4. Max
CHAPTER 4
Max
Well, it didn’t take long for the city girl to fold. I thought she’d leave first thing in the morning after spending the night in such an empty, beat-up lodge.
What I did not expect was to walk out to feed cows this morning and find her sleeping on my couch.
But there she was, snuggling Jim—the traitor. What was I supposed to do? Pull out the frying pan and cook her breakfast? Offer her the queen bed I sleep in? I don’t think so. I told her it was too big of a job. She should have headed back into town last night.
The Shaky Pine Hotel always has vacancies, unless the Barlowes are having a family reunion. But that’s always in the summer, so there’s plenty of room right now. She could have rented a room and then driven back home. Maybe she’ll do that this morning. It’s the only reasonable thing for her to do at this point.
I check my phone to see what time it is—9 a.m. and I’ve fed all three barns. Time to go find the momma that didn’t come in today.
I have deep regrets about buying the load of sale barn cows, because their calving schedule has been all over the place. And that doesn’t even touch on the half-jersey cow I ended up with. Or the Holstein. It’s flat-out embarrassing.
By the time I finish my work for the day, there’s a light skiff of snow on the ground. I can’t believe the weather has held off this long, actually. The ground has been frozen the last week, and the weather report has been calling for snow for about two weeks now. It was only a matter of time before the Weather Channel report was actually right. Sometimes, the first snowfall likes to come in with a splash. But this isn’t too bad.
Because the fall weather had been so nice, I was able to keep the cattle out on grass longer than normal. Now that winter has set in, it’s too cold for any grass to grow, and I’m left feeding cattle until the spring thaw.
It’s way past time for me to dig out my winter gear. I’ve been making do with just my jacket, but it’s officially time for a hat and gloves too.
But on days like this, there’s nothing better than looking forward to a warm fire at the end of the day.
When I finish my work, I find an unusual sight as the dogs and I pull up to the house. Every light is on. When I shut off the diesel pickup, I hear music playing.
She can’t still be here. There’s no way. I’d made myself clear.
I storm up the paver-stone walkway and jump all three steps up the porch. I try to open the door, but it’s locked. The only time I lock it is when I’m going to sleep. I punch in the key code to unlock the door. I swing it open to find Charlie in the kitchen, dancing around in yoga pants, singing into a spoon to “All I Want For Christmas.”
There are so many things wrong with this situation that I address the worst offense first.
“It is still NOVEMBER!!!! Why are you listening to Christmas music?”
She spins around, holding that stirring spoon out like a sword, her jaw dropping open. She glances back at the clock then turns back to me. “What are you doing back so early?”
“Early? It’s the end of the day!”
“I thought ranchers were supposed to work ridiculously long hours,” she replies snarkily.
“It’s the slow season,” I shoot back. I stomp into the kitchen and find the speaker, turning the music down so I can hear myself think.
“I was going to surprise you with a warm dinner.” She points to the pot on the stove. “But you’re back earlier than I thought. It’s not ready yet!”
I have to take two deep breaths before I can answer her. I’m afraid I might lose my temper, so I say it as politely as possible. “Get out.”
Charlie scrunches her eyebrows together. “Dinner’s not even ready yet!” She shakes that spoon in front of my face.
“ You were supposed to be gone by the time I got back. You’re not getting to stay just because you made dinner.” Though, I’ll admit, warm soup does sound good right now.
She plants her hands on her hips, causing her sweater to bunch up to the top of her yoga pants. “You can’t kick me out. I get to stay here. Magnolia said so.”
“Well, that’s just what you say. She hasn’t said anything to me.” I grin at her shocked face. I guess there are perks to working in poor cell service. Calls and texts can sometimes be weather-dependent. And if Nash tried to get a hold of me today—well, it didn’t go through. “Oh yeah, you think I’m going to take the word of a stranger that I should share a house with them? I don’t think so.”
She glares at me then sets the spoon down on the counter with a snap. She takes two big steps toward me, and that’s when I notice the white shoes on her feet—definitely from the city. Shoes stay white out here for about five minutes. Once you step outside, they’re covered in cow crap or red dirt.
“You’re just going to have to be okay with it. I’m not leaving until I finish the job I was hired to do.”
I was so mesmerized by her white tennis shoes that I didn’t realize she’d moved close enough to jab me in the chest with her index finger—twice. The second time is harder than the first.
I grasp her hand before she can do it a third time. “Good for you. Now, you know what would make it easier to do your job? Is if you actually went and worked on the problem.” I pull gently at first, like I’ll helpfully escort her out the door.
Her eyes widen as she understands my meaning. She looks at me as though to ask, You can’t possibly mean to drag me outside?
Actually, I can, I say back with raised eyebrows.
She leans back and hauls off to punch my arm. Yeah, she definitely knows I’m going to toss her out. And if that didn’t quite sink in, the part where I start dragging her toward the front door would make that pretty clear.
Those tennis shoes squeak on the floor as she leans back. Too bad for her, she’s light enough to pick up one-handed. I’ve been throwing about a hundred alfalfa bales each morning. Each one of them weighs more than she does. She doesn’t stand a chance.
Charlie shrieks and tries to slip her hand out of mine.
Jim and Larry run in circles around us, barking at the excitement, thinking we’re playing a game.
And maybe we are. But I sure as heck am going to be the one to win this.
“How dare you,” Charlie seethes as she tries to kick me. “You can’t just drag people out of your house!”
“So you admit it’s mine?” I grin at her furious face. “Ouch!” I glance down at our hands to see that she’s pinching the skin on the back of my hand. I release her hand right away and go back to what worked last night.
I scoop her off her feet and tip her over my shoulder. Her elbows are weapons of mass destruction, and she even manages to get a few solid hits with those knees before she’s upside down.
“You’re not getting me out of this house, you absolute wretch!”
“Now you’re hurting my feelings,” I tease. “Ouch! Stop pinching.”
“Stop carrying me everywhere,” she growls.
As she tries to knee my abs, Jim bumps against my leg, barking happily. I’m feeling pretty good right now too. Charlie is not going to worm her way into our peaceful world. She’s already upsetting the balance and hasn’t even been here for twenty-four hours yet.
My phone starts ringing.
“You should probably answer that! You can set me down and take the phone call.” Charlie tries to roll off my shoulder, and she’s lucky we’re so close to the couch, because it ends with me trying to get her there before she crashes on the floor. We end up in a heap on the couch, my phone still ringing loudly and both dogs barking.
I wrap my arms around her, wondering how I’m going to keep her here—where she can’t barricade herself in a room—while I answer the phone. A hand appears in front of my face, holding my phone. It’s Nash calling.
Charlie gives me a smug little smile as she wiggles the phone back and forth in her hand. “Why don’t you answer it?”
I glare at her and snatch the phone from her hand. I didn’t even notice her pull it from my pocket. We’re on the couch in a tangle of limbs, though, so it wouldn’t have been that hard to do. “Be quiet.” I’m not sure if I’m talking to her or the dogs.
“Hello?”
“Hey, you’re not going to like this call,” Nash says by way of greeting.
I glance down at a laughing Charlie, who has decided to make herself comfortable in my arms. She wiggles until she’s half-leaning against my chest. If someone were to walk in right now, it would look like we’re enjoying a nice evening snuggling on the couch.
“I already don’t.” Whatever Nash has to say isn’t going to go in my favor.
“Tell him—” I press a hand against Charlie’s mouth as she tries to yell something at Nash.
“What was that?” Nash asks.
“Oh, just the dogs barking.” I flinch when she bites my hand. I pull it away and check for blood.
She smiles sweetly up at me, like she didn’t just try to maim me.
“I’m sorry. I know you like your own space, but Grandpa really wants to come spend Christmas and New Year’s there, and Charlie said she could make that happen.”
I stare down at the menace in my arms. Share a house with her for over a month? Her smile only grows at the look of horror on my face. This is not how I saw my holidays going. I was going to have a peaceful end of November. I was going to enjoy my time feeding cows in December and the solitude that afforded me.
Now I’m going to be stuck babysitting. Besides, it’s not like she’s done anything besides sit in the house all day.
“Nash, I think you should make backup Christmas plans. I doubt she’ll get it done in time.”
Charlie sticks her tongue out at me.
When I have an almost irresistible urge to push it back in, I realize we’re doing an awful lot of touching for two strangers who just met last night. And I have the uncomfortable realization that I like it.
I release her and jump up from the couch, putting as much distance between us as I can in the living room.
“I hope she’ll be able to do it,” Nash replies. “I know I haven’t seen the damage myself, but Grandpa is really looking forward to Christmas and New Year’s there.”
Unfortunately, I know I can’t tell him no. Not when it comes to Nash’s grandpa. The guy who started this ranch. The one who almost died from some health complications earlier this year. Yup. It’s not exactly like I can say no to the man who escaped death and just wants a nice Christmas and New Year.
I sigh—or maybe moan. At this point, it’s the same thing. “We’ll figure something out. I’ll make sure she’s housed and can get to work on the lodge.”
I meet Charlie’s eyes when I turn around. She’s sitting on the couch with her legs tucked under her, and Larry and Jim are sitting on either side of her.
“No dogs on the couch.”
Jim and Larry jump to the floor, and Charlie slowly stands. “Do you want some bread with your soup?” she asks loudly.
“Did she make you dinner?” Nash asks.
He sounds amused. “I guess so,” I grind out as she smiles at me with that evil smirk.
“Oh, here I was, worrying about nothing. She’s really nice. You’ll get along just fine. I didn’t even realize she cooked. That’s really nice of her.”
“So. Very. Nice,” I say as Charlie places a hand under her chin with a fake smile. She skips into the kitchen—freaking skips—and picks up the spoon to stir the soup with exaggerated flair. She circles her hips in time with the spoon, and I realize I might have a whole other kind of trouble besides sharing my space with a stranger. “Any chance you’ll be coming up to help her with this project?”
Because I have some words to say to Nash’s face.
“Not with all the wedding prep.”
“Bull.”
He chuckles. “True. But I would rather not be gone from Magnolia for that long.”
“Wow, you’ve got it bad.” It hits me that I’m actually a little jealous of what they have. I’ve tried to find that happily ever after—and it’s an elusive beast.
“I did ask her to marry me, so that would imply I sort of like her.”
That gets a smile out of me. Nash is a good guy. And I know him sending someone here to fix up the lodge isn’t done out of spite toward me. It’s an unfortunate circumstance.
One where I’m stuck sharing the bunkhouse with a violent, wiry, dog-stealing, beautiful woman.