Page 7 of Gideon's Gratitude

“Cream of mushroom.” My guest repeated the words slowly. “I’m not certain I’ve ever tasted this before.”

“I hope you enjoy it. If you’re still here for breakfast, I can make oatmeal, pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon, French toast or—”

“Toast will be sufficient.”

“Can I tempt you with eggs?” I picked up my bread. “I promise I won’t burn them.”

Our gazes met.What is he thinking? What’s going on in the mind behind that beautiful face?He wore a mask of implacability. And carried an air of authority. Reminded me of Leo. And not in a good way.

“We’ll see how I feel. I might be gone by the time you rise.”

“I’m an early riser.” I didn’t used to be, but my physiotherapist, Marcus, discouraged me from spending too much time in bed. And Lucky made routine demands in the morning. Helped to have a dog when finding a reason to move forward proved virtually impossible. “I’ll make sure you at least have toast before you go. I can drive during the daylight, so I can run you down to Mission City. Unless you want to supervise the removal of your vehicle.”

Archer waved his hand. “The SUV is a write-off. I’ll contact my insurance in the morning as well. They’ll arrange for another vehicle.” He took a tentative bite of the bread, appeared vaguely impressed, and continued to eat it.

Don’t stare.

Just because I had an attractive man in my house didn’t give me permission to ogle. Just because it’d been a long time since I’d seenanyman—except the clerk at the gas station, who was way too young anyway—didn’t give me the right to fantasize. I didn’t count myphysiotherapist as apotential matein the sense he was a professional and I’d always see him as just that. Gorgeous and also the person who inflicted pain. Supposedly for my benefit, but I did question that.

“Well, thank you for the satisfying meal.” Archer gestured to the empty dishes.

“I’ll take care of them.” I rose. “And I’ll go see how your clothes are doing. If they’re only damp, I’ll pull them out of the machine and hang them up. That might lessen the damage.”

He arched his eyebrow. “I’ll only need them so I can leave tomorrow. Then they’ll be relegated to the rubbish heap.” He rose. “May I use your facilities?”

“The bathroom? Uh, of course. It’s up the stairs and straight at the end of the hall. There’s a spare toothbrush still in the package under the sink.” I shifted uncomfortably. “If you give me a few minutes, I’ll change the sheets and you can rest or whatever. Oh, your phone.” I held out my hand.

Archer appeared surprised but moved to the living room where he retrieved it.

When he handed it to over, though, my heart sank.This is a premium phone. Super fancy and super expensive.Leo had the same one, only one or two models older. They required a special cable, and of course, I didn’t have one. “I’m sorry.” I returned the phone. “I don’t have that cable.”

My guest’s brow furrowed. “I thought all phones used the same cables.”

“For that company, sure. But most of the other companies use a universal. Mine won’t work with that.” I retrieved my phone from the counter, unplugging it.

Everything stayed plugged in because power might go out.

Like tonight. I should unplug everything that wasn’t necessary, though, so I’d put less pressure on the generator. I’d gassed it up last week, but I didn’t like using any more fossil fuel than necessary. A solar machine was far beyond my price range. “I’ll just grab your clothes. Maybe you want to brush your teeth?”

He shifted. “Yes, using the facilities would be appreciated, thank you.” He headed up the stairs.

I snagged the dishes. I put everything in the dishwasher and shoved the pot with the little bit of leftover soup in the fridge.I’ll eat it tomorrow. I headed to the laundry room. As I suspected, the suit was still damp, even after a round in the old machine. I couldn’t afford to use more electricity tonight and tax the generator. I removed the pants and folded them to hang them on a plastic hanger. Then I added the suit jacket to a second hanger. Hopefully by morning they’d be dry. I fingered the fabric. Might even be salvageable.

I hotfooted it upstairs as the sound of the water pump activating reached me. I hadn’t specifically offered the shower, but Archer was free to use it.

Such a formal name.

I grabbed the fresh sheets from the linen cupboard. And the man’s tone was formal as well. Big words. Fewer contractions. Way above my position in life, that was for sure. And given the mansion Archer was building, clearly he had the scratch to go with the expensive suit and fancy SUV. I issued up a small prayer for the vehicle. It hadn’t deserved such a horrible ending.

Stripping the bed took little time, although my back protested every movement. Usually I allotted myself a half hour for the chore, but tonight I was under a time crunch. The shower was running, and that gave me a bit of extra time. Stretching to fit the under sheet was a pain in the ass, but I managed. Laying the top sheet wasn’t so bad,but tucking it in ate up precious time. I didn’t bother when it was just me. I used to take pride in keeping a meticulous house. These days,good enoughwas the motto. Oh, the place was clean, but not pristine. A place I could take pride in, but not tended to with the obsession I’d demonstrated with Leo and the kids.

Crap. Again, with the kids.

I glanced at the picture frame on the nightstand. Flipped it facedown.

“Thank you for the use of your shower.”

Holy crap.I spun to find Archer at the entrance to the room. I shoved the pillow into the pillowcase. “Uh, no problem. And everything here is fresh for you.” I gestured around the small space.

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