Chapter 6
KYRA
In the end, Kyra and Adam compromised on a darker shade of green for the barn, although she was allowed to keep her suggested chartreuse for the trim.
He continued calling the cattle by the names she chose, and although he made it sound sarcastic, she got the feeling it really did cheer him a bit.
As long as she could keep him in a good mood, he was downright pleasant to work with.
Between her regular duties and painting, Kyra was exhausted by the end of the day.
She was just cleaning up her work area when Adam found her.
“Here you are,” he said, like he’d been looking for her for a while, which she kind of doubted.
It was as if he always had to sound at least a little irritated or he wasn’t doing his job right. “I need to finish patching the roof.”
He pointed at the sky to the west, and she saw a wall of dark clouds coming their way. “How long do you think we have to fix it?” she asked. “How long will it take?”
“I don’t know, but it’s got to be done.”
“Didn’t think you were the procrastinating type,” she joked.
“Then you haven’t been paying attention.” He took her to get his tools and ladder, strapped it all to the back of a pickup truck, and drove right back to the barn she had just left.
Kyra scrunched up her nose at the sight of her unfinished paint job. She was hoping to have at least the first coat done today. She was still covered in paint and sweat, with messed-up hair and not a spot of makeup to speak of. “I look a mess,” she mumbled.
“You look perfect for roof fixing,” Adam said, although she hadn’t really been talking to him.
“Nix the last three words, and I’ll take that compliment,” she said, and he actually chuckled, which gave her a lighthearted feeling that completely reversed the insecurity she was feeling about her unkempt appearance.
The thing was, though he rarely wore the expression, Adam actually had a gorgeous smile.
He was a tall, muscular man, with wavy hair the color of dark chocolate and eyes the color of darker chocolate.
She helped him pull the ladder from the truck and set it up against the side of the barn.
Then she held it for him while he climbed up one-handed.
Carefully, she followed him up and joined him on the roof.
For about an hour, she assisted him, handing him shingles and tools, making sure nothing went tumbling off the roof.
Dark clouds drew closer and closer as they worked.
It was a wall of gray moving toward them.
“Looks like the weather’s going to be hairier than we expected,” Kyra said, holding a stack of shingles over her head to block the rain that had begun to fall.
Adam glanced over at the sky to the west and frowned when he saw lightning. “Bad news,” he muttered. “Let’s pack up.”
As they got their gear down the ladder, the rain went from a drizzle to a downpour.
They both looked like they had just stepped out of the shower.
Miserable and soaking wet, they stacked their gear and tools in the back of Adam’s truck and headed back toward the main house.
It wasn’t too far from the barn, but it was far enough, apparently, for the rain to have flooded over the dirt road back.
It wasn’t deep, but it was fast-moving and a muddy mess.
The fact that it had been raining quite a bit this season left the ground too unstable to drive over.
Adam and Kyra stood in front of his truck, testing the ground with their own weight in the hopes that they’d find a patch stable enough to be driven over without getting stuck. Eventually, they were forced to conclude that they were stranded.
“Should we head back to the barn to wait it out?” Kyra suggested.
Adam sighed in irritated defeat. “Let’s do that.”
Back at the barn, Kyra sat down on a small haystack while Adam grabbed the bucket of water that had been catching the leak from the roof. It was full now, and he emptied it outside the barn before replacing it. “I wish we’d finished the repair,” he said.
Kyra frowned. “Sorry. Did I talk too much?”
“I got far more done than I would have without you.” He crossed the barn and sat down beside her. “Don’t blame yourself. It’s not a big deal.”
By now, Kyra had gotten completely used to being in the barn.
Every morning, she worked for hours there, often without Adam, who had administrative things to take care of in the mornings.
It worked out well. Kyra took on most of the physical labor, while Adam did what he could without further injuring his arm.
Once she was good and trained, she could do the job like clockwork. It was fulfilling work, too, requiring physical labor that had her worn out by the end of the day. Not once did she struggle to sleep, that was for sure.
Kyra was so caught up in her thoughts that Adam noticed she was shivering before she did.
“Cold?” he asked. Before she could answer, he had risen from his place on the haystack to get two horse blankets from a folded pile of clean ones.
“This’ll work for now.” He tossed one to her and kept the other.
The thoughtfulness surprised Kyra, who was not used to her boss being warm and chivalrous.
He was usually so distant. She got the impression he scared most people.
It was just that Kyra didn’t usually let anyone intimidate her, so she had arrived with the confidence of someone who was usually successful in breaking through prickly personalities.
She clutched the blanket he’d thrown her while he started to strip off his wet shirt and T-shirt.
And that was when she became deeply sorry that the barn had such bright electric lights.
There was no chance her face wasn’t bright pink right now.
Since the day she first saw him, she’d thought him handsome, but now she knew, without a doubt, that he was built like a Greek god, too.
He hung his shirt over one of the stall doors and patted the horse there on the nose before returning to the haystack. Then he turned to Kyra and said, “Do you want to hang something of yours? You’ll be warmer if you’re dry.”
“Uh…” Kyra failed to answer as her eyes grew wider and wider the more she thought about it. Every piece of clothing, save her socks, seemed like a bad idea to remove. “I’m not sure that would be a good idea?”
“Why?” He narrowed his eyes at her. “Because I’m here?”
There was no right answer for that. Saying no would be an obvious lie, but saying yes would be an insult to his character. “Well, it’s just… I don’t mean…” She couldn’t seem to finish any of the sentences she started.
“It’s not part of your job description,” he said with a partial smile. “So not required, but it’ll keep you warmer while we wait. I promise not to watch.”
Somehow, his assurances did not make her feel better. “I’ll go into a stall to change.” She’d gotten friendly enough with the horses that she trusted them not to get nippy.
But Adam didn’t seem to want to allow it. “Let me. You don’t want to stand near manure to change, do you? I’ll go into the stall, and I promise not to come out again until you give me the all-clear.”
He went into the stall, and she wound up removing her shirt and overalls before hanging them next to his.
She then sat back on the haystack and wrapped herself in the blanket that was now the only garment she wore aside from her underwear.
It was strange how quickly and how much she trusted him.
But they had been in a number of situations he could have taken advantage of if he wanted to, and he hadn’t.
Something about him seemed so honorable.
She got the very real impression he would never compromise his own character, not for any reason.
After she told him she was ready, he came back out again with his own jeans in his hands, which he hung up next to the rest of the clothes.
The blanket was wrapped around his waist like a towel, while Kyra had hers clutched closed at her chest. She invited him to share the haystack with her, as there was nowhere more comfortable to sit in the barn.
They sat in awkward silence for a while, until Kyra felt obligated to break the silence. “So…” she began. “How many horses are yours?”
He glanced over at her, and she quickly looked away for no good reason. “Two,” he answered. “The other four belong to people in town who pay me to look after them.”
“Really?”
He nodded. “Plenty of people who appreciate horses don’t necessarily have the property to keep them. They’ll rent a stable on someone else’s property. I look after their horses for a monthly fee. Those two are mine.” He pointed to the two horses closest to them.
“I had no idea you could rent out stables,” she said. “Is that something you knew you wanted to do as a kid?” This question had become something of a new obsession for Kyra, as she felt that a person having no idea what they wanted to do with their life was weird.
Much to her surprise and delight, Adam shook his head.
“The only thing I knew I wanted to do as a kid was to get away from my father. I succeeded by joining the military. After that, I couldn’t bring myself to work in an office.
This seemed a viable alternative. Aside from the isolation, I don’t regret it. ”
Kyra stared down at where she clutched her blanket closed from the inside. She was feeling much warmer now that her skin had begun to dry. “That’s funny,” she said. “I didn’t think you were much of a people person.”
“I’m not asocial, just picky,” he admitted. “It takes me a while to warm up to people.” Then he turned to her and shrugged with a half-smile. “Trust issues, you know.”