Page 32 of Catch Me, Cowboy
“Not when you’re stubborn about it.”
“It’s only my knees.”
Shelby set the egg carton on the counter and turned to face him. “Your knees.”
“They aren’t as stable as they used to be. They give. When they do, I grab things for balance.”
“And that’s it.”
“Knees wear out.” He walked to the stove and took the pot off, filling Shelby’s cup with steaming brew. In about ten minutes, she’d be able to drink it.
“You could have them replaced.”
“Not going to a hospital.”
Shelby turned back to the stove and lit the burner under the cast iron pan. She couldn’t blame him there. Her grandmother had gone into the hospital for minor surgery and died not long after due to an infection she’d picked up there. Her grandfather had never fully recovered from her loss.
“Then I guess we’re at an impasse.”
“Meaning?”
She glanced at him over her shoulder. “Maybe we both have issues we don’t care to discuss at the moment.”
“At the moment,” he agreed.
He was only talking about her issues. His issues would be off limits forever if he could manage that. He sank down into his chair grimacing as he straightened out his knee.
Real pain? Or faked, to make her believe that his knees were the problem?
“Maybe you shouldn’t go to work today. Ty can handle things.”
“Maybe I want to go to work.”
“That’s a given.” She cracked the eggs into the pan, then tossed the shells into the trash. “Tell you what… you stay home today—justtoday,” she added when he opened his mouth to protest, “and I’ll stop haranguing you about your health… for two, maybe three days.”
Gramps frowned deeply. “Hard to beat an offer like that, but I’m going to work. Besides, this haranguing could work two ways. That was quite a show you two put on last night.”
Shelby rolled her eyes, thankful her back was to her grandfather, so he couldn’t see the color in her face. “Whatever happens between Ty and I… you don’t need to worry.”
Silence hung between them until Shelby flipped the eggs, nice and easy, the way Gramps had taught her to after she’d come to live with him. It had taken her forever to get the hang of turning eggs without breaking them, but she’d only been ten at the time and Gramps had eaten a lot of broken egg yolks.
She went for the plates, finally meeting her grandfather’s gaze when she set the eggs in front of him. “I’m not twenty-three. I’ve learned some stuff since then.”
Gramps didn’t look convinced, but he finally gave a small nod and reached for the plate of toast he’d made before she’d gotten to the kitchen.
“And if any part of you feels bad, other than your knees, you’d better damned well tell me.”
She had a feeling that mentally he was muttering, “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” but he met her eyes and gave another nod.
Shelby held in her exasperated sigh as she set her plate on the opposite side of the table and took her seat. They ate in silence, and she assumed he was mulling over their mini-impasse. She wasn’t going to let go of her concern over his health—and no way did she believe it was only his knees bothering him—and he worrying about Ty’s departure breaking her heart again.
That wasn’t going to happen, because she wasn’t going to let her heart get involved to the point that it could break. Her instinct for survival was too strong for that. But heaven help her, she could see herself kissing Ty again… and more.
That was what happened when a woman had too long of a dry spell. The kiss last night had been both disturbing and amazing. If anything the chemistry between them was even hotter than before he left, which meant she couldn’t screw around with this situation. As she’d told him—they’d act normal. Like two people who worked together. Now she had to make that happen.
“I won’t be fencing tomorrow,” Gramps said after mopping up the last of his egg with toast. Shelby looked up, so damned glad her grandfather had no idea where her thoughts were. “Meeting with my accountant in town. Thought I could visit the barber, too.”
“I think a day off will be good for you.”
