Anna
It was so out of character for him that she was lost for words for a good five seconds. “Uh… we’re… we’re done here for the day,” she said. “We were trying to catch the light at a specific time of day.”
He arched an eyebrow. “The golden hour?”
“Yeah,” she said. The fact that he even knew the phrase surprised her. “How did you…”
“I read about it.” He answered her half-question with a shrug. “Yesterday.”
“Why?” The question came out of her mouth before she could stop it.
He shrugged. “I was trying to learn a little more about what you do, so I read up on the movie business.”
She could hardly believe her own ears. “That’s really cool of you,” she said.
“I didn’t do it for you,” he assured her, his grumpiness finally making an appearance again.
She couldn’t help laughing at him. “Well, I still think it’s cool of you to care about what I do. So, what are your plans for the day?” It only seemed right to show interest in him now that he had shown interest in her.
“After I feed the horses, I’m going to take a look at that leak on the barn roof. You know the one. Your caterers have been catching water in a bucket for weeks.”
“Oh, yeah!” It was true; there had been a leak in the roof of the old barn they were using for shade on their lunch breaks.
It hadn’t been a fast leak, so they’d just propped a bucket under it and emptied it every few hours when it rained.
Then, she realized something. “But you don’t even use that barn. Why bother?”
Charlie shrugged. “I might want to use it one day. I hope to get more livestock eventually. Anyway, I may as well fix it while y’all are using it. You don’t mind, do you? Your caterers weren’t using the bucket water to flavor the food or anything?”
Anna laughed, not because his joke was particularly funny, but because she was delighted he bothered to joke with her at all.
She was certainly seeing another side of him now.
“Hey, can I help you out with the roof?” she asked.
It was an impulsive offer, but she felt it was the right thing to do.
Even though they were going to pay him quite a bit, she couldn’t deny the inconvenience they’d caused him. It was the least she could do, really.
He glanced down at the shorts she was wearing. “You sure you’re dressed for it?”
She followed his gaze and lifted one foot to demonstrate. “I’m wearing closed-toe shoes. Should be fine. It’s just a little spot, right?”
“Hopefully.”
She followed him while he went to get his ladder and tools. Then she followed him onto the old barn roof. Once she poked her head over the roof, Charlie said, “Stop.”
She did stop. “What’s the problem?”
“This roof is worse off than I thought. I think it needs more repairs than just the one. I don’t want you walking across it.” They climbed back down the ladder, and Charlie put his tools in the barn to keep them out of any weather.
“What are you planning?”
“Going back into town to get more supplies.” He glanced up at the sky. “Still clear, but there’s no guarantee it’ll stay that way.”
“Can I come with you?” she asked. When he looked unsure, she added, “Since I’m pretty sure you’re doing this repair mostly for my benefit, I’d like to keep helping. I have the afternoon off, so… no big deal.”
Charlie thought a moment and then said, “Sure, why not? I’ll drop you by your hotel so you can get some longer pants.”
The drive to her hotel was far more pleasant than Anna would have guessed. The new Charlie was downright enjoyable to be around. Granted, he still wasn’t super chatty, but he answered questions without hemming and hawing and with more than two or three words most of the time.
After he dropped her off, Anna actually took some time deciding which pants to wear.
She wanted to grab some she didn’t care about, but then there was that part of her that wanted to make sure she looked her best. Why did she care?
It was only Charlie. But for some reason, the fact that it was Charlie only made her more particular about how she looked.
He picked her up a little over an hour later, and Anna hopped into his truck like she’d ridden in it her whole life.
Strange how comfortable she’d become around him just because he got one degree nicer.
She supposed it only went to show how badly she wanted to like him, and how difficult he’d made it until now.
Once on the roof, they had to pull up some old shingles in order to waterproof and replace them.
Anna helped as best she could, but after a while, she started to get the feeling he would have been better off without her assistance.
She was kind of hopeless, but he was being unreasonably patient with her.
Of course, she should have been able to predict that, having seen how patient he was with his horses.
But somehow, she hadn’t thought about how this attitude might translate to dealing with people.
As far as she could tell, if you pushed his boundaries, he clammed up and broke out the glare. But if you were struggling to learn something, he suddenly became infinitely patient and willing to teach.
“Don’t hold it like that,” he said with so much urgency that her hammer froze halfway to the nail.
“You’ll smash your whole hand. Here.” He reached over to demonstrate.
“Get it started a little. Then take your hand away to hit it harder.” He tapped the head of the nail with the hammer while he held it in place with one hand.
Then, when it stood on its own, he took his hand away and brought the hammer down hard.
The nail sank all the way down with one hit.
“Wow!” Anna said, her eyes wide. “What are you, some kind of professional carpenter?”
He chuckled and grabbed another nail from the jar. “Sort of. You have to wear a lot of hats on a ranch. A lot needs doing, and it’s not all animal-related.”
“I suppose you got good training as a kid, then,” she said. “Didn’t you say you grew up on this ranch?”
He nodded, looking pleased that she recalled that detail. “My dad taught me everything I know about pretty much everything.”
Anna tried another nail, and while she still wasn’t nearly as proficient as he was, she was certainly less likely to wind up in the emergency room with a smashed thumb.
Time flew, and before she realized it, Anna had spent almost the entire day with Charlie, and she didn’t want to punch him.
Not even a little bit. If anything, the hours she spent with him had been almost… pleasant.
She hammered in another nail and sat back, feeling satisfied with how much she had improved since her first attempt.
Then, she took in her surroundings, and all her satisfaction melted into real appreciation for the beauty of the place.
From where she sat, she could see the entire ranch laid out like a miniature 3D map in front of her. It was beautiful.
The land was lit by the setting sun, which created a warm, pinkish glow on everything.
The hills were rolling and gentle. Depending on the crop being grown, each field had its own shape and color.
It all looked like a painting more than real life.
Without thinking, she murmured, “This place is like a dream.”
Had she been paying attention, she would have seen the exact moment Charlie’s jaw dropped.
But she wasn’t. She was too focused on the beauty of the sunset, the way it washed over the landscape and made everything glow with an unreal kind of warmth.
By the time she did glance his way, his jaw was already on the floor—or the roof, rather.
“What?” she asked him.
Charlie quickly closed his mouth and shook his head. “I’m just surprised. No one’s ever appreciated the place like that. I definitely didn’t expect you to…” His voice trailed off as she wrinkled her nose at him.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked.
He let out a low chuckle. “Nothing. You just surprise me.”
She cocked her head and narrowed her eyes at him.
He clarified. “Not in a bad way. You’re just different from the kind of person I expected you to be. I misjudged you.”
Rather than offend her, his confession made her all the fonder of him. A person who could be completely honest, even when the truth didn’t necessarily make them look good, was a person with integrity. “Me too,” she admitted before she really thought about what she was doing. “I misjudged you also.”
Then, Charlie smiled. He’d smiled before, here and there, but it had always felt obligatory, polite.
This smile? This one was genuine, and his genuine smile made him look like a completely different person.
Where did those dimples come from? Did his eyes actually sparkle, or did it just look like a glimmer of light found its way into the world through them?
His smile was warm, and he looked as though he could burst into genuine laughter at any moment.
She’d honestly never seen him like this.
Had he smiled at her like this from the start, she would have formed an entirely different opinion of him.
It was impossible not to smile back. He’d cast some kind of spell on her for sure, and she could barely breathe, let alone speak.
While she fumbled around for the right words to say to him, he held out his hand. “Come with me. There’s something I want to show you.”
She took his hand, rough and calloused, though his grip was gentle, and he helped her down from the roof, taking her elbow at the bottom of the ladder to steady her when she hopped down from the last rung.
At this point, she would have gone anywhere with him.
Dangerous, that’s what he was. But he didn’t seem to be taking her off his property. “Where are we going?”
“Over there.” He pointed to a hill off in the distance. “It’s closer than it looks. Trust me. It’s a nice walk.”
She did trust him. And that was a problem. She trusted him far too much and followed him without question. After several minutes of walking, she noticed he hadn’t yet removed his hand from her elbow. And, much to her surprise, she found she didn’t want him to let go.