Page 85 of Hometown Girl

She stopped but didn’t turn around. The tears were too close. Drew walked toward her—didn’t he know she needed to hide?

He moved around in front of her and stood for a long moment. She kept her eyes down, not wanting him to see her humiliation.

He probably thought she was a frigid ice queen too.

Gently, and careful not to disrupt her swollen hand, Drew reached strong arms around her and pulled her into a safe hug. And while everything within her screamed that she should run the other way, Beth resisted the urge and sank a little deeper into his embrace.

In that moment, her strong façade crumbled, and she realized the burden she’d been carrying around, feeling like this farm restoration was all on her. It was her second chance, and she’d been acting like she was the only one who could make or break it.

But what was it her father used to say?“If you’re going to be strong, you’ve got to learn to ask for help.”Jed Whitaker had said that more than once and in many different ways.

A lesson she’d never really learned.

Standing there in the empty barn, hand in pain and ego bruised, she wondered if Drew could be the first person she asked for help.

He held her until the tears stopped but didn’t say a word. And when she was ready, he knew it and released his hold on her.

But as she walked back to the farmhouse, still aware of his watchful eye, she had a sinking feeling he’d never release his hold on her heart.

Chapter Twenty-Two

“Well, that was hot.” Callie handed Beth a bag of ice for her throbbing hand.

“Me punching a guy in the face?”

“No, Drew saving you like that.” She let out a breathy sigh, walking just a few steps behind Beth on her way back to the farmhouse.

“He didn’t save me,” Beth said. “I’m the one who punched that loser.”

Callie jogged ahead of her and opened the side door leading back to the kitchen table, where they probably should’ve stayed put all along. “He’s the one who got him out. For you. I think he likes you.”

“I’m sure he would’ve done the same thing for any of us, Callie. He’s a gentleman.”

“Yeah, but he wouldn’t have had that look in his eyes if it were me or Molly.”

“What look?”

Callie’s brows raised. “You must’ve seen it. I think it can only be described as passion.”

Beth rolled her eyes. “You read too many trashy romance novels.”

“I’m telling you. There’s something there.”

“Well, I disagree. Can we get back to work?”

Callie reluctantly agreed, and they spent the rest of the day figuring out the details of the barn sale and avoiding Drew and the rest of the workers. The only thing that mattered now was keeping her head down and getting stuff done.

Two more days went by. Drew had continued to cross chores off the list. Yesterday, Beth had worked at a table on the porch, as the floors on the main level had been sanded and stained and needed to dry. She couldn’t be sure, but she thought Drew might’ve pitched a tent out back and slept in the yard. They’d barely spoken since the moment in the barn, though he’d asked her twice about her hand.

She’d assured him it was fine, though she had to admit, it still hurt. She’d wrapped it tightly in white medical tape, but she’d bruised it pretty good.

And for what? Pride?

It hadn’t changed anything between her and Drew. Despite that hug, he was still as standoffish as ever, so she’d decided her best course of action was to treat him exactly the same way. Their interactions had been short, her tone purposely clipped.

It was the only way to protect her heart. She didn’t like the way his long embrace had knocked her off-kilter, and while she appreciated him coming to her aid, she couldn’t allow herself to revel in delusions of anything more than a professional relationship.

Even if she’d caught a glimpse of him working outside with his shirt off in the light of the late-afternoon sun. He’d looked like something out ofLegends of the Fall. Her gaze might’ve lingered a little longer than it should’ve, but she knew there was nothing between them. She’d been misguided to even toy with the idea in the first place.

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