“Which friend is that?”
“The good-looking one who likes to flirt.”
“Oh, Wyatt. He’s just a patient.”
Ruth made a dismissive sound. “Now, honey, I know your mama taught you not to lie. I saw how you looked at that boy.”
“Oh, really? And how was that?” Chloe moved to the side of the bed to check Ruth’s pulse.
“Like you could gobble him up.”
“Ruth, dear, I think you’re imagining things.”
“I might be old and my time getting shorter, but I can still see plenty fine. And I saw he was looking at you the same way.”
Chloe leaned her hip against the edge of the bed and narrowed her eyes. “Have you been talking to Verona Charles?”
Ruth laughed a little. “No, but you asking me that means I’m not the only one who’s seen the spark between you and Wyatt. You would make cute babies.”
That idea sent a shock wave through Chloe, followed by a flood of images—her in Wyatt’s arms, him kissing her, them making love, her holding a baby and Wyatt looking down at the little face with love in his eyes. The rush of longing that grabbed hold of her stole her breath, and it was all she could do to fake being okay until she was out of Ruth’s room. Luckily, Ruth was her last patient, so Chloe hurried outside, needing great gulps of fresh air.
What was wrong with her? It felt as if she’d been holding up walls around her and they’d all come caving in, swamping her with a flood of emotions.
How could she have such feelings for Wyatt when he’d only come into her life such a short time ago? Why him? Why a guy she couldn’t have? Even if she could, was she strong enough to put herself in the position of experiencing a loss like her father had endured? Was taking that kind of chance worth it?
All of those questions plagued her through the rest of the day, but as she headed home she still didn’t have any answers. Needing more time to think, she drove over to the Mehlerhaus Bakery and bought some cookies to take home. While waiting to pay for them, she watched as Keri Teague, the owner of the bakery, handed a newly baked birthday cake over to Talia Monroe.
“Tell Jake I said, ‘Happy birthday,’” Keri said.
“I will. Thanks.” Talia turned to leave. “Oh, hey, Chloe. I didn’t see you. How are you doing?”
“Fine, thanks.”
“Sorry to run, but I’ve got to pick up Mia.”
Chloe watched as Talia hurried out the door to retrieve her stepdaughter. That longing Chloe had been experiencing lately came to the fore again. Talia and Jake Monroe were yet another couple that Verona had steered toward each other with happily-ever-after results. Part of Chloe wanted to stop fighting her attraction to Wyatt and just see what happened, but another part was downright scared of the same thing.
“Can I help you, Chloe?”
She jerked her attention away from the now empty doorway. “Uh, yeah.” She pointed at the display case. “A dozen of the molasses cookies, please.”
“Your guest have a sweet tooth?”
“I don’t know, but I do.”
Keri laughed at that. “Good. I love people with a sweet tooth. It keeps me in business.”
As Keri put the cookies in a box, Chloe’s thoughts drifted back to the birthday cake and realization hit. Her dad’s sixtieth birthday was right around the corner. Sixty. Wow, that was hard to believe. And to her way of thinking, it deserved a big party.
“I also need to order a birthday cake.”
After placing the order for the cake, she headed home with plans for her dad’s surprise party swirling in her head.
When she stepped through the front door a few minutes later, she halted in her tracks. From the sound of the banging in the kitchen and the scent of frying grease, someone was cooking. Thinking she’d walked into an alternate universe, she crossed the living room. At the entrance to the kitchen, she stopped again and stared. Wyatt was standing at the stove, muttering to himself.
“What are you doing?”
He glanced over his shoulder. “Hey. I’m cooking dinner.”
“You shouldn’t be doing that, especially not after what happened last night.”
“I’m fine.”
She took a few steps into the room and slid the box of cookies onto the table. “If this is some sort of effort to pay for your keep, it’s not necessary.”
“If you want me to stay here, you’re going to have to deal with me trying to help out.”
“But you need to rest to get better.”
“I rest plenty, so much I’m going to go crazy if I can’t do something beside lie around or sit on the porch.”
She shook her head. “Fine, at long as you don’t overdo it. Here, I can help you.”
He held out a spatula. “No, I’ve got it covered.” He used the spatula to make a shooing motion. “Go take a nap or a bubble bath, whatever girls do to relax.”
She started to laugh at the idea of indulging in a bubble bath when she could be doing something productive. But she thought about what he’d said that morning, that she was always taking care of everyone else, living the role she’d assigned herself when she was still in elementary school. So she stopped herself from mentally writing a to-do list that she could tick off before dinner.
Why not take a bubble bath? She’d worked hard all day. She deserved a little time to relax. And if it made her smell pretty and Wyatt liked it? Well, that sounded okay, too.
“Okay, I think I will. Thank you.”
He smiled and nodded, and her heart did a little flip. Even when he turned back to the stove, she stared at him a few moments longer. When was the last time anyone had cooked for her? Before she stalked across the room and pulled his mouth to hers, she forced herself down the hallway.
The moment she sank into the bath a few minutes later, she felt the stress of the day start to drift away. She closed her eyes and laid her head against the end of the tub. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been this relaxed, and she had Wyatt to thank for it.
She let her thoughts drift to what Ruth had said about a spark. Was there something between her and Wyatt against all the odds that would say otherwise? And even if a spark did exist, did it make any sense to explore it when Wyatt would leave as soon as he was able? Considering he was standing in her kitchen cooking dinner, that day might be sooner rather than later.
Her heart squeezed at that thought, and she realized she’d miss him when he was gone. It was best not to get too attached, to keep her distance, to guard her heart.
Her eyes popped open at that last thought. Had she been doing that her whole life? Was that why every relationship she’d ever had hadn’t lasted more than a handful of months? Had losing her mother so young broken something inside her, making her unable to commit, unable to fully give herself to another person and accept him in return?
She thought of all the years her father had been alone, how Garrett still wasn’t married, how Owen flitted from one woman to the next. Maybe they were all broken and didn’t realize it.
Chapter Ten
Chloe reached the end of the hallway just as Owen asked, “Why does it smell like flowers in here?”
“Because I took a bath.” She thumped the front of his hat, nearly tipping it off his head, as she walked past him toward the kitchen. “You should try it sometime.”
“I bathe. Just not going to come out smelling like flowers. You got a hot date or something?”
She ignored him, but he followed her as Garrett and her dad filed in behind him.
“And if you’re going out, who’s cooking dinner?”
She stopped and turned back toward him, causing Owen to pull up short and the others to almost run into the back of him. “I’m not going out, but even if I was it wouldn’t hurt you to slap together a sandwich.”
When she spun and continued into the kitchen, she heard Owen mutter, “What’s gotten into her?”
Chloe entered the kitchen in time to see Wyatt scraping hard to get something out of a skillet. Okay, that didn’t look promising. Still, she’d give him the benefit of the doubt. He was trying to help even though she would be happier if he took it easy. She supposed that might be too much to ask for, however.
“Um, you put the hurt guy to work?”
Wyatt looked at Owen. “No, I volunteered. Earn my keep.”
“That wasn’t necessary, son.”
Something about how her dad called Wyatt “son” made Chloe feel as if Wyatt had shifted a little more firmly into the picture she was getting used to seeing in her family kitchen. It was strange, and dangerous, how easily that had happened. If she knew what was good in the long run, for all of them, she’d make a stronger effort to keep her distance.
“I’m not one for sitting around doing nothing and not paying my own way.”
Her dad nodded once in understanding because he was much the same. It hit Chloe just how much they were alike—hardworking, self-sufficient and with a good dose of stubbornness thrown in.
As her dad and brothers washed their hands in the kitchen sink, Chloe moved to help Wyatt, only to have him wave her toward the table. Not wanting to dispel her good mood from the bath by arguing, she took her seat, followed quickly by the rest of her family.
When Wyatt put a bowl of what appeared to be mashed potatoes on the table, Chloe bit down on a twinge of worry. It looked as if Wyatt had done battle with the potatoes and they’d won. But looks didn’t always matter with food. It was the taste that counted. Next came a bowl of beets he’d gotten from one of the cans in the pantry. Finally, he placed a plate of fried chicken on the table. She spotted a few charred spots, but she pretended as though she didn’t see them.
With all the food now on the table, Wyatt slid onto his chair. Chloe could tell he was wiped out, that he’d probably done too much. Damn fool man.
They started passing around the food, and she realized just how hungry she was. The moment she cut into the chicken, however, she knew it wasn’t going to be edible. While it was blackened in spots on the outside, the meat was nearly raw inside. She eased her fork and knife to the sides of her plate, trying to figure out how to tell everyone not to eat the chicken without hurting Wyatt’s feelings. He’d worked so hard, when he should have been resting, only to come up with something that was inedible.
But there was no need for her to say anything. A glance around the table at her brothers’ faces told her that the side dishes weren’t much better. They all seemed frozen and at a loss for words until Wyatt raised a napkin to his mouth and spit out his food. He stared at the plate for a moment.
“Well, I don’t think I have a future as a cook.”
All at once, her brothers and dad started laughing. Chloe was horrified until she saw that Wyatt was laughing, too. The moment his gaze met hers, the reins she had on her own laughter slipped.
“It’s the thought that counts,” she said.
“Unless the thought was to give us all salmonella,” Owen said.
That set them all off again, laughing like hyenas. When they all managed to pull themselves under control, her dad placed his napkin atop his nearly untouched meal.
“I think this calls for a trip to Gia’s for some pizza.”
“You all go on,” Chloe said. “Just bring us some back. Wyatt’s already done too much today.”
“I don’t think sitting in a restaurant is going to be any more strenuous than sitting here,” Wyatt said.
Why did she even bother? One of these mornings she was going to wake up to find he’d hoofed it into town for his truck and taken off for parts unknown.
Within five minutes, they were piled into two vehicles and headed into Blue Falls for dinner. Her dad and brothers took her dad’s twin cab pickup while she drove her car with Wyatt as a passenger just in case he started feeling bad and she needed to get him home.
Home. That, too, had felt natural to think, that her home was also Wyatt’s. But it wasn’t, never would be. After he left, she needed to explore dating more. That or bury herself in so much work that she filled that pesky emptiness that had been plaguing her.
When they all walked into Gia’s a few minutes later, every eye in the place turned toward them. They took the first table they came to that had enough chairs. Though he could have chosen any of them, Wyatt slipped into the chair next to hers. Chloe thought she caught a couple of knowing smiles from people at the neighboring tables.
“Hey, Chloe,” India Parrish said as she walked over and slid into the empty chair at the end of the table. “I was going to call you tomorrow, but I hope you don’t mind me catching you for a minute now.”
“Not at all. What’s up?”
India glanced past Chloe, and Chloe realized that her friend didn’t know Wyatt. “Oh, this is Wyatt Kelley. He’s been healing at our house after his accident at the rodeo.”
“I heard. Glad to see you’re doing better.”
“Thank you,” Wyatt said.
Chloe looked over at Wyatt for a moment, and the five o’clock shadow on his cheek made her want to rub her hand along his jaw. She was losing her mind. “Um, Wyatt, this is India Parrish. You know her husband, Liam, who organizes the charity rodeos here.”
Wyatt nodded at India. “Nice event, except for that whole little misunderstanding with the bull.”
“Don’t remind me,” she said. “I live in fear of someone getting hurt beyond repair, though the rodeos are bringing in tourists and giving us the means to help a lot of people. Which is what I wanted to talk to you about, Chloe. Liam, Logan and I were talking today about who the next beneficiary should be, so we’re asking around for suggestions. I thought maybe you’d seen someone at the clinic or the hospital who might be in need of some assistance.”
Chloe thought of the young girl without insurance, along with at least a dozen other people who could use some help. “There’s always so many, it’s hard to choose one.”
“Why not help a bunch at the same time?” Wyatt asked.
Chloe shifted her attention to him. “But how do you choose who to help and who gets left out?”
“Maybe you don’t have to. I rode in a rodeo in South Dakota once where they had a health fair set up in conjunction with the regular rodeo events, doing free screenings and the like.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” India said. Then her eyes really lit up. “We could use the funds for a community services day—the health screenings, vision tests, and the community closet at the church could give out clothing, shoes, furniture, whatever people need.”
“We could donate some beef, get other ranchers to do the same and have a big barbecue dinner,” Chloe’s dad said. “A free meal will get people to come. Hold it the same day of the next rodeo and draw even more.”
When India looked at the calendar on her phone and tossed out the date, Chloe realized the conflict. “That’s not going to work.”
“If it’s because you’ve got something up your sleeve for my birthday, then I’d rather you did this,” her dad said.
In that moment, Chloe realized that some of her mother’s generosity lived on in her dad.
“We could make this an annual event,” India said.
“You could...” Wyatt trailed off, not finishing his sentence.
Chloe looked over at him. “What?”
“Pardon me if I’m stepping out of line here, but what if you named the event after your mom? You said she really cared about people when she worked at the hospital.”
A lump formed in Chloe’s throat, but it wasn’t just because the mention of her mother made her miss her anew. That Wyatt would have made such a suggestion after only knowing Chloe and h
er family for a few days touched her deep in her heart. She found herself without words to respond.
“I think that’s an excellent idea,” her dad said, filling the silence. “Karen would love something like this, even if she would’ve been embarrassed to have her name attached to it.”
“Great!” India patted Chloe on the arm, drawing her attention away from Wyatt. “We’ll talk more about this later. Let me know when you’re available for lunch this week.”
Chloe nodded.
“Well, I’ll let you all eat in peace now.” India stood and headed out the door, her pizza box in hand.
They all sat in several moments of awkward silence before the waitress came to take their order.
When they returned to the house more than an hour later, Wyatt predictably looked drained. Even so, he hung around the living room until her dad and Garrett had gone off to bed and Owen had left for his turn at watching for the fence vandals.
“I didn’t open my mouth when I shouldn’t have, did I?” he asked.
She turned from where she was unnecessarily straightening a pile of magazines on the table next to her dad’s chair. “About the health fair? Not at all. It was a great idea.”
Wyatt took a couple of steps toward her, and she fought the urge to retreat.
“And when I mentioned naming it after your mom? I’m sorry if I was out of line.”
“No. Like Dad said, that was a good idea, too.”
“I didn’t know. You looked at me funny when I said it. I thought I’d stepped in it.”
“I... You just surprised me, that’s all. You think you’re not earning your stay here, but you keep coming up with good suggestions. First the ranch watch, now this.”
He laughed a little at that. “Never been accused of being a think tank before.”
She smiled a little. “First time for everything.”
“Yeah, I guess.” He said it slowly, at the last moment looking at her lips before lifting his gaze to her eyes again.
Chloe swallowed hard, doubting she was able to hide it from him. Before she did something stupid, that she couldn’t take back, she broke eye contact and stepped around him.
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