He was being way too nice about this, which worried her. It had to mean he was planning on kicking her out first thing in the morning. She had to pre-empt that. “I’ll do better tomorrow. I promise.”
His fork froze halfway to his mouth, and she was sure she’d nailed his plan. A half smile turned up one corner of his mouth. “Right.” Then he continued eating, cleaning his plate within sixty seconds.
Was he really that hungry? Or was he trying to hurry through dinner so he could stop looking at her pitiful face in an attempt to ease his guilt?
“No, really,” she said. “I’m good at making pancakes. What time do you want breakfast?”
He set his napkin on his plate and stood, but paused to look at her. “I can make my own breakfast.”
That sealed it. At the crack of dawn she would be in the kitchen making the most mouth-watering pancakes on the planet.
Josh carried his dishes to the sink and began rinsing them off. Leaping from her seat, she rushed over to him.
“Let me take care of that,” she said, her voice carrying a note of desperation.
He looked at her with a frown, but he stepped away from the sink. “Have at it.”
She hadn’t eaten her food yet, and though it was growing cold, she turned her full attention to cleaning the kitchen. As she’d been slaving over dinner she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Will and what he would do if he found her. That may have had something to do with the fact that she’d forgotten to turn on the timer and ended up burning the casserole that would have been so delicious if she hadn’t screwed it up.
That failure was an exclamation point on why she needed to stay right where she was. If she’d burned Will’s dinner, she would have felt it. Right in her gut. He never hit her in the face, never anywhere obvious, but her ribs were often tender from his reminders to never displease him.
When she’d told Josh that she’d burned his dinner, she’d braced herself for what was to come next. When he’d simply suggested they have eggs instead, she’d nearly wept with relief.
His reaction had clinched it. She had to stay. At least until she could figure out her next move.
Chapter Thirteen
Shay didn’t sleep well that night. Partially because the fold-out couch in the spare bedroom was less than comfortable, partially because she didn’t want to oversleep.
Just as the sun began to peek over the horizon, she was in the kitchen whisking up pancake batter. When she’d gotten up, Josh’s door had been closed and she’d heard soft snoring on the other side. At least she’d gotten up before he did, although for all she knew he would sleep until noon and her efforts would be wasted.
Still, she considered Phase One—making breakfast before he had a chance to make it himself—to be a success.
Ten minutes later she had the table set and was ready to start pouring batter onto the hot griddle, but certain that Josh would prefer freshly cooked pancakes, she waited. And waited.
When it seemed that Josh wasn’t coming down to breakfast anytime soon, she put plastic wrap over the batter-filled bowl and placed it in the fridge. By then the summer sun was rising in the east, and as she looked out the kitchen window at the wild backyard, her fingers itched to get out there and dig in the dirt.
Though the thick forest was nearby, there was a huge clearing between the house and the tree line. Wildflowers and weeds filled the clearing. It didn’t look like anyone had touched that space in ages. Probably its only purpose was to create a firebreak. But she could picture a thriving vegetable garden there, and as she stared at the colorful wildflowers, she had an overwhelming desire to bring some inside.
Moments later she had a pair of scissors in hand—she’d come across them in the junk drawer earlier—and she headed out back. When she’d walked back there the evening before last she’d been completely focused on slaking her thirst and had barely noticed the beauty of the area. Now though, she breathed in the clean mountain air, listened to the cheerful morning song of the birds in the green, green trees, and basked in the warmth of the sun.
Spreading her arms and tilting her head back, she soaked it in, because she didn’t know how long she would be there to enjoy it.
The reminder that she would be out the door in seconds if Josh so chose sent a jolt of fear throughout her body. Right now, right then, she was in paradise. And she didn’t want to leave.
She also didn’t like having her fate in the hands of a man—a man she barely knew. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much she could do about that at the moment. With no money and nowhere to go, she had to suck it up until she thought of a better option.
Besides, being with Josh hadn’t exactly been torture.
Holding back a smile as she pictured him, she began snipping the stems of the wildflowers until she had a large bunch in her arms. She carried them inside, then set them on the counter while she looked for a vase. She didn’t find one, although she shouldn’t have been surprised. Josh didn’t seem like the kind of man who kept vases around. Instead, she took out a glass pitcher and placed the wildflowers inside, then stuck the pitcher under the faucet.
“Where’d you get those?” Josh asked moments later.
Startled, she nearly dropped the make-shift vase. Shutting off the water, she turned in his direction. “From your yard.” Apparently he’d never noticed the beautiful flowers blooming out there.
One side of his mouth lifted in a smile. “Right.” He wore running shorts and a t-shirt, along with a pair of sneakers.
“Are you hungry? I have pancake batter ready to pour on the griddle.”
His eyebrows shot up, and she wasn’t sure if he was surprised at her initiative or worried that she would burn the pancakes.
“I’m about to go for a run,” he said, his eyebrows back in place, perfectly framing his amazing blue eyes.
“Oh.”
Then he tilted his head. “Do you run?”
Shay had done a little track and field in high school, but the only running she’d done since then was away from Will yesterday. “I used to.” Was he going to invite her on his run?
He nodded, but didn’t suggest she come with him.
Disappointed, she plastered a smile onto her mouth.
Really, Shay? You thought he’d invite you to come with him on his one chance to get away from you?
“How long will you be?” She kept the smile in place. “I can have the pancakes ready when you get back.”
His eyes narrowed. “Are you always so eager to please?”
This was so opposite of what Will expected from her—doing everything to make him happy—she was totally thrown. “Uh…no?” She had to show him that she was a strong, confident woman, even if she was still working on those qualities. Swallowing over a burst of nervousness, she said, “The pancakes will be ready in an hour.” When he didn’t respond, she added, “I hope they’ll still be hot when you get back.”
His expression didn’t change, but after staring at her for several moments, he burst out laughing. With a shake of his head, he left the kitchen, and seconds later she heard the front door open and close.
Had she just given him another reason to kick her out?
The mountain air was fairly brisk at this hour of the morning, and as Josh ran his usual route around his property, his mind was free to roam. But it stubbornly stuck on Shay. He pictured her standing in the kitchen, the bunch of wildflowers in the pitcher. There was something very cozy about the image, something he’d been missing in his life for a long time.
Growing up, he’d been fortunate to be surrounded by the love and support of his parents, but once he’d headed off to college on his football scholarship, life had gotten harder. Not that it had been easy at home. He’d worked hard at his studies, and especially at playing football, but that was nothing compared to what his first college coach had expected of him.
He loved the game, but he wouldn’t have minded getting a good night’s sleep once in a while. The pressure to perform on the fi
eld had been tremendous, but Josh also expected a lot from himself in his studies. He’d graduated with high honors with a degree in finance before being drafted into the pros. He had it all.
Everything was going his way. Except that he didn’t have anyone to share it with. But who had time to build a relationship? Especially with how often he was on the road. That’s why this time between seasons was so precious. And why, even though he found Shay more attractive every time he saw her, there was no way he could pursue her. He had no time or space in his life for a meaningful relationship. And he wasn’t looking for a casual relationship either.
Once again, he was glad Shay had no idea who he really was. That simplified things in so many ways.
Too bad life was too complicated for him to even consider anything beyond friendship.
Chapter Fourteen
An hour later, as promised, Shay had hot pancakes ready to eat. But Josh hadn’t returned from his run. Nervous about what he would say when he got back and the pancakes were stone cold, she focused on her task, but her mind refused to ignore the worry that clawed at the back of her mind. Would he be angry? Would he yell at her? Would he make her cook a fresh batch? What if he was like Will? What if he hit her?
Forcing those thoughts away, she continued cooking the batter. She had to stop worrying so much about what someone else would do in reaction to her, and she had to stop assuming that all men were like Will. So far, Josh hadn’t given any indication that he was like that. Of course she hadn’t known him very long. Still, she couldn’t live her life that way, and since right now she was dependent on Josh’s kindness, she had to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Distracted by her thoughts, she almost burnt the last batch of pancakes, but managed to salvage them. She carried the plate with the stack of pancakes to the table, then took a few from the top and put them on her plate. She was going to start without Josh. She had to. She’d told him that’s what she was going to do, so she needed to do it.
Frowning, she poured syrup over the golden brown pancakes, then began eating, her ears attuned to Josh’s return. She had no idea how long his runs were. He could be gone for hours.
Ten minutes later she heard the front door open, and a bright smile burst upon her mouth. Was it because she was glad the pancakes were still warm for him, or was it because she was eager to see him?
Not happy with either choice—she didn’t want to worry about pleasing him, and she certainly wasn’t looking for a replacement for Will—she focused on eating her breakfast.
“Did I make it in time?” Josh asked as he walked into the kitchen, a grin on his face, and sweat soaking his t-shirt.
“Barely,” she said with an answering smile, thrilled to see he wasn’t angry or upset that she’d started without him.
His blue-eyed gaze was steady on her. “Good, because I’m hungry.”
Glad she hadn’t screwed up breakfast, she smiled. “How was your run?”
He sat at the place she'd set for him, then moved a large stack of pancakes from the serving platter to his plate. “Exhilarating.”
“Do you run every day?”
“I try to.” He poured a large glass of milk, and after downing it in one long swallow, he filled it again. “What about you? What do you do for exercise?”
Truth be told, exercise wasn’t high on her list of priorities. Between working full-time and staying on her toes around Will, she didn’t have much energy left for exercise. “I’ve, uh, I’ve been meaning to get to that.”
He laughed as he poured a generous helping of syrup over his stack of pancakes.
Wait a minute. She did have something she did for exercise. “Gardening counts as exercise.”
His head tilted as his eyes narrowed. “Gardening? Really?” His tone showed how ridiculous he thought that was.
“It’s true.”
“How can that be exercise?”
Not offended by his disbelief, she set her fork down. “Have you ever gardened?” She didn’t know why she was asking. Going by the way the property around his house looked, she didn’t think he did any yard work at all. Let alone maintain a garden.
“Nope.”
“Okay. Well, think about it. Digging, planting, weeding. Those things are a lot of work.” Work that she enjoyed. Something about pulling weeds out of the ground was cathartic, like she was pulling negativity out of her life. And now that she'd uprooted herself from Will’s control, the possibilities were infinite. Just thinking about that made her smile.
“Yeah,” Josh said as he polished off his pancakes and took a few more. “I guess so.”
An idea began to fill her mind. “You can find out for yourself. After breakfast I’m going to start working on a garden in your backyard.” That would have a two-fold benefit. First, it would be fun, but more importantly, growing a garden took time. And as long as she was working on that project, there would be a reason for her to stay. Right here where she felt safe.
He put his hands up. “Wait a sec. Are you suggesting that I should work on this garden?”
“Only if you want to.”
He seemed to think about it. “What are you going to plant? I mean, it’s not like I have any seeds lying around.”
That thought had crossed her mind, but she hoped he was willing to make this work. “Is there a nursery we could go to? To get supplies?”
“Why does this feel like it’s starting to become my project?”
She laughed. “I promise I’ll do all the work. But since this garden will be in your yard, and since I don’t have any transportation, I would need you to take me to get supplies.”
His lips lifted in a smirk. “And buy them?”
“Well, yeah.”
“Right.”
This wasn’t like him buying her clothes. The garden would be to his benefit, so she had no problem asking him to buy the supplies.
“What would we need to get?” he asked.
Pleased that he was showing some interest, she smiled. “A shovel, which you probably already have. A trowel, a garden rake, a hoe, a soaking hose. And of course seedlings.”
“Okay. That sounds reasonable.”
Excitement that this project was starting to come together rushed through her. When she'd visited her grandmother as a child, she'd helped her with her small garden, and she'd loved it. But she hadn’t done much gardening since her grandmother had passed away several years earlier. Still, she was confident she could do this.
“We’ll take a field trip later this morning,” Josh said.
Why was he digging himself in deeper? Why was he investing time into this garden idea? Had he lost his mind? He had work to do, yet he was ready to spend half a day driving to a nursery to get stuff for a garden? What the heck?
Yet there was something about Shay’s excitement that had gotten to him. She was obviously passionate about this garden idea, and somehow that had become contagious.
It was just a few hours. They would go there, get the stuff, and come back. Then he could focus on what was important while she played in the dirt.
Josh finished eating, pleasantly surprised by how good the pancakes had turned out. After the dinner fiasco the night before he’d had his doubts about her ability to cook. Of course, after his run he’d been famished, so that may have played a part. But no, the pancakes were good regardless.
“I’ll be ready to go in an hour,” he said as he stood to carry his plate to the sink.
“Great.” Her smile was radiant, which kind of stopped him in his tracks. Her dimples deepened in her cheeks and her emerald-green eyes sparkled.
Pulling himself away, he went to the sink and washed his dishes off before setting them on the counter to be washed by hand.
Turned out he was looking forward to their field trip.
Chapter Fifteen
An hour later they were on the road. The nearest nursery was in Wayside, thirty minutes away, but Josh didn’t mind.
“Thank you for taking me,” Shay said as
they drove.
He glanced at her, liking that she was riding in his truck. This was his personal vehicle, one that he never allowed groupies to enter. But Shay wasn’t a groupie. He was certain of it. “I’m expecting an awesome garden out of this.”
Her eyes widened. “Okay.”
He was just kidding, but decided not to tell her that. He’d always found that pressure to perform was a good thing. Besides, she needed to earn her keep. Having her around was nice, but it was still an inconvenience in a lot of ways. It was like he needed to be on his best behavior when he was around her. Not that that was a bad thing, but still.
He glanced at her, thinking he might have to help her with this gardening thing. She had no idea what he did for a living, so he should at least pretend he knew how to take care of his property.
Shay really hoped she wouldn’t screw this up. Josh expected an awesome garden and she would do her best to deliver.
She glanced surreptitiously at him. Now that he knew her a little better, maybe he’d tell her more about himself.
“So, Josh,” she began.
His gaze cut in her direction before he faced the road again. “Yeah?”
“What do you like to do? Besides running, I mean.”
He was quiet, and she wondered if he was going to answer. Why wouldn’t he? What did he do all day? He had to have a job. Unless he was independently wealthy. That seemed doubtful, considering the cabin he lived in. The place was pretty minimal, not the kind of place someone with money would live in. Plus, he couldn’t be more than twenty-eight, five years older than she was.
“I like to tinker,” he finally said.
“Tinker? Tinker on what?” Then she remembered finding him in the garage the day before when she’d finished making lunch, and how he’d been working on something out there.
“I have a few pieces of equipment that I need to keep running,” he said, then he glanced at her. “Like my ATV.”
Illegal Procedure (Fair Catch Series, Book One) Page 7
