how long I’ll be in town, but I can cover the open hours at the clinic until you find someone else for the job.”
“Fabulous.” Sierra named an hourly rate a few cents above minimum wage, punctuating that with an apologetic shrug. “I know it’s not much, but that’s honestly the best I can do. The good news is rooms in town aren’t expensive, so you should be able to find a place to stay.”
Once her car was fixed, anyway, Bekah thought grimly. Shaking off the pessimism that had become an ugly habit for her, she decided to start focusing on the good instead of the bad. “I’ll take it. And thank you for giving me a chance. I’m sure I’m not your first choice.”
“Honey, you’re my only choice,” her new boss confided, wrapping an arm around her shoulders in a quick hug. “If we both put our minds to it, we’ll figure out a way to make it work.”
“I’m good at that.”
That comment got her a long, appraising look from the upbeat woman who’d just unwittingly saved Bekah from an uncertain future. “That doesn’t surprise me in the least.”
They chatted pleasantly the rest of the way and stopped at the foot of the back porch steps. The door was open, and through the wood-framed screen Bekah heard what sounded like an army talking, laughing and generally making a ruckus. Over it all, she barely heard a woman’s voice shout, “Lunch is ready!”
Sierra climbed up to the porch, but Bekah’s feet refused to move even an inch. “Sierra?” When she turned back, Bekah asked, “How many people are in there?”
“Oh, usually ten or fifteen, depending. There’s no school today, so there might be some kids, too. Why?”
Bekah didn’t want to seem ungrateful, but the thought of facing so many strangers just about paralyzed her. While she was trying to come up with a polite way to decline, she heard footsteps approaching from behind her.
“Hello, ladies,” Drew’s mellow voice drawled. “Glad you could make it.”
Turning to face him, she felt an unfamiliar hitch in her stomach. His hair was damp, and he’d changed from his running clothes into jeans and a pale green T-shirt that made his eyes glitter like emeralds. A full head taller than her, he had the solid look of someone who’d worked outside his entire life. As he approached her, she was vaguely aware of Sierra continuing up the steps, effectively leaving her alone with the best-looking man she’d ever met.
Why hadn’t she noticed that before? she asked herself. Oh, right, between Rosie and her whirlwind morning at the clinic, she’d been too busy to do much more than glance at him. Now that she had a chance for a better look, it was pathetically obvious she’d missed a few details that morning. Quite a few.
When she realized he was waiting for her to say something, she felt her cheeks warming with embarrassment. She hadn’t paid much attention to the niceties lately, and apparently her social skills had withered a bit. Hoping to cover her slip with a bright smile, she said, “Thanks for the invitation. I didn’t have breakfast this morning, so I’m famished.”
“Then we better get you inside before you drop,” he teased, going ahead to open the door for her. When she didn’t follow, he nudged her. “After you.”
Coming from him, the old-fashioned gesture caught her by surprise. Mr. Jennings had behaved that way toward her, but he was old enough to be her grandfather, and she’d assumed that was the explanation for his gallant treatment of her. Apparently, it was a Southern thing, she mused with a slight grin. Definitely something a girl could get used to.
So with Drew standing solidly behind her, she waded into the most chaotic scene she’d ever experienced outside of an after-Christmas sale. A quick glance around showed her that Sierra hadn’t been exaggerating about the number of people. She saw everyone from dusty farmhands to an adorable blond girl sitting at the table with a slender woman, coloring pictures in a book as if there wasn’t a storm of activity swirling around them.
An older woman was mixing a salad on the huge prep island, and she looked up when the screen door slapped closed. Instantly, she put on a huge smile and wiped her hands on a towel as she came around to greet them.
“You must be Bekah,” she said warmly, shaking her hand and beaming as if she’d just come across a long-lost daughter. “Drew called to tell me you might be coming in for lunch. I’m Maggie Kinley, and on a good day I’m in charge around here. Today I’m not so sure.”
Dredging up her rusty manners, Bekah did her best to smile back. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Mom’s the ringleader of this little circus,” Drew explained with a chuckle. Pointing to a tall man at the head of the table, he said, “That’s my big brother Mike, baby brother Josh...”
“Who wishes you’d quit calling him that,” a slightly slimmer version of the older two protested. “I’m twenty-five, y’know.”
“Whatever.”
Josh growled, and Drew grinned back, clearly not concerned in the least. He went on to introduce the little girl as his niece, Abby, and the lovely woman beside her as Mike’s wife, Lily.
After that, the names and faces blurred together in a mishmash of strangers Bekah was fairly certain she’d never be able to keep straight. But she doggedly smiled and nodded at each one, trying to look more confident than she felt. “It’s nice to meet you all.”
“You look dead on your feet, honey,” Maggie clucked, patting the end of one of the long benches flanking the table. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“I got it, Mom,” Drew answered, opening the fridge to take out a humongous pitcher. “What would you say to some lemonade, Bekah?”
In reply, she held out an empty glass, and he laughed. “Yes, ma’am.”
While he filled it and added ice, it struck her that she’d actually done something he thought was funny. After spending months skulking from one town to the next, doing everything in her power to keep from drawing attention to herself, she was pleased to discover she hadn’t completely lost her sense of humor.
This bright, comfortable feeling might not last, she acknowledged, but for now it felt good. And that was enough for her.
* * *
In a stroke of rare genius, Drew took the end seat, leaving Bekah next to his bubbly sister-in-law. They talked easily enough, and his worry about her ebbed a bit. As a kindergarten teacher, Lily was used to dealing with all kinds of personalities in her students, and she was as accepting a person as he’d ever met. She’d have to be, he mused with a wry grin. Mike was a good guy, but he wasn’t exactly Mr. Congeniality.
“So, Drew, are we gonna see you here on the farm sometime today?” the ogre in question asked from the other end of the table.
Drew recognized that he’d been pushing it all morning, even though he believed he’d been doing something more important than whatever Mike had planned for him. But he didn’t want to start one of their notorious arguments in front of their skittish guest, so he brushed away his annoyance. “I got a few more things to finish at the clinic, but they can wait till tomorrow. So I’m all yours.”
“We’re almost done with the hay,” Josh informed him around a mouthful of salad. “Then we’ll be out fixing the line of fencing those crazy ponies took down during yesterday’s thunderstorm.”
“We should replace that wire with board fences,” Drew commented to no one in particular.
“If we could afford it, we would,” Mike reminded him with a scowl. “Since we can’t, we can’t.”
Bold, blatant logic, and an everyday fact of life at Gallimore Stables. Someday, Drew hoped they could manage the farm the right way, instead of barely holding things together with their bare hands.
When Dad had been alive and training racehorses, they’d never worried about money or how they