“You’ll know. What you don’t know, you can look up on the iPad I’m ordering for you to have handy at all times.” His glance drifted over her as if he could tell by the way she looked that she was falling deeper under his spell. “We need a talk about my website. I want it up and running as soon as possible.”
Now he was speaking her language. Heart dancing a two-step in her chest, she lifted her chin in a challenge. “You don’t have enough free time to discuss the details, and I don’t know anything about your business.”
“Woman, you’ve got to kidding.” He shook his head in disbelief, but she saw the grin lifting one corner of his lips. “By now I thought the town gossips would have filled your ears with the story of my life.”
“I’ve heard about you taking the engine out of the principal’s truck.”
His expression changed as fast as flipping a light switch. All emotions left his face. A blank mask stared back at her. Nodding toward the galley style kitchenette, he said. “This is a nice space. Maybe I should consider doing something like this with the loft in the Beasley building.”
“Oh, no!” Her response came more from thoughts of his plan to limit the exposure of the loft space in his building than to his emotions. Or lack of emotion. She knew he had changed the subject intentionally, but the pain in his eyes convinced her it was best to go along with the new topic.
“Sorry. But it’s such a lovely space.”
“You’ve been in the main building?”
Nodding, she faced him eagerly. “The realtor showed me around. I was curious about the rest of the building.” She sighed. “That wide marble staircase is so elegant. Can’t you just see an art gallery or exhibition area in that loft space? That way everyone could enjoy the beauty of that building.”
Brows arched, J.T. stared at her with a far away look in his eyes. “Not bad for a novice to the building trade, Ms. Cutt.”
Beaming under his approval, Edee warmed to her subject. “You could still use the rooms on the first floor as offices.”
J.T. frowned. “It would limit the lobby space. I’m not sure I can give up the added office areas I had planned.”
Smile dimming as her vision faded, Edee shrugged. “You’re the contractor.”
“But you, Ms. Cutt, have the artistic streak that makes the difference in dull and exciting design. I need to think about your suggestions.” J.T. shook his head. “Come to think of it, Sam suggested a similar idea. Maybe I’m not seeing the whole picture.”
“It’s the windows along the front and the wide staircase that caught my attention.” Excited and losing her reluctance to spend more time with him, she stepped closer. “Think of the view from the street. If you turn the lobby into office space with those large windows looking in, there will be little privacy for the people in the office. And from the street, people will see clutter unless you have very neat tenants.”
“I know what my office looks like when we’re in a rush.” J.T. shook his head. “You have a good point about privacy and the view.” Smiling he waved a hand. “What did I tell you? You’ll make a great assistant.”
Emotions sizzling under his smile, Edee turned to the nearest box and gasped when it slipped out of her hand spilling papers all over the floor. “What a mess.”
“Why are you saving all these old papers?”
Feeling as if he had stabbed her in the back after their moments of closeness, Edee glared at him. “My grandmother’s files are not junk if that’s what you’re implying.”
A look of surprise crossed his face. “I wasn’t. I was thinking more along the lines of why these files aren’t on a computer if they’re worth saving.”
Worth saving.
Scrambling to pick up the scattered papers, Edee blinked tears out of her eyes. Worth saving. That was her whole problem, wasn’t it? She feared letting anything go, worried that she would lose something worth saving.
Not just the boxes of yellowed files she had packed in her grandmother’s office…but the link to the past…and to her grandmother. Swiping the back of her wrist across her cheek, she sniffed. This wasn’t about files. This was about feeling she wasn’t good enough to belong. She was afraid to throw anything away, because she had been thrown away.
“I-I didn’t have time to sort through the files.” She bit the inside of her lip. “So I packed everything up.”
“Take the time.” He turned to the boxes. “I’m not in such a hurry to unpack that I can’t wait for you to go through this mess.”
Mess!
Her chest puffed up like a clucking hen, but then she let air spew through her lips. J.T. was right. She was moving these files from one place to another and they were worth nothing to anyone.
Why couldn’t she admit the truth? Why did it take a stranger to make her see she was living a lie? There were no active bookkeeping clients. She did not need these old files. It was time she faced the world without blinders on her eyes.
She had proved she could take care of herself while she was in college. Why did she need this clutter as a crutch now that she had moved to Redbud?
Straightening to her full five feet eight inches, Edee slapped her hands on her hips and stared at the man lifting the last two boxes. “Do you mind driving to the landfill?”
***
Now that was a surprise. Making his way down the stairs and through Ellie’s quilt shop to the backdoor, J.T. frowned. He hadn’t intended for Edee to take his words literally. He regretted any suggestion that her grandmother’s work was only worth hauling to the trash.
But he has spoken the truth. He had the advantage of being an on-looker. Edee clamped on to anything around her to make a connection. He found that quirk endearing and worrisome. What had happened in her past to make her feel so insecure?
Sighing, he dumped his boxes in the truck and turned to take Edee’s load from her arms. Dark patched under her eyes made her brown gaze look bruised. Had his careless comment hurt her?
That was the last thing he wanted.
Since returning to Redbud, he realized he needed all the friends he could get. He wanted Edee as one of his friends. Her dark eyes enticed him. Her smile lured him. And her quick defense made him feel powerful and weak at the same time.
J.T. sighed. Being her friend carried more responsibility than he wanted to accept. But turning away from her warmth and eagerness was unthinkable. Edee added something to his life that had been missing for a long time. He didn’t dare put a name to it, but he didn’t want to lose it, either.
Giving up the battle with his emotions, he blew out a sigh.
“I’m sorry to be so much trouble.” Her chin angled so high he worried she would trip over the curb. “Take me home. I’ll haul this stuff in my car.”
Glaring at her over the filled bed of the truck, J.T. put on his boss hat. “Get in, we’re going to the landfill. And then you’re going to take notes about my web design.”
***
On the way back to town, J.T. glanced at his passenger’s pale face and made an executive decision. “All right with you if we have a working lunch? I’m starved.”
“I’m too dirty to—”
Clamping down on her lips to keep the rest of her comment from emerging, Edee cut a guilty glance toward her new boss. He had warned she would get filthy if she took the job as his assistant. Complaining about a little dust and perspiration would not sound good.
J.T.’s brow arched as he met her glance. “You were saying?”
Shrugging, Edee slouched back in the leather seat, feeling the seatbelt tug across her chest. “I’m too dirty not to be starved, proves I’ve been working.”
Her reward was a wide grin as J.T. parked outside the diner. “Looks like we missed the lunch crowd.”
Silently mouthing thanks for small miracles, Edee slid out of the F-150 and let her feet hit pavement with a smack. Turning back, she grabbed the legal pad she had rescued from one of the boxes they unloaded at the landfill and headed for the door. “I’m starv
ed.”
“Wonder what Roy has up his sleeve today?”
Edee stepped past him, pausing to appreciate the black and white tile floor and ceiling fan while her brain chewed on J.T.’s last words. She didn’t know what Roy was cooking special, but he could hold a light to the things J.T. pulled out of his sleeve.
How many times had she tried to quit this job? How many times had he refused to listen? As soon as she thought he was ready to retract the job offer again, he surprised her with refusing to allow her to resign.
J.T. Knight was full of surprises.
He was intelligent, friendly, bossy and confident. Every thing she learned about him impressed her. But one point troubled her. With her admiration for him growing, she wondered how she could come out of this situation without a broken heart.
“Well, look who’s here.” Gum popping, lashes fluttering, and grinning wide, Stella plopped a menu in front of Edee as she settled in the booth. “What’ll you have?”
“Roy cooking up any specials today?” J.T. asked, grinning at the waitress.
“How about Roy’s cheeseburger and fries?”
“I was hoping you would say that.” J.T. passed his menu over. “And I’ll have a gallon of iced tea.”
Smiling at the big-eyed look Stella turned on her, Edee remained calm. By the sound of Stella’s gum going rat-a-tat-tat, she would face a thousand questions as soon as the waitress got her alone. “I’ll have the same. And make that two gallons of tea.”
Laughing, Stella twirled away, and Edee glared at her lunch companion. “While I’m washing off some of this dust, I expect you to come up with some good answers to Stella’s questions.”
“What questions?”
Rolling her eyes, Edee slid out of the booth. J.T. did the innocent look almost as well as Stella did. “You figure it out. You’re the boss.”
His laughter wrapped around her as she walked away and her insides quivered. He was so much fun she couldn’t keep from wondering why he was still single. A man like J.T. was a prime catch. He had the looks, and all the personality any woman could want.
It was just her luck he had landed in Redbud at the same time she had and proceeded to turn her life upside down. Worse, she was having fun.
***
Shoving his empty plate away, J.T. crossed his forearms along the edge of the table and rested his glance Edee. She was nibbling a French fry as she studied the notes she had made for his website.
Dark lashes hid the deep chocolate warmth of her eyes. J.T. sighed, admitting he could get lost in those eyes when she looked at him and smiled. He looked past the humor shinning out her eyes when she laughed, and saw the determination and courage lurking in her gaze. Edee wasn’t a woman to take lightly. She went after what she wanted and he admired that.
More than just her character appealed to him. Her laugh chased along his nerves followed by warmth he couldn’t ignore. But Edee wasn’t the type he could have a fling with and walk away. She was the tie down the hatches and prepare to ride out the storm type.
Edee was the kind of girl you took home to mama, and that sent an alarm ringing in his head. He didn’t have a mother, and he never planned putting a female in the position his mother had been.
“You never talk about your parents.” Edee looked up form the notes and reached for another French fry. “Was your dad a carpenter?”
Every muscle in his body went rigid. Forcing his face into a mask that wouldn’t show his knee jerk reaction to her words, he arched a brow. Instead of telling her the topic of his parents was off limits, he looked into warm chocolate pools and let his shoulders relax.
“My dad skipped town before I was born.” He realized she had probably heard all the details from the town gossips. He might as well tell her the facts. “My mother worked any job she could find to keep a roof over our heads.”
When he glanced up, her eyes were wide deep pools of wonder. Instead of the sympathy he expected to roll off her tongue, her words surprised him.
“So that’s why you came back.” Edee stared at him with a look of wonder on her face.
Shifting under the knowing expression in her eyes, J.T. frowned. Just when he thought he had her figured out, Edee showed him a new facet to her personality. He would have bet money her eyes would fill with pity when he revealed his past. Instead, she turned the conversation around and left him puzzling over what she meant.
“What—”
“You came back to prove you weren’t like your dad, that you had the character to stick things out, even if you didn’t like what was going on.”
Sucking in a gasp, teeth gritted, he said. “I came back because I made a success—”
“I really admire you for that.” Edee leaned against the booth. “What you did took guts. I’m proud to be working with you.”
What was she talking about? I wanted to show people I made something of myself. J.T. examined Edee’s rapt expression, wondering if she was a little unhinged after tossing out her grandmother’s files.
“It’s not that simple.” He shrugged when she didn’t turn away. “People always said God gave me all those natural skills to exceed in sports, but I would turn out just like my dad and never amount to anything.”
Jaw clenched, he waited for her assurance that people had been wrong. Or maybe she would ask questions about his participation in high school sports. But once again, Edee threw him a curve.
Leaning over the notepad, she glanced up through her lashes, “So, your mother never remarried?”
J.T. was ready to snap his response when he noticed the raspy sound of her voice. “No.”
With anyone else, he would have stopped there, but Edee touched him on a level deeper than most people he encountered. He found himself wanting to share things with her that few people knew.
“They weren’t married. But she never looked at another man.” He swallowed, noticing the moisture in her eyes.
A ragged breath sounded between them as Edee looked at him with glistening eyes. “That proves my point. Love hurts.”
Her lips snapped shut as she picked up the notepad and started shuffling the pages. J.T. studied her pain filled expression and frowned. “I’m not sure—”
“My parents taught me that.” She looked at him through tears pooling in her dark eyes. “They were so wrapped up in each other, they didn’t consider anyone else.”
Hearing the breath whoosh out of his lungs, J.T. reared back in the booth. What had he stumbled on, here? What was she saying? From the emotions flashing through her glittering eyes, he suspected Edee had been as damaged by her parents as he had from the lack of a parent. For as long as he could remember, he had dreamed about having a dad.
“Life is—”
“My parents were crazy in love with each other.” Swiping a wrist over her eyes, she gave a weak smile. “Like I said, love hurts.”
“What hurts?” Pauline Morgan demanded as she arrived at J.T.’s elbow.
Afraid of what might happen if she repeated the truth, Edee managed to paste on a wide smile. “It never hurts to advertise a new business on the internet.”
“Ah, business,” Pauline nudged J.T. with her elbow, “well, that’s what we’re here to discuss. Scoot over, J.T.”
As Pauline joined him in the booth, Edee made room for Emily Proctor to sit beside her. “Do you need a webpage, Mrs. Mayor?”
Pauline’s glare bored into Edee for a few seconds, then she busied herself rearranging J.T.’s used plate and utensils. “Since you already have a bruised look about your eyes, girl, I won’t comment on that ‘Mrs. Mayor’ business. Don’t make a habit of it.” Her lips pursed.
“We wanted to talk to you about the Ball for the Strawberry Festival,” Emily offered in a quick effort showing her practice at easing tension in Pauline’s wake. “We need your help.”
Exchanging glances with J.T., Edee knew the flicker in his eyes meant he was on sudden alert, as she was when she turned toward Emily. “What can we do? We’re both new i
n town.”
“J.T.’s not new.” Stella appeared a Pauline’s elbow and plopped down coffee cups for the new arrivals. “He’s returning home. That’s why he’s the perfect choice.”
Sending Stella a ‘cut out your tongue’ look, Pauline shoved her shoulders erect and launched into speech. “Usually, the previous year’s Strawberry Princess leads the first dance—”
“But last year’s princess looks like she’s pregnant with a watermelon.” Gum popped.
“Poor girl is due the day of the Ball, but she looks like—”
“Ready to pop,” Stella said, topping up the coffee and popping gum.
“As I was saying,” Pauline rolled her eyes at the other two women, “we’re desperate for someone to open the Ball with the lead dance.” She glanced first at Edee and then J.T. “And that’s when we thought about the two of you. It’s perfect.”
“And so romantic.” Emily sighed.
“What does romance have to do with it?” Pauline spit words like chips of ice. “I’m thinking about dramatic appeal.”
“Yeah, what’s more appealing than a home town boy returning and hiring a beautiful assistant?”
“I still say it’s romantic.” Emily Proctor’s mild tone sounded firm.
“I can’t dance.”
All four women stared at J.T.
Edee swallowed. Hunk of the month couldn’t dance? Then her brain kicked in and her temper flared. Not being able to dance was J.T.’s only objection to this plan? Was he insane? Couldn’t he see these women were playing matchmaker? “I-I’m not sure—”
“You can do this, hon.” Stella’s gum popped.
“It’s still a month away,” Emily offered.
Pauline’s chest puffed out. “As a newcomer, I’m sure you want to get on the good side of the town council,” her blue stare bored into J.T., “and we have considerable influence with the council.”
Her mouth open, Edee stared at the women. The wives of the mayor and the police chief were blackmailing them? Surely she had heard wrong. “Ellie gave me the impression that the sewing circle made most of the decisions—”
“That’s who you’re talking to, dear.” Pauline’s eyebrows lifted to her blue-gray hair and her expression turned innocent. “We’re just ladies of the sewing circle trying to keep the town running smooth.” Lifting her wrist to check her watch, she shoved out of the booth. “Time to go, Em. We have things to do. Stella, see you at sewing circle if not before.”
A Bride For Mr. Right (Redbud Romance Book 2) Page 10
