Page 33 of Charlie Takes a Chance

“You’re welcome,” she says. There’s no censure or sarcasm in her tone. And it lets me know I’ve been unfair to her ever since she showed up here.

I nod as she walks away.

She’s not bad. And when I climb back into bed, I don’t wake up until the next morning when I find a Gatorade, a water bottle,and a can of Sprite on my nightstand. So much for her claims of keeping distance.

CHAPTER 13

Charlie

There’sa new dusting of snow, and it’s beginning to look like a winter wonderland. The electricians aren’t able to come out until next week, which is unfortunate but not surprising considering it’s the holiday season and everyone wants their houses working in tip-top shape for the break.

I pull on my sweats and scoop up my dirty clothes. I heard some clanging in the kitchen, so Max must be alive. I ran into town to pick up a few groceries yesterday and made sure to grab him something to hydrate with.

I cinch up the sweatpants and pull a sweatshirt on. I’m going to make that man sit on the couch today. He looked like death yesterday, and I wasn’t joking about not wanting to drag his body back up here if he passes out in the barn.

“I’m feeding again today!” I call in a singsong voice as I come down the stairs.

I slide around the corner on my fuzzy socks and find Max standing in the kitchen, slightly hunched forward. Yup. He’s definitely not back to his usual ornery self. I pat the dogs on their heads when I walk by.

“I’m all better,” Max says firmly.

I laugh my head off and walk past him to the cold coffee pot. “You haven’t even risked drinking a cup of coffee today. Of course you’re not all better. Go sit down on the couch.”

“Stop being so bossy,” he says, but he has a smile on his face as he says it.

I plant my hands on my hips. “You’re sick. Go sit down. I’ll feed the cows again today. It’s not a big deal.”

“You realize that if you weren’t here, I’d have to figure out how to do it myself, right?”

“Let me put it this way; you can let me feed them without a fuss, or I’ll call that nice Zane Madden and ask him to come help me feed.”

Max glares at me and slowly shuffles toward the living room. “You don’t fight fair.”

“I thought so. Besides, it’s a good workout. I forgot what it’s like to throw haybales.”

“You didn’t hurt your back, did you?”

“No, those are light bales. My grandpa used to pride himself on baling things tight. One year, he had 180-pound bales of alfalfa. It was pure hell feeding with him that year. I think he agreed, because he went back to lighter bales after that.”

Max chuckles softly. “I think I’d like to meet your grandpa.”

“He’s one of a kind. I miss him.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. He passed away two years ago.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Me too.” I focus on setting up the coffee pot. I like talking about Grandpa, but sometimes it’s still hard to reminisce without tearing up.

“You’re not going to hold this over my head the rest of this month, are you?” Max asks as he lies down on the couch and closes his eyes.

“Probably. I’ll be asking for so many favors you’ll want to cry.”

“You’ve already almost brought me to tears several times. I can’t imagine it can get much worse.”

Wise guy.

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