CHAPTER 2
Walker
Ah, what the fuck? “Billie, I gotta go.”
“Who is that?” my sister asks, although it’s hard to hear her through the phone with the woman in front of me screaming her head off.
Even with her face red and contorted in anger, it’s easy to see she’s pretty.
I’ve seen pictures of her around the house, so I know who she is.
I just don’t know why the fuck she’s here.
“It’s the other Darling girl. I’ll call you back in a second.” I toss the phone toward the bed, not waiting for my sister to acknowledge me. She’s used to few words. She’d be more concerned if I actually tried to have a conversation with her.
I tighten my towel and hold out my free hand to the banshee in front of me. I’m not sure she’s all there right now. She’s screaming like the noise itself is all she knows to do. Like her brain has stopped working.
Approaching her carefully, I take a step forward. “Ma’am.”
She flails her arms at me. “Don’t you come near me. I’m trained in Krav Maga.”
I straighten. “What?”
The woman nods aggressively, the chestnut hair that frame her face bouncing with the movement. Then she puts her hands up in a fighting stance. Or at least what she might call a fighting stance.
“Yup. So go on, get out of here. We’ve got nothing but flowers on this farm. No money, no liquor. You got your warm shower, now get out of here.”
It hits me that this woman has no idea who I am. Interesting. Figured her sister would have warned her about me, considering how distrustful she’s been. Or maybe her mom.
The nosy people in this town can’t help but run their mouths, so she must not have stopped anywhere before arriving at the farm.
For what seems like the thousandth time today, I ask myself why I’m still here.
Why I stayed after Peter Darling died. It’s certainly not for the money.
The only reason I said yes to Peter in the first place was because of my sister, Billie, and my nephew, Quinn.
They deserve a place like this, a safe place to land.
Which is exactly what the farm was—until this woman walked in.
I really didn’t think she’d come back. The way everyone talked about Peter Darling’s youngest daughter, it seemed like she was addicted to the road.
“Stop casing the joint. There’s nothing here you want.
” The woman’s words draw me back to the present.
When I focus on her, I find her amber eyes trailing around the room.
With her attention not on me, I take the opportunity to study her.
Wearing a pair of jeans that mold to her curvy hips and small waist and a green ribbed sweater that dips down low, exposing perky breasts that would more than fill my hands, she makes it hard to focus on anything else.
Wild caramel waves almost hit her elbows as she continues the slow perusal of my space.
“Not much I want here, either,” she whispers to herself.
“Exactly. So why don’t you go on and get back to where you came from?
” The words slip out gruff. My voice is gravel—staring at this woman has my throat dry and my heart beating rapidly.
Every second I spend in her presence I find another thing attractive about her.
Long black lashes that flutter in surprise, a golden ring hanging from her neck, dipping between her breasts. Pouty lips that pop open in rage.
I don’t normally censor myself, but from the look on her face, I know I’ve fucked up. I was supposed to be easing her into the truth, letting her come to terms with the fact that this was no longer her room, before kicking her out.
Except a few seconds in the presence of a pretty girl already has me forgetting the plan.
Her eyes widen and then she’s back to screaming again.
Ah, hell.
“Tally!” A voice hollers from downstairs.
Thank fuck someone is here to talk some sense into her.
Footsteps thunder up the stairs and then Penny appears in the doorway, out of breath and holding her chest. “Tally—” Her head falls forward as she tries to catch her breath. “There’s a man staying in your room.”
Tally glares from me to her sister. My hand grips the towel tighter, and I realize just how naked I am in front of both of Peter Darling’s girls right now. Something I promised him would never happen.
“Why?” is all Tally grits out.
Penny shakes her hand, her head still hanging forward.
Unlike Tally, she’s got much darker hair that’s thick with blunt bangs across her forehead and braided to the side.
She’s much curvier than her sister, too; more in line with their mother’s shape.
True to her name, Penny’s eyes are copper and she’s got a spattering of freckles that cover her cheeks.
“Give me a minute. I thought Mom would be here to handle this, but when she walked into the bookstore just now, I knew this was going to end badly. Which is why I ran here straightaway.”
“You ran here from the bookstore?” Tally’s voice is filled with shock.
Penny raises her head, “No. From the driveway. But that’s as much running as I’ve done lately, so just—” She pauses and breathes deep. “This is Jesse Walker. Walker, this is Tallulah Darling, my sister.”
I nod. Already figured that out.
“You’re Walker?” She’s heard about me already. I can’t imagine any of it would have been good: talks in grunts, never smiles, refuses to make small talk, doesn’t date. That’s a quick list that I came up with on the fly; I’m sure people in town would find plenty more to add.
I grunt in agreement.
“Why is he here, and why did everyone in town tell me to say hello to him?” she asks Penny.
My scowl deepens. This fucking town.
“He’s helping Mom with the farm.” That’s one way to put it. “And he’s living here.”
Warily, Tally’s gaze falls back to me again.
“With Mom? Are you, like, dating her?” Her palms cover her flushed cheeks and then she peeks between them.
“Oh God, Mom is having an affair with a hot farmhand. This is what happens, isn’t it?
Younger guys find out about poor widows and hit on them and then suddenly we’re having to call this guy ‘Daddy’ and he brings his brothers around and they’re groping us under the Thanksgiving table while telling us we’re not really related. ”
“What the fuck?” Penny growls, taking the words right from my mouth.
“No. What sort of afterschool specials have you been watching on the ski slopes? Dad hired him last year to help with the soil. He was living in one of the cottages, but after Dad died—” Penny’s voice goes soft, and suddenly I feel like I’m interrupting a family moment.
I shouldn’t be here. Though I can’t exactly leave considering I’m still naked.
“After Dad died what?” Irritation coats Tally’s tone.
“I moved in here.” There, I said it. Kept it simple, and now they can go. “Now if you don’t mind—” I nod toward the door.
Tally doesn’t head that way, though. Instead, she steps closer to me, and the smell of something sweet has me almost leaning in. Fuck, she smells good. “Moved in here? As in into my bedroom or with my mother?”
“As in into this house. Gail—” The damn scent of her is fucking with my head. I can’t put together a proper sentence. And those eyes. Fuck, I could get lost in them. I shake my head and blow out a breath. “Your mother moved into the cottage I was staying in.”
“Why?” she practically yells. “Can one of you just tell me what’s going on?!”
Penny presses closer to Tally, placing a hand on her back. “Why don’t you sit down and I’ll fill you in.”
Tally nods, and they both look toward the bed.
No. Fuck no. I’ll be stuck in here all day.
“Could you have this conversation downstairs?” I ask.
Both women whip their heads in my direction, and finally it dawns on them that I’m naked. And still dripping wet.
My sister, Billie, had called just as I was getting out of the shower, and I never let her go to voicemail.
Tally had barged in while I was on the phone with her and my nephew, Quinn, who was telling me about the hockey league in Hope Harbor run by the former NHL player Eli Davis.
It’s the first time Quinn’s shown any excitement about moving here.
But now, with Tally back, there probably won’t be a job for Billie.
Which means there’s no chance she’ll move to the farm.
Before, I was able to pitch it as her getting me out of a jam.
My sister is incapable of saying no when someone needs help.
Now, however, she’ll see my plan as charity.
I’m proud of how she’s raising my nephew on her own, but I want to help.
It’s what family does. She won’t accept that, though.
Instead, she works herself to exhaustion providing for her and Quinn. And they both suffer.
Anger courses through me. No. Tally needs to go. The Darlings and I had an agreement, and I, for one, intend to hold their family to that promise. Whether they like it or not.