Page 21 of The Texas Cowboy's Rescue

“I hate to say it, but I’m afraid you’ll be hearing the dog plea more and more from your daughter.”

“And I’m sure you aren’t very sorry about that.” Kenzie moved into the living room, and he followed. “Do you usually carry your toolbox around?” She nodded at the metal box in his grip.

“Just in case I needed to do something else on the door. Or if you wanted me to check on the line. Best to be prepared. I didn’t come at a bad time, did I?”

“No, but feel free to check out the door and its frame. However, the line has been replaced by the tubing I picked up on the way home from the hardware store, and all is working just fine. Guess I might know a little something about home repair. But thanks for the offer to check on it. Surely you have better things to do with your free time.”

“It is important that your front door is secured. And I didn’t mean to infer in any way that you don’t know what you’re doing with home repairs. I would say it’s impressive if you wouldn’t think I was being a condescending male. But it would be a sincere compliment.” The tone in his voice matched the warmth in his gaze as he spoke, and her guard was definitely slipping. “Just keep in mind that I do work cheaper than anyone else in town. A large glass of sweet, iced tea when I’m done and seated in one of those rockers on your front porch might be good currency for the inspection job of one door. Sound like a good deal?”

She could say no and be a shrew, but she didn’t want to do that. She nodded. “Sounds about right, but don’t expect it with a lemon slice... that’s a bit much.”

“I never take lemon with my tea, so it’s a deal. I’ll get started. Don’t let me interrupt your dancing with that tough-looking fellow there in the corner.”

She grinned. The vacuum was obvious. “He is a very demanding partner, so I’d like to get back to him. And the clock is ticking on that iced tea payment.” She left him to his inspection as she returned the vacuum to its place in the hall closet. Had she actually flirted? It was a bit rusty. But he made it easy with his grin, those deep dimples showing up when she least expected and giving him a totally bad boy look. A girl would do well to not notice them. Or the way his jeans fit his long legs just right so that his departing side made her glance linger more than it should have. Not to even mention the stretch of material across a broad set of shoulders and over a chest that looked rock solid underneath the white pullover tee shirt.

Concentrate on what you’re doing.Kenzie put the noisemaker in its closet. She headed into the kitchen next, after a quick glance in the mirror in the small powder room under the stairs. She walked to the doorway and found Deke was wiping down his tools and putting them back into the box.

“Perfect timing,” he said. “Safe and secure again. I cleaned up the hardware and the locks. Hopefully, no one will put their foot through this one.”

“You guarantee your work?”

“Now I see... you’re a demanding client.”

“I have high standards. And there’s sweet tea on the line.”

“I aim to please. And I’m on call twenty-four seven for house calls.”

And the water had suddenly gotten very deep. She was treading as fast as she could. A more experienced female, like any one of her nurses, would know how to handle the provocative flirting, but she was a novice. A female who wasn’t certain she should even be thinking about flirting with anyone. It was tempting fate. Was it worth being on such shifting sand? His eyes and his body language and those slow tidal wave smiles were enough to tempt any female. Did she want to be tempted?

“Mama, my room’s done. Do you want to inspect it?” The voice was a loud reminder of what temptation out of control could do. Kenzie turned and headed upstairs. Let him think her a coward. And he’d be right.

Brooke and Ranger sat side by side on the floor while she looked in the closet and the toy chest and under the bed. To her surprise, nothing but a pair of shoes lingered under there. Before, her daughter had been known to stash last-minute items out of sight before inspection. Even the closet floor was free of clutter, and shoes were lined up side by side. She looked at her daughter.

“So, which one of you did all of this?”

“I did most of it, Mama. But Ranger supervised, and he helped find lost socks and things like that. We’re a team.”

“I see. Well, you two teammates can go outside and get some exercise.” They didn’t need to be told twice. She followed them downstairs to pause at the bottom. Deke stood at the front door, two glasses of iced tea in his hands.

“I made myself useful. I didn’t know how long inspections lasted, so I hedged my bet and timed it about right. Shall we take our tea on the veranda?”

“You are definitely a jack of all trades.” She took her glass from him and he held the door open for her to go ahead of him. “I think the front porch is more suitable for a description rather than something as grand sounding as a ‘veranda.’”

“As long as it has rocking chairs and a porch swing... then it can be as grand as any veranda.” He looked around. “You don’t have a porch swing. You don’t like them?”

“I love them. But it wasn’t on the necessity side of my furniture list when I moved in. One of these days, I’ll find one.” They sat in companionable silence, sipping their teas and watching Brooke throw a tennis ball and Ranger retrieve it. Kenzie couldn’t help but think how nice a moment it was. To any observer who didn’t know better, they would seem the typical family... father, mother, and child... and dog. That was the Hallmark greeting card cover she had hoped to have growing up. But life had other plans. She noted he was surveying the yard, and she could tell he had some thoughts churning in his brain.

“This yard was made for kids. It must have been a great place to grow up,” he said.

“It was. And we did have some good times here. We would have our friends come over and we did things like trampolines and camping under crudely made tents of blankets and bedsheets, baseball games and volleyball. We basically lived outside and used our imaginations. Then we’d gravitate over to the Aces High and ride horses or swim. Before the swimming pool was added, we had our swims in this wonderful natural spring-fed pool. It was a great place to grow up.”

“It sounds like you have wonderful memories of your childhood. Yet, you did leave after you became an adult? What brought you back here? It must have been a change after the big city hustle and bustle.”

“It was,” she agreed. “And I don’t regret leaving and experiencing another environment. It was fun and exciting at first. And I did enjoy my job in a much larger hospital setting. But it did become more stifling in a way as time progressed. Life began to seem stuck in fast mode. And when Brooke came along, I realized our time together wasn’t the quality I wanted for her. Perhaps my ill-advised marriage had something to add to that scenario, but there was a yearning I felt to return to where there was more ‘time’ to take a deep breath, enjoy the people around you, and figure out that roots aren’t that bad after all. I wanted Brooke to know more about what heritage she was a part of... meet the friends and family that she would know to always be there for her. Breathe fresh air and have room to run and play and not be locked away inside an apartment without the feel of being barefoot in green grass or taking time to lie quiet in it and pick out animals in the clouds. Silly things like that, I guess. But I had underestimated how important all that was to my way of life as a child.” She stopped and smiled. “And all of that is the long way around to say it was time to come home and build one for my daughter and myself. And it was perfect timing that I could also find a position that I enjoyed at a very good hospital.”

He nodded. “I’ve come to realize that the feeling of ‘home,’ while I am not an expert in it myself, is something that can pull you to it and bond itself someplace deep within you, no matter how far you travel. It’s something that was elusive to me most of my life.

“But then, I did find that home can be something different for a lot of people. My feeling of home... belonging more so than anything, came not from blood relations, but from knowing people who truly cared and welcomed me into their lives at a time when I was pretty much disheartened and looking for that bond, I suppose... to tether to a place long enough to put my hopes and dreams into action. So, I truly can get what you mean, and I know Brooke will be the better for coming here and having these spaces to dream in—and to climb in.” He grinned at the prospect.

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