A Bride For Mr. Right (Redbud Romance Book 2)

by Carol Hutchens

  “Do you need a bookkeeper? I also do web site design if you’re interested.”

  Glancing past the shimmer radiating from him like a force field, she scanned the room, seeing it from his eyes. Why hadn’t she packed up the office instead of going to the quilt shop for sewing circle?

  Dust motes floated in the sunlight. Stacks filled the shelves. Color rushed to her face as she imagined his reaction to the dusty old fashion furnishings.

  No wonder Pauline Morgan said everything looked as if she expected her grandmother back any minute.

  His question about being open for business shouldn’t surprise her. This office didn’t look ready for business.

  “Would you like to have a seat.” Edee sat straight and forced a smile to dry lips as she tried to hide the fact that his presence unsettled her.

  If her first client had been anyone but this man, she might have…

  “How can I help you, Mr. Knight?” She clenched her fists in her lap to keep tremors from jingling her bracelets, but she noticed every move of his body as he settled in the visitor’s chair like a big lazy cat.

  With his tawny hair and flyaway curls, maybe a lion was a better description. He had the piercing eyes of an animal of the prey.

  Shivering, at where her thoughts headed, she held her body rigid. She knew the dangers of falling for man and was determined to be strong.

  Arching a brow as she waited for him to speak, she ignored the daring glint in his eyes when he looked at her. Let him joke all he wanted, she was serious about this business. Although, come to think of it, maybe he had a serious side, too. He hadn’t been in a very good mood the day before, had he?

  Taking a deep breath, she forced a calm note to her voice. “Are you interested in signing up bookkeeping services?”

  J.T. watched the tide of color rising to her cheeks, and glanced away. In the bright morning light, he could see Edee Cutt was younger than he had thought.

  There were no wrinkles at the corners of her melting dark eyes. Her smooth complexion glowed with health and the hair bunched on top of her head gleamed.

  Crossing one ankle over his knee, he fiddled with the string of his work boot as he eyed the crown molding framing the ceiling. The wide molding…the height of the ceiling…he tried to focus on anything to take his mind off Edee Cutt.

  When he looked at her, he remembered the way she had stormed at him, when she thought he was hurting that stray dog. She had attacked like a wild animal protecting her young. Her defense of the little dog made him feel warm inside. He admired her grit. Not many people would stand up for a homeless animal.

  “This is a nice room. Ten-foot ceilings I’d guess.” With tall windows rather than the usual large pane of glass found in most business structures, it was a very nice room. Maybe not that nice…but he had talk about something to keep his mind off the way Edee Cutt affected him.

  “My grandmother rented this office for years.”

  “Ms. Emma Cutt? I remember her.” He relaxed against the back of the chair as tension drained from him. Searching her youthful face for any resemblance to the older woman he remembered, he found none. But he hadn’t been back to Redbud in years. Did Edee Cutt plan to settle in town?

  Edee cleared her throat. “Stella said you grew up in Redbud.”

  “Left the day I graduated.” Chilled by her words hitting so near his thoughts, J.T. dropped his foot to the floor. “Ms. Emma lived in one of those story book houses on Willow Avenue.”

  “Number six,” Edee said, grinning at the note of appreciation she heard in his tone. Her grandmother’s house…her house…did look like something out of a picture book. “You know the house?”

  “I used to walk by on the way to the park.” J.T. forced his attention to her face. He was finding it more difficult by the second to ignore the enticing curves revealed by what he could see of the green dress she wore.

  This dress looked similar the one she had worn the day before, except for the lace collar and a string of pearls with matching bracelets. Why was Edee Cutt hiding behind the fake glasses he caused her to break?

  Not that it was any of his business. She had a right to privacy. Look at the effort he had made to keep away from his past. When he left town, he hadn’t stopped until he had crossed several states. Even with hundreds of miles behind him, he had worked hard to forget.

  Maybe he wasn’t the only one in this room who wanted to start over. “Is the house for sale?”

  Number six, Willow had played in his plans for as long as he could remember. He had fantasized about coming back home, and fixing-up that house. “I always imagined there might be knights and dragons in the back yard of that house.”

  “Because of the turret?”

  “Yeah.” He grinned, lounging back in the chair. “Crazy, ugh?”

  Yep, about as crazy as him coming back to town. But he couldn’t imagine making his home anywhere but Redbud. With technology and the internet, he could settle anywhere and still take care of business. But Redbud was home.

  He shrugged. “Kids have all sorts of nonsense in their heads.”

  “Yes, they do.” Her expression sobered.

  J.T. frowned. Something he said brought shadows to her eyes. He hadn’t intended getting personal, but it appeared Edee Cutt had some skeletons in her closet.

  He knew about skeletons and secrets. It was the reasons he wanted to show the people in this town that he had made a success of his life. “About the hous—”

  “It’s not for sale.”

  J.T. shrugged and glanced around the room. “Are you running the business, or just clearing out your granny’s stuff?”

  “I am clearing out, but the office is open for business, Mr. Knight.” Her chin titled high.

  Seeing the expressions chasing across her face, J.T. realized he wasn’t the only one in this room with a mission. “How long did Ms. Emma run this business, anyway?”

  Her eyes turned so stormy J.T. wished he could take his words back. They had seemed innocent enough, but apparently, Edee had wounds that weren’t all from the recent death of her grandmother.

  Frowning at her unease, he tried to change the subject. “I don’t remember seeing you around town when we were kids.”

  Her mouth clamped shut and he gave a mental groan, only breathing again when she spoke.

  “I, ugh…” her mouth closed, opened, and closed again.

  Feeling like a heel, J.T. slithered down in his chair. He was ready to jump and run, when she finally forced words out.

  “I didn’t see my grandmother until I was in college.”

  Now, he really wanted to run…from the emotion that filled her voice…and the pain in her brown eyes, but for some reason, he didn’t budge. At least she’d had a grandmother. “That’s tough. Sorry, I didn’t know.”

  She shrugged. “My dad left town after he graduated…and never came back.”

  Her words hit a vulnerable spot. So far, she had repeated his life story. He wondered if there had been a happy-ending for her father.

  “I spent breaks from college with my grandmother. After I got my degree, we were going to run the business together.”

  “I’ve taken enough of your time.” More shaken than he wanted to admit, and wishing he hadn’t sighed the deal on this building even though the ink was barely dry, J.T. got to his feet. “I stopped by to tell you I just signed a deal to buy this building. I need you to move out.”

  “I…but…you can’t…” Edee fell back in the chair, looking like a wilted daisy in the green dress. “It’s impossible. Grandmother’s will said the rent was paid on this office for a year.”

  J.T. tried to shrug, but his shoulders were so tense they barely moved. “Her agreement was with the previous owner.”

  “B-but…you can’t evict me.” Edee jumped to her feet, stretching to her full five-foot-eight inches as she tilted her chin, trying to look as if she were every bit as big as he was. “I won’t leave.”

  Admiration filled J.T. almost
making him grin his appreciation of the picture she made standing there, with her chest heaving and sparks shooting from her eyes.

  “I’m not evicting you, Ms. Cutt. I’m telling you nicely. I need you to move out.”

  Chin squared for battle, she stared at him. “You’ll have to excuse me if I don’t see the difference.”

  Meeting the heat of her glare, J.T. shook his head. “I need to update the plumbing and electrical circuits to remodel this building. You won’t be able to work in here because of all the noise.”

  Bristling as his tone, sounded as if he were speaking to a five year old, she stepped around the desk. “I have a lease.”

  “I bought the building. I need you out of this space so I can upgrade the wiring to code.” J.T. glanced around. “And while I’m remodeling the rest of the building, this will be perfect for my office.”

  “If I can’t work in here because of noise, how can you?” She demanded, hands on her hips.

  “I’m used to saw dust and the noise of skill saws. You would go deaf. And I’ll be in an out. You spend all day here and half the night from what I hear.”

  “My life isn’t your concern, Mr. Knight, but my lease is, and I won’t leave.”

  Sighing, J.T. flopped back in his chair and looked up at her. Sitting down had given her the height advantage, but he enjoyed the view of her chest heaving under the green fabric. “They told me you would say that.”

  Her glance flickered, and her chest puffed out again. “Well, good. So now you know you’ll have to change your plans.”

  “Ms. Cutt—”

  “Oh, stop calling me Ms. Cutt like I’m some ancient spinster.” She snapped, plopping down in the swivel chair so hard, for a second he thought it was going to tip over. “Call me Edee, and I’m still not moving.”

  “Be reasonable, Ms….ugh…Edee, this isn’t personal. It’s business. I need to start remodeling this building to put my crew to work and protect my investment.”

  “It’s personal to me. My grandmother worked in this office and planned for me to as well.”

  “She ran her bookkeeping service from here, I get it…what?” J.T. demanded when her face turned white as the paper stacked on her desk.

  “You sound so cold.” She squeaked in voice verging on panic.

  Holding up a calming hand, J.T. shrugged. “It’s just business.”

  She looked at him with dazed eyes. “All the time she ran the bookkeeping business—”

  “Look, I’m sorry. But I don’t see the big deal. It has nothing to do with you. Be reasonable and do us both a favor by moving.”

  He just destroyed my life and he says it has nothing to do with me? What about the magic I feel when I walk in this office knowing how much time grandmother spent here? Is that nothing?

  Nothing to do with me?

  “It has everything to do with me, Mr. Knight—”

  “Hold on,” he held both hands up, “If I call you, Edee, then you have to call me J.T.”

  “J.T.,” feeling the weight of his name on her tongue, Edee swallowed. “I feel connected to my grandmother when I’m in this office. I can’t move out.” Chin quivering, moisture glazing her eyes, Edee walked to the shelf holding her grandmother’s files. “Leaving this office means I’ll lose that contact.”

  “Now it the makes sense,” he said as understanding crossed his face.

  Catching her breath, Edee stared at him, her hands clenching in the folds of her dress. “What are you talking about?”

  “The fake glasses and old fashioned dresses. You’re trying to keep your grandmother’s memory alive, aren’t you?” His eyes sparkled, showing laughter wasn’t far away.

  “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m running the bookkeeping service.” Edee flounced to her chair and plopped down.

  Brows arched, he stared at her. “Name one client. And you don’t have another job, I’ve checked.”

  Inhaling through her nostrils until her chest protruded at least twice normal size, Edee forced words through gritted teeth. “Why are you checking into my personal life, Mr. Knight? Who gave you the right?”

  “Because I wanted to hire you, Miss Cutt. As a prospective employer, I wanted to know if you had time to dedicate to the job I offered.”

  Releasing her pent up breath like a punctured balloon, Edee stared at him. “What job?”

  “I need an assistant and a web designer, and an all around girl Friday, if you don’t mind the description.”

  “I can do that.” Edee blinked, eagerness filling her with hope. From the look on his face, she wasn’t sure which one of them was more shocked by her words. But working for him would give her time to build her client list while he remodeled the building. “I can work on my web designs at night.”

  “Which part? I’m thinking it will take at least two people, maybe three to do the job right.”

  Edee lifted her chin. “I can do all of it.”

  Shaking his head, J.T. stared at her. “Not dressed like that, you can’t.” He sighed. “On second thought, I’d be crazy to waste time and money on a web designer who looks like she stepped out of the fifties.”

  Glancing down at the green dress, Edee squeezed her eyes tight and swallowed. Maybe he was right. Maybe she had overdone her tribute to her grandmother. Maybe this wasn’t about missing her grandmother, but about fearing she couldn’t succeed.

  Stunned by the realization, Edee stared at the man watching her with kindness in his green eyes. J.T. Knight had been a thorn in her side from the instant she set eyes on him. At night, when she tried to sleep, her head filled with images of him. His laughing, challenging eyes made her heart race.

  But now, his words shook her and brought her to her senses. It was time to look forward, she couldn’t keep looking back if she wanted to succeed.

  “I dressed like this to keep my mind focused on the old fashion method of bookkeeping.” She mouthed the words off the top of her head and shrugged.

  “How do I know you can handle web design and using a computer?”

  “How do I know you are a reliable employer?” She let her eyes roam over his relaxed form filling the old chair, and wished she hadn’t when her heart jumped in her throat, almost causing her to choke.

  Enjoying the moment, J.T. angled his chin to match hers. “I bought this building. I can afford your salary.”

  They stared at each other, two adversaries considering their next move.

  For Edee it was a matter of survival.

  The chances of surviving on income from the dwindling bookkeeping business were slim. And considering the lack of clients she had for web design, that angle looked even less like a source of income. She needed the job he offered while she made plans to save the business.

  J.T.’s offer came at the perfect time. If she accepted, she had a chance at a steady income, but she needed to keep her mind on the job and ignore her new employer.

  “I…uh…,” Edee cleared her throat. “I’m qualified. I have a double major in graphic arts and business.”

  “I need total commitment and loyalty from my employees.” J.T. stood, studying her with a serious expression that squeezed the air from her lungs. “From the way you reacted when I tried to rescue that little dog, you don’t have a very high opinion of me.” His cloudy gaze roamed over her face. “Do you think we can work together?”

  ***

  “Would you deliver that to Oglethorpe house?”

  J.T. was standing in the shingle row of the building supply store when he heard the soft feminine voice say Sam’s name.

  Grinning at the unexpected chance of meeting the woman who nailed his friend in matrimony, he stepped to the end of the row. “You must be Ellie.”

  Glancing over her shoulder, her sandy-blonde hair swinging at the sudden move, as a question filled her green eyes, he watched her smile slip a notch. But she still looked beautiful, even with her brows arched in question and her smile erased.

  J.T. had to hand it to Sam. His old friend sure knew how t
o pick’em, but if he didn’t do something quick, Ellie would never be his friend.

  Stepping forward, he smiled as he held out his hand. “I’m J—”

  “You must be J.T.”

  They laughed as their words mingled, and J.T. sent her a teasing glance. “Sam told you I was in town?”

  “Not Sam. I’ve heard all about you.” She studied him for long seconds. “You could say your reputation precedes you.”

  J.T.’s grin faded. That’s all he needed. If Ellie listened to tales of his past, she wouldn’t believe he and Sam were buddies. “Maybe we should start over. I’m J.T. Knight, an old friend of Sam’s.” Brows raised, he held his hand out.

  “Ellie Oglethorpe, a new wife of Sam’s.” Her grin widened. “Everything I’ve heard appears to be an understatement.”

  J.T. dropped her hand. “Ma’am—”

  Ellie laughed. “You are even more charming than they said.”

  He almost choked on a laugh. “Who said?”

  Eyebrows arched, Ellie gave him the ‘you’ve got to be kidding me’ look. “Every female who walked in my shop since you hit town.” Her face lit with another grin.

  “How do you like Redbud?”

  “I love it.” She nodded to the clerk, “Thanks, Jim.” And picked up a plastic shopping bag as she stepped away from the counter. “How does if feel to be home?”

  Hooking his index fingers in belt loops, J.T. shook his head. “To tell you the truth, I’m not sure, yet.”

  Ellie’s breath escaped in an audible sigh. “Now that I’ve lived here a while, I can’t imagine moving away.”

  Jaw clenching, J.T. nodded. “It happens.”

  “I know…don’t mind me. I would work the visitor’s bureau for free.” She laughed.

  “Still remodeling the house?” J.T. asked, desperate to change the subject.

  “Sam’s going to build me a gazebo,” Ellie said, eyes sparkling.

  “No kidding.”

  She nodded. “He can do anything he sets his mind to.”

  “Good ole Sam.” J.T. laughed, remembering the purple thumb Sam got in shop class when they were in high school.

  “You should come out to see the house.” Ellie turned to the door. “We finished most of the work, but still need touching up a few things here and there.”