Page 5 of Let Me Be the One
But no more.
She’d taken a good hard look at her life, at what she wanted, and decided to use the inheritance as the start of a new beginning.
“You don’t remember me, do you?”
The question, along with the growled way he asked it, had Callie looking at him more closely. “Should I?” Surely she’d never met him. If she had, no way would she have forgotten.
His short laugh wasn’t nice. “No, no reason at all.” Abruptly shifting topics, he asked, “Why are you on my land?”
“Your land?” She glanced around at the well-maintained property. Okay, so maybe she’d wandered farther through the woods than she’d realized. “I thought this was my uncle’s property.”
“He owns exactly ten acres, some of it wooded.”
By the second, he grew less friendly, not that he’d actually been friendly at any point. Looking for an ally, she again knelt to pet the dog. “I didn’t trespass on purpose. I’m unfamiliar with the setting. I just know Uncle Reggie had some property.” Trying to ease the tension, Callie glanced up at him. His sharp gaze was so watchful, she wondered if she should have run off with Glory. “I inherited from him.”
“Good for you. So why are you here?”
Definitely antagonistic and she’d about had enough. Standing once more, she smiled at him. “Mr…?”
“Tanner.”
“Mr. Tanner—”
“Just Tanner.”
She was annoyed enough to quip, “Your name is Just?”
With a roll of his eyes, he said, “Tanner Patrick. No one calls me mister.”
“Mr.Patrick,” she replied with scrupulously polite emphasis. “Please forgive me for daring to step onto your land. I just moved in today, but henceforth, I’ll refrain from exploring until I have property lines marked.” Giving one last pat to the dog, she turned away, all hyped up for a grand exit. “I’ll return to myownproperty immediately.” Now if she could figure out how to do that without venturing into the dark, spooky woods again…
In a tone only slightly moderated, he asked, “What do you mean, you moved in?”
Since he sounded more reasonable she glanced over her shoulder. Beneath the edge of her ripped blouse, she saw a deep scratch—and now that she saw it, it burned. Later, she’d worry about injuries. For now, she had to reply to Mr. Nasty. “I’ll be staying here.”
In one long stride, he brought all that bristling animosity and animal magnetism closer. “For how long?”
“I haven’t yet decided.” In truth, she thought to rehab the place and then sell it. It was the project she needed to occupy her time while she came up with a more suitable plan. But that was her secret, and she wasn’t sharing with anyone—especially not a neighbor who kept glaring at her.
“No.”
Both of her eyebrows shot up as she gave a short, incredulous laugh. “I’m sorry, Mr. Tanner, but it’s not your decision.”
“I’ve been feeding the chickens. The goats. And the horse is in my pasture.”
Chickens? Ha. At least they hadn’t been rats, asGlory had assumed. But goats? A horse? “Are you saying Uncle Reggie had…livestock?” She wasnota farmer. She would neverbea farmer.
“How did you get in the house without seeing the chickens?”
She hadn’t been in the house yet. With nests and webs around the porch and far too many dead bugs lying around, it had looked intimidating. She’d opted for exploring the yard first, which had led her…here. “I heard them. Clucking, I guess? I couldn’t tell where they were.”
“They’re everywhere, and if I hadn’t just fed them a few hours ago they’d have been all over you.”
“Really?” What an appalling thought. “All over me as in…attacking?”
One big, sweaty shoulder hitched. “They’re chickens.”
Whatever that meant. They couldn’t be attack chickens because she’d never heard of such a thing. “You also mentioned goats and a horse?”
