“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Bodie said with a grin. He slapped the other guys on their backs as they all took off, smart enough to take off before I changed my mind.
All but Marcus.
He lingered, watching the other guys take off, then slowly made his way over to me. I noticed he didn’t bother to pick up a tool to help.
“Somethin’ up?” I asked.
“What’s the deal with Anna?” he asked casually.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “What do you mean?”
Marcus shrugged. “Just wondering. She’s pretty. The kind of pretty a guy could get lost in, if you know what I mean.”
His smile was just a little too slick, a side of him I’d never seen before. I’d seen him flirt with women at Ferg’s, the local bar, and never thought twice about it. But this time it landed wrong with me.
“She’s here to work,” I said evenly. “Just let her be and keep it respectful.”
Marcus turned to look at me then, studying my face for a beat longer than I liked, as if he was measuring my words. Then he gave a quick nod. “Whatever you say. Doesn’t change how she looks.”
He pulled his truck keys from his jeans pocket and headed toward the side of the barn. “My guys got the last of the trees trimmed today, so we’re helping Bodie’s crew transplant those boxwood and azalea seedlings tomorrow.”
“Good. That’ll be a big job,” I called out, glad for the conversation shift.
He raised his hand in a lazy wave, and seconds later, I heard his truck fire up and rumble down the drive.
I looked toward the cabin where Anna was.
It wasn’t what Marcus said exactly. It was that anyone might see her that way. Someone to flirt with. To chase. To catch.
She’d been through enough. She was here to get back on her feet. To start over. I knew she needed time to rest. To heal. That was all.
No matter how much I wanted her to be here for different reasons.
Chapter 10
Chase
I rolledout of bed before dawn. The house was dark and quiet. Too quiet.
Anna had been here for nearly two weeks. And while she seemed to settle into a rhythm, I was feeling more and more off-kilter.
I could tell she’d spent some of her time in the main house while I was out in the fields. Colorful new pillows were scattered across the furniture, and fresh flowers filled vases I hadn’t seen used in years. The scent of something soft, like warm vanilla and lavender, lingered in the air. Subtle changes, but unmistakably Anna.
Even now, as I pulled on a fresh pair of jeans and a T-shirt, the scent of fresh coffee drifted down the hallway because she’d set it up the day before for me. All small things that reminded me I wasn’t alone here anymore.
Lately, I found myself making excuses to not linger in the barn, tinkering with equipment, or working on my hobby of cross-pollinating flowers in the greenhouse like I usually did. Instead, I tried to catch her before she went back to her cabin and persuade her to share a light supperwith me, but more often than not, she was gone before I got back, tucked into the quiet of her cabin.
Most mornings, I lingered in the kitchen every morning, hoping to catch a glimpse of her as she took Jack outside to take care of his business. Watching her laugh as Jack bounded across the yard to fetch a ball that I “happened” to leave in the yard. Never mind the fact that I’d gone into town and come back with several toys and dog bones. Even Jack was a welcome addition to Silver Creek.
I tried to convince myself I was doing it to check on her from a distance. To make sure she was truly doing well, not just putting on a good face around me and the guys. But the truth crept in during these quiet moments at the beginning and end of each day. I didn’t just want to make sure she was all right.
I wanted to see her.
To know she was still here.
To know that she hadn’t slipped from my grasp again.
I tried convincing myself it meant nothing. But I’d never longed for Marta’s company. Never wished my sisters and their families lived here. Never felt this restless in my own home.
