Page 17 of Giddy Up, Daddy

Before she could say anything, he’d closed the door and was moving to the driver’s seat.

Wow. Just wow.

No one had ever taken care of her like this and she didn’t even know this guy.

Unsure of what to say to him, she sat there in silence as he drove them back to Maple Grove Ranch.

She cleared her throat. “Is there anything you want me to get started on first?”

“Started on?” he asked.

“In the house. Obviously, dinner. And cleaning out the fridge. What time do you want meals? Do you come back for lunch?”

“First of all, you’re not doing anything until your hands heal,” he told her. “I start my day early so I’ll come back in for breakfast around seven. I can just grab something to take with me for lunch. Then dinner at seven at night.”

“Got it. But my hands are fine. I can cook dinner tonight.”

“No.”

She sighed. “You’re really bossy, you know that?”

He shrugged those wide shoulders. “I’m the boss.” He drove up to the house and parked before turning to her. “Wait here while I take your stuff in and talk to Grandpa Jack. Okay?”

“Yeah, okay,” she replied nervously. “Do you think he’ll be all right with me being here?”

“No,” he said honestly. “But he doesn’t have much choice.”

That wasn’t really comforting.

“Can’t believe you hired her,” Grandpa Jack grumbled.

“Grandpa,” Stafford said tiredly as he attempted to make them something palatable to eat. “She was in a bad situation. She’d just been kicked out of her apartment. I don’t think she has any family. And the reason she dropped the teacup is because she’d burned her hands.”

“She sounds like a walking disaster,” Grandpa Jack grumbled from where he sat at the table.

Stafford had grilled some steaks and made mashed potatoes. That was about the extent of his cooking skills. He placed everything on the table.

“She’s a Little,” he told his grandfather, wondering if that would help his opinion of Blakely.

His grandfather stilled.

Shit. Or did it make things worse?

“Like Grandma,” Stafford added.

“I know what your grandmother was,” Grandpa Jack grumbled as they heard Blakely come down the stairs.

She hesitated at the doorway, eyeing Grandpa worriedly.

“Come in. Sit down.” Stafford drew back a chair for her.

As she walked in, he noticed she’d put owl slippers on. That was adorable.

What the hell? What was wrong with him? Since when did he think something was adorable?

“Um, Mr. Hill, I’m so sorry about the teacup,” she said as she slipped into the chair.

Grandpa Jack grunted. “Just make sure you don’t touch them again.”

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