Page 24 of Rocky Mountain Devil
“Happens to the best of us,” Rafe offered in support. “Hold the blade a little farther in front of you. That’s it. Now, try again.”
This time some of his target fell, and Jeff glanced up with a pleased expression. “I did it.”
Rafe refrained from chuckling. “You did. Now keep going, I’ll rake behind you.”
He waited until the other man was a few feet ahead. Jeff was a far better sport than Rafe had expected, but since he didn’t know what had set Laurel off, he wasn’t ready to become bosom buddies at this stage of the game.
“You knew Laurel at college?” Rafe asked, returning to the most important topic.
“We did a year together, yes.” Jeff kept his eyes on the blade in front of him as he spoke. “She’s a lovely young woman.”
“We can agree on that.” Rafe shook weeds off the rake head, watching Jeff’s shoulders move under his light jacket. His solid frame was thick enough—he might be able to hold his own if it came to a fight.
Not that Rafe was thinking about knocking him over and dragging him through the dirt.
Much.
The other man wore runners and cotton pants—sturdier than dress slacks and fancy shoes, but not thick enough to protect him completely. On every step his shins and knees brushed the tall thistles on the deeper side of the ditch as he cut the layer in front of him. Rafe wondered how evil it was that he didn’t warn Jeff to be more careful.
“Yes, Laurel is lovely, and we found we had a lot in common. We dated, in fact.”
Rafe was suddenly glad he hadn’t said anything about the thistles. “Really.”
“She didn’t tell you?”
He wasn’t about to admit they’d barely had time to say hello, let alone talk about anything serious since he’d gotten back to town. “Nope. I guess she figured it was in the past, and it didn’t matter.”
Jeff paused, glancing over his shoulder. “I care about her a great deal,” he informed Rafe. “And while you might have a friendship that goes back a long ways, I hope that like me, you’d want what’s best for her now.”
“Yup,” Rafe agreed. “Which is why I’m dating her.”
The other man gave Rafe his back as he returned to swinging the blade. “It’s good to have confidence in our abilities, and it’s good to have a positive self-image, but it’s also good to be realistic.”
Bunch of starched-shirt bullshit. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Just that the most important relationships in our lives, the ones that count, need to fit where we come fromandwhere we’re going.” Jeff turned, setting the blade head on the ground and leaning on the shaft as he spoke seriously. “I came to Rocky to consider serving the church, but I won’t lie. I also came because I knew Laurel was here.”
Rafe had to give the man credit for being blunt. “She’s here, but she’s mine.”
Jeff raised a brow. “See, a comment like that is what makes me think you’re really not the man for her. I can only imagine how well that would go over with Laurel. To be claimed as someone’s possession.”
Sudden anger slid in, partly because the bastard was right. “She knows how I feel about her.”
The other man’s shoulders lifted in a soft shrug. “And that means she’ll be able to make an informed decision when it’s time.”
“I think you should leave now.” Rafe held his hand out for the scythe, his sense of humour vanishing abruptly. “And you need to think twice before getting in Laurel’s face, because it was pretty clear she wants nothing to do with you.”
“We’ll see,” Jeff returned evenly, looking Rafe squarely in the eye as he handed over the tool. “You have a great day.”
Rafe bit his tongue to keep from shouting something rude after the man, but it didn’t keep the curse words from popping into his head. The last few minutes of conversation had been as good as a declaration of war. One that Rafe had no intention of losing.
He stood there until Jeff left, a rush of satisfaction hitting as the car bottomed out in a deep hole just shy of the main road. The screech of rock against the undercarriage was thefuck youRafe hadn’t permitted himself to offer in person.
Well. That changed things.
Last night with Laurel he’d gone slow. Taken his time. But if Pastor “I have an opinion and it’s full of shit” was sticking around, Rafe wanted the whole story ASAP. Like today.
Only it was barely six thirty in the morning, and he could hardly tromp over to Laurel’s to demand to know what was going on.
