Page 20 of Unforgettable Cowboy
“My uncle is fond of frozen dinners,” Hayes said as if this were a selling point.
Estelle’s eyebrows rose.“Frozen dinners?”
Hayes shrugged.“They’re pretty good.”
Estelle’s expression clearly said,“If you say so.”
“There will be a person here a couple hours a day to help Wade with rehab and the like.”Hayes shifted in his chair.“I have to ask…are you comfortable helping my uncle to his feet and such when he needs to be up and about?”
“Don’t let my size fool you,” Estelle said.“I know the basic laws of physics and how to apply them.”
Bailey raised her eyebrows as Hayes caught her eye.
“All right,” Hayes continued, obviously winging it.“Do you have any questions?”
Estelle fixed him with a serious look.“I know your uncle.”
Bailey pressed her lips together to keep from smiling as she watched Hayes’s expression freeze at the flat statement.She’d have to play poker with the man sometime.
“I will not be bullied,” Estelle continued in a soft but no-nonsense voice.
Hayes swallowed.“I think that Wade might have mellowed over the past few years.”
“Did he not recently cause a scene at Big Z’s Hardware store because he thought a tourist was harassing a staff member?”
Hayes’s mouth opened, but it took him a second to actually push words out of it.“I wasn’t aware, but…yeah.That sounds like something he would do.”He clasped his hands together on the table in front of him.“He’s not all bite.”
“Obviously.He took in three boys and raised them to adulthood.”
“And not one of us has been arrested.”
She smiled faintly.“I applaud the fact that he stood up for staff, but when angry, Mr.Matthews tends to be colorful and pushy.”
“Were you there?”
She nodded.“I was.I know that Mr.Matthews will be in pain until his injury heals and pain tends to make people say and do things they normally wouldn’t.”
“You won’t have to put up with verbal abuse,” Hayes said flatly.
Estelle’s eyebrows rose.“That isn’t my concern.You need to understand that if your uncle tries to push me around, Iwillpush back and I will not be polite when I do so.”
It took Hayes a second to close his mouth, which had drifted open at the adamant statement.Bailey had to admit that she hadn’t expected such strong words to come from the small woman sitting on the opposite side of the table from Hayes.
“As long as you don’t quit,” Hayes finally said, “you can push back to your heart’s content.”
*
Bailey stood nextto Hayes as they watched Estelle drive away in her Prius, a quiet little car for a quiet little lady who said she was going to give as good as she got.
Hayes had his doubts.
“You didn’t need me,” Bailey said from beside him.“You did great.”
“I have a feeling that wasn’t a real interview.”
“No, it was not.”He gave her a questioning look and she said, “No interview is valid unless you ask someone what their greatest weakness is.”
He turned to her, a slight smile curving his gorgeous mouth.“What’s your greatest weakness?”
