Page 20 of A Cowboy's Trust
“We can take the box with us when we show him the room,” Declan offered.
“Perfect. Now excuse me, I need to finish my arm exercises for the morning.” Tansy turned her back to focus on expertly pouring from the enormous bowl into prepared tins lined with rows and rows of paper muffin cups.
Declan filled a cup of coffee and offered it to Jake. “Our guest hopes to stay less than a month. He gave some information to the authorities that put him in trouble with past employers. He’s got somewhere to go out on the East Coast as soon as he can get in touch with them.”
Past employerswas code word for gangs or other criminal operation.
Jake focused on the short-term part. Well, it was where they thought they’d start. “He have a name?”
“He’s going by Chris. For our purposes, Chris Smith.”
Behind them at the counter, Tansy snorted. “Sorry. Just realized there’s going to be a whole lot of that around here. Smith and Choi and Turner and Singh. Such imaginative names.”
“This from the woman whose last name isFields?” Jake teased.
This time she outright snickered, still working away.
Declan frowned momentarily at Jake, confusion in his eyes, but he didn’t say anything as they headed to the table to finalize plans.
Yeah. His poke at Tansy had come out a whole lot more friendly than most of his interactions with her over the past days. Weeks.
Hell, he’d been an ass for nearly as long as they’d been in Heart Falls. After the bullshit he’d handed her, it was a wonder that she talked to him at all, let alone invited him to her family’s for dinner.
Or let him kiss her.
Jake sat with Declan and hashed out details until a knock on the door sent them both rushing to their feet.
But while he concentrated hard on the man entering the house, his eyes dark with worry and evidence of sleepless nights on his face, Jake didn’t forget about the beautiful blonde woman moving silently in the background.
His plan wasn’t quite complete, but he had a few good ideas of where to start.
With a million tasks tojuggle mentally, Tansy had to pay attention to the job at hand. The group of six and their instructor taking over the art studio would arrive after six, so she’d planned a snack-type dinner for Friday night. But all day Saturday, and Sunday until noon, she was responsible for feeding them plus the regular High Water crew.
Thank goodness everyone involved at High Water had understood the need for serving food family style. Buffet at the counter, continental-type grab-it-yourself breakfasts. Trying to do plated dinners would take more time and hands than Tansy possessed.
Working quickly and steadily, her current curiosity had to be satisfied with listening hard and some quick glances back at the table where the new ranch hand sat nodding seriously as Declan explained the rules.
Chris looked pretty ordinary, which was a good thing, she supposed. It wasn’t as if everybody who was hiding from the authorities or the bad guys out there should have signs on their foreheads announcing what they’d been up to.
She knew that getting to put the past behind them was vitally important.
She brought toasted bagels already smeared with cream cheese to the table, with muffins and egg bites stacked high on the plate. “I’ll make you a real breakfast in a minute, but this should take the edge off.”
Declan nodded seriously as Chris scrambled to his feet, dipping his head in Tansy’s direction. “This is Tansy. She’s part of the family, and if there’s anything you need food-wise, you need to let her know.”
Chris took a quick glance over her before fixing his gaze firmly on his hands. “Nothing special. But I am hungry, so thank you.”
“I’m glad you’re here.” Tansy said it simply but honestly before meeting Declan’s gaze. “I’m frying up some eggs for Chris. Do you two want breakfast now or later?”
“I’ll grab something later,” Jake said. “Can I help with anything?”
She held back the snappy remark about how helpful he was suddenly being after kissing her stupid. “I’ll have food to carry to the studio later in the day. If someone shows up to help, that will save me from having to make multiple trips.”
“I’ll make sure it happens,” Jake promised.
Declan offered his brother an odd stare for a moment before continuing to talk to Chris. “We have paying guests in the art studio this weekend. There are some animal chores you could help with while you’re here at the ranch, but we’ll also need a hand washing dishes and doing other household chores.”
“Dishes, push broom. I’ll do whatever. I’m thankful for the place to stay. I should hear from my brother soon, though, so I won’t be a burden for long,” Chris promised.
