Page 17 of Jasper

“I don’t like to function without coffee, but I can. Good to see we don’t have to.” He kicked off his shoes at the door and strolled over to the couch. He wanted to plop down on the mattress and get close to the heat, but this would do for now. “What time is the power guy supposed to get here?”

“They promised they’d be here first thing, but it’s after eight now, and no sign of them.”

“They probably don’t start work until eight, so I wouldn’t worry until at least eleven. If they’re not here by then, we send out a search party.”

Sloane got a paper towel and handed him two warm, sticky donuts before pouring him a steaming cup of coffee. “I wasn’t sure if you liked cream or not…”

“Nope, I prefer it black and strong.”

“It’s strong.”

The first sip proved her right. It was a little stronger than he normally liked, but it warmed him up. “You drink yours this strong?”

She nodded. “I was never that girl who liked all those mochas and frappes and lattes. If you’re going to drink coffee, then drink coffee. Don’t water it down with all that other nonsense.”

Now, that, he didn’t expect. She seemed more of a girly girl to him than a tomboy who’d down a cup of black coffee. He had her pegged as a latte kind of girl.

Jasper bit into the first donut and moaned out loud. God, he loved donuts.

“Good?” Sloane asked, a smile flirting with her lips.

“So good.” He shoved the rest of it in his mouth and swallowed. “I need to run into town to get more today.”

“You’re going to be big as a house if you keep eating donuts like that.”

“Nah. I work out too much to worry about what I eat.”

“I don’t think Jarrod has a gym here.”

“Working on a farm will usually give you all the workout you need, and from what I saw yesterday, there’s a lot of repairs that need to be done.”

“Didn’t he hire someone for that?”

“He did, but that doesn’t mean they knew what they were doing. Or they were just plain lazy.”

“Huh.” She scrunched up her nose. “I can’t believe people. Why would you agree to do a job knowing you couldn’t, or that you’d choose to collect the check and sit back and let the property and the animals suffer?”

“It takes all kinds, sweetheart.” He swallowed the other donut and downed the rest of his coffee. “The cow pasture has an entire section of fence down. I did what I could with it last night, but I need to get some fencing supplies to fix it. I have no idea if any of his cows got out, but I’ll be damned if any more do.”

“Did you grow up on a farm or something?”

“Or something. My grandparents had a farm.”

“Oh.” She stared into the flames, and he watched the firelight play across her face. The house was darker than he liked, but there were heavy storm clouds starting to roll in. If he’d hazard a guess, he’d say snow was on the horizon.

“I need to run into town before this storm hits. Think you’ll be okay here by yourself waiting on the service techs? I want to pick up a generator too.”

“You’re leaving?” Panic laced her words, and his concern grew. She looked terrified.

“I’m only going to be gone for as long as it takes me to go to the farm supply store and to the general store. I saw they had generators yesterday. And to the bakery. Can’t forget the donuts.” He kept his voice calm and reassuring, but she looked far from reassured.

Terror gripped her, and Sloane bunched the blanket between her fingers. He was leaving. She tried to calm down, but she was too afraid. She’d be alone. Granted, Jasper was a stranger, but Jarrod trusted him enough to loan him his house, so she trusted him too. At least to a certain point.

But now he was leaving her alone. What if they’d followed her? What if they were waiting for her to leave? She shook her head and told herself to get a grip. They didn’t know who she was. They didn’t track her down to a small town in North Dakota. She was being silly.

“I can wait here.” Her voice squeaked. Dammit.

“I’ll wait until after the service techs leave. We can go into town together.”

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