Page 79 of The Honorable Texan
He cleared his throat.He didn’t want them asking themselves embarrassing questions about his attitude.He shoved his hands into his pockets.“Sorry.I didn’t sleep much last night,” he explained.
Meredith went to stand beside Leo, who took one of her small, cold hands in his and looked up at her with interest.
“Have you seen a doctor?”he asked.
“Your brother took me to the emergency room yesterday,” she said.
“Rey.His name’s Reynard, but he’s called Rey,” Leo informed her.
She smiled.“You look much better today.Head hurt?”
“A bit, but my vision’s clear and I’m not disoriented,” he said, quoting the doctor.“I have a good prognosis.”
“That’s nice to hear.You were in pretty bad shape.”
“I’d have been in a lot worse shape, but for you,” Leo said.“I hear that you can’t work out in public for a while, until your face heals,” he added.“Can you cook?”
She blinked.“Of course,” she said at once.
“Can you make bread?”
She frowned.“Bread?”
“More specifically, biscuits,” he added, and had the oddest expression on his face.
She shifted her purse in the hand he wasn’t holding.“Well, yes, those and rolls and loaf bread,” she said, as if everybody could do it.
Leo shot a glance at Rey, who was just staring athim without daring to say a word.He knew what was coming, and he couldn’t decide how he felt about it.He didn’t want to think about it.
“How would you like a brief stay in Jacobsville, Texas, in a big sprawling ranch house where your only job would be to make biscuits every morning?”Leo asked with his best smile.
Rey and the other brothers were staring at her, waiting.She wondered why.And Rey was frowning, as if he didn’t like the idea at all.Probably he still secretly thought she was a hooker.He couldn’t seem to credit her with any sense of decency.
She thought about his attitude for a few seconds, and decided that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to take the job, and show him that you really couldn’t judge a book by its cover.It wouldn’t hurt that arrogant cowboy to be taken down a step or two, and she was just the girl who could do it.
She smiled.It hurt her face, but what was a little pain for a good cause?She turned back to Leo.“Mr.Hart, I think I’d like that job very much!”
CHAPTER THREE
“Good for you!”Leo exclaimed, animated and smiling.“You won’t be sorry, Meredith.Honest.”
She smiled back at him.He was nice, like a big brother.She liked him already.“I can do housekeeping, too,” she told him.“I’ll earn my keep.”
“You’ll go on salary, of course,” he insisted.“It won’t be a holiday.”
“Nothing is a holiday with those two,” Simon murmured dryly.“They aren’t kidding about biscuits.They’ll run you crazy baking them.”
Rey and Leo gave their brother a disgusted look.
Meredith grinned.“I don’t mind,” she assured Simon.“I love to cook.”
“It won’t be that hard,” Leo promised, with another speaking glance at Simon.“We just love biscuits.But we’ll make you feel right at home.Anything you need, you can have—a new stove…” he added mischievously.
She thought about her father and her job, and her smile faltered.“I have to wrap up a few loose ends first,” she began.
“No problem,” Leo assured her.“I can’t get out of here for another day at least, or so that doctor said,” he added with impatience.
“You’ll stay until he lets you out,” Rey said firmly.“Concussions are tricky.You know that.”
