Chapter Eight
Janie entered the cost of the fence post purchase into the ledger under Expenses. Her grandfather had taught her how to keep the records for the ranch. Thank God for that or she’d really be lost now that Tom was gone.
There was something else she’d recently purchased, but she’d be damned if she could remember what it was. Her grandfather would be sorely disappointed in her. His philosophy had been to never put off what you could do right away. He’d say she should have written down whatever it was immediately after she got home. She knew what she should do. It was actually remembering to do it that was the problem lately. To be fair, she did have a few—or a few hundred—things on her mind.
Pen poised in the air, Janie tried to remember the forgotten expense, but her thoughts turned toward that morning and Tyler and Colton’s visit instead. She tried to wrestle her mind back to the task at hand and decided it was useless. She’d remember when she remembered or when she came across the receipt in the truck. If she didn’t, then the records would just not be accurate to the penny this year. Worse things had happened.
Whatever she was forgetting couldn’t be that big, or she’d remember it. With that in mind, she decided it was time to eat. Food might help her waning brainpower.
After the late start and the visit from the cowboys, the day had gotten away from her. It was now afternoon and the sun was riding low in the sky. It sent beams of light through the office window, making the particles of dust dancing in the air visible. There was nothing she could do about the dust. It was nearly impossible to keep a house on a ranch completely dust free. She’d long ago stopped trying.
With a sigh, Janie heaved her tired body out of the desk chair. It couldn’t be normal to be thirty-six and feel this exhausted all the time. Of course, it probably wasn’t normal to be this age and a widow, either.
She headed for the kitchen and the food in the fridge that would comprise her dinner for one. Most people would think it would be easier, not having to worry about cooking for anyone beside herself nowadays. It wasn’t.
Feeling the loneliness full force, she took out one bowl and one spoon. It was easy enough to scoop a bit of the cold chili out of a plastic container and into the bowl. Three minutes or so in the microwave and her dinner preparations would be complete. No muss. No fuss. And only one dish to wash.
Yup. Living the easy life, she was.
Movement out in the drive caught Janie’s attention and interrupted her unhealthy wallowing. A closer look told her there was a truck pulling into the drive. It was the same truck that had been there that morning.
Her heartbeat kicked up a notch as the vehicle came to a stop not far from the house and the driver’s door swung open. Her pulse quickened further when she realized only one cowboy occupied the cab, and by the look of him, it was Tyler. Here. Alone.
The urge to run to the bathroom to check how she looked after the long day told Janie she was thinking too much, not to mention the totally wrong things, about this man. She should be grateful he’d helped. She could be curious as to why he was back. But she really, really should not be waiting breathlessly for him by the back door.
His long legs and matching stride brought him to the door, where he stood in front of her before she was mentally ready to face him. Somehow she managed to remember to open the door.
“Hey.” Tyler shot her what she was beginning to see was his trademark grin. The one that had over the years probably won him the hearts of countless females, both young and old, if the racing of her pulse from being on the receiving end of Tyler’s smile was any indication.
“Hi.” She had to wrestle to untie her tongue to return his greeting. She couldn’t help but wonder what he was doing here, but she couldn’t figure out a way to ask without being rude, so she went with the next best thing—polite small talk. “I didn’t expect to see you back here today.”
His grin spread wider. “Eh, you know. I couldn’t stay away. You’ve won me over with your excellent coffee.”
Tyler’s smile was infectious, or maybe she just turned into a giddy schoolgirl around him, because she couldn’t help smiling back. “I can make a pot, if you’d like.”
“No need.” He held up a hand to stop her as she turned toward the counter. “I really just came over to talk to you about your hayfields.”
“My hayfields? Okay. Come on in.”
“You need to harvest that hay.”
“I know.” Those fields were on the To Do list she’d come to hate. She let out a sigh. It felt as if the weight of the world rested on her shoulders. Or at least the weight of a field of alfalfa and another of grass, both of which needed cutting.
“Well, don’t look so upset about it. It’s a good thing. It’ll make you some cash. I know Rohn ends up having to buy hay every winter when we run through what we cut. I’m sure he’d rather buy it from you than somebody else.”
“We never sold it before.” In past years, they’d used it to feed their own herd over the winter, but now that she’d sold off most of the stock, she wouldn’t need it. “You really think it’ll bring in good money?”
“Hell, yeah. You know, after the drought last year, there’s a shortage of both grass and alfalfa hay inventory. Prices will be way up for good-quality hay.”
“And is mine good quality?”
“Looks it to me. But I’d have your hired hand cut it now, if I were you. While the buds are just blooming. That way you’ll get a second cutting.”
That made her laugh in spite of the truth. “I don’t have a hired hand anymore. Last year, one of the guys who used to work for us before Tom died did it for me. But he hasn’t worked here in almost a year now. I guess I could call him. I honestly was going to give it a try myself.”
“Yourself.” Tyler’s lips formed a tight line. “You ever harvest hay before?”
“Um, personally? No, but I’ve watched.”
A frown drew his dark brows low. It was a striking contrast, his dark hair and brows framing eyes as brilliant blue as a summer sky. “Are you here working this place alone? You’ve got no hired help at all?”
“Nope. Just me.” It was probably stupid to admit that, but this man worked for the neighbor she’d known most of her life. Rohn and her grandfather had been friends even before she married and Tom took over running the ranch. She could trust Tyler with the truth, although he didn’t look very happy with her answer.
“How are you managing it?” he asked, still frowning.
She shrugged. “Selling the bulk of the herd helped. So far, I’ve found I can handle most things myself.”
He swung his head, as his lips remained pressed tight. “No. I don’t want you trying to do it. I’ll cut the hay for you.”
It was a relief, knowing she wouldn’t have to do it for the first time alone. And if Tyler was right and she could sell the crop, she’d have money to pay him for the work. “How much do you get paid?”
“Nothing.”
“No, I can’t let you work here for free.” The microwave chose that moment to ding, signaling her dinner was ready. She was prepared to ignore it and the smell of spiced beef hanging in the air. Tyler was not.
He glanced at the counter. “It’s suppertime and I’m interrupting you.”
“It’s okay. It’s just leftover chili.”
His smile returned. “I was wondering what smelled so good. You use chipotle?”
“Yeah. How did you know?”
He tapped his nose. “I have a nose made for sniffing out good food.”
Tyler also had other body parts—lean, hard, muscled parts—that looked made for enjoyable activities besides eating. She yanked herself away from her shameless thoughts. For lack of anything else, she said, “Would you like some? There’s plenty.”
What the hell was she thinking, asking this hot young guy to dinner? The offer had been vague enough that maybe he’d just say yes to a plastic container to go.
“I’d love to stay and eat with you.” His smile lit his face.
Or maybe not . . . “Okay. Great. I’ll just grab another bowl and microwave some more.”
“Sounds good. I got the spoon.” He moved to the correct drawer and pulled out one of the big soupspoons to match the one she’d laid out on the table for herself.
This man not only remembered where the utensils were kept, but he was setting another place at her table without her asking him to. All after she’d only known him for one day.
He caught her watching him as he reached into the holder on the counter for a paper napkin. “Something the matter?”
His question knocked her out of her trance. She yanked open the fridge and took the container out for the second time that day. Talking while she worked seemed to make it easier. “Not really. I was just thinking that somebody raised you right.”
Ugh. She sounded like some old granny talking about his manners. Tyler didn’t seem to mind. He laughed and held up the spoon. “Or my mouth’s just watering from the smell of that chili.”
“Here. This one’s hot.” She took the piping bowl out of the microwave and set it on the table. “Sit and eat. I’ll heat up more and join you in a minute.”
Tyler eyed the steaming bowl on the table. “Ladies first. What kind of gentleman would I be if I started to eat before you?”
“No. Guests first. What kind of hostess would I be if I ate before you?”
“All right. You got me there.” Conceding the point, he tipped his head. “Thank you much. I don’t mind if I do.”
He sat, his long legs and lean muscles filling the chair and the space beneath the table. She felt the strangeness of seeing a man at her table again after what felt like a long absence. He dug the spoon into the steaming bowl, and for the first time in a while, Janie felt a sense of accomplishment, pride in having cooked a good meal for someone to appreciate.
She turned her attention to her own meal. The microwave chugged away on the counter with her bowl of chili inside as she watched the seconds tick down. It seemed like as good an occupation as any. Far better than staring, or trying not to stare, at her guest as he ate.
“When’s the last time that equipment of yours was tuned up?”
“I don’t know. Tom handled all that. Probably last year—” Janie caught herself. Last year he’d been so sick, she couldn’t be sure he’d remembered to tell the hands to service the machines. “Possibly the year before.”
“Tractors, the mower, the baler—equipment like that needs to be checked regularly and maintained even when it’s not being used in the off-season. I’ll take care of it for you. I’m good with machines.”
Good with machines. Probably good with his hands.... Janie imagined there wasn’t a whole lot Tyler wasn’t good at. But still, she couldn’t let him do her any more favors. “I can’t let you—”
He held his hand up to stop her protest. “Stop. I’m doing it.”
“Then you have to let me pay you for your time.”
“Nope. I won’t hear another word about it. It’s a little oil and some grease. Maybe I’ll have to change the blades. That’s all. Nothing to it.”
She sighed. “I don’t like that you won’t let me give you anything.”
“Well, I didn’t say I wouldn’t let you give me something.” The tone of his voice was as suggestive as the look he shot her.
Janie opened her mouth but wasn’t sure what to say.
“I might be convinced to let you cook me dinner again some night.” Tyler saved her from the embarrassment she felt. He grinned and held up a spoon overflowing with chili. “This is really good.”
“Thank you.”
Her heart beat faster at the thought of cooking for him. Of Tyler being her dinner companion. The scene formed in her overactive imagination . . . the dining room table set with her good dishes and linens. The sunset visible through the lace curtains. Tyler, filling the dining room with his mere presence. Janie, unable to eat a bite of food as her stomach roiled with all the nerves she hadn’t felt around a man since her first date with Tom all those many years ago.
How the hell much longer was this microwave going to take? She needed something to do with her hands and she needed to change the subject. As the timer ticked down to the final thirty seconds, she decided the chili had heated for long enough. She punched the door release with one finger and grabbed the bowl. Heated through or not, the food was done as far as she was concerned. Turning back to the table, she put the bowl down at her place and sat opposite him.
Feeling the need to make conversation, she said, “So, you have any plans for tonight? Any visits to the lumberyard?”
“Nope.” He raised his eyes to hers but then glanced down to concentrate on his food.
He seemed embarrassed. Janie liked this side of him, though she liked the confident, flirty side of him, too.
“That’s probably better, since I’m home. My truck won’t be in the parking lot for you to hide in.” She couldn’t resist teasing him.
He rolled his eyes, but he was taking the teasing in stride, judging by the crooked smile that lifted one corner of his mouth. “I’m never going to live that down, am I?”
“Well, if you keep helping me out around here, I’ll really owe you. I suppose I’ll have to stop teasing about finding you under the tarp in the back of my truck.” Out of deference to the fact that he was going to do her a huge favor by helping with the hay harvest, she left off the part about the compromising state she’d found him in, with his belt and jeans hanging wide open.
“If that’s the case, then I’m starting work here tomorrow.”
“Don’t you have to work at Rohn’s?”
“I do. Don’t worry. I’m good at juggling multiple things.”
She didn’t doubt that. She’d bet multiple women were sometimes what he was juggling.
“Just please, don’t get fired on my account.” If that were to happen, she couldn’t afford to hire him on full-time to make up for the loss of the job.
He let out a laugh. “If I get fired, it’ll be my own doing, not yours.”
Somehow, she believed him.
“But don’t worry,” Tyler continued. “I’ll tune up your equipment in my off hours.”
Janie’s mind went to a bad place at the thought of the many things in her life that had been neglected and could use a tune-up, and the thought had nothing to do with farm machinery. She yanked her mind out of the gutter. “Okay.”
“I can take a look at it tonight and see what I’ll need. That way I can pick up any lube or oil on my way home and get started bright and early in the morning.” Unaware of the turbulence within her, Tyler chattered on.
Lube and oil. Her insides warmed, while Janie had to wonder when those perfectly innocent farm machinery terms had taken on such sexual connotations in her mind. Since a hot-as-hell cowboy had decided to take her on as a charity case, apparently.
“All right. Tell me what I owe you for all that stuff. I’ll reimburse you for whatever you lay out.”
He dismissed her with a flick of his wrist and Janie realized it was going to be a struggle to get him to take any payment from her, even for expenses he laid out on her behalf. There wasn’t enough chili in the world to repay him for all the help he was promising.
Strangely, she believed he’d do it all, too. Unlike her first impression of him, when she’d doubted he’d show to help with the fence, he’d proven himself reliable. He’d gone above and beyond, handling the fence repair before she even woke up, and recruiting help to do it. And tonight, taking the initiative regarding her hay harvest. She wasn’t exactly in a position to not accept his help.
“Thank you.” The words didn’t seem nearly enough to express her gratitude.
“Don’t mention it.” His gaze captured and held hers for a moment before he broke away and went back to poking his spoon into the ever-lowering level of chili in the bowl. She remembered she had yet to start on hers and took a bite herself.
“So, anyway, when the equipment is ready to go, I’ll start harvesting.”
“On top of your regular work at Rohn’s.”
He glanced at what Janie knew was a look of doubt on her face. “It’s not a big deal. Really. We take a breakfast and a lunch break during the day. I’ll just skip one or both. Work straight through, get done early, and head over here to work until dark. The sun sets later and later every night.”
“You can’t—”
“Sure I can. I’ll get to Rohn’s early and put in my day’s worth of work over there. Then I can pop over here to your place in the afternoon. I like to wait until after the sun’s dried the dew on the fields before mowing, anyway.”
She let out a sigh. Who was she to argue? Tyler sure seemed capable enough and seemed like he knew exactly what he was doing. Better than she did, she supposed, even after having spent so much time here with her grandfather growing up.
“All right. It sounds like a good plan.” As Janie spooned another mouthful between her lips, she formulated a plan of her own.
She’d have to run out and go food shopping tomorrow and figure out a schedule of meals to make for the week. If Tyler really was going to skip his meal breaks at Rohn’s just to help her out, the least she could do was make sure there was a good meal ready and waiting in case he showed up hungry at her back door.
The worst part was, now that she’d anticipated his being around, she really liked the idea. Making plans about a wild cowboy based on not much knowledge and an association of only twenty-four hours was bound to end badly. Even given that, she couldn’t hold down her mood as it lifted, simply from the thought of having his company.
She needed to get out more if the prospect of one visitor did this to her. But for the near future, she wouldn’t worry about forcing herself out of the comfort of her home. Tyler would be coming to her, at least until the haying was complete.
God help her, just the thought of Tyler being around had her heart beating faster. She was surely doomed.
A glance at Tyler’s bowl told Janie he was way ahead of her in the eating department. Then again, Tom and the hands always had wolfed down their food. She’d never known if it was because they had worked up such a big appetite during the day or if all men ate like that.
“I can heat up some more if you’re still hungry.”
“Nah. I’m good. Thanks.” He leaned back from the table. “Gotta watch my girlish figure. Your chili’s so good I’ll eat until I bust if I don’t stop now.”
Wearing a grin, he ran a hand over his stomach. His abdomen was so flat, she doubted he had anything to worry about, but she accepted the compliment. “Thank you. I’m glad you like it.”
“More than like it. If you keep feeding me like this, I’ll be like a stray dog hanging around your back door day and night, waiting for table scraps.”
Tyler sure had the charmer role down pat. Almost everything out of his mouth seemed to be a compliment—not that she was complaining. “Lucky for you, I’m a big softy. As a teenager, I never could resist a stray. Dogs. Cats. Once I adopted a baby raccoon.”
“Raccoon?” He cringed. “I’m afraid I’d have to draw the line there.”
She laughed. “Yeah. My grandfather wasn’t too happy about it either. It was a good thing the animal moved on once it got a little older and could feed itself.”
His bowl empty, Tyler braced his bulging forearms on the edge of the table and leaned forward a bit. “So, you’ve got family around here?”
“No.” If she had, she wouldn’t feel so alone. “My mom died of MS when I was in high school. Multiple sclerosis,” she elaborated for him, just in case.
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Thanks. Anyway, her illness was a strain on my dad. More than he could handle, I guess. He got married six months after Mom died. The woman had young kids from another marriage, so he moved away and made a new family with her.” Janie tried to keep the bitterness from her voice. She wasn’t sure if she had succeeded or not.
As an only child, the task of tending to her ailing mother had fallen to her. At fifteen years old, when other girls were hanging out with their friends, she’d gone directly home to take care of her mother. Right up until things had gotten so bad they’d had to get a nurse in. Meanwhile, judging by the speed with which her father remarried, she had no doubt he’d been seeing the woman before her mother died.
Tyler’s eyes widened. “What about you?”
“I suppose I could have moved with him, if I’d wanted to. He wouldn’t have abandoned me, but I moved in here with my grandfather instead.”
“So this was your grandfather’s place?”
“Yeah. My mother had grown up on this ranch. This is where I’d spent summers my whole life. It was better for everyone that I came here, believe me. Gramps was getting up in years, so it was good for him to have the company. And I’d always loved this place. There’s history. He and my grandmother bought this ranch right after they got married. They built this house and added the outbuildings as they could afford them. There are good memories here.” She realized she was getting sentimental and long-winded, and cut herself short.
Tyler had let her go on talking, and probably would have for as long as she wanted to continue. He paid attention, but didn’t interrupt. Once she’d stopped, he nodded. “It sounds like it was good you were here.”
This conversation had Janie thinking about the past she rarely revisited. She didn’t mind so much. It was better to remember than to forget. “Yeah. I think so, too. Anyway, the answer to your question is no. No family around here. I have a close girlfriend in town, but she’s got her hands full with a daughter who keeps her busy, as well as a husband, so we don’t see each other as much as we used to. The people at the church are supportive, but . . .”
“You don’t want to impose on them,” he finished for her.
“Yeah.” She let out a short laugh. “There’s that, and I can’t picture most of them helping me harvest my hay.”
He smiled. “I’m thinking you’re right. But you don’t have to worry about that anymore. I’ll handle it.”
She still felt his generosity was too much. “I’m going to give you a percentage of whatever money that hay brings in.”
“Janie. Stop.”
“No, I’m serious.”
“All right.” He held up a hand to end her protest.
“We’ll revisit this subject later. Let’s get it cut and sold before we debate any more about it. Okay?”
“Okay.” That she would agree to.
She still wasn’t sure that field was the gold mine Tyler predicted it would be. Then again, what did she know? Tom had always handled the finances, and as she’d told Tyler earlier, they’d never sold their hay before. It had always been for their own winter feedings.
“Anyway, not to eat and run, but I need to get out there and check on the machines. See what you’ve got and what I’ll need to pick up.”
“I’ll show you where the equipment shed is.” She pushed her chair back from the table. If he was really going to do her this enormous favor, she needed to at least help in any way she could.
“Stay and finish your meal. I’ll find it on my own.”
“No, don’t be silly. I can show you where we keep the tools and oil. Maybe we’ve got everything you need already.” Janie realized she was still saying we even though, as they’d just discussed, she was completely alone here. She moved past that thought. “Besides, I’m a grazer when it comes to eating. I’ll probably wrap that back up for later.”
After a moment’s hesitation, he dipped his head. “All right. I’d appreciate a tour. Then, once I have the lay of the land, I won’t need to bother you anymore. I can just start work when I get here.”
“It would be no bother. Believe me.”
What was funny was that she suspected she’d like nothing better than having Tyler come knocking to ask her something or another. Maybe she’d omit a few key places on her tour so he’d have to come and find her. As she led the way out the back door, she realized she’d most likely lost her mind. Or maybe she was just lonely.
Their conversation had only reinforced the truth of her new reality. She had no close family and only one good friend who was as busy as a beaver. Janie would have to rectify that situation, because counting on this wild young cowboy as a substitute for the companionship missing in her life was sure to be a bad idea.
She supposed she could open one of those online dating accounts. That thought left her feeling as cold as Tyler made her hot. Crap.