Chapter 4 #2
“It’s worked out, Molly.” He shakes his head. “You don’t owe me anything. My debt to the McAllisters has been hanging over my head for nearly a decade. I’m grateful for a chance to pay it off.”
“The work is physical,” I tell him as if that’s not obvious.
What I really want to do is ask exactly why he owes Teddy and my mother-in-law.
But that’s not my business. This man is not my friend or my ally.
Although he might not be the enemy I thought he was, I need to remember I’m also not the wounded bird he believed me to be. I can take care of myself.
I press my lips together and swallow. “If you have any limitations from your accident, we can—”
“I don’t,” he snaps, rolling his shoulders like he’s shrugging off some invisible weight.
“But you’re not going back to bull riding?”
“I already planned on retiring,” he says quickly. “Having the shit stomped out of me confirmed that decision.”
Chase Calhoun is a lot of things. He’s hotter than sin, a little bit mysterious, all confidence and swagger, and about as sexy as any man I’ve ever laid eyes on.
But he is not a good liar.
I don’t call him out on it. Not when he’s agreed to provide the help I desperately need.
“There’s a lot to be done in the next few weeks.
The timing of my injury couldn’t be worse.
” My gaze drops to the denim plastered against his powerful thighs.
He might look strong as an ox, but I noticed a slight hitch in his step yesterday after jogging to the end of the driveway.
People around town talked after his accident at the rodeo last fall.
The bull’s weight shattered his femur, and the rumor was he’d never walk without a limp, let alone get back on a horse again.
“Linda told me you and the kids are moving with her to Albuquerque.”
My stomach ties itself into a knot, and I smooth a hand over the leaves of a nearby plant, hoping the familiar gesture will work its usual magic and calm me. “That’s Linda’s plan. I have a different one.”
He raises an eyebrow. “Care to share?”
Cue the nerves dancing across my belly. It was one thing to commit to a new future with my friends surrounding me. It’s quite another to say the words out loud to a man who likely still doubts I’m capable of managing my own shit. But I made a promise to myself, and more importantly, to my children.
“I’m going to buy the farm.” My voice only shakes a little as I say the words.
Chase steps back like my statement reached out and slapped him across the face. My grandfather used the term “gobsmacked” when he was particularly shocked about something, and that sums up Chase’s expression perfectly.
“Are you sure? Do you have the money for it?”
No and no, I think in my head, but I nod and smile. “Yes, I’m sure, and no, I don’t have the money yet. But I will and…well, I will.”
He draws in a slow breath and focuses on the rows of raised planters as if it’s too hard to meet my gaze. “That’s going to come as a shock to Linda,” he says after a few moments.
“Yep.” My heart hammers against my ribs at the thought of my mother-in-law when she finds out. Her disappointment, anger, and maybe a sense of betrayal that I’m not following through on our arrangement. But I have to do this for my kids. And even more, for me.
“If you talk to her again, I’d appreciate if you don’t mention it. Albuquerque’s not that far, and we’ll visit or she can stay with us. This was their father’s home, and it’s ours now.” I clear my throat, then whisper, “I love it here.”
His mouth opens like he’s got something to say to that, but he snaps it shut again, then turns to gaze out the greenhouse’s west-facing windows. The farm butts up against the National Forest on that edge, the thick trees forming a natural border to the fields.
“It’s okay if you don’t believe in me,” I say, even though I’m a little hurt by his reaction.
Not that I have any right to be. Heck, I’m still working on believing in myself, mostly borrowing my friends’ confidence in the meantime.
“But if I’m going to do this, I need help. At least until I can dr—”
“Once more, I’m here for whatever you need.” He’s clearly frustrated that I didn’t take him at his word the first or second time. “Help with the kids and the flowers, plus acting as your damn chauffeur or—”
“Don’t sound too thrilled about it,” I mutter, surprised when his shoulders lower like my sarcasm amuses him.
“I’ve been staying with my sister, which is a bit of a drive.” He’s finally looking at me again, and the emotion swirling in those pale gray eyes makes my breath catch. “It would be easier if I were closer.”
The thought of him sleeping under the same roof sends a powerful zing through my chest that I absolutely cannot afford to feel. Not with him.
“I’m a single mom with two young kids.” As if he doesn’t know that already. “I don’t feel comfortable with you staying at the house.”
He nods. “Totally agree, but if you’re okay with me parking my trailer next to the barn…it’s where I live when I’m on the circuit. I don’t like hotels.”
“Oh.” A trailer. Not with me. My pulse settles a smidge. “That should be fine.”
“I’d also like to stable my horse in the barn.”
“Your horse?” I don’t mean to shudder but can’t quite stop it.
“Fancy.” He tilts his head. “Are you allergic or something?”
“Not exactly. I’m just not a fan of animals with giant teeth.”
There’s a beat of silence, then he chokes out a laugh. “She’s not a tiger, Molly.”
“I got bitten as a kid.”
“Did you provoke the horse?”
My fingers tighten on the scooter’s handlebars. “Do I look like the type of person who goes around provoking animals?” His grin widens in a way that feels almost wolfish. Talk about wild animals.
“For your information, I was minding my own business in my grandparents’ barn. The horse reached over the edge of the stall and tried to take a chunk out of my shoulder.” I rub my shoulder like it was yesterday.
“Fancy isn’t going to bite you.”
“Damn straight, because I’m not getting close enough for her to reach me.”
He laughs again. “You’re funny.”
“Being bitten by an animal isn’t funny.”
“The way you describe it is kind of funny.”
“You’re a dick,” I counter.
“Kind of a dick,” he agrees.
For some reason, that makes my lips twitch. I don’t want to be amused by this tall, handsome cowboy. I don’t want to be anything by him.
“Fine on keeping your horse here. Fair warning, the barn hasn’t been used for anything but storing tools and equipment in years.”
“I can take care of any repairs.”
“Like you took care of the sink,” I say, then force myself to add, “Thank you for that.”
“It was as much for my benefit as yours.” He gives me a slow wink that does funny things to my insides. “It’s been a few years since I attended a wet T-shirt contest. Best part of my morning, but I’m guessing that show is a one-and-done.”
My cheeks instantly color in response to his words. “You shouldn’t notice that, let alone talk about it.”
“I’m only human,” he offers like some sort of explanation.
The slow smile he gives me is like a match to a flame, and it’s my lady parts catching fire. Allowing Chase Calhoun into my life is a bad idea. The worst.
I shake my head to clear those thoughts. I need help if I’m going to buy the farm, and he’s my best option. “I need to get back to work.”
“What do you need from me?”
Everything, my body chants like a refrain. “Nothing right now,” I say. And do you hear how calm and unaffected I sound? Well done, Molly.
Another nod. “Then I’ll grab my stuff from my sister’s and move the trailer and Fancy here.”
I nod. “The school bus drops off around three-thirty. If you could come back after that, I’d like to talk to the twins about the arrangement before you get here.”
Laurel won’t mind, but Luke isn’t going to like it.
“Yep,” he agrees, and I have a feeling he knows exactly why I’m making that request. “I’ll be back later.” With a final nod, he turns and walks out of the greenhouse.
Alone again, I draw in a deep breath. The earthy, familiar smell of the greenhouse calms my nerves, but underneath it, there’s something new. The lingering scent of the man I just agreed to depend on for the next few weeks.
A man who makes me feel like I’m more than just a single mom juggling too many responsibilities.
Who looks at me like I’m a woman worth the kind of attention that has nothing to do with school pickups or grocery lists.
Chase Calhoun makes me want to upgrade my underwear situation, even though I’d bet my life he’s never going to see them.