped upstairs without another comment, wondering how on earth he’d even be able to eat dinner that night with the solid rock of guilt taking up his entire stomach.
He wrenched his dirty clothes into the hamper and changed into a fresh shirt, then brushed his teeth with more aggression than necessary. He wasn’t sure what was more unsettlingly, the fact that he couldn’t seem to do anything right in his daughter’s eyes...
Or how much he’d enjoyed seeing Caley in his kitchen after a long day of work.
Chapter Four
She’d missed the smell of the bay.
Caley breathed in the familiar scent of motor oil, exhaust and lemon cleaner. It must have been a bay day on the chores schedule, by the looks of the squeaky-clean concrete beneath her boots. She didn’t particularly miss pushing a mop over the floor or scrubbing down trucks, but she missed the activity. The excitement. The adrenaline rush that flowed through her veins with the knowledge that any minute, the alarm could chime and they’d be off to save lives.
Hopefully the job at the Broken Bend Fire Department would eventually work out. Because as fun as it’d been babysitting Ava that day, Caley’s heart remained in the action of firefighting. Saving lives. Making a difference.
Making atonement.
Muffled voices and a sharp tapping sounded from the far corner, where a group of blue-uniformed firemen stocked the back of the ambulance. She hated to interrupt if they were counting supplies, but she needed to find Captain O’Donnell to ask about her volunteer gear. If she was going to start doing ride-outs and earning her way into the station, she needed to get set up ASAP.
Caley lifted one hand in a wave to the older man who broke from the group and strode toward her with a curious expression. There was the captain now, judging by the embroidery on his blue polo. “Good evenin’. Can we help you, ma’am?”
The other firemen glanced up with interest, but went back to their stocking after a firm glance from the captain. She held out her hand. “I’m Caley Foster. I’ve come for my volunteer pager and gear.”
The gray-bearded man offered a friendly smile and a firm handshake. “That’s right. Chief Talbot said you’d be by this week. Come on in.” He led the way past the recently washed fire trucks and held the station door open for her. “Nice to meet you.”
Caley smiled her thanks, taking an appreciative note of his sincerity. As a female firefighter, she’d been treated in numerous ways over the years—dealing with everything from jealousy to discrimination to sexual harassment. The captain’s respectful handshake and the way he met her eyes when he talked showed he considered her a capable equal, while his opening the door for her proved he was a gentleman at heart. Exactly the kind of captain she’d like to work for.
Captain picked up a pager from the cluttered desk to the right of the kitchen area, pressed a button and then nodded with satisfaction at the responding beep. “You’re all set.” He handed it to her, along with a BBFD T-shirt and a sheaf of paperwork. “Just sign these forms and we’ll get them filed. I’m sure you’ve seen them before, based on Chief’s report. This ain’t your first rodeo, is it?” He winked beneath silver eyebrows, thicker than his beard.
She liked Captain. “You could say that.” Caley grabbed a pen from the coffee mug on the corner, took a seat at the table and began scribbling her signature in the designated areas. “What about bunker gear?”
“We have extra sets up here that stay in the bay lockers. You’re welcome to those whenever you come meet the trucks.” Captain shrugged, leaning forward to brace his arms on the chair across from her. “Or just swing by and grab them before you meet us in the field. Either way. We’ve had issues in the past about volunteers not returning their gear after quitting, so Chief decided that volunteer gear should stay on-site.”
“Understandable.” Caley scribbled her name on the last document and stacked them neatly before handing them over to Captain. “I’m renting a place only about fifteen miles from here, so I can make it pretty quick in an emergency.”
Captain glanced at the address that had already been typed into her paperwork. “That’s next door to the Double C ranch, isn’t it? McCollough’s place.”
“You know him?”
“Everyone knows McCollough, after the tragedy he went through few years back. He’s a good ol’ boy.” Captain slid Caley’s paperwork inside a green folder. “I see him at church from time to time. He and that kid of his—they’ve had some tough breaks.”
“I’m actually babysitting his daughter for now. They had an emergency come up with their nanny—temporarily, of course.” Caley held up both hands in an effort to clarify and grinned. “I’m sure you know I’m hoping to get hired on here.”
“We’d love to have you. It’s rare getting a volunteer with as much experience as you’ve had.” Captain shrugged, shoving his hands into his pants pockets. “Not my call, but you’d have my vote if it was.”
“I appreciate it.” Caley hesitated, grateful for the confidence Captain had in her, but unsure how to far to push. Still, something he said lingered on the fringes of her brain and demanded details. “You mentioned how Brady and Ava have been through a lot—what exactly happened with Ava’s mom?” She held her breath, hoping a few pieces of the puzzle that was all things Brady McCollough would finally slide into place. She hated to seem nosy, but no one was volunteering the information, and if she wanted to make a difference—for Ava’s sake, of course—then it could only help her to know what they’d overcome.
Or rather, what they were still attempting to overcome.
“It was an accident.” Captain looked toward the bay with a heavy sigh, and Caley suddenly felt as if she was being dismissed. “But that’s a story for McCollough to tell.”
“I see. Well, thank you. I won’t keep you.” She quickly stood and held out her hand for a goodbye shake, mentally kicking herself for coming across as a gossiping, meddling newcomer. She might be a born-and-bred native of Broken Bend, but she’d been gone so long she’d likely crossed the line from family to foreigner long ago. “Thanks for getting me set up. You’ll definitely be seeing me around.” First time that pager buzzed, she’d be on it.
That is, if she wasn’t on babysitting duty. Caley rolled in her lower lip. Balancing her time between making volunteer runs, visiting Nonie and watching Ava might not be as easy as she’d thought.
“I hope so, Ms. Foster.” Captain motioned her to walk out the bay door ahead of him. “And a word to the wise—if you truly want to get hired on here, don’t just show up for the fun stuff.”
Meaning fires. “Got it. Thanks for the tip. I’ll be well-rounded, I promise.” She crossed the bay toward her car, T-shirt tucked under her arm.
“Ms. Foster?”
She turned at the sound of Captain’s deep voice and arched an eyebrow, waiting for more inside advice. “Yes, sir?”
