Page 20 of Katherine's Last Hope
“No, sir.” He stayed a step behind the old man. He didn’t want to crowd him but stayed close in case the guy fell over. Hell, he appeared so frail Cody was afraid the slight breeze blowing in would knock him right off his feet.
“What makes you think you can change the oil?” Lewis rummaged through boxes until he found one filled with bottles of motor oil.
Cody hurried to take it from him then carried the box to the workbench. “I change my own oil. Used to do my old man’s, and his truck was a lot like this one. The way I grew up, if you wanted something fixed you either fixed it yourself or wasted time staring at a broken piece of junk.”
Lewis snorted out a laugh. “I respect that. Grew up much the same way and tried my damndest to instill that in my grandkids. Their mother understood hard work. Their father, well, I won’t go into what I think of that guy.”
Curiosity threatened to raise his brow, but instinct told Cody to keep a neutral expression. He liked Mike Wells a hell of a lot and didn’t want to be caught by Katherine or anyone else speaking ill of his former boss. “Your grandchildren seem pretty capable of taking care of themselves.”
Lewis gave one decisive nod. “Sure are. Especially Katherine. She’s the toughest of the bunch if you ask me, but don’t tell her I said that.”
“Your secret’s safe with me,” Cody said.
While Lewis shuffled around searching for the tools needed to do the job, Cody unbuttoned his unform shirt at the wrists and rolled up his shirtsleeves. He popped the hood of the truck and located the oil fill trap and plug. “I’m gonna need to drain this. You got a tray I can use for the old oil?”
“Said I got everything you needed, didn’t I?” Lewis found a tray and handed it over. “I lined everything else you might need on the workbench.”
“Appreciate it.”
He went to work draining the oil, all the while feeling the heat of Lewis’s gray eyes on him. When it was time to swap out the filter, he wiped his stained hands on his pantlegs and turned toward the wooden bench.
“Filter’s on the left of the wrench,” Lewis said. He sat on a backless stool with his spine straight and arms across his chest. A weary look of appreciation on his wrinkled face.
“Thanks.” He found the right box and lifted the flap of the cardboard.
“Be careful with her,” Lewis said.
Frowning, Cody stilled with the filter halfway out of the box. “The truck? I promise I know what I’m doing.”
Closing his eyes, Lewis clicked his tongue and shook his head. When he opened his eyes again, a mixture of worry and pain shone through. “That’s not who I’m talking about.”
A lump wedged in Cody’s throat and every word in the English language left his brain.
“Like I said,” Lewis continued. “She’s tough. But that doesn’t mean she should have to be. The rug’s been yanked out from under that girl’s feet more than once. First when her mom died, then with what happened to Theo. I’d hate to see it happen a third time. And if there’s even one shred of you that thinks you might cause her pain, walk away now.”
“Sir, I’m just doing my job. Helping her out because she’s had some bad things happen the last couple days.”
Another snort came from Lewis, but this one didn’t hold an ounce of amusement. “We both know you’re doing more than what the sheriff expects of you, especially since the sheriff just happens to be her brother.”
The musty air thickened around him, and Cody coughed to clear his throat. Two days ago, Katherine was nothing more than another woman in town who didn’t give him a second glance. Had he always found her attractive? Sure. But he’d never imagined there could be anything between them.
That had changed in less than forty-eight hours, at least on his side, and her grandfather had no qualms about calling him out. Something he respected even if it made him nervous as hell.
“Katherine and I are friends, new ones at that. She’s a nice woman and I want to make sure she’s safe. My intentions are good, that I can promise, but I’m not sure what else there is to say. I know about what happened to Katherine’s husband, and I’d never do anything to disrespect what she shared with Theo or make her uncomfortable. No matter what the future holds, it’s up to Katherine to give me the green light on anything that could possibly exist there.”
Lewis worked his jaw back and forth as if chewing over his answer.
Sweat dotted Cody’s hairline and his nerves bunched up, as though this man’s opinion was the final verdict in something that may not even be a possibility.
“Well, all right then. How about we finish changing this oil?”
Relieved, Cody let out a long breath. If he did want some kind of a future with Katherine, there were a lot of obstacles to overcome. At least he’d just bypassed one of them.
With his focus back on task, he removed the filter from the box just as the kitchen door banged open.
Katherine stood on the step with her phone in her hand. Her gaze stayed glued to the screen before she glanced up and met his eye. “My security system is going off. Somebody’s at my house.”
8
