Page 7 of A Twist of Faith
Reese turned his attention to Doc. She looked fightin’ mad, and he almost grinned. Why did sass and spunk look so attractive on a woman?
Doc’s dark gaze shifted to Mavis, a look of understanding dawned, and then she sighed. Must be tired. She kept rubbing her forehead. He’d better get her settled in quick, before she collapsed right there in the driveway and got her fancy designer jeans dirty.
“How ’bout we get you inside. I can unload your car.”
Doc bumped her car door closed with her hip. “No, thank you. I can manage.” She nodded toward the house. “If you’ll show me around, then you can be on your way. I don’t want to trouble you further.”
Reese adjusted his cap and turned. He took the porch steps two at a time like he always did, tossing a glance over his shoulder to see if Doc kept up. Nope, she stood stone still at the bottom of the porch with Grandpa’s old hound sniffing at her heels.
“That’s Haus.” Reese offered a smile.
Doc grimaced.
Seemed ’bout right.
He placed the key in the door and opened. Somehow, the place still smelled like pipe tobacco, mint, and home.
“What is he … doing?” Doc’s voice sounded small and a little scared.
Reese followed her wide-eyed stare to Haus’ grin.
“Well, he’s smilin’ at ya.”
“Smiling at me?” She pressed her body against the wooden rail and finished her ascent up the stairs, never taking her attention from the dog.
“Yeah. He’s real friendly.”
“Where does he live?”
“Here.” Reese leaned against the doorframe keeping the screen open with his foot. “We ain’t been able to get him to realize Grandpa’s dead. So he lives here and somebody usually stops by once a day to check on him. No better dog in all of Virginia.”
Doc shrugged past Reese, stumbling over his foot. In one fluid motion, he steadied her in his arms. Her hands gripped his shoulders and momentum pushed her forward until her nose grazed his chin, fanning warm breath down his neck. Heat rumbled to life in his chest, and if she hadn’t pushed him away so fast, he’d have beaten her to it.He had to get out of there.She was causing way too much noise in his head.
“I’m not much of a dog person,” she said.
Reese backed out the door, half falling. “That’s alright. He don’t mind none.” The threshold of the door stood between them like an invisible wall, but it couldn’t hide the faint bloom of color in her face.
He cleared his throat and pointed toward the staircase inside. “There are two bedrooms upstairs and a ladder to the attic. Not much room for storage up there, ’cause it’s full of old stuff of my grandparents Mom ain’t gotten around to piddlin’ through yet. There’s a study beside the kitchen with Internet—but we only got dial-up way out here, so if you’re needin’ to do anything with speed, you’ll have to use computers at the school. There’s talk in town of WiFi comin’ back here in a month or two, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.”
No reply, but she did blink a few times as she took in what she could see from the doorway. She did have pretty eyes. Not that he was looking.
His mama and sister had replaced all the outdated furniture with something they called a ‘cozy cottage’ style and though Reese preferred a more practical house, he had to admit it looked good. Probably too simple for Doc’s big city tastes, but a whole lot nicer than faculty housing at the university.
She approached the fireplace. “Is that a mountain dulcimer?”
Reese didn’t have to look, but the sheer fact the woman knew what to call the Appalachian instrument had his brain in knots. “Sure is. Was my granny’s. Grandpa kept it out ’cause he said Granny’s soul whispered in her music and he wanted to keep it at the center of his house to remind him of her. I reckon that’s why we keep it there too.”
Doc raised her hand as if to touch the dulcimer, but then dropped it back to her side. “Music is an intimate thing.”
The lost look on her face drew on his compassion. Seemed more like a wounded critter on the farm than a college professor … and critters he knew somethin’ about. “Do you play?”
“It’s been a long time since I’ve had much to do with music, I’m afraid.” She pulled her gaze away from the instrument. “My education has taken up most of my time.”
“Education is important.” Reese nodded. “But I reckon a person can’t get by without some food for the heart.”
Silence swept between them and Doc’s gaze searched his. For answers? Understanding? He couldn’t say, but as quickly as it came, it disappeared into a frown. “Thank you, Mr. Mitchell.” She shifted her attention to the door, then turned her face toward the fireplace, dismissing him like he was a young’un. “I appreciate your time and assistance.”
“I reckon you can manage on your own?”
