LITMIR.BIZ

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shoulders sagged in relief. “Thank God,” she murmured, and started up the ladder again.

      Anxious to leave, Luke headed for the side of the house.

      “Hey!” she called, stopping him.

      He glanced back over his shoulder. “Yes, ma’am?”

      “You didn’t tell me your name.”

      “Luke. Luke Jordan.”

      She opened her mouth as if she intended to ask him something else, but clamped her lips together and stomped up the ladder to the roof.

      After his interview, Luke drove straight back to the Bar-T and knocked on the back door of the ranch house.

      “Door’s open!” Ry called.

      Dragging off his hat, Luke stepped inside. Ry sat at the table, reading the evening paper. Kayla, Ry’s wife, stood before the stove, stirring something in a pot. The aroma drifting from it made his mouth water.

      She glanced over her shoulder and offered him a bright smile. “Hi, Luke. How’re you doing?”

      That she could look at him without wincing never ceased to amaze Luke. Never once had she shown any sign of disgust. Not even prior to the surgeries Ry had performed to repair the burns to his face and hands had she ever appeared repulsed by his scarring.

      He offered her a smile in return. “Fine, ma’am.” He turned his attention to Ry. “I got the job. Start tomorrow.”

      Ry set the newspaper aside. “Any problems?”

      Luke shook his head. “Gave me the third degree but seemed satisfied with my answers. The older woman grilled me pretty hard, too.”

      “That would be Rhena,” Ry explained. “She’s worked for Lauren’s family for years. If what we heard is correct, she was more of a mother to Lauren than an employee.”

      Luke knew nothing about Lauren or her family, so remained silent.

      “How was she?” Ry asked. “Did she appear upset or worried about anything?”

      Luke considered Ry’s question for a moment, then shook his head. “She seemed all right to me. She was working on the roof above the back porch when I got there. Came down off the ladder to talk to me, then went right back up when we were done.”

      “How did the place look?” Ry asked curiously.

      “I could tell that some repairs have been made. Electrical wiring’s been replaced. Looked like a plumber’s been there, as the ground around the septic system appeared freshly turned. But there’s a lot more to be done.”

      Kayla bit back a smile as she joined Ry at the table. “You missed your calling, Luke. You should have been a detective.”

      He snorted a laugh. “I hardly think noticing a few new wires and freshly turned dirt qualifies me as a detective.”

      “I wouldn’t have noticed those things,” she replied, then glanced at her husband. “Would you, Ry?”

      He shook his head. “Can’t say that I would.” He winked at Luke. “But since Luke did, that proves we chose the right man for the job.”

      Luke shuffled his feet a moment, curious to know about the Tanner brothers’ relationship with their cousin but reluctant to ask. “I’m not trying to get in your business, Ry, but would you mind telling me why you want me to keep an eye on the woman?”

      “I told you. She’s our cousin, and we’re worried about her.”

      “Yeah, but it seems it would be a heck of a lot easier for you or one of the others to just drop in on her every now and again and check on her.”

      “You’re right,” Ry agreed. “It would. Unfortunately, our father, Buck, made that impossible.” He lifted his hands in a helpless gesture. “You know how Buck was, Luke. He alienated more people than most folks meet in a lifetime. He treated family even worse. After Randall, Lauren’s father, refused to sell him the lodge, Buck disowned him. Cut him out of his life as if he never existed, and never spoke to him again. That was over twenty-five years ago.” He shook his head sadly. “I don’t know how much Randall told Lauren about his relationship with his brother, but whatever it was must have shed a bad light on us all, because she doesn’t want anything to do with any of us.

      “When we heard she was moving here,” he continued, “Ace called her up, offered her our help. She turned him down flat. Said she didn’t need any help from the Tanners. Rory tried again, shortly after she arrived in town. He dropped by the lodge to see her and he said it was like talking to a brick wall.”

      Though Luke knew what Ry said was probably true, it didn’t ease his reluctance in spying on the woman. “I don’t feel right doing this. Seems underhanded somehow.”

      Ry nodded. “I can understand why you might feel that way. But we’re not asking you to do anything illegal. All we want is for you to make sure she’s safe, that she doesn’t want for anything.”

      Luke thought about that for a moment, then nodded. “Fair enough.” He snugged on his hat and headed for the back door. He stopped in the doorway and glanced back. “I better warn you, though. I have a feelin’ if she finds out I’m spyin’ on her for y’all, she’s gonna be madder than a wet hen.”

      Two

      Lauren was surprised the next day when Luke arrived at seven sharp. She’d have bet the farm that he wouldn’t show up at all…and had secretly hoped he wouldn’t.

      It bugged her that he’d applied for the job two days after their chance meeting on the road. Rhena kept insisting the two events were nothing but a coincidence. Since Lauren hadn’t told Luke her name, revealed her address or said anything about needing to hire a handyman, she had to believe Rhena was right.

      But it still bugged her.

      She frowned as she watched him climb down from his truck. It bugged her, too, that he wore his hat low over his brow, kept his gloves on all the time and buttoned his shirt up to his chin. Rhena had said his manner of dress was probably a precaution against skin cancer. Lauren thought it was more likely that he was an escaped convict who feared detection. That made more sense, considering the way her luck with men was running lately.

      When he headed for the front door, obviously not having seen her, she shouted, “Over here!”

      He stopped and glanced her way, then strode for the side yard. “Mornin’, ma’am.”

      She flapped an impatient hand at his old-fashioned manners. “Whatever.” She gestured to the lumber stacked at the side of the house. “We need to move this around to the back porch. We’ll be working there today.”

      Without a word, he hefted a large stack of boards to his shoulder and carried it to the rear of the house.

      Lauren picked up a sack of nails and followed. “Some of the flooring on the porch needs to be replaced. There’s a leak on the roof and the boards below have rotted.”

      He set the lumber down near the sawhorses she had set out, then straightened and peered up at the roof. “Wouldn’t it make more sense to fix the roof first? If it rains, the floor’ll just get wet again.”

      “Which is why you’re going up on the roof and repairing the leak, while I replace the boards on the porch.”

      What she could see of his face turned a bright red. “I’ll get right on it,” he said, and started for the ladder.

      Lauren felt a stab of remorse for her rudeness, but dispelled it by reminding herself that she was the boss. It was important that she establish the lines of authority early on. If she didn’t, he might try to take advantage of the fact that she was a woman.

      Grabbing a crowbar, she set to work, prying up the rotted boards and tossing them into a pile to discard

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