Chapter 14 #2
More laughter. “If you think you and Priya are a secret, you’re not. But no worries, we’re keeping it in the family. I don’t know why. Daisy’s dealt with her in the ER, and she admires the new doc.”
Interest cut through his irritation. Aaron’s wife—Dalisay to the rest of them, Daisy to Aaron—was a paramedic. He’d thought Brigit was the only one to cross paths with Priya. “Oh yeah?”
“Yep. Dr. Patel treats Daisy like a professional. When that other guy is on call, he’s always condescending.”
Was that the same guy whose name Priya practically growled? “Dr. B-something?”
“That’s the one. I guess the guy has a friend who works in the ER and convinced him to refer patients to him for follow-up.”
“So Priya gets fewer follow-up patients.”
“Daisy said there was a reason there was an OB opening. The last lady couldn’t take the bullshit and left.”
What was Priya going to do?
He didn’t have a chance to reply when Aaron broke in. “But I’m sure you’ve heard all about it. I’ll leave so you can help your girlfriend. She’s not getting anywhere fast.”
Aaron’s tractor started beeping as he backed out of the drive. Justin looked over his shoulder again. Priya was watching the other tractor. He could see where she’d shoveled, and Aaron was right. It’d take her an hour to get off the landing. She spotted him staring at her and waved.
He couldn’t help his smile as she went back to tackling the drift. She was shaving inches off the top, working her way down to the cement. She might not have the upper body strength to throw full shovel loads of wet snow, but she used that sharp mind of hers to tackle the problem.
But then her intellect was never the problem. His was being smart enough not to fall for her.
Justin hadn’t stopped to chat when he switched tractors. Now he was cruising around in a Bobcat and arranging piles of snow she thought were already out of the way. For a guy who left his pants on the floor wherever they landed, he was particular about the outside of the house.
The shop doors were open, and nothing was parked haphazardly. She couldn’t name all the equipment inside, but each one had its spot. The big green contraption Justin used for the bulk of the snow was parked outside for now, giving her a view into rancher Justin.
The barn was dirty. Dirt floor, straw, and manure, but beyond all that, the stalls were ordered. Gates didn’t hang off hinges and equipment didn’t litter the floor.
He took pride in his work. In his home? Not so much.
Her life was the opposite. During surgery, she had nurses and surgical techs who cleaned up after her.
Environmental staff wiped, dusted, and mopped.
After each appointment, the nurse or CNA readied each room.
She went to work and could leave a trail behind her that others were literally trained to clean up.
She didn’t, but she could. At home, she bordered on militant about every item having its spot.
Both areas of her life were all about order and cleanliness. Maybe what she needed was an outlet, one other than baking. It might need to be a hobby that satisfied her craving for order—or one that burned that need for order to cinders.
How she was going to make order out of this snow, she didn’t know, but she wanted to be productive.
When he’d come out to move snow, he’d seemed cranky—perhaps it was the magnitude of the storm in addition to all the normal work he struggled to attend to that had him in a mood.
If that wasn’t it… Was she annoying him?
So she’d folded, done dishes, and packed most of her items. She’d only wanted to help out.
With Justin’s tracks busting through the compact drifts, she could hack away at the looser areas around his footprints. Hack away with the muscles she didn’t have.
Sports hadn’t been her thing in school. She’d been buried in books, earning those As, and gathering volunteer hours at the clinic for the honor society. There’d been nothing about the sports life she missed until now.
Stuffing the shovel into the snowbank, she heaved upward. Too much. She yanked out the shovel and picked another spot that would pile less snow on. No wonder heart attacks were so prevalent after a person shoveled a driveway. She was weak as hell.
Sweat dotted her brow, frosting across the material of her hat.
Her arms burned, but exhilaration flooded through her.
Fresh air, hard work, and the short path she’d already cleared gave her a sense of accomplishment.
Lifting weights might have to replace her cleaning time as an outlet for stress relief.
She was breathing hard and sweat soaked through her shirt. They’d go into the wash immediately. She hadn’t turned over that big of a leaf.
Snow crunched behind her. So zoned into her work, she hadn’t noticed that Justin was done with the Bobcat. She stabbed the shovel into the pile she’d built up at the edge of the sidewalk and turned around.
How could the man be covered from head to toe and still have that sexy swagger? Breath puffed around him as he stalked toward her. “You don’t have to be out here.”
Had snow removal only made him more irritable? “I wanted to help, not sit around while you were doing all the work.”
He wiped snow crystals off his beard and let out a breath, his shoulders falling. “You made good progress. Let me know if you find a Leatherman. I lost one during our first snowfall. I keep reaching for it when I’m out here tinkering around, but I might have to wait for spring.”
She surveyed behind her. The clearing was barely two feet wide, but she’d made it down the stairs and another six feet. “I’ve been out here an hour. I don’t think my progress is that good.” But what little she’d done had pleased him. Much better than sitting on her ass, scrolling through channels.
“Be honest. Have you ever shoveled?”
“Um…” Her first inclination was to say no.
But, dang it, she’d been born and raised in Minnesota, how could she not have shoveled before?
So her dad cleared what he needed to before work and the snow removal person he hired had the job done before she and Devya left for school in the morning.
“I’m sure Devya and I played in the snow. With a shovel?”
He laughed, the sound getting carried away on the wind. “Are you asking or telling?” He came closer, his overalls whistling together. “You didn’t have to come out here. I was joking.”
It hadn’t felt like it. She cooked and she cleaned, and while he didn’t take her for granted, the competitive part of her had to prove that she could do more. He didn’t think she could clear snow, so she cleared some damn snow. Not much, but she’d done it.
She evaluated the path she’d cut. “I’m actually taking a liking to it.”
His brows rose to the bottom of his hat. “Dr. Patel is going to take a side gig?”
“No. Maybe a hobby of moving my body.” She smiled, and it came out flirtier than she’d intended. Had to be from the endorphins of her recent physical activity. “This got me thinking.”
“Moving snow gives you plenty of time to do that.”
“I don’t have anything but work.” She didn’t say that she had him. Because she didn’t. And if she did, that wouldn’t be healthy. A family being the center of her world was one thing, but not just a guy.
If there was one thing being friends with Maisy had made clear, it was that she needed to broaden her circle of friends.
Aside from Maisy’s darker personality traits, Maisy’s mess had been allowed to flourish because of a lack of social support.
Priya had been glued to Maisy’s side out of fear of being rejected by others.
Always teased for her intense study habits and her single-minded pursuit of her chosen career, she’d stayed friends with Maisy because it was safer.
They had each complemented the others’ insecurities.
She’d needed a friend who just let her be and didn’t push her outside of her comfort zone, and Maisy had needed to feel superior in some way.
Socially awkward and meek Priya had done that for her.
“What do you want to do?” he asked.
“Maybe join a gym, go to some classes.”
“More school?” He wasn’t asking as a criticism. A small detail, but an important one to her.
“No, nothing with homework. I’m over those years.” And she was. She’d gone to college and submersed herself in studying, and she’d even found a like-minded group that she was still in contact with. But they’d all moved on. Emmett certainly had. It was time for her to do so, too.
“I know what you mean.”
Despite the warmth his support infused her with, she shivered. She’d worked up a sweat and had quit moving.
He ushered her through the door, leaving the shovel sticking up in the snowbank. “Tell me more about going out as we go in.”
Crowding into the house, the heat of the mudroom washed over her, but she was still chilly. She stepped out of her boots. Her frigid toes sank into the rug, bits of snow they’d tracked in melting into her socks. Another shiver racked her body. Yeah, she needed better boots.
“You need to get out of that wet stuff.” He unzipped her coat even though he had to be roasting in his heavy coveralls.
The mix of fresh snowy air and exhaust from the tractor clung to him.
It shouldn’t be appealing, but it was. It shouldn’t be fueling the bloom of heat kindling inside of her belly, but it was.
“Ugh, I’m all sweaty. You don’t have—”
“None of that bothers me, not after I watched a little snow bunny muscle her way through drifts half her height.” He plucked the monitor off her collar and set it on the bench that ran along the wall.
Her chill was retreating against the heated look in his eye. “This snow bunny isn’t sure what to do about a big mountain man looking like he wants to devour her.”