Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Drew recalled hearing that more than once growing up, when his quick temper got the better of him, and he ended up fighting with one of his brothers or a kid at school who was pestering him. Mike was the oldest, and Josh was the youngest, so they had it easy. Erin was the only girl, which made her the princess. As the middle son, Drew had learned early on that he had a simple choice: he could either live up to his big brother’s solid example or overcome it and be his own person.
He was still wrestling with that one, and he often wished Dad was still around to give him advice. Whether he’d follow it or not was up for debate, but he would’ve appreciated the input. Unfortunately, now it was too late.
Shrugging off his suddenly melancholy mood, he refocused on the conversation that had continued along quite nicely without him. Bekah’s delicate appearance had thrown him at first, but the spirit he saw glowing in her eyes had drawn him much closer than he normally would’ve gone after such an odd first meeting. The fading bruise on her cheek infuriated him, and he honestly hoped he never discovered who was responsible for it. It wouldn’t go well for the monster who’d struck her hard enough to leave such an ugly mark behind.
To his great relief, Sierra finally appeared satisfied and shook Bekah’s hand to seal their arrangement. “Let’s go find a pair of coveralls that fit you. You’re going to need them.”
Bekah wasn’t at all sure what to make of Drew Kinley.
Still dressed in the tank top and beat-up cargo shorts he was wearing when they met earlier that morning, he started working with her around seven o’clock and kept on going. He didn’t try to draw her into conversation but kept his comments to whatever task they were doing at the moment. He was pleasant and upbeat but didn’t go out of his way to make her talk to him.
Most people took her long silences as either rude or evidence that something was bothering her. It was nice to meet someone who understood her reserved nature and accepted it for what it was.
At one point, he fetched them each some bottled water. After a long swallow, he stopped long enough to call someone named Mike. “What can I say, big brother? They need a hand down here, and I’m sure you won’t miss fighting with me all that much.” After a pause, he chuckled. “Yeah, it’ll earn me some brownie points with Erin, too. Don’t think that didn’t occur to me. See ya later.”
He pocketed his phone and turned back to the straw he was pitching into several stalls set aside for larger animals. In the section he’d referred to as the nursery, three goats and a wide-eyed fawn watched him from their temporary quarters in a storage area with a Dutch door. They looked to be assessing his work, and despite the odd turn her day had taken, Bekah felt herself smiling at the image.
She hadn’t done much of that lately, she realized. There hadn’t been all that much to lift her spirits the past few months, and when she thought about it, meeting Drew was the highlight of her year. Pathetic, but true. He’d been so nice to her, she decided she should make more of an effort to be sociable. What better topic to start with than the woman he’d just mentioned wanting to impress?
“So,” Bekah commented in what she hoped came across as friendly interest. “Is Erin your girlfriend?”
He gave her the blankest look she’d ever seen in her life, then broke out laughing. “Not even close. She’s my little sister and the bane of my existence. If I can do something to get on her good side for a change, I will. So a little extra work is totally worth a few days of peace from her.”
Watching him banter back and forth with Sierra had made it plain they were nothing more than friends. For some reason, Bekah was ridiculously pleased to discover this incredibly charming man was unattached. Not that it should make any difference to her, she told herself sternly. She wouldn’t be in town long enough for it to matter whether he was single or not. She was just making conversation. “So, this place was your sister’s idea?”
“Yeah. It’s her pet project.”
He angled his head to glance over at her, and she saw humor twinkling in his eyes. When she got the joke, she groaned. “That’s a terrible pun.”
“Doesn’t mean it’s not true,” he assured her with a shameless grin. Spreading more straw, he asked, “So, what kind of job were you interviewing for over in Rockville?”
“The kind that pays.” Hearing the angry bite in her tone, Bekah winced. “Sorry, that was rude. There was some light factory work I thought I could manage. I’m sure they’ve filled the spot by now.”
“Where are you staying?”
In my car, she nearly blurted before realizing that was more than he needed to know. Beyond that, it made her sound pathetic, and she didn’t want him feeling sorry for her. As her feisty Grams used to say, she was down but not out. At least not yet. “I’m looking for a place that doesn’t break the bank. Do you have any recommendations?”
“I might. Depends on you, I guess.”
What a curious thing to say. In spite of herself, she had to admit he’d snagged her interest with that one. She stopped cleaning the water bottles that hung in the cages for smaller animals and looked over at him. “What do you mean?”
Resting his arms across the handle of his pitchfork, he explained. “You seem to like the animals here.”
“Definitely,” she answered with a nod. “To be deadly honest, I like animals better than people.”
“Yeah? Why’s that?”
“They don’t judge you or make you feel stupid when you mess things up.” One of the scruffy pygmy goats went up on his hind legs and rested his tiny front hoofs on the dividing wall. Reaching over, she scratched between his sprouting horns with a smile. “All they want is to be fed and have a safe place to sleep. Whoever gives them that is their hero, and they love you to pieces.”
Drew didn’t respond to that, and she glanced over to find him studying her with a somber expression. An angry glint appeared in his eyes again, and she recognized it from when he’d noticed the healing bruise on her cheek. It vanished as quickly as it had appeared, but his grim look stayed in place.
“Are you talking about these critters,” he asked gently, “or yourself?”
His perceptiveness was unnerving, to say the least, and she clamped her mouth shut to avoid stammering in shock. Once she regained some of her composure, she replied, “Let’s just say I can relate to where they’re coming from. I’ve been in some places that I have no intention of ever going back to.”
“Making a better life for yourself,” he added, eyes now twinkling with approval. “Good for you.”
“I hope so. Seeing as I don’t have much choice but to keep going forward.”
She wasn’t usually so honest with someone she barely knew, and she held her breath waiting for him to ask her to clarify what on earth she was talking about. Instead, he gave her an encouraging smile that warmed her all over.
“That’s a great way to look at it,” he said. “I think that’s a good strategy for all of us.”
Did he really? she wondered, or was he just being nice? As he got back to work in the stalls, she pondered their brief discussion in an attempt to sort through her conflicting feelings about him. She’d grown so accustomed to guys who said what they thought she wanted to hear, she was constantly on her guard around them. Because of that, she wasn’t sure how to read Drew’s wide-open, friendly personality.
Could it be that by some crazy stroke of fortune, she’d stumbled across a truly honest, straightforward man who said what he meant and meant what he said? Stranger things had happened, she supposed. She just couldn’t recall the last time they’d happened to her.
While