Page 11 of The Cowboy's Unlikely Love

“I figured I’d stop by and see if you could use some help around here,” he said as he glanced around the living room.

“Taylor’s at her doctor’s appointment. She should be home around four.”

He nodded. “I thought she was probably working today.”

“She sees her doctor every week now that the baby’s almost here. How about a glass of iced tea?”

“That’d be nice.” He followed her into the kitchen and sat at the table.

While she poured his tea, Shannon said, “I sure could use some help with my kitchen sink. It leaks underneath, so I’ve been keeping one of my big pots under there. Every time I run water, I have to go empty the pot in the bathroom sink.”

He frowned. “That’s awful. I’ll take a look and see what’s wrong. I’m sure I can fix it.”

“That’d be wonderful, honey. Seems I can’t get anything done, what with babying this sink the way I have to.”

She handed him his tea, then started emptying out the contents of the cabinet under the sink. Soon there were cleaning supplies and odds and ends spread out on the floor. She turned to Colt. “That should do it.”

He got down on his hands and knees and looked up underneath the sink. The pipe was old and corroded. He followed it down from the faucets and immediately saw the problem. He withdrew his head and stood up.

“Can you fix it?” Shannon asked.

“I sure can. I just need to pick up a few things in town. I’ll be back in about an hour.”

“Well, thank the Lord.” She walked him to the front door. “Thanks, Colt, for coming over today. You don’t know how much I appreciate what you do for Taylor and me.” She put her arm around his waist and gave him a squeeze.

“I’m glad to do it, Shannon. No need to thank me.” He stepped out onto the porch. “I’ll see you when I get back.”

He headed down the ranch drive thinking about what Shannon had said. Some people might think it strange that he was coming to the aid of two women whom he barely knew. But he admired Taylor. Admired the hell out of her. She’d been raped and had become pregnant from that violence—and yet she cherished the baby growing inside her. Many women would despise it; some would have terminated the pregnancy.

Instead of living her life in bitterness, Taylor had uprooted herself and left the ugliness behind, beginning a new life with no friends and just Shannon for family. He could only admire her courage and bravery. And to think that she’d endured everything that a rape trial involved made him sick. She was one hell of a woman—andthatwas why he was helping them.

Once he got back to the old homestead, he turned off the water at the pump house and then crawled back under the sink to give his problem another once-over.

“Would it help if I held a flashlight?” Shannon asked a moment later.

“That would definitely be better,” he said as he bore down on the corroded fitting. After great effort, it loosened, banging his knuckles against the wall. He bit back a curse. There was nothing he despised more than working on old plumbing—although he had lots of experience at it because his own family’s ranch house had plenty of it.

As he loosened the next corroded fitting, the whole pipe broke. “Shit!” The curse had escaped him before he could stop himself.

Shannon said, “Is something wrong?”

“The pipe broke, but it’s fine. I bought extra just in case that happened.”

It took him more than an hour and a half to fix everything under the sink, but just before Taylor was due home, he crawled out and brushed himself off. After going out and turning the water back on, he said, “Try it, Shannon. See how it works.” He put a dry paper towel under the pipes and watched for drips as Shannon ran the water full-out. Nothing happened.

Shannon cried, “Woo-hoo!” and gave him a high five.

He laughed. “Well, that’s that.”

“I think this calls for a cold beer,” Shannon said with a grin.

“I could go for that.” Colt washed his hands in the sink and then dried them, wondering at the fact that this was the first time she’d offered him something alcoholic. Did she think he had a drinking problem? Or did she have one herself?Lord, don’t tell me Taylor has a drinking problem.

Shannon handed him a beer and opened one for herself as well. So, no drinking problem for her. Crap. That only left Taylor. “I guess Taylor’s not drinking anything alcoholic now that she’s pregnant, huh?”

“No, but before the baby she enjoyed an occasional glass of wine.” Shannon frowned and looked down at her beer. “But leading up to the trial, she told me that she drank too much—way too much. She only stopped when she found out that she was pregnant four and a half months into it. She thought the throwing up was stress from all the gossip and from her hangovers. She never dreamed that the bastard had gotten her in the family way.”

Shannon sighed and took another swallow of her beer. “So of course, she doesn’t drink now, but after the baby, I’m not sure what her relationship with alcohol will be.”

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