The Coppersmith Farmhouse

by Devney Perry

  My fraying ends were going to unravel soon and I didn’t want to scare Rowen more than I already had.

  She was a trooper, my girl. I was absolutely getting that karaoke machine she’d been begging me for. The least I could do to reward her for such a stoic show was listen to her sing Frozen songs on loop for endless hours each night. Torture for me, yes, but today she’d earned it.

  Since Rowen still wasn’t back, I decided to close my eyes for a minute. No sooner had my top lid hit the bottom than a pounding noise rang in my ears.

  Not a headache.

  I opened my eyes to see an extremely unhappy Jess storming down the hallway.

  Destination? Me.

  He stopped a few feet into the ER bay, gave me a once-over and planted his hands on his hips. Today, he had traded his white T-shirt for a navy one. It made his eyes appear even bluer than normal. Blue, but very pissed off.

  “She okay?” he asked Everett.

  “She’ll be fine. I’ll get out of your way and she can give you the details,” Everett answered, then scurried out of the room.

  Coward.

  Jess turned back to me and removed his hands from his hips to cross them over his chest.

  “Where’s Rowen?” he asked.

  “She’s at home, cleaning the house and baking a cake.”

  Jess’s eyes narrowed and I swear steam started to roll from the top of his head.

  “Kidding. She’s right behind you.”

  I made a mental note not to joke with Jess when he was angry.

  He swung around to see Roe walking up to us with Ida.

  When she saw him, Roe ran the last few feet toward him and jumped into his arms.

  Neither Jess nor Rowen said anything for a few moments. He just held her as she burrowed her face into his shoulder and wrapped her little legs as far around his waist as they could stretch.

  To my knowledge, Roe hadn’t ever hugged Jess, so a running leap into a full-body embrace meant my baby girl was one hundred percent freaked way the hell out.

  Eff.

  “You okay, little bit?” he asked softly in her ear.

  She nodded and unwrapped her arms from his neck, leaning toward me.

  Jess deposited her onto my lap and I cradled her with my good arm.

  “Everything is going to be okay. I’ll be good as new, really soon. Promise,” I whispered. “You were my brave girl. I’m proud of you.”

  “That was scary, Mommy.”

  “I know, sweetie. I’m sorry.”

  “Can we go home?” she asked.

  “Soon. I need to sit here for a while so the medicine can do its job and make me feel better. Then we’ll go home. Maybe we should get some pizza for dinner? And ice cream?”

  She gave me a small smile and nodded. “Chocolate ice cream.”

  “You got it.”

  “Time to explain, Georgia,” Jess said.

  I sighed and squeezed Roe a bit closer. “I was in the barn cleaning out the back stall. There was a rattlesnake behind one of those old hay bales. I wasn’t paying attention, so when I grabbed the hay bale to throw it out, it bit me.”

  Thinking about it sent a new wave of shudders through my body. Rowen tensed on my lap as she got chills of her own.

  “I’m never going in the barn again.” Tears filled my eyes.

  “Me either,” Rowen said.

  Jess’s anger vanished at the sight of my tears and he moved into us, putting a hand around the back of my neck.

  “I’ll take care of the barn. And the snake. Make sure it’s safe,” he said.

  I sniffled and blinked a couple of times before the tears could fall.

  “That’s sweet, Jess. But I really don’t think I can ever go in there again. Snakes scare the crap out of me. That place is tainted forever. Can you board the doors closed?” I asked. “Oh, wait! Let’s burn it down instead. We can roast marshmallows and make s’mores in the fire.”

  He grinned and squeezed his hand at my neck. “Fire season, baby. Think Nick at the fire department would frown upon the sheriff lighting up a barn and causing a prairie fire.”

  “Oh . . . dang. Then let’s lock up the doors, and this winter, I’ll be sure to leave a burning cigarette or twelve out there. I don’t smoke but that gives me five or six months to start.”

  “Not a big fan of kissing an ashtray, Freckles. How about you don’t worry about the barn right now?” he asked.

  “Fine.”

  Not thinking about the barn was a very good idea. But he was dreaming if he thought I’d ever go back in there. That barn was as good as gone. As soon as I could afford it, I was hiring someone to tear it down. Then I was going to build a garage and stock it full of mongoose babies. Because anyone who’d ever read Rikki-Tikki-Tavi as a child knew a mongoose would take care of snakes. So I was buying a lot of mongooses for my new garage, assuming that a mongoose could live in Montana, of course.

  He dropped his hand from my neck. “How much longer do you need to stay here?”

  “Forty-five minutes, give or take a few,” I said after looking at the wall clock.

  “Right,” he said. “C’mon, Roe. We’ve got a few things to do while your mom finishes here.”

  “What things?” Rowen and I asked in unison.

  “Gotta get my truck to the farmhouse so I can drive you home in your car. Pick up pizza and chocolate ice cream. Those things. Where are your keys?”

  “Jess—” I started but he interrupted me.

  “Got narcotics in that drip?” He tipped his head to my IV tower.

  “Uh . . . yeah.”

  “Then you’re not driving. And Roe can’t ride in my truck without her booster seat.”

  He had a point.

  “Keys are in my purse. And some cash in my wallet for dinner,” I said.

  He just gave me a look.

  “Roe, go grab the keys,” he told her.

  He shook his head at me and lifted both hands to frame the sides of my face.

  “Worried about you, baby,” he murmured before leaning in and giving me a soft, gentle kiss on the lips.

  I raised the hand on my unbitten arm and placed it on his at my cheek.

  “I’m okay.”

  He nodded and kissed me lightly on the nose, then took Rowen’s hand.

  His gesture was so sweet, so perfect, it overwhelmed me with emotion. So far I hadn’t let myself cry, but now I had a lump in my throat and I knew it was a matter of seconds before I couldn’t contain the tears.

  With the sight of Jess and my daughter walking away from me, hand in hand to do their “things,” I let go.

  Jess and Rowen arrived to pick me up from the hospital while I was signing my discharge papers. We rode home with a pepperoni pizza, a mixed green salad and a pint of chocolate ice cream in the back. While Rowen gave me a play-by-play of the last forty-five minutes, Jess held my hand on the center console the whole trip home.

  Bryant, one of his deputies, had helped Jess transfer his truck to the farmhouse. Roe had learned that Bryant had two kids. His daughter was six, close to Rowen’s age, and Bryant had invited her to come over for a weekend sleepover (as long as it was okay with me, of course).

  I gave her the go-ahead and promised to get ahold of Bryant’s wife and set it up soon. This had evoked a wailing scream of glee from the back seat as we drove home.

  The terror from earlier was nearly forgotten. My girl was happy in the back and Jess was holding my hand. Things had started to right themselves in my world and my fraying ends were twisting back together.

  “Do you know who that is?” I asked Jess after dinner.

  I was standing in the living room watching a large black truck pull up to the house.

  “Yep,” he said with no further explanation as we all made our way outside.

  Our visitor was tall and attractive. His blond hair was sticking out from beneath a dirty brown baseball hat. He was leaner than Jess but about the same height.

  “Georgia, this is Silas Grant.
Silas, my girls Gigi and Rowen,” he said.

  “Nice to meet you, Silas,” I said while trying to remember where I’d heard his name before.

  I’d met and heard about so many people since we moved to Prescott, I couldn’t place it immediately. Finally it dawned on me. He was the rancher whose calf had been killed mysteriously and the man Maisy described as “ex-military and, like, terrifying.”

  She obviously knew more about him than I did because at first glance, terrifying was hardly the word that came to mind. In fact, his dark brown eyes, pointed at my Roe, might have been some of the kindest I’d ever seen.

  Silas opened the tailgate to his truck, revealing a large box.

  “What’s in there?” Rowen asked.

  From the box, Silas lifted out a huge black and white cat, setting it quickly on the ground. It darted under his truck as he set the box on the ground. In the bottom were three teeny, tiny adorable black kittens about the size of my hand. They couldn’t have been more than two weeks old.

  “Kitties!” Rowen shrieked, jumping up and down. She went straight for the box and immediately began playing with the little bundles of fur. Nothing existed in her world at that moment except those kittens.

  “The mother here is gentle with a calm demeanor,” Silas said. “She’s not afraid of people and will come around the house, especially if you get in the habit of feeding them on the porch.”

  “Okay.” I nodded.

  “Kittens are two girls and a boy. Boy is the one with white paws. They’re barn cats so they’ve never had shots or been to a vet. But they’ll keep the rodents away.”

  “Sorry, I’m new to country life. Rodents are bad because . . . ?”

  “Mice attract snakes, Freckles,” Jess said.

  I shuddered. Too many rodents in my barn. Hence the snake.

  And if there were mice in the barn, there could be some scurrying close to the house, leading snakes from the confines of the barn to my yard where my four-year-old little girl loved to play.

  “She loves to play outside, Jess. You don’t think snakes would come out here, do you? Is it safe by the house?”

  “Most critters, including snakes, stay away from people. They’re more scared of you than you are of them,” he said.

  “I seriously doubt that, honey.” The “honey” just slipped out but I liked it.

  “Baby, you were too close, and you scared that snake in the barn today. It didn’t seek you out and viciously attack you. It just reacted on instinct. Nine out of ten times, it would have left before you ever got close. Could be you were being quiet and it didn’t hear you. Could have a nest in there and didn’t want to leave it,” he said.

  “Okay, now I’m totally freaked again!” I threw a hand out in the direction of the barn. “A nest? Meaning miniature evil creatures are on my property?”

  “It’ll be fine. I said I’d take care of the barn and I will. Promise. Just stay out of there,” he said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

  “Soon?” I asked.

  “Tomorrow.”

  “Okay. And for the record, that snake absolutely did seek me out and attack me viciously. Don’t you dare defend it,” I said, pointing my index finger up to his face.

  Silas chuckled before hauling an enormous bag of cat food out of his truck. The bag was twice as big as Rowen.

  “How about we take a look in the barn?” Silas asked Jess.

  “Sounds good. Let me grab a shovel,” he said and walked toward the side of the house.

  “For the record, Gigi, cats will help keep snakes away. Haven’t seen a snake by my house or barns in years. Not even a garter snake.”

  “Thanks. That helps,” I said.

  He nodded once and left to catch up with Jess.

  I crouched down to examine the kittens. My kittens. I’d never had a pet before. Not even a goldfish.

  “What should we name them?” I asked Rowen.

  “Mommy, I need to think about it. I can’t just give them names. I just met them. I have to get to know them first.”

  “Oh . . . sorry. Silly of me to assume otherwise. How about we take them up to the porch and you can get to know them up there while Mommy drinks a little glass of wine?” I asked.

  As we walked, she said to my back, “I could get to know them even better if they stayed in my room.”

  “Not happening, Roe. These are outside cats.”

  I carried the box up the porch steps and went inside to get my glass of wine. A big glass.

  It was almost gone by the time Jess and Silas stalked out of the barn with something hanging over the end of Jess’s shovel.

  Correction. A dead rattlesnake hanging over the end of Jess’s shovel.

  I got chills at the sight of the now dead reptile.

  If Jess put that thing in my garbage can, he’d buy himself garbage duty for life. I’d never go near that trash can again. Ever. Even after it had been emptied a hundred times.

  Thankfully, they deposited the corpse into the back of Silas’s truck.

  I waited until it was out of sight, not wanting Rowen to look over and see it, then I called out to Jess, “Might as well send that shovel with Silas too. I’ll never touch it again.”

  They both grinned while Jess handed Silas the shovel.

  “Nice to meet you, Gigi,” Silas called, raising his hand to me. I waved back before he shook Jess’s hand and drove away.

  “Captain Lewis,” Rowen said to Jess. He had just stepped onto the porch and she immediately lifted the boy kitten in the air.

  “What?” Jess asked.

  “His name. It’s Captain Lewis.”

  Jess bent at the waist and grabbed the kitten. It looked even smaller in his large hands. “Captain Lewis.”

  “It’s getting late, sweetie. Time to get ready for bed. Say good night to Jess,” I said.

  “What about the kitties?” she asked.

  “I’ve got them. Their mother is around the side of the house. I’ll move them there and put out some food. They’ll be ready for you to play with in the morning,” he said.

  “Thanks, Jess,” we said in unison before I shuffled Rowen inside to get into her pajamas.

  Rowen fell asleep quickly and when I came downstairs, Jess was sitting on the living room couch, checking something on his phone. His eyes followed me as I sat next to him.

  “Would you like something to drink?” I asked.

  “Water.”

  “Okay,” I said, unwinding my legs to stand.

  “Just bring it to bed, Georgia.”

  “Uh . . . what?”

  I sank back into the couch, now panicked at the prospect of him spending the night.

  “I’m staying here tonight, Freckles. You had a traumatic day and were in the hospital. I’m not leaving you alone to have a nightmare.”

  “Jess, I appreciate that but Roe’s room is right across the hall from mine. And I don’t have a guest bed yet. I’ll be fine. You made everything better tonight so I won’t have a nightmare. Go home.”

  “I’m staying,” he said and stood, grabbing me under the arms and hauling me up.

  The second my feet hit the floor, his mouth came down on mine and his arms circled my back, pulling me close. The kiss was long, hot and wet with lots of tongue. When he finally broke away, my lips were puffy and I was dizzy.

  “Water,” he said. “Meet you upstairs.”

  He walked around me, and then his footsteps echoed up the stairs.

  Damn.

  If he kissed me during every debate, I was never going to win.

  I unfroze and walked to the kitchen, getting us both a glass of water and taking them upstairs. He had turned off my bedroom light and switched on both end table lamps.

  He’d also taken off his shirt, shoes and socks.

  My knees nearly buckled at the sight of him in only a pair of jeans. Jeans that hung perfectly from his hipbones. I fumbled my next step and nearly dropped the water glasses.

  His body was, as expected, pe
rfect. Better than I had been picturing over the past two weeks. Strong shoulders. Cut, muscled arms. A well-defined chest dusted lightly with dark hair. He had a six-pack of chiseled abs and a happy trail of hair on his lower stomach that disappeared beneath the waistband of his jeans.

  Standing there shirtless, he instantly heated my blood. I wanted him so badly that I almost forgot Roe was across the hallway. Almost.

  Jess must have read my mind because he stalked toward me and removed a water glass from my hand. My gaze was glued to his chest so he hooked his finger under my chin, forcing my head back.

  “Not tonight, baby. We’re not going there until we have all night to ourselves. Okay?”

  I nodded, dropping my eyes.

  “You get ahold of Bryant’s wife and get that sleepover scheduled. Soon.”

  I nodded again.

  He grinned. “Get ready for bed, Freckles.”

  I stayed still. I was working to find the courage to make my next move.

  Leaning in, I placed a kiss against his bare chest, something I had wanted to do since the night he came over and got his letter from Ben. Before he could see my cheeks flush, I walked around him and into the bathroom.

  Had I just done that? It was so unlike me to be forward with a man.

  With brushed teeth, I came back into the bedroom. Jess was sitting at the foot of the bed, his jeans stripped off and now wearing only a pair of black boxer briefs.

  I swayed a little on my feet. Certainly he had a flaw somewhere. Right?

  His legs were powerful and strong, just like the rest of his body. His calves had a sexy ball of muscle at the top that tapered down to his ankles.

  He stood, then walked past me, lightly brushing my arm. That little touch ran through my entire body, sending tingles to all the right places.

  I jumped into bed and sank down into my pillow-top mattress. My mind was racing and I was on the verge of a full-on panic attack at the idea of a man sleeping in my bed.

  And it wasn’t just any man. It was Jess.

  Trying to relax, I took a deep breath and swiveled my head around, assessing my bedroom.

  I loved my room. It was like my own personal sanctuary. My rich, charcoal duvet had all of these randomly placed pin tucks and gathers so it billowed on my bed. My king-sized frame matched my dresser and two end tables. All of them were a dark, dark brown. My end table lamps were made of a bronze metal that had been fired with swirls of red, blue and copper.