by Mia Ross
“And coffee,” Bekah added, setting the basket on the counter. Glancing at the clock on the wall, she saw it was nearly eight. “I’m not sure if I’m late or not, so I thought I’d bring them just in case. How was your class last night?”
“Impossibly mind-boggling.” Blowing on her coffee to cool it, the clinic’s director took a long, grateful sip. “I’m great with all the practical stuff because I do it here every day. The biology and anatomy terms just don’t stick in my head. I desperately need a tutor, but I can’t find one whose schedule meshes with mine.”
Munching on a cranberry muffin so moist she barely had to chew it, Bekah pondered a possible solution to Sierra’s problem. Recalling what Drew had said about his sister-in-law, she said, “What about Lily? She’s a teacher. Maybe she can help get you through the rough parts.”
“That’s brilliant! I don’t know why I didn’t think of that.”
Bekah had never been called brilliant in her life, and it was rewarding to know she’d helped someone who’d been so kind to her. Thoughts of kindness led her to a problem she’d been pondering since she woke up. “Sierra, I have a big favor to ask.”
“Shoot.”
“I’ve only got one day’s worth of clean clothes left, and I hate to ask Mrs. Kinley for anything more. Could I do a couple loads of laundry in the machines here?”
“Sure, but ick.” She made a disgusted face. “We wash all the animals’ blankets and towels in those. I wouldn’t put my clothes in them, that’s for sure. I remember hearing they were doing some renovations at the Oaks Café on Main Street and were planning to put in a connected Laundromat. I don’t know if it’s finished yet, but you could check.”
The mere idea of going into Oaks Crossing on her own made Bekah slightly nauseous. People would ask her all manner of questions she’d prefer not to answer, which meant she’d either have to deflect them or outright lie about her less-than-glorious background. She feared the trip would end up being a complete disaster.
That left her imposing on the Kinleys. Again. Not the ideal solution, but once she’d gotten all her clothes clean, she’d have some time to come up with a better one. While they ate, they chatted about the various animals housed at the center, and Sierra gave Bekah a brief lesson on the computer system they used to track everything from food and supply orders to wildlife release dates.
She was no computer expert, but she’d used enough of them that she couldn’t miss the flashing red shield at the bottom of the monitor. “What’s that?” she asked, pointing to it.
“Some kind of alert I haven’t been able to diagnose. This is a hand-me-down system from a donor, and I’d say we got what we paid for.”
“When I get some time later on, I’ll take a look at it. Maybe it’s just a matter of finding the explanation online and downloading a program that will fix it once and for all.”
“If you can get this thing running properly, I’ll owe you big-time.”
“Just part of the job, boss,” Bekah told her with a grin. “We all do what we can, right?”
That got her a short laugh. “That’s one of Drew’s favorite lines. I think you’ve been spending too much time with that troublemaker.”
“Troublemaker? What do you mean?”
“He’s one of those love ’em and leave ’em types, and he’s left a string of broken hearts from here to Louisville. He’s a good enough guy, but he just can’t seem to settle down.”
Bekah knew perfectly well that Drew’s romantic exploits were none of her business, but her curiosity got the better of her. “Why do you think that is?”
After considering the question for a moment, she replied, “Either he’s looking for something particular that he can’t find, or he’s got no clue what he wants and is hoping to blindly run into it somewhere along the way.”
“Or he’s happy being unattached,” Bekah suggested. “Some guys like having the freedom to wander from one woman to the next whenever they get bored.”
She’d known more than her share of them, she added silently. Men who told a woman what she wanted to hear, then shed her when things got too serious or she asked too many questions that he didn’t want to answer. Either way, he broke away cleanly and got on with his life, while she was left behind, wondering what had gone wrong.
“It’s like Erin always says. Boys are stupid.”
“You mean Drew’s sister?” When Sierra nodded, Bekah couldn’t help laughing. “With those three as brothers, I guess she oughta know.”
“Got that right. So, our new tenant is a dehydrated squirrel with a broken leg. Are you ready for your first lesson in squirrel care?”
“That depends. What’s the medical term for a broken leg?” She’d watched enough medical dramas to have a decent idea what the answer was, so she figured it wouldn’t be too hard for the struggling vet tech to come up with something reasonable.
“Ugh, not now.”
“Yes, now,” Bekah insisted. “Come on, you must know at least one of the words.”
“The upper bone in a leg is the femur.”
“And?”
Sierra stared up, as if she might find a clue written on the water-stained ceiling tiles. Then she snapped her fingers and gave Bekah a delighted smile. “Fractured.”
“Let’s see if you’re right.” Tapping the phrase into the search box on the computer, she angled the screen so her new friend could see that she was right. “Nice job.”
“Great,” Sierra muttered with a wry grin. “One down, forty-million to go.”
“One step at a time,” Bekah reminded her. “No matter how big or small a project is, that’s how everything gets done.”
Sierra studied her for a long moment, then smiled. “Forget Lily. I think I just found my new tutor. How much do you want?”
Stunned by the request, she firmly shook her head. “Me? I’m not a teacher.”
“Teachers help their students learn, and you just did that perfectly. I can’t afford the time or money to retake classes, which means I have to pass on the first go-round. So, are you going to name a price or make me come up with one on my own?”
Bekah didn’t have the first idea what that kind of job should pay, but the humming laptop inspired her. “Why don’t I look up what private tutors normally make, and then we can talk?”
“Deal.” After they shook hands, she said, “Now, come with me and I’ll show you how to examine our little acorn-loving rodent without getting bit.”
Not a completely even trade, Bekah decided as she followed her quirky new boss, but it was definitely a start.
* * *
At lunchtime, Bekah finally convinced Mrs. Kinley to let her help clean up the kitchen. “But you really have to call me Maggie,” she’d insisted with a bright, dimpled smile. “Everyone else does.”
That didn’t seem right to Bekah, so while they worked she simply avoided calling Drew’s mother anything at all. Unfortunately, the woman was pretty perceptive, and she laughed. “Just give in and go with it, honey. We’re all pretty casual around here, which you’ll find out soon enough.”
“It’s true,” Lily chimed in while she dried one of the large platters and put it away. “It sounds corny, but around here we’re one big, crazy family.”
It didn’t sound corny to Bekah at all. In fact, she’d felt more at home in the Kinleys’ loud, chaotic house than she had anywhere else in recent memory. She really appreciated them including her in their homey routine and offering her a place to sleep that didn’t include seat belt connectors jabbing her in the back. She wasn’t sure how to say that without it coming across as lame, so she kept the comment to herself. Instead, she said, “I like big, crazy families. There’s always room for someone new.”
“Around here, that’s definitely the case,” Lily agreed, sending a smile over to her husband, who w
as currently arguing with Drew about something farm-related. “When I first started coming by for riding lessons, I felt like one of the crew right off the bat.”
“Coming up with that riding school idea for you and Mike didn’t hurt any,” Maggie reminded her with a fond look. “It’s still bringing kids in here, and the money sure does come in handy.”
“How about the rescue center?” Bekah asked while she rinsed dishes and lined them up in the dishwasher. “From what Sierra was saying, I got the feeling it runs pretty close to the bone.”
“And then some,” Drew answered as he swung onto a stool in front of the large island. “We’d all like to step back and let it earn its own way, but it’s gotta prove it can turn a profit first. We don’t have the money to hire full-time staff—”
“But it can’t support itself without them,” Bekah finished for him.
She almost expected him to scold her for interrupting, but instead he nodded. “Right. Sounds to me like you’ve got a pretty good head for business.”
“I wish,” she replied with a derisive laugh. “Mostly, I understand flat-line finances.”
Moving a little closer, he eyed his mother before replying in a quieter voice obviously meant to spare her feelings. “Yeah, same with us. We’ve been treading water since my father died a few years ago. Mike came back to help out, and his wedding carriage business and riding school are helping to keep us out of bankruptcy, but it’s not fun, that’s for sure.”
“Especially since the rescue center isn’t pulling its weight. If you have to close it, what will happen to all those animals? Is there another facility like that around here somewhere?”
“Not for wildlife. Dogs and cats, they’re easy. Lots of folks will adopt an animal from a shelter as long as it’s healthy. Raccoons and deer that need attention from a vet, they’re a different story.”
“And hawks,” Bekah added, swallowing around a sudden lump in her throat. “If it wasn’t for Sierra, Rosie would’ve died yesterday.”
“That’d be a shame. I’m looking forward to watching her fly again.”
His hazel eyes twinkled with anticipation, and Bekah felt the barricade she’d built around herself start to wobble. She didn’t know how he’d done it, but this outgoing, bighearted country boy had somehow edged around her defenses and begun earning her trust. Out of harsh necessity, she didn’t give it easily, so her reaction to him was baffling, to say the least.
When the kitchen was back in order, he hopped down from the stool and angled her toward the door. “Come on. I’ve got something to show you.”
“I should get back to the center and make sure everyone’s okay. Sierra has to make a presentation in class tonight, so she left to polish her slide show.”
“A few more minutes won’t matter,” he assured her with a bright grin as he opened the door for her. “If you get in trouble, just tell her it was my fault. She’ll believe that.”
Mischief glinted in his eyes, and she couldn’t help laughing. “Okay, but it has to be quick.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She couldn’t imagine what he had in mind, and she was surprised when he headed for the well-worn field road that led to the center. Instead of going in the front door of the clinic, he took her around back and paused by a door that looked as though it hadn’t been used in years. Oddly, the glass set into the weathered oak had been freshly cleaned, and new curtains hung across the window next to the door.
Drew dug into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a dull brass key, which he promptly held out to her.
Stunned by the implication, she reflexively shook her head and started backpedaling. “What did you do?”
“You need a place to stay,” he replied in a reasonable tone. “We need a night manager for this place. It’s a win-win.”
She couldn’t deny that, for her, the solution was ideal. Buried here on this farm in the middle of nowhere, she’d be impossible for anyone to find, even if they knew where to look. Beyond that, she already loved working at the center, caring for the animals who needed a little boost to get healthy enough to be adopted or returned to where they belonged.
Having been injured and grounded in her own way, Bekah felt a special kinship with the creatures who were biding their time until they were strong enough to be back on their own.
While she debated with herself, she noticed Drew watching her closely. He must think I’m a complete loon, she groaned silently. Hoping to prove him wrong, she shook off her reservations and summoned a grateful smile. “Is this where you’ve been disappearing to lately?”
“Yeah.”
“And getting scolded for skipping work at the farm?”
“Actually,” he confided with a charmingly crooked grin, “it wasn’t that bad. Mike growls a lot, but ever since he married Lily, he’s more teddy bear than grizzly.”
She doubted that, but it was nice of him to downplay the scolding he must have gotten from his older brother on her account. She couldn’t remember anyone ever going out on a limb like that for her, and his thoughtfulness touched her in a way that she hadn’t felt in ages. Since he’d gone to so much trouble for her, she figured the least she could do was view the result of his hard work. “Well, let’s see how it looks, and then we’ll go from there.”
He didn’t take the key from her or muscle past her to do the manly open-the-door routine. Instead, he let her unlock the old knob and enter the small space on her own. When it occurred to her that he intended to wait outside, she turned to him and asked, “Are you coming in?”
“Only if you like it.”
For all those rugged looks of his, he was a real sweetheart. The seeming contradiction actually suited him pretty well, she thought with a smile. Not to mention, it made him even more appealing to her. It seemed that there was more to this country boy than a quick smile and an easygoing personality. Despite her plan to keep some distance between them, she couldn’t help wondering just how much there was to discover about him.
She left the door open in a silent invitation, then walked into what appeared to be an old office with a small bathroom at the back. Although it was connected to the baby barn by a short walkway, the separate entrance offered some privacy, and the thick wall blocked out most of the noise. None of the furnishings were new, but the bedding and curtains looked freshly laundered, and a vintage refrigerator was humming away in the corner of the tiny kitchen.
For several seconds, she wasn’t sure how to react. When she realized he must be waiting for her to respond somehow, she said, “This is incredible.”
“You might want to hold your applause till I show you this.” He strode to the small kitchen sink, turned the cold handle and waited.
And waited.
After about ten seconds, a horrible moaning kicked in somewhere behind the wall, traveling up the pipes and into the faucet. As if that wasn’t disheartening enough, it was followed by a rust-colored trickle of water from the tap. The pressure gradually increased, and the water began flowing at a more normal rate.
“The bathroom fixtures aren’t any better right now, I’m afraid,” he told her. “I know it looks bad, but the water’s been off for a long time. I’m sure it’ll clear up soon. I ordered a new toilet, and Mom said you’re welcome to shower at the house until things are okay in here.”
Doing a slow pivot to take it all in, she stopped when she came around to Drew. “You did all this for me?”
“Well, cleaning’s not my favorite chore, but once I got started, it didn’t make sense to quit until everything was decent for you.” He gave her another one of those charming grins that he seemed to have quite a collection of. “Gotta admit I’m a little jealous. Your place is cleaner than mine.”
“I’m confused,” she confided with a frown. “Why would you go to so much trouble for someone you just met yesterday?”
“It seems like you need a place to land, and I wanted to give you one.”
“Why do you care?”
He started to answer, then grimaced and sighed. “I’m really not sure. It just felt like the right thing to do.”
“Do you always follow your gut like that?”
“Pretty much.”
That had never worked out well for her, so she’d stopped doing it long ago. But now, standing here with this man who’d taken it upon himself to help her, she was beginning to wonder if the problem wasn’t with her, after all. Maybe, she thought for the first time, it was the fault of the people who’d disappointed her so badly.
While she mulled that over, she noticed that he wasn’t trying to pressure her into gushing about his generosity, or even accepting it. Instead, he gazed at her with a patient expression that was simply amazing to someone who’d been pushed, goaded and manipulated into doing far too many things she should’ve had the good sense to refuse.
And because he was allowing her to choose for herself, her decision was an easy one.
“Thank you, Drew,” she finally said, smiling up at him in gratitude. “You did a great job, and I think I’ll be very comfortable living here.”
* * *
By the time Drew had finished the chores that had been piling up and showed his face in the hay barn that afternoon, Mike and Josh had stacked more than half of the small bales waiting to be tucked away in the overhead lofts.
“I know,” Drew said, stalling the expected dressing-down with both hands in the air. “I’ll work extra time tonight to make it up.”
His brothers exchanged a very male look and then, to his astonishment, started laughing like maniacs.
“Did I miss something?” Drew asked, perplexed by their attitude. Normally, going AWOL for hours on end was an invitation to a very unpleasant big-brother scolding, complete with folded arms and a heavy dose of scowls. For some reason, today it was hilarious.
