a minute,” Gage said. “Where are you from?”
“Dublin, Ireland,” she said, her tone stiffer than an ironing board.
“You’re Jonas’s ex-fiancée,” Gage said, a light dawning. “I had an invitation to Sabrina and Jonas’s wedding, though I couldn’t make it over from Hell’s Colony in time. But I heard about you.”
She looked at him, not pleased. “Jonas and I are good friends, and nothing more.”
He laughed. “Cupcake, I get the whole setup now. Those damn Callahans. They want everyone to share their misery.”
“What are you talking about?”
Gage couldn’t wipe the smirk off his face. It was all so obvious. “You’re not a United States citizen, are you?”
“No. What does that have to do with anything?”
He shrugged. “You. Me. One house. It’s a setup.”
“I don’t think so,” she said, her voice subarctic. “There is no setup.”
“Sure.” He leaned forward on his knee. “How long are you planning to stay here?”
“Here? As long as I can.”
“And how long would that be?”
She sniffed. “I’m in the process of getting a green card.”
“So you want to stay a while?”
“Being in New Mexico has had a wonderful effect on my mother’s health. We’re hoping to remain here permanently, if possible. Mum and I have been traveling, and we’re getting to the end of my legal time here. Filing the paperwork has been a very slow process. But I don’t see what that has to do with you, or—” Her expression suddenly changed from ire to horror. “You think Jonas sent you out here so I could snare you into marrying me! Because I’m his ex-fiancée? You think I just need another man to make all my problems go away, and Jonas sent you as some kind of consolation prize.”
He smiled. “Don’t look so shocked, cupcake.”
She shook her head. “You’re dumb. I’m going inside, and I hope our paths cross very rarely.”
“Hang on a second.”
He didn’t think she’d stop, but to his surprise, she turned to look at him with all the misgiving she’d probably have when eyeing a coyote. “What?”
“What’s your name? I can’t just call you Irish.”
“My name is Chelsea Myers, but I prefer you don’t call me anything. Look.” She gave him a mulish glare. “I don’t believe Jonas would try to get us together—”
“You don’t know the Callahans all that well, then. They’re notorious for their practical jokes.”
“The two of us getting together would indeed be a joke. Jonas promised me I would have nothing but peace and quiet here for my writing. Peace and quiet is what I need, or I can’t work. Does that make sense to you?” She gave Gage a look that quite clearly said he was probably incapable of understanding much of anything. “So if you like brawling, loud music or wild nights with the ladies, you’ll need to go into town for all that.”
“Sure thing, sweetie.” He picked up his duffel and strode past her into the house.
“What are you doing?”
“If we’re going by Jonas’s rules, then I’m staying in here. He said nothing about a redhead with an attitude disturbing me on my own personal time-out. He said nothing about sleeping in a ramshackle bunkhouse or a caving-in barn. He said there was a quaint, newly furnished though spartan farmhouse I could live in while I create his horse program and rebuild this joint. And if you don’t mind, Miss Myers,” he said, his tone deliberately soft to let her know he did mind very much, “I abhor the sound of a TV, especially the soap operas you ladies love, and most particularly reality TV. When I come home at night, I want no bickering, no bossing and no busybodying interrupting my routine. Got that?” He glanced around, seeing the redheaded storm about to erupt, and spoke to forestall it. “Now, where’s Ma Myers? I’d like to introduce myself.”
“She won’t be here until tomorrow. She’s in Diablo helping Fiona Callahan pickle vegetables for the Fourth of July family celebration. Never mind about my mother,” Chelsea said. “We can’t both stay in this house.”
“There’s a barn and a bunkhouse,” he reminded her.
Her lips pressed flat again. “Mum and I will take the upstairs, you will take the downstairs.”
He glanced around, liking the look of the place. Jonas hadn’t been far off when he’d said it was almost new inside. He’d begun renovating the house first, then hired Gage to whip the rest of the ranch into shape. “Fine,” he said. “I leave early, come in late.”
“I couldn’t care less what you do.”
“I just don’t want to catch you wandering around in your nightie, sweetheart.”
“I promise not to wander around in my nightie,” Chelsea said, her voice oh-so-sweet, “if you don’t mind leaving your boots on the porch. The hardwood floors are new.”
She had him there. His own mother would have already read him the riot act—he and his brothers and sister had learned to leave their boots outside or in the mudroom from the time they were old enough to wear them. He’d be better off dealing with a scorpion in his boot than his mother catching him wearing them in the house. “Deal. Pleasure doing business with you, Miss.”
“Whatever,” Chelsea said, and went up the stairs.
He watched her climb, his mouth curving a bit at the sight of female hips swaying ever so enticingly. She was a mouthy little thing, but he didn’t mind mouthy so much. Mouthy could be tamed.
“One more thing I need to mention,” he called up the stairs.
“What now?”
“My daughter is arriving tomorrow, so she’ll be staying here with me.”
Chelsea appeared at the top of the stairs. “Daughter?”
Gage nodded. “Yeah. Cat and her mom have been having a bit of mom-daughter drama. Cat’s thirteen, so she and Leslie, my ex-wife, want a small break from each other.”
Chelsea’s eyebrows rose. “Small break? Like a couple of days?”
He shrugged. “Like the rest of summer vacation. Jonas said this was probably the perfect place for Cat and me to get to know each other better.”
“I see.”
Gage saw that Chelsea did in fact “see” and wasn’t pleased. “I don’t imagine a teenager will be much of a bother.”
Chelsea disappeared from view. He went into the kitchen to check out the grub in the fridge—he’d need to make a grocery run before Cat
