Page 11 of The Cowboy's Christmas
“Your brothers?” The shock in her voice told him that she’d already figured out who his brothers were. She bit her lip, then said, “Would you like to expand on that? If it’s not too personal?”
“It is personal.” But not secret. He and his half-brothers had already decided to be open about the matter, figuring that being evasive wasn’t going to help any of them. “I never knew my dad.”
Savannah looked uncomfortable at the admission, as if she honestly didn’t want to know any more, but felt she had to if he was going to do her the favor of working for her. A light wind swirled past them, showering them with snow crystals, and when it had passed, Quinn said, “He and my mom were together before he married Austin and Ty’s mom.” He shrugged. “Not much more to tell, except that we connected today for the first time, and we don’t seem to hate each other.”
“Today? You’d never met them before? Your brothers?”
“I knew of them but had never met them.”
Savannah glanced down at her snow pacs. “Huh.” She studied her boots for another few seconds, then raised her gaze back to his. “Do you have references?”
The laugh escaped before he could stop it. “References?”
She pointed at her truck where the two little girls were watching from the back window. “See those two, who are supposed to be in their booster seats and are not? If I weren’t taking care of them, yes, I’d accept your offer in a heartbeat. But I am, so if you work on my place, I need to know that you’re…”
“Trustworthy?”
“Exactly.” She let out a small breath and her voice changed, bordering on weary as she said, “I’m cautious, not ungrateful. It’s a generous offer.”
He pulled his wallet from his back pocket and rifled through it until he came up with Jim Neary’s card and handed it to her. “This is my boss.”
She read the card, then raised her gaze. “You work on a ranch?”
“Jim raises bucking stock. I haul for him, do some ranch work and mechanicing.”
“How do I get hold of you?”
“I’m at the Graff Hotel.” He reached for the card, pulled a stainless-steel pencil out of his pocket, and wrote his cell number on the back.
Savannah took the card back and tucked it into her pocket, then hunched her shoulders against another shower of swirling ice crystals.
“You should get to your truck,” he suggested, pushing his hands deeper into his pockets.
The wind was rising and had teased a few strands of dark hair out of her low ponytail, but she didn’t move. “Unless your boss says something heinous about you, I’m going to accept your offer. For a few days anyway.”
He nodded. His chin was starting to go numb. “You know, I didn’t come out of this situation unscathed. I didn’t tell your uncle, but my truck is totaled.”
“That’s it,” she said. “Make me feel good.”
He smiled at the darkly spoken words, and this time it was genuine. She started to smile back, then seemed to catch herself. Did she still think he was a bad guy, or was it something else?
“I’ll call you later this evening and we can discuss particulars.”
“Sounds good.” He gestured toward the hotel across the railroad tracks from the hospital. “I need to see about my dog. She’s generally good in hotel rooms, but since this room is fancier than most, it’ll be the exception to the rule.” He thought of something else. “Can she come to the ranch?”
“If she gets along with my dogs.”
“She’s never had a problem in that regard.”
Savannah gave a small nod. “Then I’ll…see you, I guess.”
“I guess.”
She started toward the truck, where the little girls’ faces suddenly disappeared as they scrambled to get back into their seats, and he started in the direction of the railroad tracks.
“Hey.”
He stopped and turned to see Savannah standing at her truck with one hand on the door handle. “Thank you.”
