Chapter 6
RIVER
The sound of what appeared to be a chair scraping against concrete had River pulling out from beneath the riding mower she’d lifted from the ground. She sat up, her forearms resting on her knees as she peered up at Emerson.
He had a wicked grin on his face, and she knew the next words out of his mouth were going to get to her. River was never one to be backed into a corner. She wasn’t going to let even her new friend hold the power over the conversation, no matter how intrigued she might be.
So she sat quietly while they stared each other down.
Emerson pulled his Stetson from his head and raked a hand through his hair before returning the hat. “So…”
“So,” she repeated without the drawl.
“Seems like you had yourself some fun yesterday.”
Her brows pinched. Yesterday. The only thing of note that had happened was that Mathew had stopped by and gotten into an argument with his father.
She could empathize with the man. He needed the reassurance that his father was taking care of his mother.
And who wouldn’t swoon when overhearing something like that?
For Pete’s sake!
She wasn’t supposed to find him attractive. She was a free spirit. One day she’d pick up and leave again. As soon as she had the money, she’d go travel somewhere else and meet new interesting people. That’s what she usually did.
“The doctor was here.” Emerson, having clearly lost his patience, pointed out.
“Yes, he was. His dad wanted help with the fields.” She attempted to appear nonchalant about the whole thing, but it was hard when Emerson was offering her nothing but a knowing smirk. Her eyes narrowed. “And this has something to do with me because…”
Emerson shrugged. “Word on the street is that the two of you were seen canoodling.”
“Canoodling? How old are you? Seventy?”
He threw his head back and laughed. “Hardly. Zinnia saw the two of you chatting. Then you moved to leave and the doctor…” He rolled his lower lip between his teeth suggestively. “Let’s say he prevented you from going. So, are you going to tell me what happened? Are you two an item?”
River rolled her eyes, but it did nothing to fight the tension coiling in her lower belly. That moment had taken her off guard. Feeling his hands on her had done something to alter her brain chemistry, and she still couldn’t shake it. She ducked back beneath the mower. “He saved me from a rake.”
Emerson laughed again. “You expect me to believe that?”
“Believe what you will, Emerson. I don’t have anything to explain to you or anyone. Nothing is happening between us.”
“Is that why he asked Rose where he could build a chicken coop for you?”
She couldn’t help it. Her head snapped up, but some part of her brain forgot she was under a piece of equipment and her forehead collided with something sharp. River muttered at herself for being careless and brought her fingertips to the spot. Then she groaned upon seeing the blood.
“You okay?”
When she didn’t respond, he moved, crouching down at her side. Then, without warning, he grabbed her cheek and turned her face towards his.
Emerson sucked in a breath and his fingers hovered over the gash that was just above her eyebrow. “You need to let the doctor take care of that.”
“Absolutely not.”
Her friend gave her a flat look. “I don’t care that you have a crush on him. Rose doesn’t either. In fact, I think she’s been wanting this to happen.”
“There is no this!” River snapped, her fingers grazing the cut.
“You’re gonna need a butterfly bandage at the very least. And either you go see him or I bring him here.”
River gripped his wrist. “Don’t you dare.”
The look he gave her made it perfectly clear that he wasn’t making an idle threat.
So, with an exasperated sigh, she got to her feet. Out of nowhere, Emerson produced a rag.
“Press it to the wound.”
She scowled at him. This was his fault. If he hadn’t been getting in her head, she wouldn’t have yet another injury that the good-looking doctor had to fix up.
Emerson had been right. River found Mathew setting up a workstation around the side of the house near the stairs that led to the apartment above the garage. There were pieces of plywood, planks of two-by-fours, chicken wire, and an assortment of tools.
Mathew was distracted by what appeared to be some schematics or blueprints for the coop when he glanced up at her.
Immediately, his expression went from happy to see her to concerned, then to irritated. “What happened?” he demanded in that assertive tone that made her weak in the knees.
She tried to laugh him off. “It’s nothing. Just need a Band-Aid. Or maybe a butterfly closure?”
His eyebrows lowered, and he reached for the rag she had pressed to her head. When he pulled it off, there was no reaction. He worked in the ER, so of course he wouldn’t flinch at the sight of blood. “Your stitches in your hand aren’t even healed yet. Are you a magnet for trouble?”
River lifted a shoulder. “Apparently only when there’s a hot doctor at my beck and call.”
The way his scorching gaze landed on her made her whole body warm. Why did she just say that? She could feel the flush rising to her face. That couldn’t be good, right? She needed the blood away from the wound.
Looking away, she pulled her lower lip between her teeth and chewed on it before she said something else she might regret.
“You have three options. Stitches…”
“Stitches? Again?” she bit out. “You can’t be serious.”
“Are you going to let me finish? This one isn’t too bad. You probably would only need one, so I wouldn’t recommend it, but I hear scars can be sexy.”
She snorted out a laugh and was surprised when she caught sight of his smile.
“We can also try this bandage called steri-strips, or surgical glue. Any of those options should suffice. However, I’d have to run home for the glue.” Mathew pressed the rag to her head again, his touch as gentle as ever.
“Bandage it is,” she said softly.
“You okay if it doesn’t have horses on it?”
She let out another laugh. “I think I’ll survive this time.”
“Keep this pressed to the site. I’ll be right back.
” Mathew made quick work of cleaning her up and placing the bandage.
When he heard the mower had been at fault for the second time, he insisted that it would be a better investment to replace the piece of machinery since that would be more cost-effective than multiple ER visits.
He probably wasn’t wrong.
River had to bite her tongue to prevent herself from blaming him for this most recent injury, seeing as his arrival to build a chicken coop of all things had caught her off guard. But she wasn’t about to tell him that. Something told her that he’d take it the wrong way.
When she was all bandaged up and seated in the grass watching him work on said coop, she tilted her head and scrunched up her face. She wouldn’t have even realized she’d done it if Mathew hadn’t stopped mid-sawing and stared at her.
“What’s that look for?” he asked.
Immediately, she smoothed her expression. “What look?”
He sighed and shook his head. “Never mind.”
She looked down at her feet so he couldn’t see her expression as good.
If he’d pushed the issue, she would have asked him why he was going through the trouble of building the coop when she couldn’t guarantee she’d be sticking around.
But that was a whole other issue, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer.
Instead, she said, “Play a game with me.”
A smile tugged at his lips. “What kind of game?”
“Rapid Fire Truth or Dare minus the dare.”
“That sounds like twenty questions.”
River snickered. “Gonna play with me or not?”
His eyes lingered on her, making her squirm. Then he dipped his chin. “Go ahead.”
She shifted so she sat cross-legged on the grass and leaned forward. “There are only two rules. We take turns.”
He nodded again.
“And if you refuse to answer one, then you have to answer two with no option to pass. You only get one veto.” She could have sworn she saw the smile return, but when she blinked, it was gone.
“Okay, shoot,” Mathew prompted.
“Favorite animal.”
“Stuffed,” he said.
Her mouth fell open. “What?”
Mathew smirked but didn’t meet her eyes. “Favorite food.”
“Hold up, what do you mean stuffed? Like taxidermy?”
He shook his head. “You’re not playing by the rules. Your turn. Favorite food.”
River huffed, eyeing him. That answer had been unexpected, but he was right. “Ketchup chips.”
He paused what he was doing and stared at her. She could tell he wanted to ask her about them. They didn’t sell the snacks in the States. The first time she visited Canada, she’d fallen in love with them.
River waited for him to demand an explanation, but once again, he shook his head with a smirk, indicating he expected her to ask her next question. “Favorite vacation spot.”
“Don’t know.”
“Now that’s ridiculous. You’ve been on vacation.”
Mathew shook his head. “Nope.”
“Not even as a kid?”
They were breaking the rules, but this time he didn’t seem to notice. His eyes had shifted past her, and she turned around to see him watching his father. “Nope, not even as a kid.”
“Well, that’s depressing. Why not?”
His eyes drifted to her, then snapped back to his father when they both heard the man yelp and grunt. “I’ll be right back.”
She watched him go, only getting snippets of the conversation this time. Something about his father not being as young as he used to be and needing to take care of himself so he could continue to take care of his mother.
Mathew’s father maintained his argument from the other day. He didn’t need rest. He was fully capable of doing the work, and he didn’t need his son butting into his business.
By the time Mathew returned, he was clearly agitated. She wanted the smiling, more charismatic doctor she’d caught glimpses of. The guy who randomly showed up to build a chicken coop after one off-handed comment.
The guy needed a break. It was clear he was very much his father’s son, solely by the fact that he threw himself into this project. The guy never sat still for even a moment. Was this what he was like at work?
River continued to watch him until a plan formed. She’d get Mathew to ease up, if only a little. She’d show him that life was too short not to enjoy it.