You see? That was all fine. They’d had a normal, neighbourly transaction. Now Troy was leaving and tomorrow they might see each other here or at the plant and that would be completely fine as well.
Stacie told herself all was well, and indeed she was fine until their glances met and she thought she found parts of herself in the depths of his eyes, in the way he seemed to guard himself.
Do not decide you know him, or that you share traits with him, Stacie.
All that kind of thinking could do for her was cause problems, and she didn’t know the man at all. But she did know he was single.
Yes. Great one to dwell on right now, Stacie.
‘I guess I might see you tomorrow morning.’
‘Yeah.’ He backed a step and then another. ‘Have a good night.’
Troy walked back to his farm.
Stacie went through the house and Fang flopped down in front of the kitchen heater in his pink outfit, while Stacie started organising her dinner. The little poodle stayed just inside her front door. Was it watching for Troy to return? But of course Troy didn’t, and eventually the dog came into the kitchen too.
Stacie sighed. ‘Well, I hope Troy didn’t think I was frivolous because of my creations, but he was quite supportive of my business. That’s generous, really, considering I’m planning to leave my job at the plant eventually.’
True, but Troy himself was happy to own the plant and didn’t want to spend all his time working there.
Stacie got on with her evening, enjoying Fang and the little dog’s company, working on her Bow-wow-tique sewing and online marketing.
She didn’t think about Troy at his nearby farm. She barely noticed when she happened to glance out of a window to see him go to one of the outbuildings and start shifting home-gym equipment about in there as though he really meant business with it.
Stacie draped a tape measure around her neck, repainted her nails and added the new stick-ons. She worked at her sewing some more. She didn’t imagine Troy thinking of her hard at work on her hobby. As if he would spare it or her a thought. Stacie might like her fantasy nails, but in life she understood she needed to be firmly grounded in reality.
CHAPTER THREE
‘I CAN’T believe I’ve lost Troy’s dog. Well, his stray dog, but it’s the same thing!’ Stacie hurried the short distance from her front yard to Troy’s yard. She’d been everywhere—down to the creek, through her two paddocks, along the lane that led to the road. Fang had gone with her, but he hadn’t proved much worth as a sniffer dog. He’d been too busy sniffing leaves and sticks. Right now he was shut back in the yard.
Stacie pushed open the door to Troy’s shed. She’d planned to casually and calmly ask for his help to search for the dog. That plan unravelled the moment she caught sight of him.
He was seated on a bench, lifting a set of weights. He had on a grey sleeveless knit-shirt, a darker-grey pair of shorts and trainers on his feet. As he moved, muscles across his upper body and in his legs and thighs flexed.
The slight breathlessness from her hurried search for the poodle suddenly became acute.
Troy was … beautiful. Absolutely toned everywhere, with strong, defined muscles and a hardness that seemed not only to be on the outside of him, but within.
There were marks on him—a scar across one shoulder and upper arm. And on his leg lines of scar tissue above and below the knee, and the knee itself was misshapen as though pieces had shattered away.
Oh, Troy. How did this happen to you?
On the walls in the shed were photographs: men in uniform, out of uniform, carrying guns, out in the field. Troy featured in many of them. His physique had already suggested such a background. Stacie had known he’d be muscled but seeing it in this way wasn’t quite the same as thinking about it. Seeing his injury … And the expression on Troy’s face …
All emotion had been cleared, wiped away and replaced by utter focus presented in a sharp, closed determination. He looked controlled and ready for anything.
She’d just seen a glimpse into his world, into why ownership of a processing plant and orchards hadn’t seemed to fully fit him, though she had no doubt he’d succeed at both.
Before she had time to be stunned by that glimpse into her new neighbour, even perhaps to wonder if she should feel intimidated, the concentration on Troy’s face changed as he noted her entrance. He set the weights down and rose.
‘I didn’t mean to interrupt your routine.’ She didn’t mean to stand here goggling over how magnificent he was, or to see his injury and want to hold him.
He would never allow that kind of empathy.
She’d known that even before she saw the photos on the wall that told her in stark images who he was and where he’d come from.
And what he’d lost, because he would never have chosen to step away from that army life. That truth was also tacked to his wall in those timeless images: camaraderie. Group shots with other soldiers. Training events. And real events that Stacie wasn’t sure she wanted to think too much about. That was his identity and belonging. There wouldn’t be room for the softer emotions in such a life.
She struggled to pull her thoughts back together. ‘I came to tell you I’ve lost your—’
‘The dog got away on you. Actually, I planned to come over once I finished my workout.’ His gaze shifted to a corner of the room where a sports bag sat on the floor.
A little dog sat beside it.
‘Oh, I’m so relieved that he’s okay, but how did he get out of my yard? It’s properly dog-proofed. I made sure of that when I first moved here, for Fang’s sake.’
Troy’s gaze examined the small animal. ‘I don’t know why he’d want to come here anyway.’
The dog had no microchip. Troy had discovered that yesterday when he’d taken it to the vet. Stacie had asked Troy to advertise locally and wait a couple of weeks before he did anything more. But the idea was for the dog to stay with her in the interim.
‘Dratted poodle,’ she said.
‘Damned Houdini dog,’ Troy said at the same time.
‘Oh. That’s a perfect name for him.’ A smile melted Stacie’s anxiety away. ‘And I’ll take him back, get him out of the way while you finish—’
‘I’m about done, anyway.’ Troy’s glance moved between her and the dog. ‘It’s just a good way to ease the kinks out after a big day in the orchards.’
After just two days, his efforts out there were already noticeable.
In fact, she’d done rather too much noticing as Troy had gone about his work.
Now Stacie was filled with curiosity and words popped out before she could stop herself.
