by Tiana Cole
“No. You have an auditor coming today and I seem to recall that you had a barn fire last night. I’m sure you have things to take care of. By the way, you need to correct the amount I have highlighted on the inventory sheet laying on my desk to 432 instead of 4332. That was what I went to the barn to check on,” she told him as she remembered.
“Really? You just survived a barn fire and you are concerned with my audit?” He gave a look with one brow raised as if to say that she needed to work on her priorities. She just shrugged and grinned up at him.
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I am. You can give me a huge bonus at the end of the year for my dedication,” she told him, that small smile still playing at the corners of her lips.
“Hopefully, that means you aren’t going to abandon ship then,” he smiled, the words coming out as more of a question than anything else.
“Jury is still out, but for now, I guess I’ll stick it out. Though I might need a few days of that personal leave you said I have available,” she told him as she plucked at the periwinkle blue hospital gown they had put her in.
“Let’s just consider however many days you need off as not counting toward those,” he said as a nurse brought in her discharge papers. She smiled and nodded before turning to the nurse to get her paperwork. When she was done, she realized that the gown she was wearing an open-backed gown and couldn’t very well get up to get dressed in front of him. Plus, she wasn’t even sure if she had any clothes to wear.
“Uh, excuse me. Where are my clothes?” she asked the nurse as she handed her the completed forms.
“Oh, they put those in a bag. It is sitting in the closet. I’ll get them for you,” she replied, walking over to the built in cabinet area on one side of the room. She pulled out a bag and brought it over to Cecilia.
Opening up the bag, the acrid smell of smoke filled her nostrils, making her nauseous. The clothes were still saturated with smoke from the fire. She made a face and stuffed them back into the bag.
“What’s wrong?” Jack asked, noticing the disgusted expression on her face as he walked over.
“They smell horrible,” she replied, handing him the bag. He took one tentative sniff before quickly sealing the bag again.
“Oh, yeah. Of course they do. I hadn’t thought about that,” he commented, as he put the bag down on the small table, his brow furrowed. “How about this. I’ll go downstairs and find you something to wear. They have to have something here besides those hospital gowns.” He smiled at the last statement, but she was already shaking her head.
“I can’t. I don’t even know where my purse is to pay for anything,” she said.
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll take care of it,” he said, already heading out of the room before she could protest. He returned a short time later with a bag from the gift shop in hand and handed it to her. She reached in to find a pair of pajama pants, a t-shirt, and fuzzy slippers.
“Quite the fashion statement,” she laughed.
“Hey, it was the best I could do. It will get you home without exposing your backside through the open back of that gown you’re sporting,” he said, looking a little embarrassed.
Cecilia scrutinized his face, wondering if her covers had slipped during some part of her sleep giving him more of a view than he intended or if he was just making general commentary. She felt a little flush creep across her face at the thought of having inadvertently mooned him in her sleep.
Rather than a repeat performance, she asked if he minded stepping out while she changed. He nodded and left the room, leaving her to climb out of bed and slip into the clothes. She could still smell smoke on her skin and wanted to take a shower, but decided to wait until she got home where she could just soak in her own tub for a while.
“Okay, I’m ready to go,” she told him as she walked to the doorway.
He was leaning against the outer wall texting someone, but tucked the phone into this pocket when she stepped out. A nurse turned up with a wheelchair, insisting that she get in it.
Though she didn’t really want to, the woman insisted it was hospital policy and instructed Jack to meet them at the front entrance with his vehicle. He hurried toward the elevators to get it pulled around while they made their way down to the lobby on a nearby patient only elevator. Outside the entrance, he held open the door for her to step inside. They rode most of the way in silence other than her giving directions to her house.
“Listen, Cecilia. I don’t think I can tell you enough how sorry I am that all of this happened to you. I knew that Barbara was jealous and a raving alcoholic, but it never occurred to me that she would go so far as to try to hurt you. I feel so horrible about it all, especially after I assured you that I wouldn’t let her bother you,” he said as they pulled into her driveway and stopped.
“It’s not your fault, Jack. She is obviously unbalanced. I assume she is in jail for now?” Cecilia inquired, realizing that she had no idea if the crazy woman was still on the loose. She had some vague recollection of seeing a police car and Barbara being taken to it, but couldn’t be sure if it was something she had actually seen.
“Yes. She will be there for a while. I doubt she will even make bond with attempted murder and arson on her list of charges,” he replied, and she breathed a sigh of relief. The memories from the day before swirled through her mind and she realized for the first time that she had never said thank you to Jack for rescuing her.
“I am just so thankful that you came along when you did. You saved my life, you know that, right?” she told him, choking up a little. Jack took one look at her face, her eyes welling with tears and exhaustion. He was by her side in an instant. He pulled her to him in a hug, letting her cry on his shoulder for a moment before she pulled away with one last sniffle.
“I’m sorry. I must smell horrible.” She pulled away, tinged with embarrassment, realizing that the smell of arson still clung to her skin.
“I’m really glad you are okay,” he said, and there was something different about his voice as he stood there, looking deeply into her eyes. She thought for a moment that he might kiss her, but then he looked away. “I guess we better get you inside. Tommy will be here in a minute with your car and your purse. I sent him a text while you were getting dressed. I’ll take him back to the ranch with me.”
“Thanks, for everything,” she told him as they made their way to her front steps.
“I’ll call to check on you later. Do you need anything right now? Food, drinks? Tommy and I can go shopping for you before we head back,” he asked, and his sweetness had her chest tightening as a wave of tenderness washed over her.
“No. I have food in the house. Thank you for asking,” she told him. Tommy was pulling into the driveway behind him as they stood there. She made no move to go inside, despite being in pajama pants and braless on her front steps. She couldn’t without her keys. He made his way across the yard with her purse on his shoulder and her keys in hand.
“That is a very metro sexual look you have going on there, Tommy,” Jack teased.
“I would have been here sooner, but I couldn’t do a thing with my hair,” Tommy replied, smoothing back the nonexistent hair on his bald head. He turned toward Cecilia and smiled. “Very nice to see you. You look a sight better than the barn.”
“Bad?” Jack asked. It had still been on fire when he had left for the hospital the night before.
“Gone,” Tommy replied.
“Oh God, I just realized. There were animals in there when I was inside,” Cecilia said, horrified.
“We got them out while Jack was helping you. That’s why we didn’t notice Barbara turning up at first,” Tommy said sadly.
“How? The barn was filled with smoke and their stalls were latched,” she said incredulously. “Was anyone else hurt?”
“No. There is a master lock on a post outside the barn. It is there for just such an event as a fire. With the doors open, all you have to do is flip it to pop all the latches and let the animals out.
From there, it was just a matter of calming them and getting them into pens,” he said.
“Thank goodness,” Cecilia replied, feeling relieved, but still heartbroken over the tragedy. She knew it would be that much more work for Jack when the ranch already took up all of his time.
“Let’s get out of here and let her get some rest,” Jack said to Tommy, gesturing for the other man toward the truck. The two of them headed back to Tommy’s truck as she let herself into the house and headed straight to the bath to get cleaned up. She could feel that something had changed between herself and Jack, but now she couldn’t say that it was worth the risk of dealing with a crazed ex that tried to kill her. Rather than think about it too much, she ran a tub of water and sank down into it, willing the outside world away for a while. Tomorrow would be a new day.
Chapter Five
A few days later, after much doting on Jack’s behalf, Cecilia returned to work. It was difficult not to miss the giant block of scorched earth where the barn used to sit, but Jack had wasted no time in getting on with things. The debris was already being removed into large bins on either side of where it had stood, and she could see fresh building supplies that had been delivered nearby for rebuilding.
Making her way into their office, she found a vase of fresh flowers on her desk: a welcome back present from Jack. She had to wonder if they were just part of his apology or meant more than that.
She had just set down her purse and powered up her computer when his familiar voice washed over her.
“Good morning, I…” He paused, his words trailing off as he looked her over. “You sure you’re ready to come back to work? If you need more time, it’s no problem at all, just tell me.” There was a note of concern in his voice that warmed her all the way to her toes.
“No, Jack. I’m fine, really. Right as rain!” She smiled cheerfully at him, emphasizing her words even though she still felt a little out of breath if she tried to walk too far. She wasn’t going to tell him that though. He had been worse than a mother hen the last few days, always calling and stopping by to check on her.
It was so sweet, but it was also terribly confusing. Her feelings for her boss were already muddled enough without his help, even though she did appreciate it.
“Really, I promise,” she reassured him as he continued to look at her with a dubious expression.
“All right. Well, if you need anything, just call me on the two-way radio,” He shot her a boyish grin then, and said, “I’ll come running.”
Cecilia grinned back at him, just shaking her head as she settled into work for the day.
Jack walked out of the building, fighting the temptation to go back and check on her one more time. But he had seen the look in her gorgeous eyes, and he was sure if he did, she might just throw something at him.
He knew it had been tough for her to be away from work. She wasn’t the type of woman to enjoy just sitting around not doing anything, and the three days that he had got her to rest had been like pulling teeth. It seemed like every time he had called or went by, she was up, moving around, doing something, or working on something.
He grinned to himself as remembered stopping by her house after work last night. She had been covered from head to toe in flour, the kitchen strewn with egg shells and sugar and who knows what else. She was making a cake, she had told him, even though it looked more like a war zone to him.
She had invited him to stay, and he had been about to decline, he really should have, when she pulled the most delicious looking chocolate cake out of the oven. She didn’t even know it, but he had a legendary sweet tooth. He couldn’t say no.
They had sat there at her tiny kitchen table, his eyes roving over her, checking to make sure she was really okay. The thought of her hurt had driven him absolutely insane, and the fact that it had happened because of him was intolerable. He could still picture her, the image seared into his memory, as she had laid there unconscious, black clouds of smoke billowing out of the barn. If he had been just a minute longer…
Jack shook the thought off, knowing it wouldn’t do anyone any good at all. But it still tore him up inside that she had been hurt because of him.
Maybe the best thing for both of them would be for him to stay away from her for a little while, and to give her some space as she got back into the swing of things at the ranch. And lord knew he had enough to do with rebuilding the barn.
Nodding to himself resolutely, he headed in the direction where the barn used to be, already rolling up the sleeves of his shirt, determined now that he had come to a decision regarding Cecilia. Now, if only nothing else could go wrong.
***
As the weeks passed, Cecilia grew more and more convinced that whatever she thought might have been happening between her and Jack was all one-sided, or maybe she had just read more into his actions than was really there. She decided it was the former, as he seemed more distant and all business.
She thought that perhaps he had decided it was inappropriate to get too close to her, or maybe he had always felt that way and she had just misinterpreted his natural kindness and social graces.
In fact, rather than Jack as she had secretly hoped, since the incident in the barn, it had been Tommy who had been hanging around the office a bit and chatting her up. Though he was slightly older and men who shaved their heads weren’t usually her thing, she found herself enjoying their chats. When he finally got around to asking her out, she decided there was no reason she shouldn’t go. They went to dinner together and it was pleasant enough, but there was no real spark between them.
He had driven her home, and she had hopped out, seeing herself to her door. No goodbye kiss or even a hug. The attraction just hadn’t been there for her, even though she did enjoy his company.
She unlocked her door and walked inside, with one last quick wave for Tommy over her shoulder. She went to bed that night, dreaming the same dream that had been haunting her sleep since she had first met her handsome, blue-eyed boss. She just couldn’t seem to get him out of her head, and her body obviously wasn’t getting the message that he wasn’t interested.
Not that she wanted him to be, right? Cecilia went back and forth, arguing with herself. She couldn’t deny her own attraction to Jack, but she had finally settled into her new job and it was going great, especially now that she didn’t have to worry about any more terrifying attacks from his insane ex girlfriend. She didn’t want to do anything that might damage her position.
Cecilia dragged herself out of bed the next morning, put on her jeans and flannel checked button-down shirt, and new tan and black boots, before heading off to work, once again trying to banish her hot and heavy nighttime thoughts.
She parked her car, got out, and headed for the office, inhaling the clean, country air. I really have changed, she thought to herself, remembering how disgusted she had been on that first day.
She walked into the office and jumped when she heard Jack’s voice as soon as she walked in.
“So, you are dating Tommy now?” Jack said sullenly when she arrived at the office, still holding her purse in one hand and car keys in the other.
“I wouldn’t say we are dating,” she replied, not really sure how to respond, and slightly taken aback by his sudden shift in mood. She had never seen him anything but kind, generous, and full of good humor. Unless he was yelling at Irvin, of course. But the young man really did make a lot of mistakes around the ranch.
“What would you call it then?” he asked, meeting her gaze with a cold stare.
“Hmmm. Not really anyone’s business?” She walked all the way in to the office, taking a seat at her desk with her back turned to him. It was obvious that he didn’t like it, but why? There was no fraternization policy at the ranch, and he hadn’t shown any interest since she had been back to work, and that had been weeks, so why was he upset?
“Noted,” he replied, his voice clipped and short, getting up and walking out of the office. He didn’t return the rest of the day, and an
y attempts to contact him via radio were responded to with short, to the point answers that had her sighing more than once throughout the day.
When Tommy stopped by and asked her out to dinner for that night a bit later in the day, she accepted. Perhaps things might click more on a second date.
“I still can’t believe what Barbara did to you,” he told her over steaks at a very nice hibachi restaurant near her house.
“I guess you just never know about people. What was the deal with her and Jack anyway?” she asked, trying not to sound too interested, although she wanted every detail.
“They dated for quite some time. Things were fine for a while. She was a nice girl, but when her and Steve’s parents died last year, she just got really depressed. Jack stood by her, did everything he could to coax her out of it. She started drinking more and more until she was drunk more often than she was sober. Then she started getting really nasty with him. Always making a scene and insanely jealous if a woman even spoke to Jack.
Even after he finally gave up and broke it off with her, she continued to stalk him. He had to take out a restraining order, but he never enforced it. There was a part of him that still cared about her and wanted her to get better, but I guess that eroded over time. I think eventually he just wanted her to leave him alone,” he told her, and the story broke her heart even though the woman did try to hurt her. There was obviously a lot more going on with Barbara than she had first realized.
“That’s sad. Maybe she will finally get the help she needs. I hate that it has to be behind bars,” Cecilia said, feeling genuinely sorry for the woman despite what she had done.
“It is probably the best thing that could have happened to her. She’s just damned lucky Jack pulled you out of there or she’d have been in a lot more hot water,” he replied, as he took another bite of his steak.
Cecilia sat there, picking at her food, still feeling frustrated over how the day had gone at work, but trying to push it way.
