longest shower in the history of showers.
Though she didn’t want to, she turned off the spigot and wiped the water from her face as she stood. She opened her eyes to find a man standing a few feet away. An involuntary scream left her mouth before recognition hit. This time, she wasn’t able to prevent the tangled-feet phenomenon from dumping her flat on her butt in the mud she’d just created.
* * *
WHEN AUSTIN HAD headed out to ride the fence line earlier, he’d left behind a woman carrying away his grandparents’ things. As he stared down at Ella now, she looked more like she’d fallen in a stock tank filled with water.
He extended his hand to help her up. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you.”
She made a dismissive gesture with a muddy hand. “Totally my fault.” Instead of taking his hand, she shoved herself to her feet.
He couldn’t help how his gaze shifted to her wet T-shirt, which was plastered to her perfectly rounded breasts. He barely managed to lift his eyes toward her face in time to prevent her from noticing his blatant staring.
Ella lifted her hands, palms out. “Didn’t want to get you muddy.” She nodded toward the spigot. “Sorry I used so much water, but I felt like a turkey roasting at Thanksgiving.”
“Don’t give yourself heatstroke.” He certainly didn’t need her passing out in the driveway, burying herself under mounds of clothing or magazines that hadn’t seen the light of day since the ’90s or before.
She waved away his concern. “Nothing a shower, a load of laundry and the biggest Coke I can find won’t cure.”
Don’t think of her in the shower. Don’t think of her in the shower.
He forced himself to look at her truck instead of her. “I can’t believe you got so much stuff in one load.” Not that it would likely look like much had been removed from the mountains the house contained.
“I’m a master at packing lots into a small space.”
His skin itched at the very idea. Were the boxes and bags and miscellaneous items simply relocating to take up residence for years more in some other space too small to adequately contain them?
Not his problem.
“I’ll be back in the morning, and I’ll bring you that ladder,” she said.
He glanced back at Ella to see her already moving toward the driver’s side of her truck.
“Okay.” Did his voice sound as dry as his throat felt?
When she opened the door on the truck, she pulled a plastic bag from behind the seat and placed it where she could sit her muddy bottom on it.
Thankfully, she slid into the truck and quickly shut the door, hiding the way her wet shorts were also cupping her hips. She started the engine then tossed him a wave before she headed down the driveway. He was reminded of the Clampett family’s truck on old reruns of The Beverly Hillbillies, piled high with all their possessions as they headed to California after striking it rich.
Only Ella Garcia hadn’t struck it rich, even if she sort of acted as though she had.
As she disappeared beyond the trees, he let out a slow breath, turned on the spigot and stuck his own head under the cool flow of water.
Ella moaned as her alarm clock belted out beeps the next morning. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she mumbled into her pillow. Hadn’t she fallen asleep about ninety seconds ago?
Honestly, if she had a baseball bat handy, the clock’s remaining seconds would be numbered in single digits.
Since mind control sadly didn’t work on the alarm, she rolled over and slapped it off. She stared up at the ceiling with every muscle in her body staging a coup. But today wasn’t going to be any easier. In fact, instead of a partial day of clearing out the Bryant house, she was going to be at it all day for multiple loads. Not for the first time she allowed herself to fantasize about her business growing so much that she could afford an employee or two to help out with the pickups, deliveries, all the miscellaneous stuff that ate into her design time.
But fantasizing about it wasn’t going to make it come true. Getting her tired butt out of bed just might. Eventually.
After a few minutes in the bathroom, she dressed and headed out to load the ladder in the truck. Once it was secured, she headed toward town. More specifically, the Mehlerhaus Bakery.
Keri Teague, the owner, looked up when Ella walked into the bakery. If heaven smelled any better than this place...well, Ella wasn’t sure that was possible.
“You look as if you could use some coffee.”
“You, my friend, are correct. And one of those cinnamon rolls that’s as big as my head.”
Keri slid the door on the back of the glass display case open and reached for one of the cinnamon rolls that was, no lie, the size of a salad plate.
“Actually, make it two rolls and two large coffees.”
“You really in need of sugar and caffeine or you buying some for Austin Bryant, too?”
“Can’t hurt to come bearing breakfast when I’m hoping to have time to get everything he’s offered.”
Keri lifted a brow. “And just what exactly has he offered?”
“Fine, twist the tired lady’s words.”
Keri laughed as she bagged up the rolls. “I haven’t seen Austin in a long time, but as I remember he wasn’t exactly hard to look at.”
“I’m too busy looking at all the raw materials I’m hauling out of his grandparents’ house.”
“Uh-huh.” Keri gave her a look that said she didn’t buy one word of what Ella had just said.
“Okay, fine. The guy is good-looking. He also couldn’t be more anxious to get the hell out of here and back to wherever he came from.”
“Dallas. He’s got some big job at an energy company, I think.”
Well, that explained the nice car. What it didn’t explain was how at home he looked on that horse, riding out toward a herd of cattle. Of course, that could just be remnants of his childhood still lingering.
Keri placed a couple of to-go coffees on the counter beside the cinnamon rolls. “Oh, and by the way, you might want to know that the person who pointed Austin in your direction was Verona.”
Oh, great. So far Ella had managed to not become the town matchmaker’s target, but she’d guessed it was only a matter of time.
“That woman has entirely too much time on her hands,” Ella said as she passed over the money for her breakfast. “Plus, I think there ought to be a rule that you should have to be a native of Blue Falls to be targeted by her.”
