Page 25 of Welcome Home, Cowboy
“No.” This made her laugh.
“Someone should for breaking your heart like that.”
She shook her head. “My heart isn’t broken. I’ll just have to prove him wrong. That’s all.”
“Atta girl. You proved me wrong, so…” He trailed off.
“Did I? You weren’t as hard as I thought then.”
He cocked a brow and her body burned.
“I mean, you weren’t as hard a sale as I thought.” She sucked in a breath. “I need to sell Mr. Banks on this program. Otherwise, it ends and he won’t even let me do it for free. I can’t get a full-time paying job in Seaside, and I’m having trouble keeping a job where I work for nothing. Talk about hard, um…times.”
“You’re doing this for free?” he asked. “Why?”
“Because I believe in it.” She lifted her chin, waiting for him to laugh at her. He didn’t. “Yoga is worthwhile. It changed my life. You wouldn’t understand.”
He stared at her for a long moment. “My sister is looking for someone to babysit my four-year-old niece part-time while she trains her show horse. It doesn’t pay much, but…”
Julie blinked. Was Lawson helping her find a job? “Really?”
“She’s interviewing someone else tomorrow morning. The last three interviewees have been duds. Can you meet her around ten?”
“Yes. Yes, I’d love that. And my car is working now, thanks to you, so there should be no problem getting there.”
“Okay. Well, then I’ll tell her you’re coming.” He pulled a pen from his pocket and wrote down an address and phone number. He handed it to her and then removed himself from her car door.
“Thank you, Lawson.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” he said. “You haven’t met my niece.” The corner of his mouth kicked up. With a wave, he walked to his truck and got in. He didn’t leave, though. Instead, he waited to see that she got into her own car. Julie suspected that he was making sure her car started and that she got out of the parking lot safely. She didn’t need him to do that. She didn’t need a man to do anything for her anymore. But she appreciated it.
Maybe Lawson Phillips was one of the good guys after all—which made him even more dangerous to her than she’d initially thought.
—
The next day, Julie pulled into the driveway of the address that Lawson had scrawled onto a piece of paper. Cutting the engine, she scanned the large yard with a set of stables neighboring one side. There was one horse grazing in the grass and a small, rustic red barn in the back. The scene was out of place for a tiny coastal town.
A petite woman with short, dark hair stepped onto the porch and waved as Julie walked up. “Right on time,” the woman said. She had her brother’s same blue eyes and a ready smile.
“Hi, I’m Julie Chandler. Lawson’s friend,” Julie started, her nerves already bumping through her with every breath. She reminded herself that this wasn’t the only job in town. Or it was, but she’d be fine no matter the outcome of this interview.
The woman met Julie halfway and offered a hand. “I’m Beth. My daughter, Sabrina, is playing inside. Why don’t you come in?”
Julie nodded, following behind Beth. She dried her palms on her jeans, her gaze catching on a chocolate stain on her shirt.Damn it.How had that gotten there? She wiped futilely at her blouse. Not that she didn’t remember downing the chocolate Hershey’s bar in the car, but getting it on her clothing was sloppy. She blamed that on her pre-interview nerves. The same way she blamed stumbling clumsily on that top step and losing her shoe briefly.
Take a breath. Center yourself, Julie.
She forced herself to fill her lungs to capacity, held her breath for a long second, and exhaled as casually as she could sitting at a stranger’s kitchen counter.
“Would you like a glass of sweet tea?” Beth asked, turning back, seemingly oblivious to Julie’s nerves.
Julie strategically placed her arm in front of the bottom part of her blouse, hiding the chocolate stain. “Water is fine. If you have it.”
Beth’s brows lowered as she continued to smile easily. “I think we have water.” She laughed lightly.
Julie’s cheeks heated. “Of course you do. Sorry. I’m not the best at interviews,” she said, deciding blatant honesty was her only hope.
“How about taking care of children?” Beth asked, reaching for a glass in her cabinet and carrying it to a water filter near the sink. “That’s my main concern. Because the last four people I met with didn’t seem to have a clue.” She turned back to Julie.
