Page 15 of The Cowboy's Christmas
After putting on the kettle, she slid an elastic off her wrist and gathered her hair once again in a loose ponytail, her classic stress tell. Ponytail in. Ponytail out. She let out a breath, her shoulders dropping as she watched the burner go red beneath the teakettle.
Should she call Ty or Austin and do one final check?
What was she going to say?Hey, is there anything about your secret brother that I should know?
After the calls she’d just made, was she really concerned about Quinn’s character?
Savannah debated, then gave herself an honest answer. Not as much as she was concerned about the unexpected flood of awareness she’d experienced while talking to the man, a response that both confused and irritated her, making her replies sharper than intended. The last thing she needed was a pointed reminder that she was female.
Why? You are female.
Savannah took the lid off the ceramic tea bag container, her mouth tightening.
Easy answer. Change. Reacting to a man like that—for no reason, because it wasn’t like he’d been flirting with her—was a huge change, and nobody liked unexpected change, least of all her. She liked things to remain as they were, because there was no question about her ability to deal with present circumstances—except for the holidays, but she was working on that.
You’re afraid of it happening again.
Savannah’s chin dropped. If she’d reacted to the guy once, what was to say it wouldn’t happen again? And again.
Did she want to work with a guy who made her feel all jumpy and…she may as well be honest here…attracted? For no reason.
The attraction part threw her. More than that, it felt threatening.
She hadn’t reacted to a man like that since Matt. Hadn’t thought she would, until today, when a stranger unknowingly lit a fuse she hadn’t realized was still active.
It wasn’t that she felt guilty or unfaithful to her dead husband.Thatshe’d worked through after eighteen painful months. She’d even gone on two dates this past fall to prove to herself she was still alive. Pleasant affairs with former classmates, full of talk and laughter, not dangerous feeling in any regard.
It had been a big step forward for her, getting out of the house and mingling socially, but she hadn’t felt anything except for a sense of the world cracking open again in a very safe way.
Both guys had gone on to find women to date more seriously, and Savannah had been happy for them. She’d proven to herself that she wasn’t a widow hiding from life on her ranch, but she didn’t feel a strong need to put herself out there. She didn’t feel the need for company, and frankly, she was rather happy living on the ranch, caring for her nieces.
Taking no chances emotionally.
True. She’d known before going on the dates that they were headed nowhere, but she’d gone, and that was the big thing.
Savannah peeled the covering off the tea bag and crumpled it into a ball as the teakettle began to make light bubbling noises. She would have a battle ahead of her with Deke if she didn’t bring Quinn Harding onboard. Surely she could deal with some physical edginess for a few days. Maybe itwouldn’thappen again. Maybe it was just a matter of being stressed and…
Whatever.
It didn’t matter. Shewoulddeal. The past two years had taught her that she was made of tougher stuff than she’d known.
Savannah poured hot water over the tea bag, then pulled her phone back out of her pocket and brought up the keypad, her heart beating faster.
Bad sign, that.
You can deal.
Right. She stepped to the fridge and dialed the number on the card stuck under the heart-shaped magnet, then sucked in a deep breath as she waited for him to pick up.
She was going to hire the long-lost Harding brother, and she was going to maintain her cool while he was in her employ.
She totally was.
*
“Savannah is perfectlycapable of moving the cattle off the mountain, but I’d appreciate it if you gave her a hand.” Deke sucked in a breath as he prepared to settle into his reclining chair. Savannah had allowed herself to be waved off when she’d met them at the door, so the two men were alone as Deke repeated the same painful motions he’d made when awkwardly seating himself in the flatbed an hour ago. Quinn had helped then, but he held off now as the older man slowly lowered himself to the seat. No stepping up into the rig this time, so Deke managed on his own, but Quinn still felt an echo of pain as the man winced.
“I will.”
