Page 14 of The Cowboy's Christmas
Chapter Four
“I’m calling aboutUncle Deke’s accident.” Savannah carried the phone to the mudroom as she spoke, out of earshot of her nieces, who were engaged in a game of Chutes and Ladders prior to their nightly episode ofBalloon Bears. After her call to Jim Neary, who reminisced about the rodeo in her former hometown before telling her that Quinn was an excellent hire—ifit was temporary, that is, because he was not giving up his most trusted hand—she’d dialed her highway patrol friend, Tara Rodriguez. They’d caught up for a couple of minutes, then she’d broached the reason for her call.
“Totally Deke’s fault,” Tara said matter-of-factly. “The other guy was not driving too fast for conditions. Deke pulled out in front of him.”
Yeah, she’d gotten that part. “I assume that the other guy has no outstanding warrants or anything sketchy?”
“If he had warrants, he’d probably be in jail. The sketchy part I can’t answer.” There was a frown in Tara’s voice as she continued. “Any particular reason you want to know?”
“I’m thinking of hiring him as day help.”
“Now that’s an interesting twist.”
“It is,” Savannah said on a sigh. “Unless you know of anyone local looking for work on short notice.” If she did, then Savannah would pass on Quinn Harding’s generous offer to help. Something to do with the way her nerves jumped whenever he met her gaze as they’d spoken in the hospital parking lot. An uncomfortable sensation, but not unpleasant. That was the part that had her flummoxed. She hadn’t reacted to a man since…yeah. Not going there.
“I don’t know of anyone,” Tara said. “Have you paid for an online records search?”
“You know I have. He seems to be okay.” Savannah pushed her hair back and confessed the last thing that was niggling at her. “He’s related to the Hardings.”
“That should reassure you?” Tara said, as if wondering why it didn’t. Being related to hometown guys meant he wasn’t some stranger who had blown through town on his way to somewhere else.
“He met Ty and Austin for the first time today. That’s why he was in the area.”
“A long-lost relative?”
“Brother. Half-brother, actually, but if Austin had a clone, this would be him.”
“Wow.” Tara took a moment to digest the information. “Kind of hard to imagine two of them.” It was no secret that Austin had been a chick magnet in his bachelor days. He still was, but now had eyes only for his wife, Kristen.
“There’s something about the whole secret brother thing that makes me want to be a little extra careful.”
“Have you called Ty or Austin?”
“I don’t know how public they’re being about this situation. I mean, Quinn told me, but…”
“Maybe you should. Call, I mean.”
Savannah pulled the elastic out of her hair and let it tumble over her shoulders. Maybe she was being overly cautious, looking for reasons not to hire this guy, which was nuts. She needed help. “I may do that. Thanks.” Savannah dropped her hand and shifted subjects. “How are things going with you?”
“I’m busy at work, as usual after a good storm blows through. But I’m spending my days off helping the library with its Christmas celebration.”
“That sounds fun,” Savannah said, wishing she sounded more enthusiastic. She wanted to get back into the swing of Christmas. Really she did.
They caught up for a few minutes more, then a loud, “My turn!” from the living room made Savannah roll her eyes even as her lips twitched in amusement. A big part of parenting, she’d discovered, was de-escalation and she was becoming pretty good at it.
“I heard that,” Tara said with a laugh.
“I should go referee. Thanks for the moral support.”
“Any time. Call if you need more.”
Savannah promised she would, then pocketed her phone and headed to the living room, stopping in the hall to watch through the doorway as Sophie solemnly handed the metallic gold crayon to her sister.
“There,” she said on a sniff.
“Thank you,” Jessa replied. “You almost took too long.” She in turn surrendered the silver and copper crayons in what appeared to be a straight across trade and then the girls returned to coloring in the coloring books Deke had bought them on his last trip to town.
Quietly Savannah reversed course, heading back to the kitchen to make a cup of tea before joining the girls forBalloon Bears, their favorite before bed DVD. Savannah hoped the trusty vintage player lasted through their visit.
