Page 50 of The Cowboy's Country Charm

He knocked on the aluminum door marked 10 A as instructed. The door swung open with a sound of creaking metal.

Kristy stood in the entrance, in a T-shirt, cutoffs, and flip-flops, appropriate for the eighty-eight-degree temperature outside. She had nice legs. Who was he kidding. She had nice everything.

He could see a frowning Ariel inside the unit, standing before a pile of pipes and planks.

Kristy, though, had a wide smile, making him glad to be alive. They’d only had one date and he already felt like they were a couple. Except his family seemed hell bent on throwing monkey wrenches into the mix.

He took a deep breath. “Ladies. Glad to find you.” He surveyed the scene. The eight-by-ten unit, lighted by two bare bulbs, was filled with boxes and props, like he imagined the backstage of a theater might look. The tangle of stuff on the cement floor looked out of place. “What’s going on?”

Ariel looked at Kristy.

Kristy grimaced. “This is the jail.” She swept her arm over the pile.

“Looks a little easy to break out of.” He chuckled.

Hands on hips, she frowned as she looked down at the heap. “I ordered it online but didn’t read the full description where it said assembly required.”

“Any instructions?”

Ariel stepped forward and shoved a sheet of paper into his hand.

He looked it over, noting the many pieces and how they were supposed to fit together. It reminded him of a giant Tinkertoy set. The good news was that each section was the same as the other section, with the exception of the corners. “Not too complicated.”

“Really?” Kristy said, her voice tinged with hope.

“I think I can do it.” He’d put together fencing, tents, and lean-tos. He figured a bunch of bars couldn’t be all that hard.

Ariel clasped her hands together, as if praying. “Could you?”

“Sure. I may need a helper.” He looked at Kristy. At least she was smiling again. He’d do almost anything to see that smile, see her eyes light up, see her happy.

Ariel winked at Kristy. “I have to order the wallpaper. Want to be sure it gets here on time.”

“I’ll help if you’re sure you want to tackle this,” Kristy offered, as he’d hoped she would.

“Rusty to the rescue.”

Ariel slung her purse over her shoulder, then faced Kristy. “Can I take the car to the office?”

Kristy turned to him. “Can you give me a ride back?”

“At your service.”

Ariel waved a hand and slipped out the door.

Rusty pointed to the door. “Guess we should set up outside for the room, even though it’s air-conditioned in here.”

***

Opening up the larger garage-type door, Kristy stepped out into the bright sunlight, dragging a few pipes with her. They probably should have put a tarp or blanket over the dirt path in front of the units, but she had neither. Rusty stepped out behind her, carrying the planks. Dressed in jeans, a T-shirt that stretched over his biceps, and his cowboy hat and boots, he was easy on the eyes.

And he must think her an idiot for getting into this situation.

“Let’s lay the pipes and joints by length so we can figure out what goes where.”

Together they moved the pipes and planks into neater piles of each. When the last pipe was in its correct stack, she touched his arm.

“Thank you.”

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