Page 26 of Her Cowboy Baby Daddy
Andie gave a matter-of-fact nod, seemingly fine with being told the subject was off-limits.
Bluntness had its upside.
Chapter Six
Spence ignored hisphone as he laid out the chalk line for the corrals. He had a good idea who it was, and sure enough, when he took a break and fished his phone out of the jacket lying on the tailgate of his truck, Millie’s name was on the screen. Missed call. Missed call. Missed call.
Spence hit her name and, a few seconds later, she answered. “Finally,” she said, instead of hello.
“What’s up?”
“I have a job. A quick one.”
“My dad’s surgery is in a few weeks.”
“You’ll be back by then. I have a guy out and need a replacement, pronto.”
Spence shifted his jaw sideways. With the exception of working on Hayley’s corrals, and keeping an eye on her place in case Hunt did anything stupid, which no one expected him to do now that the water was flowing on the Keller Ranch, he was at loose ends until after the surgery. He was supposed to take Henry’s place when he returned to the ranch, allowing the old man to retire, but Henry wasn’t easing toward the door, and frankly, with both he and Henry in one job, there wasn’t enough to do. And, in Millie’s defense, he usually went where she needed him. That said, they’d had a discussion in which she’d promised to only call if she were desperate.
Or thought she was desperate. Since Millie was a touch reactionary, so it was hard to tell which it was.
With the exception of Hayley’s corrals, which he’d finish before leaving in October, he was in a good place to take the short contract... but he didn’t want to.
When had that ever happened before?
He’d had contracts that he knew going in would be pains in the butt, but he took them. And completed them efficiently and on time, just as he should take this contract and finish it efficiently and on time, then return to the ranch to help Reed and Henry as the hay harvest got underway.
He had a sneaking suspicion that the reason he didn’t want to take this contract was because of Hayley and some misguided protective instinct.
Her crew was young, but seemed to know what they were doing, and other than one desperate phone call from Hunt (probably), there’d been no repercussions to her leasing water to his family. What could Hunt do about that now?
Spence was certain that the man would channel his energy into other venues, so...
“I’ll let you know tomorrow.”
“Not a second later,” Millie said.
“Check with Dawson. He might be the man for the job.”
Millie let out a sigh. Dawson was an excellent welder, but something of a loose cannon. If he made it to the jobsite, then all was well. It was getting him there that was the problem. “Don’t wish that on me.”
When he ended the call, he turned to see Hayley standing a few yards behind him.
“Yes, this is me. Eavesdropping,” she said as she casually leaned a shoulder against the heavy bay door beam.
He pushed his hat back, grappling again with the change in the woman. Confidence was sexy and, in Hayley’s case, also intriguing. He’d gotten a glimpse of the steel beneath her shy exterior years ago, but after the incident, she’d gone back to keeping her gaze down as she negotiated the hallways of the high school and walking as if she didn’t want to be noticed. Come to find out, she had, and he’d fallen down on the job. But he’d been eighteen and pretty focused on himself, so he gave himself a pass for that. It was the present that interested him.
The woman standing near the door did not have her gaze down. She seemed to be assessing him. No. She was definitely assessing him. He met her gaze with a quizzical look, and her cheeks went red.
“Sorry,” she said. “I was just thinking what a difference ten years makes.”
“You’re saying I’ve changed?”
She gave him a surprisingly sassy smile. “You still have the same devil-may-care attitude.”
“But...”
She gave an innocent shrug. “But nothing.”
