by Radclyffe
“That’s okay, I don’t have anywhere else to be.” Kip gently clasped Jordan’s shoulders and inched away until their eyes met. “No one else I want to be with. I’ll wait.”
“There’s not much we’re going to be able to do.” Jordan pushed away completely when all she wanted to do was hold on. “We need to cover everything, and I’m not even sure I have enough fabric on hand to keep everything warm. We’ll probably lose the tomatoes.”
“No way. Not the tomatoes.”
Kip’s outrage warmed Jordan and the last of the ice in her chest broke free. Her blood ran hot and steely. She grabbed Kip’s hand. “Come on. If I’d known, damn it, I’d have ordered more fabric, but we’re supposed to be safely past the last frost date. It’ll have to be enough.”
“What about those smudge pot things?” Kip followed Jordan to the garden shed and began dragging out the supplies Jordan pointed out.
“Even if we could find a place that still had any, getting them here and getting them set up would take longer than we’ve got, I’m afraid. They’re more designed for trees too, not gardens.”
“So what do we need exactly—heat, right?”
“Yes,” Jordan said, laughing without the slightest bit of humor. “That’s exactly what we need. Since we can’t order up some sunshine, we’ll just have to wrap everything up as best we can.”
“Right. Hold on.” Kip set down the roll of garden fabric, pulled out her phone, and punched in a number. After a few second, she said, “Harry, Kip here. I need you to get a flatbed and get me half a dozen portable infrareds ASAP.” She shoved her hand in her pocket, started to pace. “How big are they? Yeah, that will probably do. No, I need them before that. Like in an hour.” She stopped, laughed. “Fine, double time for everyone, then. Bring the paperwork and I’ll sign off.”
She pushed her phone back in her pocket and turned around. “Now what?”
“What did you just do?”
“You wanted heat.” Kip grinned. “I got us heat. Now we just need to put the blankets on, right?”
Laughing, feeling a little light-headed and just a bit giddy, Jordan threw her arms around Kip again. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, and I know you’re crazy, but thank you for whatever you’re trying to do.”
Kip kissed her. “Thank me later. Now just put me to work.”
An hour later all the beds were double-covered with fabric, and Jordan prayed it would be enough. If the temps stayed below freezing past morning, even the covers weren’t going to be enough protection. The sound of a big truck pulling up in the alley outside the fence and a loud horn blast shot her heart into her throat. “Kip?”
“I think those are the boys.” Kip jogged over to the fence and swung the gate wide, waving an arm. “Hey, Rafael. Bring that stuff in here. The generators too.”
“What can I do?” Jordan asked as four men in hoodies jumped down and congregated around Kip.
“Just tell us where you need the most heat.”
“Right.” Jordan climbed onto the steps of the trailer and pointed out where they needed to install the ten-foot-tall portable thermal heaters. Six beautiful units with their own generators. Kip and the men had them in position and set up in half an hour. When they fired the generators, the units glowed orange, and heat, blessed heat, flooded down into the garden.
Jordan joined Kip. “How long will they run?”
“All night, easily. What do you think? Will that be enough?”
Jordan laughed. “Are you kidding? The seedlings will be so spoiled we’ll probably have to run them every single night.”
“That can be arranged.” Kip grinned. “What about the chickens? Do they need anything?”
“No, they’ll be fine in the coop. Let me get some soil thermometers into the beds so we can keep an eye on the temperatures. Things will get critical around three.”
“Go ahead. I’ll be right back. I just want to talk to the guys before they leave and sign their overtime slips.”
“Whatever the cost,” Jordan said, “I’ll figure out a way to pay for this.”
Kip shook her head. “Consider it a community service.”
“Kip, I can’t even begin to imagine what this is costing.”
“Look, it’s not a big deal—”
Oh, but it was. Kip had come when she’d needed her, no questions asked. She’d gone beyond just helping. Jordan’s chest ached with the urge to pull her close. She forced herself to finish the job they’d started. “We’ll talk about it later. Let me get those thermometers in now.”
When the men and the trolleys and the truck had left, Kip closed the gate, leaving them alone in an oasis of warmth and glowing orange light that cast the garden in perpetual sunset.
“How does it look?” Kip said.
“Soil temperature’s fine right now. If we can keep things this way as the temperature goes down, we’ll be all right.”
“How long until we know?”
“We’ll need to uncover everything by eight so the plants can breathe and we don’t get condensation that might freeze on the leaves.”
“I guess I better get us some coffee. Did you have dinner?”
“Dinner?” Jordan laughed. “No dinner, no lunch. What about you?”
“How about pizza?”
Kip’s non-answer was answer enough. Jordan caught her hand. “You’re sure you’re all right?”
“I’m better than I’ve been in a long time.” Kip smiled and the shadows beneath her eyes faded a little. “Can you handle the works?”
“That sounds like heaven.”
“I won’t be gone long.”
Jordan tightened her grip on Kip’s hand. “You’ll be back?”
Kip cupped her face. “As soon as I can. Don’t worry.”
“Oh, that’s gonna be a neat trick tonight.” Jordan gave her a little shove. “Go. Hunt and gather. I’m starving.”
“At your service, my lady.” Kip grinned. “I’ll be back before you know it.”
Jordan watched her go, chasing the irrational fears away. Of course she would be back. She couldn’t bear to think anything else.
Chapter Twenty
Jordan occupied herself scanning the weather apps while trying not to watch the clock or think about how long Kip had been gone. The apps didn’t tell her anything different than they had an hour earlier, and the more she checked the expected lows, the more her nerves jangled. She’d already checked the thermometers twice and blessed the heat pouring down from the portable units. She was never this jumpy, even if she was currently facing the potential loss of all their early crops. She hadn’t been raised a farmer without having plenty of experience with fickle weather hell-bent on ruining a year’s worth of work. When the crops failed, the stock went hungry, the cash stopped flowing, and the tables stood empty. The situation wasn’t that dire here yet, and even if it had been, they’d done everything they could for now. She had at least another six hours before the worst would hit.
So she waited.
When she finally heard footsteps, she wasn’t sure at first she hadn’t imagined them and jumped up to open the trailer door before anyone knocked. Kip grinned up at her.
“You order pizza?”
“I did. Let me help you with that.” Jordan reached down for the pizza boxes Kip held out to her. “Two?”
“I figured it would be a long night, and I thought maybe Ty would show up.”
Jordan’s stomach tightened. “Oh, well, I’m sure we can probably do some damage on these all by ourselves.”
Kip climbed into the trailer, shed her jacket, and closed the door. “How are things?”
“As good as we can make them. Thanks to you.” Jordan turned on the desk lamp, which was usually plenty of light if she was working on her laptop but barely lit the rest of the ten-by-twenty space. She’d never appreciated how small the place was until she found herself maneuvering around Kip. Every time her shoulder or hip brushed Kip’s, her pulse shimmied. They spent hours in
the truck together every day, but being alone with the daybed that doubled as a sofa a few feet away made everything seem disturbingly intimate. She balanced the boxes on top of a nearby file cabinet and busied herself hunting up paper towels to substitute as napkins. “I think those heaters might make the difference. I still can’t believe you could get them here so quickly.”
“The plant isn’t all that far away, and loading them up is no big deal.”
“Yes, but I can’t imagine it’s all that simple requisitioning something like that. Or paying for it.”
Kip shrugged. “It helps to know the boss.”
“Know the boss, or be the boss?” Jordan asked quietly.
“Oh no, not me.” Kip looked faintly horrified. “That would be Michael—umpteenth cousin twice removed.”
“And he won’t mind you using company resources to bail out a friend?” Jordan motioned to the daybed. “Sit down. Go ahead and eat.”
“I doubt it.” Kip settled into the corner of the sofa with her back against the wall and her legs stretched out in front of her. “And if you give me a receipt for twelve hours of use, we really can write it off as a contribution, gas and all. Win-win, okay?”
“Of course, but I still owe you one.” Jordan dragged over a chair and helped herself to a slice. “This is amazingly good, or maybe it’s just because I haven’t eaten since the scone this morning.”
“You’re right. And nothing owed. I like helping out.”
“You do help.”
“Good,” Kip said softly.
Jordan was glad for the low light. Kip wouldn’t see her blushing. Really? Blushing just because Kip’s voice had gotten low and sexy? She cleared her throat. “I’ve got water in the fridge. Want one?”
“Sure. I thought about getting a couple of beers, and then figured coffee would be a better choice. I’ll run out and get some later.”
“No need, I’ve replaced the missing coffeemaker.” Jordan handed her a bottle of water. “I’ll make some later.”
Kip caught her hand. “You doing okay?”
Jordan laced her fingers through Kip’s without thinking about it. “More or less. This won’t be the first time I’ve gone to bat against Mother Nature.”
“I’ll bet.”
Jordan slid her hand free and retreated to the safety of her desk chair. “Usually it’s the rain that does you in—too much or not enough, and never at the right time.”
“At least you’re a veteran and not a hobby farmer without a clue.” Kip leaned forward to snag a second piece.
“Not many of those volunteering for this—” Jordan’s cell rang and she pulled it out to check the number. “Hi, Ty.”
“Hey. Are you still at the garden?”
“Yes.”
“I saw the alerts. I don’t know why we didn’t get more warning.”
“You know how accurate the weather reports are when it really matters.”
Ty snorted. “I’ll come back if you need me.”
“No, don’t,” Jordan said a little too quickly, aware that Kip was watching her as she spoke. “There’s nothing left for you to do. Everything is covered, and Kip loaned us some awesome heaters. If we don’t get a lot of ground condensation, we’ll be all right.”
“I can at least help monitor temps so you can get some sleep. Otherwise you’ll be up all night.”
Jordan laughed. “I’m not going to be sleeping, but thanks.” She glanced at Kip. “And Kip is still here, so I have company.”
Ty was silent a beat. “She’s all right?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“Good. I’m glad. I’m really sorry about all of thi—”
“Stop. It’s fine.”
“Call me in the morning?”
“I will. Thanks for checking, Ty. And don’t…don’t worry, okay?”
“Way past that.” Ty sighed. “You don’t either. We’ll all be fine here.”
“Yes,” Jordan said fiercely, “you will.”
Kip waited until Jordan disconnected. “I was surprised she wasn’t here earlier.”
“Oh, well…” Jordan sorted through how much she could say without revealing Ty’s secrets. “She’s got two kids at home, and it’s not really her responsibility to show up for emergencies.”
Kip studied her. “Why do I think there’s something you’re not telling me?”
Jordan blew out a breath. “Because there is. And I seem to be crappy at keeping anything from you. But it’s not mine to tell.”
“But it’s something to do with me, isn’t it?”
“Why do you say that?” Jordan hedged, but a little curious too.
“She’s never been comfortable around me.” Kip shrugged. “At first I thought she could tell I was interested in you, and she was jealous.”
“Ty?” Jordan laughed at the slight question in Kip’s tone, and damn it, she was blushing again. “No, Ty and I are good friends, but there’s never been anything more than that.”
“So is it just she doesn’t trust me because of the arrest thing, or does she think I’m going to hurt you?”
“No, neither. It’s not personal, well, it is, but it’s not about you and…” Jordan hesitated. You and me? Was there even an us in all of this? Did she want there to be? “It’s complicated.”
Frowning, Kip sat forward, balancing the pizza on the palm of her hand. “If there’s something I can do to clear things up, I’ll try.”
“There might be.” Jordan carefully set her pizza aside, her stomach too tied up in knots for her to eat. She needed to be careful. Her focus was too scattered between the weather threat and the constant tug of attraction from just being around Kip. She wanted to protect Ty, but she wanted to see beyond the subtle smoke screen that always surrounded Kip, to understand the woman behind the shield. “You could start by telling me what happened this afternoon when those guys showed up.”
“Oh, the men in black?” Kip grimaced. “I’m sorry you got dragged into that.”
“Were they from the probation office?”
“No.”
“I didn’t think so, actually. But you knew them, didn’t you.”
Kip considered how much she could say without jeopardizing Jordan. Her friends had warned her they’d be monitoring the situation, whatever the hell that meant, before they’d thanked her for coming and told her she could go. As if she’d had a choice. Jordan was waiting and she was tired of keeping her at arm’s length when she wanted just the opposite. “Let’s discuss theoreticals.”
“All right,” Jordan said slowly. “Why don’t we.”
“I told you I’m a mechanical engineer.”
“Right. Not exactly a car mechanic.”
“Not cars, no.” Kip grinned. “Not land-based things at all, actually.”
“Airplanes?”
Kip went back to eating her pizza.
Jordan made a humming sound. “Okay, things that fly.”
Kip pointed a finger. “That will do.”
“You are a things-that-fly mechanic,” Jordan said. “Right. And?”
“And sometimes I come up with new ideas to make things fly better.”
Jordan frowned. “Like designing new and better mechanical parts for the things that fly. Experimental things, basically.”
“That’s right,” Kip said quietly.
“Okay, I think I’m getting the picture. And those men were interested in you…why?”
“Sometimes the people who are interested in new things that make things fly work for the government.”
“So they were federal agents,” Jordan said grimly. “Defense?”
Kip didn’t say anything. She’d already said more than she ever had to anyone. Only her father and her team knew what she was working on.
“I suppose that doesn’t matter as long as they’re not—” Jordan dropped her gaze.
“Not what?” Kip asked quietly. “Jordan?”
“Will they be back?”
“I don’t know.”
&nbs
p; “Are they likely to investigate me?”
“I don’t know that either. I’m sorry.” Kip rested her hand on Jordan’s knee. “I probably should have realized they’d find out about my arrest, but I didn’t think they’d show up here.”
“Do they think you told me something?”
“No—not you.”
“Who? Not Ty.” Jordan tensed. “Did they ask about Ty?”
“Ty?” Kip shook her head. “No, why would they?”
“No reason.”
Jordan answered too quickly. Something was going on with Ty. Kip considered the options, and there weren’t many, especially considering Ty’s unusual absence that night and Ty’s long-standing uneasiness around her. “I take it Ty would rather not bump into anyone with…official government business.”
“That’s right.”
“Damn,” Kip muttered. “Was she very upset?”
“Theoretically,” Jordan said, “let’s say it’s not an association she would like to foster.”
“Maybe she’d rather avoid the possibility altogether?”
“I’m afraid so, yes.”
Kip stood, paced in the small confines of the trailer. “There’s no reason to think they’ll be back, and no reason for them to be looking at either one of you. Especially Ty. They were just throwing their weight around.”
“Because of you having been arrested.”
Kip hesitated. Now they were moving from the professional, where she didn’t mind stretching the boundaries a little, to the personal. To Randy, who she never, ever left unprotected. “They wanted details, since I’m not usually prone to getting crossed up with the law.”
“Are you in trouble?”
Kip shrugged. “It depends on how you look at it. If they’d wanted, or more accurately, if their bosses wanted to get technical about things, I might get sidelined from the project I’m involved with.”
Jordan caught her breath. “Working on those new things that make things fly.”
“That’s right.”
“Permanently? I mean, would it have long-term effects on your ability to do that work?”
“Possibly.”
“Oh, Kip. I’m sorry.”
