What She Did Read online

  Chelsea must’ve tensed without realizing.

  “In case there are any small critters in there that need to get out first,” he clarified.

  She wasn’t sure she loved the sound of that, either, but it was a nice gesture. Being in the country would take some getting used to. “You must love animals.” Wasn’t his last name Kent?

  He nodded and smiled. Those gray eyes of his shouldn’t make her feel like her knees might buckle when he looked at her.

  He was just a man. Okay, that wasn’t entirely fair. He was more than a man. He was one seriously gorgeous cowboy with a familiar last name—why did she know it?

  “You could say taking care of animals is in my blood.”

  “Do you have any?” Skylar asked, perking up.

  “I live on a ranch where there are cattle, horses and pretty much every other wild thing you can find in Texas.” Normally a man of his size and build would be intimidating to a small child. His gentle nature with Skylar made it easy to see why her daughter took to him.

  Chelsea glanced at his ring finger and her heart gave a little flip when she didn’t see a gold band. Not that it mattered, she quickly reminded herself.

  Skylar’s face lit up as the cowboy spoke. She leaned away from her mother and unclenched her hands from around her mother’s neck. She rocked her body, indicating that she wanted to get down. Chelsea complied.

  Her daughter had never recovered from a traumatic event so fast. Chelsea’s head was spinning and she knew better than to look a gift horse in the mouth.

  “Do you have a pony?” Skylar asked.

  “We have three. Peter, Polka and Dot,” he supplied much to Skylar’s amusement. “Peter bites, so you have to watch out for him if you ever stop by.”

  “Can I come over now?” Skylar twisted her arms together and shifted from foot to foot.

  “No, honey. Mr. Kent is working and you should be at your first day of school. Remember?” Chelsea couldn’t help herself but to throw in that last part. Now that her own heart rate had settled below panic she was rethinking her position on keeping Sky home. If there was a chance she could get her daughter to school, even late, she probably should do it. Having even a few hours to focus would go a long way toward getting her restaurant ready for its opening in six weeks. Six weeks? Thinking about it made her lungs squeeze.

  “What school do you go to?” Nate asked, squatting until he was eye level with the child.

  Skylar looked up at her mother and blinked.

  “Clemens Preschool. Have you heard of it?” It was an early childhood development program and the best part was that tuition was next to nothing—precisely what Chelsea could afford while she got her business off the ground.

  “I know a few of the teachers over there. Mrs. Eaton—”

  Skylar jump-clapped, which was quite a sight, considering she’d never jumped and clapped at the same time before. “That’s my teacher’s name.” Skylar could barely contain her excitement.

  Shock nearly knocked Chelsea back a step. Skylar’s reaction had caught Chelsea off guard but then she’d never seen Skylar react to a man this way. Her little girl had never met her own father and there’d been no grandfather around to fill in the gap.

  Chelsea’s attempt to sign her daughter up for a coed soccer team had fallen flat when Skylar had refused to step on the pitch. In her daughter’s defense, the coach had had a supersonic voice that boomed. He was Dad to seven boisterous boys and coached middle school football. He was big, round and loud. Skylar had been terrified of him.

  “Your teacher brings in a special visitor every year around this time,” Nate said. “A male frog by the name of Henry.”

  “Really?” Skylar’s eyes were saucers. She was captivated. Her mother could admit to being enthralled by the handsome cowboy, too. The man most likely had a girlfriend or significant other. There was no way he was single and, even if he was, Chelsea had been there, done that, and the T-shirt had been stolen by her ex.

  “That’s right,” he said. Chelsea already knew from checking his ring finger earlier there was no band, which didn’t necessarily mean there was no relationship.

  Besides, once this cowboy was on his way, Chelsea planned to have a serious discussion with her daughter about the proper use of 9-1-1. Although, in fairness, the little girl had been trapped between the walls. Chelsea shivered thinking about how badly this could’ve gone if her daughter hadn’t taken the cell phone in with her.

  A cold trickle, like when people said a cat walked over their grave, crept over her. She’d been on edge for days and it was probably because of the way she’d left things at her job in Houston.

  Renaldo had made threats before telling her she’d regret walking out on him. He’d been outraged at the fact that she didn’t want to date him and her quitting had seemed to infuriate him more. She would’ve walked out after the first time he’d made a pass at her but she’d needed the job and would need a letter of recommendation if she quit. She’d been forced to keep the peace.

  Looking back she could see how naïve she’d been in believing his interest would blow over. She figured he’d lose interest and find another person to date. It wasn’t like many of the other waitresses didn’t see him as attractive. To Chelsea, he seemed like a spoiled middle-aged man used to getting what he wanted from people. There was absolutely nothing attractive about that to her.

  Renaldo had made no secret of being put off by her rebuttals.

  The man had an ego the size of Texas.

  But was it dangerous?

  Chapter Three

  Nate had picked up a sidekick while he worked. Skylar was a cute little thing with big, rust-colored eyes and a shy smile. He’d been around kids enough recently, thanks to his brothers and their wives, to be halfway decent as an uncle. A few of his brothers had found true happiness with wives and kids. Don’t misunderstand, Nate was all about the people he cared about being happy. And marriage was great for some people. He had no plans to rush into a commitment of that magnitude.

  When he and his former girlfriend, Mia Chase, had hit the six-month mark of dating, her software job moved to Boulder. She’d told him how much she cared about him and that she didn’t want the relationship to end. And that’s when the ultimatum came to take their relationship to the next level or end it.

  Nate had been honest. He hadn’t been ready right then, but that didn’t mean he would never be. He didn’t share the part about something holding him back. It didn’t matter. Mia had balked and it had become clear to him that she’d been expecting a different answer.

  A couple of weeks after she’d left, he’d learned the move had been optional. She’d tried to back him against the wall to get him to the altar. Her plan had backfired. To this day, he couldn’t understand why she’d done it, but he knew for certain that he’d dodged a bullet. There wasn’t much Nate despised more than a liar.

  Besides, six months was a long time to spend with the same person. He’d been bored for the last two, but hadn’t been able to bring himself to break up with her after she’d told him she was still dealing with the loss of her sister to lymphoma. That, he later found out, had also been a lie.

  He hammered the last of the nails and backed out of the crawl space. “That should take care of it.”

  Chelsea had ushered her daughter into the kitchen and now stood next to him. She’d changed into formfitting jeans, a blouse and ankle boots. Her hair was slicked back in a ponytail, her brown eyes intent on him. “How’d you do that with Skylar?”

  The little nugget, he knew, was in the kitchen, eating with her grandmother and happily chatting about how much fun her day at school was going to be.

  “It’s magic.” Nate’s work was done. It was time to take off. He put his hat back on and pulled down on the rim in front.

  Chelsea was beautiful. And, under different circumstances, she was exactly
the person he’d enjoy getting to know better. But family was sacred to him and he doubted a woman like Chelsea would be happy with what he could offer—a great time in the sack with mutual consent. Besides, the burn marks from his last relationship were fresh and he had no intention of jogging down that same snake-filled path any time soon.

  “We’re obviously new in town. Last night was our first night in a new house and this morning is not off to a good start,” Chelsea said on what seemed like a frustrated sigh.

  He already knew, thanks to Linda, she was single. He didn’t want to like that fact as much as he did.

  “Jacobstown is a great place to bring up a family. Small-town atmosphere. Nice folks,” he told her. He also felt the need to warn her about the heifers. “Until a recent crime spree involving heifers, I don’t think we knew what crime was.”

  Her eyes grew wide. “And now?”

  “We’ve had a threat to our livestock. A few animals have been butchered by a man who has been cutting off the hooves of animals. In fact, he just picked up a name, Jacobstown Hacker. You might hear folks mention him.” Nate didn’t want to go into more details than that but people were on edge and she deserved to know the truth about what was going on.

  Her face twisted in a mix of rebuke and sadness. “This sounds like one messed-up individual. Who on earth would get pleasure out of hurting innocent animals?”

  “A twisted jerk.” Nate couldn’t agree more. “Do you have a pet?”

  “I promised Skylar a puppy once we get settled,” she said on a sigh.

  “Might want to think about keeping it inside. There are coyotes to deal with in the country. Not to mention the Texas heat.”

  “Wouldn’t have it any other way.” Chelsea’s eyes sparked but she didn’t mention where she’d moved from.

  “Folks from the city are known to drive out to these parts to drop off unwanted dogs. Not sure if you had your heart set on a specific breed, but you can save money if you’re willing to care for anything that turns up.” Nate thought it was a shame people did that to animals. A domesticated dog, especially a puppy, didn’t have the survival skills necessary to outsmart a bobcat or a hungry pack of wolves. Get much farther out and wild boar roamed.

  “That’s awful.” Chelsea frowned and he had no business looking at her pink lips or the freckle on the left side of her mouth.

  “If you end up with more than you can handle, give my ranch a call. We have heated and air-conditioned barns for the horses with plenty of room to take care of strays.” Nate gave her his personal cell number, just in case.

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  Part of Nate wanted to volunteer that she call if she needed anything. But he knew better. Go down that rabbit hole and what?

  He had no idea. Chelsea seemed the opposite of Mia, but first impressions could be deceiving. He’d learned that the hard way, too.

  Still fresh from his breakup and betrayal, Nate knew better than to jump back into the dating saddle—no matter how much his heart seemed to have other ideas when it came to the town’s newest resident. Casual and consensual sex was another story altogether. He’d had plenty of that in the past few months since the breakup.

  Lately, his opinion of it was changing.

  * * *

  “HE WAS NICE.” Chelsea’s mother winked at her.

  “Don’t get any ideas,” Chelsea warned. She took her daughter’s hand, ignoring the disappointment rumbling around in her chest that the cowboy had left. She didn’t have time to mess around with an attraction. There was work to do and, for the first time in four years, she felt a twinge of excitement and a whole heap of nervous energy. But it was good.

  “You look...” Linda paused. “Happy.”

  “Aunt Maddie did us a huge favor with this house and the business. There’s enough money to get things off the ground. I know it’ll be work, but I’m up for it.” If she budgeted super tight, they should be okay. Her money was planned down to the penny. There wasn’t a whole lot of play, which worried her about her mother’s episode this morning. Chelsea hoped the health incident had been brought on by Linda missing her morning medication and not something more serious, such as her condition getting worse.

  And just because she’d become expert at handling curve balls didn’t mean she wouldn’t mind an occasional straight path. What she needed was a fast track to success. But she knew building a business took time.

  Shoot. That reminded her. She should’ve mentioned her business to the cowboy. He seemed like he knew everyone and it wouldn’t hurt to start getting word out about her new pizza place that would open in six weeks.

  Speaking of which, the delivery men would soon be at her restaurant site to install her fire pit and she needed to get a move on.

  Chelsea checked her cell, making sure no one had called. And a little part of her wished Nate Kent would have. There was another text from Renaldo, this time asking if he could come see her new house.

  Seriously?

  “Ready, Sky?”

  Her daughter’s eyes brightened as she nodded. “Can we get him?”

  “Oh, no, honey. The fireman has to work and be ready to help other people on a moment’s notice.” Skylar’s confused face stared up at Chelsea and her mother laughed. And then it dawned on Chelsea why. “You mean a puppy don’t you?” Sky had been asking for a male puppy after reading a popular book about a yellow lab together.

  “Uh-huh.” Skylar nodded. “What else?”

  Linda clucked her tongue and Chelsea refused to react. She wasn’t giving in and letting her mother know how embarrassed she was. The woman would have a field day. She might be ill but her mind was sharp—a little too quick-witted for Chelsea’s liking.

  “Let’s get you bundled up,” Chelsea said to Skylar. “It’s cold outside and the truck heater is taking another day off.”

  “Maybe you should take the day off, Momma.” Sky’s eyes were huge and they twinkled.

  “I have important work to do.” It felt good to say that. Even better to mean it.

  Renaldo did not get to win. Not as long as Chelsea could help it. If he made good on his promise, she’d never work in another five-star restaurant for the rest of her career.

  With the inheritance, she didn’t intend to need to.

  There was plenty to do and even more to worry about. But a light feeling filled her for the first time in longer than she could remember. Four years ago, she’d held her baby in her arms and wondered how on earth she’d be able to support her. Four years ago, she’d made a promise to that sleeping angel to figure out a way to come out on top. Four years ago, Chelsea had no idea the journey that was about to begin. She’d made it this far and, rather than focus on what she didn’t have, she’d decided to be grateful for what she did.

  Chelsea retrieved Skylar’s winter coat from the same closet that had been a source of trouble this morning. Hair prickled at the base of her neck. She tried to shake off the creepy-crawly feeling but failed. Maybe she’d have concrete poured into that crawl space to seal it off.

  “Ready, Sky?” Chelsea turned to find her daughter skipping toward her down the hall, a wide smile on her face. To be a kid again and able to bounce back from every setback in life so fast. Chelsea could learn a thing or two about not holding on to the past, she thought as she wrapped the coat around her daughter.

  “Can we go to the man’s house?” Skylar’s face lit up.

  Chelsea didn’t have it in her to dash the hope of her child, but she didn’t want to set false expectations, either.

  “Right now, we need to get you to school. We’ll figure out the rest later.” Those last six words had become her new mantra.

  School drop-off went smoothly and Chelsea figured she owed Nate Kent a pizza on the house at her grand opening considering he was probably the reason. Skylar had met her teacher with an eager smile and most likely t
he strong hope that Henry would be showing up.

  The delivery truck showed within minutes of Chelsea’s arrival at what would be her new restaurant. The place needed a major overhaul, and would get it in the coming weeks. The location on Main Street would be perfect and she didn’t mind some sweat equity if it meant she could have her own space again.

  There was enough room for a dozen four-top tables for guests wanting to dine in. A small construction crew would show up tomorrow to knock out one of the walls to the outside to create a half wall on one side so customers could dine outside with a full view to the inside.

  Three hours later, the oven was installed and Chelsea had cleaned out a corner in the back of the restaurant that would make a perfect office. She could have the same contractors put up Sheetrock, leaving space for a window so she could keep an eye on the kitchen.

  She had another forty-five minutes before she had to leave to pick up Skylar.

  Glancing around, she couldn’t help but smile. She was dirty from head to toe from cleaning up the construction zone. But this was progress.

  Chelsea picked up the broom. She had time to give the floor another sweep.

  How crazy was it that a day could start out like this one had and turn into one of the most gratifying?

  She finished sweeping, leaned the broom against the wall and then checked her phone. Another text from Renaldo had come in. If he thought she was going to answer any of these, he was eating fruit off the crazy tree. For a half second she thought about changing her number. It would be a hassle but it might be worth it.

  If he kept on, she would have no choice. For now, she decided not to add any fuel to the fire and see what happened.

  Lighter in step, she grabbed her purse and fished out her keys.

  It was still light outside at three twenty-five in the afternoon, but not for long. Another couple of hours and it’d be dark. Part of Chelsea hoped that Skylar would be so worn out by her first day that she’d be ready for an early dinner, a hot bath and bed.