скачать книгу бесплатно
“I want that to change.” The hermit life had suited him for years, but lately he’d been thinking it was time to embrace his town and its people, not one-on-one as he had for the nineteen years since he’d moved there, but within the entire community. It would help Dylan, too.
“If you’re there to help,” he said, “it will change. I’ve never even decorated for Christmas. Maybe that could be your first job. Emma would like that, wouldn’t she?”
He hadn’t intended to reel her in with a tug on her emotions, but apparently he had. He saw her expression change, softening even more. She wasn’t the same angry, prideful woman as she was when she’d first come into the room. Her daughter would have a Christmas tree. Some things were worth swallowing your pride for.
“Yes,” Shana said softly. “She would like that.”
“She’d have her own bedroom, too. I figure you’ve been sharing with her. So, what do you say?”
A long pause ensued, then she said, “I need to think about it.”
She’d totally caught him off guard. He’d been so sure …
“How much time do you need?” he asked. Really, what choice did she have? Finding affordable housing would be nearly impossible. Why was she stalling?
She stood. “I’ll stop by your house tonight, if you’re going to be home.”
“Anytime after seven.” He followed her to the door, opening it for her.
She didn’t say goodbye but walked straight out of the office, not even stopping to talk to Julia. Bemused, he went to Julia’s office.
“All settled?” she asked, welcoming him in with a gesture.
“She’s thinking it over.”
Julia’s brows raised, then she smiled. “I’ve always admired her spirit.”
“What you call spirit, I call stubbornness.”
“I’m guessing you two tend to clash.”
“We always have. I don’t know why, but she took an immediate dislike to me.” Because of that he hadn’t warmed to her, either. Plus, she was just prickly.
“So, why hire her, especially to live in your house?”
Why, indeed? There was the favor to Dixie, which had also coincided with the fact that Dylan needed to be on his own. And he had some sympathy for Shana’s situation, as well.
“I expect the time will come when she can manage fine on her own, Julia, but for now, she needs someone, and I have the means to help.” He went to shake her hand. “I’ll give you a call when I have her answer.”
“Sounds good.”
He took the stairs to the ground floor and walked to the parking garage. It had started raining since he’d arrived, which meant Shana would be making the hour drive up to their foothill community on wet roads. Her car was held together with baling wire and hope. He didn’t like the idea of her—
He stopped the thought. He’d be a few minutes behind her and would see if she’d had to pull over.
As it turned out, he came up behind her before he’d driven fifteen minutes. He stayed there, going the damn speed limit, annoyed at her for it. Which was entirely unreasonable, he knew, but she generally annoyed him without making much effort to do so.
She also stirred him up, had since day one, but the only thing they seemed to have in common was that they both worked hard. His efforts had paid off. Eventually hers would, too. He admired her for trying to make it on her own, but if she hadn’t had Emma, he never would have made Shana the job offer, Dixie’s friendship or not. Emma would be their buffer. How much could anyone argue in front of a child? He knew firsthand the result of that. It did no one any good.
It was a lot to ask of one so young—being the reason to keep peace between two adults who didn’t like each other much.
But it was the only way he could see this situation working out.
Shana drove home at exactly the speed limit. Every few seconds she looked at her rearview mirror, hoping Kincaid would pull around her and leave her in peace. She needed to think. His being on her tail interfered with that.
If this was the kind of employer he would be, she’d have to say no. She didn’t need supervision or pressure in order to do a job well.
By the time she reached her exit to Chance City, she was beyond irritated, so when he exited right behind her, she pulled over. So did he.
“Are you having car trouble?” he asked, coming up to her as she got out of her car.
She plunked her fists on her hips. “Why are you following me?”
He looked surprised. “Following you? I was driving to the same place, and I figured it was rude to pass you.”
She didn’t know if he was telling her the truth or pacifying her.
“Are you mad at me, Shana?”
The way he angled toward her, almost intimately, lowering his voice a bit, threw her off, but she stood her ground.
“I can’t believe you’re kicking me out of my apartment.”
“Technically, it’s your sister’s apartment.”
She frowned. “I clean her spa business downstairs in trade for the rent.”
“But who writes the rent check?”
“Dixie does, because her name is on the lease.”
“She doesn’t have a lease on the apartment, only on the spa.” He gave her a sympathetic look. “Do you think the number of hours you work covers what she pays me in rent?”
“That’s what she told me.” She looked away, tallying up the numbers. “Probably not,” she said finally, quietly. More charity to pay back … someday.
He didn’t say anything.
“Would you really evict me?” she asked.
He seemed to dig deep for patience. “Shana, I’m offering you a chance to do the work you’ve been wanting to do. I’m offering you a home with a yard for your daughter to play in, and the opportunity to make enough money that you could save for a down payment on a house of your own in time. No,” he said as she started to speak. “No, I wouldn’t evict you. Dixie would never speak to me again. But why would you let this chance pass you by?”
There it was at last—the truth. “So you’re doing this because of Dixie?”
He shoved his hands through his hair, fully regretting his decision now. “I’m doing this because I need help, and you fit the bill.”
“What will people think, me living with you?”
“Do you really care?”
“Yes. And you should, too.”
“I give up,” he said, walking—stalking—away. “Forget the whole thing.”
Shana saw her future flash before her eyes. “No, wait!” She rushed after him. “I’ll take the job, on one condition.”
“This should be good.”
She almost laughed at his sarcasm. “You have to start dating.”
He stared at her, as if shocked. “How do you know I’m not?”
Good point, especially since he’d said it so fast. “You have to start visibly dating. Or, at least bring your girlfriend to the Stompin’ Grounds on Saturday night or something. No one has ever seen you date.”
“Because I keep my private life private.”
She crossed her arms. “Take it or leave it. I don’t want people to think we’re living together for any reason other than business ones.”
“So, I should lead some woman on instead? Make her think I’m dating her because I’m interested, even if I’m not?”
She despised his logic, especially when she was too emotional to counter it, so she just looked him in the eye and waited. She needed a guarantee from him, although she wasn’t sure whether she could trust it. He hadn’t hesitated to go after her sister, after all.
“All right, Shana,” he said at last. “I’ll date. In public.”
“The first Saturday night after I move in.”
“Okay.”
He said it too easily, as if he was already dating someone. “And you have to look cozy.”
He laughed finally. “What I do on a date isn’t yours to command. I’ll show up with a woman at the Stompin’ Grounds on Saturday night. That’s all I’ll promise.”
She decided not to press. He’d already conceded more than she expected, so she stuck her hand out. “Deal.”
His large, callous, warm hand engulfed hers. They’d never touched before. Bolts of lightning zapped her. He was a strong man. It would be easy to lean on him.
But she wouldn’t. Not now. Not ever. She would just do her job and be grateful. Thanks to Kincaid, she wouldn’t be anyone’s charity case anymore.
Chapter Two
Shana pulled up in front of Aggie McCoy’s house, turned off her engine and just sat, letting her nerves settle. Aggie had become Shana’s rock in the year since she’d returned to town. Aggie was also Shana’s key to success. If she could convince Aggie this was strictly a business deal, word would spread through town and no one would start speculating—or placing bets, a common occurrence.
Shana released her death grip on the steering wheel and headed toward the house and the woman who’d become her refuge. Sixty-nine years old and widowed for over twelve years, Aggie defined the title “Mother,” having raised eight children, who’d given her a whole lot of grandchildren to love. She tended to mother just about everyone who crossed her path, related or not. Plus she gave great big, cushy hugs that Shana’s mother never seemed able to do.
That wasn’t important now, she reminded herself. She had Emma, the only thing that mattered.
Shana knocked twice then opened Aggie’s door. The scent of apples and cinnamon greeted her. Had she made pie or strudel? “Anybody home?” she called out.
“Mama! Mama!” Emma came running out of the kitchen and straight to Shana, who scooped her up and swung her around, her fine blond curls flying behind her, her Callahan green eyes a perfect match for her frilly T-shirt.
“Here’s my baby girl. Something smells good.”
“Apple. Mmm.”
“You’re early,” Aggie said, coming into the room, wiping her hands on her apron. “How’d it go?”
Shana cuddled Emma, who toyed with her pendant. “I got the job. Full-time, right here in town.”
“So, who’s the boss?”
“Kincaid.”
Aggie’s black-penciled brows shot up. “Doing what?”
“Jill-of-all-trades. Housekeeper, property cleaner, office help, designer.”
“Sounds like more than forty hours a week.” Aggie headed toward the kitchen. “I need to take my pie out. Come on back.”
“I’m not sure about the total hours, but it’s a mixed bag of work. And it’s live-in.”
Aggie spun around but, uncharacteristically, said nothing.
“It’s all on the up-and-up, Aggie. He needs my apartment for Dylan, and he needs a housekeeper, so Emma and I are moving in with him. This little peapod will have her own room for the first time, and a yard to play in.” She rubbed noses with Emma, who flattened her hands on Shana’s cheeks and gave her a big, wet kiss. “He’s also dating someone.”
“Is he, now?” Aggie pulled the apple pie out of the oven and set it on a metal trivet.
Shana inched closer. “I want people to know this is all business. Can you make sure that happens?”
“Are you accusing me of spreading rumors?”
“I’m thinking this is more like damage control. I’ve worked hard to get this town to accept me again. And there are never any rumors about Kincaid. This is a great opportunity for me. I can even afford to pay you and all the other babysitter volunteers for watching Emma.”
“We’ll talk about that some other time. I’m happy for you, honey. It sounds like a real good solution to all your problems. That Kincaid. He must have a crystal ball, hmm? He sure came up with a solution just when you needed it the most.”
She gave Shana an odd look, as if she knew something Shana didn’t know. “Things happen when they’re supposed to. Isn’t that what you always say?”
“That, and timing is everything.”
There was a twinkle in her eye that made Shana wonder if she’d known what Kincaid was going to offer. “Will you try to squelch any rumors that pop up, Aggie? Please?”
“I’ll try, honey, but you know the town has a lifeblood of its own when it comes to other people’s business. Somebody’s bound to start a pool or two.”
Shana had known that, of course. She’d just hoped otherwise. “Well, maybe when they see Kincaid’s girlfriend, they’ll change their minds.”
“I find it interesting that he’s never showed up with a girlfriend before but you think he will now.”
“Me down,” Emma said.
Shana took advantage of the moment to formulate an answer. “I do, too, but he told me he would be taking her to the Stompin’ Grounds on Saturday night.”
