Only a fool with stars in her eyes would let her guard down and Haley Anderson hadn’t had stars in her eyes for a very long time.
Several hours later Haley was willing to admit, if only to herself, that Marlon’s help had come in handy. And his timing for offering it couldn’t have been better. Second Chances had agreed to donate furniture to her cause.
With Marlon’s help, she’d moved over an eight-foot sofa with worn seat cushions and a threadbare loveseat that didn’t match. There was a faux leather recliner that didn’t recline, coffee and end tables with cigarette burns and scratches. Carved into the top of one were the initials CS+WR, with a heart surrounding the whole thing. Very romantic. The big, ugly donated lamps covered some of the dings, but she arranged it so the heart still showed.
They also got a TV. Since broadcast television had switched from analog to digital, quite a few sets had been discarded. Haley was more than happy to let the thrift store donate one to ROOTS because she had a converter box. Now it was all set up on a stand in the corner.
She brushed her forearm across her forehead and grinned. “Awesome.”
“You think?”
Haley heard the doubt in his voice. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”
Marlon stood beside her and folded his arms over his chest as he surveyed the room, his gaze settling on the place where stuffing was coming out of the gold-and-brown striped sofa cushion. Then he looked at the green-and-pink loveseat sitting at a right angle to it. “You call this beautiful and can actually say that with a straight face?”
“I still have a little money left from donations to buy some ready-made slipcovers that will just make this room pop.” She looked up at him and could almost hear her heart making a popping sound.
It was best to ignore that and concentrate on the good stuff—like being way ahead of where she’d expected to be right now. The only plan she’d had was for her brother and sister to get off work at Thunder Canyon Resort and stop by to help. But there was a flaw in Plan A, which Angie and Austin had pointed out in tones that bordered on whiney. After work they’d be hungry and tired and not in favor of moving furniture. They’d reluctantly agreed to help, but now it wasn’t necessary.
Because she’d had Marlon.
No, he wasn’t hers. She didn’t have him. She had the time he’d donated. No more, no less. And she still couldn’t figure out why he’d insisted on helping. One of these days she’d stop looking a gift horse in the mouth while waiting for the other shoe to fall.
“I say it looks good,” she said, nodding firmly.
His expression said he disagreed. “That depends on your definition of good and your standards.”
“That’s the beauty. It’s not my standards that matter. This is for the kids. It’s going to get trashed, anyway. They don’t need to worry about ruining something that’s brand-new. This room says come on in. Be comfortable.”
“And you couldn’t have done it without me,” he teased.
“I could have,” she said, then reluctantly added, “but not this fast. Seriously, Marlon, thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
The deep, slightly husky quality in his voice scraped over her skin and seeped inside, tying her in knots. On top of that she was tongue-tied, too. He was a glib, quick-witted, millionaire man of the world and she was a nobody from a small town in Montana. It shouldn’t matter, but it did. And as silence stretched between them, she felt more and more awkward and unsophisticated.
Just before she wished the earth would open and swallow her whole, the door opened and her brother and sister walked in. Relief flooded through her. “Austin. Angie.”
Her brother was as tall as Marlon and at twenty-two he wasn’t that much younger. His brown hair was cut short and with a lot of time and product, he got it to stick out in the trendiest possible way. His navy blue T-shirt set off the dark brown eyes that were studying the man beside her.
“Hey, Marlon.” He stuck out his hand.
For some reason the gesture seemed especially manly of her brother and made Haley proud.
“Austin.” He shook her brother’s hand. “How are you?”
“Good. You?”
“Can’t complain.” He nodded to Angie. “You look more like your big sister every time I see you.”
The slender, twenty-year-old’s cheeks turned as pink as her T-shirt. She tucked a strand of straight, shiny, shoulder-length brown hair behind her ear. “Is that a compliment?”
He glanced down at Haley and winked. “Of course.”
Like she believed that. What was he going to say? The Anderson sisters shouldn’t go down Main Street Thunder Canyon without bags over their heads? Charm and blarney were his specialties.
Austin’s gaze drifted past them to the furniture in the center of the room, arranged in a cozy square to cultivate conversation. “So, we’re too late to help?” he asked, grinning.
“Try not to look so disappointed,” Haley said, wryly.
“Darn, I was really looking forward to lugging stuff around.” If anything, his smile grew wider.
“Marlon was kind enough to help me.”
Austin nodded. “I owe you one, man.”
“No one’s counting. I’m happy to be of service.” The man looked down at her. “And believe me, it wasn’t easy.”
That goes double for me, Haley thought, meeting his gaze. “The point is that the basics are in place and I’ll get the word out that the kids can come on in.”
Angie nodded at the half-finished mural. “It looks good, Haley. I like what you did with the cell phones, computers and books. The sports stuff is cool, too. Very yin and yang.”
“Balance. It’s a subtle message up there, but it’s the goal.” Haley glanced over her shoulder and smiled at her work in progress.
“And a good one,” her brother said. “But I really am glad Marlon gave you a hand. It’s been a long day.”
“Austin works in engineering at the resort,” Haley explained.
“Maintenance actually,” he clarified. “Angie’s in housekeeping.”
Her sister shrugged. “It’s a job.”
“You should be grateful to have it,” Haley pointed out.
“So you keep telling me.” Her sister’s lips pulled tight.
“Hey, sis,” Austin said, nudging his younger sister’s arm with his elbow and effectively filling the tense silence. “Now that we don’t have to help, we can eat sooner. Remember we’re starving.”
“Yeah.”
Haley nodded. “Okay. I’ve done all I can here for tonight. You guys head on home and I’ll be along to get dinner started.”
“I can make dinner,” Angie offered.
“That’s okay.” Austin’s expression kaleidoscoped from horror to sympathetic understanding. “The last time you got near the stove and tried anything but a sandwich or cold cereal, the scream of the smoke detector took out my hearing for hours.”
“It was a blessing in disguise,” Haley said. “Always good to know they work.”
But when Angie’s brown eyes darkened with temper, it was clear she didn’t appreciate the good-natured joking. “And you’ve never let me try again. How am I going to learn?”
“Have you ever heard the expression where there’s smoke, there’s fire?” Austin’s mouth curved up in a teasing smile. “I kind of like having a roof over my head. Especially with winter coming.”
“You’re a jerk.” Angie punched him in the arm.
“Ow.” He rubbed the spot and said to Haley, “She hit me. Are you going to let her get away with not using her words?”
“When are you going to stop treating me like a kid? I’m older than you were when mom died.” Angie glared at her, then turned on her heel and walked out, slamming the door behind her.
“She’s a little touchy.” Austin shrugged. “I better go after her. I’m her ride.”
“See you at home,” Haley said.
When they were alone again, she and Marlon both sp
oke at once.
“I’m sorry—”
“They grew up—”
Haley shrugged. “You go first.”
“I was just going to say that your siblings grew up well, thanks to you.”
She stared out the window where dusk was just settling over Main Street. “I was just going to say that I’m sorry you had to see that.”
“What?” he asked innocently.
“Angie’s meltdown. She gets snippy when she thinks I’m babying her.”
“Looks to me like you were just taking care of your own.” He shrugged.
“She doesn’t see it that way. She thinks twenty years old is all grown up.”
His brown eyes turned the color of rich chocolate when sympathy slid into them. “She’s right, though. She is older than you were when—” he shifted his feet then looked at her “—when you took over as head of the family.”
“I did what I had to. What anyone would have.”
“I’m not so sure that’s true. A lot of people would have just walked away from all that responsibility. Not you.”
“I couldn’t. They’re my family.” She shrugged as if that explained everything.
“And family is there for each other. But that’s not how it looked to me. From what I saw, you take care of everyone else. I can’t help wondering who takes care of you.”
“Like I said, I don’t need anyone. I’m just fine on my own.”
He shook his head as he stared down at her. “I’m two parts awed and one part bothered by that.”
“Why?”
“As the song says, everybody needs somebody sometime. Like you needed me today.”
“That’s the thing, Marlon. If you hadn’t been here, I’d have rounded up some guys. Austin would have helped. He has friends. I’d have gotten it done somehow.”
She remembered back to those first weeks and months after her mother died. They’d gone through the motions of living, but it was like being among the walking dead. They were in shock. In spite of that, she’d had to make sure her siblings went to school, ate, did their homework. That evolved into supervising who their friends were, where they went and with whom. All the things a parent would do. What her mom had done for her.
“You’re pretty amazing, Haley Anderson.”
“Thanks.”
His praise warmed her clear through, in a place that she hadn’t realized was frozen over and numb. But it was dangerous to allow it to thaw. If that happened, feeling would return and with it the pins and needles of nerve endings awakening and the pain that went along with it. She’d gotten through her mom’s death, but never ever wanted to lose someone again. She just didn’t think she had it in her to go on without someone she loved.
And Marlon Cates, happy wanderer and world traveler, was not the person she wanted to talk to about this. It was like exposing her soft underbelly and left her feeling too vulnerable, too raw.
She angled her head toward the door. “I have to go. The hungry hordes are waiting at home.”
“Right,” he said. “Me, too.”
“Okay.” She grabbed her purse from the floor and slid the strap over her shoulder. “Good night.”
“Wait.” He put his hand on her arm to stop her. The feel of his fingers rolled heat all the way to her heart, which started popping like a bag of microwave popcorn. Just barely, she stopped the quiver that his touch generated.
“What?” she asked, a little too breathlessly. With luck he didn’t notice.
“What time do you want me here tomorrow?”
Putting a finer point on the question, she didn’t really want him there at all. Because she would look forward to seeing him. And she didn’t want to.
But apparently whatever selfless kick he was on hadn’t let up because he was waiting for an answer. “I’m working the breakfast and dinner shifts at The Hitching Post, but this mural needs work so I plan to do that for a couple of hours in between. You could scrub the walls.” His narrowed gaze made her add, “I can’t afford more paint, but it needs to be cleaned up. Just a little elbow grease.” A task that just might flip the off switch on this altruistic streak of his.
“Okay. See you then.”
When he took his hand off her arm and walked out the door, Haley released the breath she’d been holding. Anticipation stretched inside her, a sensation she hadn’t experienced for a long time. If she could have stopped it she would have because it so wasn’t a good idea. But the fact was, she found herself looking forward to tomorrow—and dreading it.
What else would he talk her into doing against her better judgment?
Chapter Three
When Haley arrived at ROOTS the next day Marlon was there waiting. She pulled up at the curb, then grabbed the bags of stuff sitting on the seat beside her and hopped down.
“Hi.”
Just like that, his voice and smile kick-started that popping inside her, even though she’d had a whole lot of hours to brace for another face-to-face. “Hi.”
Clever comeback, she told herself.
“Let me take those,” he said, reaching for the bags.
Their hands brushed and her chest felt tight. “Thanks.”
He hefted one. “Do you have rocks in here?”
“You caught me.” Slightly more clever on the comeback scale.
He peeked inside and saw the bottles of cleaning supplies along with a bag of candy. There was a wry expression in his eyes. “Nutritious.”
“Special treats,” she defended. “There’s a couple cases of soda in the truck. I’ll get them.”
He set the bags down by the door and said, “Allow me. You be the brains. I’ll be the brawn.”
Don’t have to ask me twice, she thought, letting herself look at his back as he walked to her truck. She was twenty-four-years old and had never had sex, but inexperience didn’t stop her from admiring his broad shoulders and excellent butt. She didn’t even know the criteria upon which veteran, male-watching women relied to determine whether or not a man had a bonafide excellent backside, but to her way of thinking, Marlon definitely did.
The muscles in his arms and back rippled and bunched as he stacked the cases of soda one on top of the other then lifted. A flutter moved from her belly to her throat and all of a sudden she couldn’t draw a deep breath.
As he turned, she quickly stuck her key in the door and hoped he hadn’t caught her staring. That was all she needed. Having him around was a challenge, but she wouldn’t know how to handle his teasing about man/woman stuff, highlighting her lack of sophistication. She just wouldn’t be able to stand it if he pitied her.
He stopped beside her and frowned. “Is there a problem with the door?”
“Lock’s a little stiff,” she mumbled, turning the key and twisting the knob to open the door for him.
He walked in ahead of her and she picked up one of the bags outside before following him. Inside, she saw that he’d stopped dead-still and everything about his body language screamed tension.
“Haley?”
“What?” She moved around him and glanced at the room.
It wasn’t the way she’d left it. The back cushions on the sofa had been moved. There were junk food wrappers and beer cans on the coffee table.
“Did you have chips and beer for dinner here last night?”
“No.” The one word came out on a whisper as apprehension ballooned inside her.
“Did you let some kids in?” he asked.
“I left right after you. ROOTS isn’t officially opened yet. And if it were, I wouldn’t be serving beer.”
Marlon set the cases of soda down on the scarred coffee table. “Stay here.”
“Why? Where are you going?” She automatically started toward the back and he put out his arm to stop her.
“What part of ‘stay here’ did you not understand?”
“The part where you’re going all special agent, covert op. This is my project.”
“And there could be someone back there who knows it an
d is waiting for you.” He glared down and there was no trace of humor in his eyes, which was more alarming than the tension in his voice. “Stand by the open door. I’m going to check the place out. If necessary, you go for help.”
“But, Marlon, you might need me—”
“No,” he said firmly. “Stay here.”
“Okay.”
It took less than a minute for him to look around the storeroom and bathroom, but it felt like days. Bad stuff always seemed to last longer than the good.
“It’s all clear.” He appeared in the doorway, his face grim. “But you’ve got a broken window in here.”
She hurried back and saw that the glass in the top half of the door had been shattered. Shards were on the floor. “That’s how they got in.”
“Yeah.”
“Why can’t I catch a break?”
The words popped out before she could stop them. She’d been so excited when she left last night. The kids would have a place to sit and TV to watch. Now someone who only wanted a place to party had violated her sense of trust.
“Sometimes life is just not fair—” Emotion flooded her and she caught the corner of her top lip between her teeth to keep from giving in to it.
Marlon pulled her into his arms. “Don’t go to the bad place.”
“I don’t have to go. It broke in and made itself at home.”
His big palm rubbed up and down her back and the heat of his body warmed hers. She hadn’t even realized how cold she was.
“Don’t let it get to you. We’ll talk to the cops and see if there’s anything they can do. Look on the bright side.”
“Is there one?” She forced herself to step away from him. “No, wait, this is where you say things could have been worse.”
“It’s true.”
“Yeah? How?”
“There wasn’t anything here to take. And they brought their own beer and snacks,” he added.
She fought a smile and felt better for it. God help her, she was glad he’d been here. She wasn’t used to anyone looking out for her. Leaning on him was different. And not totally bad. This was a side to Marlon that she’d never seen before. Kind of heroic, which was out of character. She remembered him being a scoundrel and everything she’d seen and heard had supported that impression.
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