got one for the time being. My house.”
“I can’t impose for long. You already have too many people under one roof.”
“The more the merrier, I say. Remember I chose to have four children, so I’m accustomed to a lot of people around.” Laura grinned. “Besides, soon our new addition will be finished and we’ll have two more bedrooms.”
“No, this is important. I have to make it on my own. I hope you understand.” She couldn’t make the same mistake again of depending on someone else to rescue her.
Laura fixed her with a kind look. “I understand perfectly. You remind me of myself this time two years ago when I first came to Cimarron City.” She took a slice of pizza. “But remember you aren’t alone. The Lord is with you and so are your friends.”
If only it were that simple . Cara picked up her own piece to eat while Timothy reseated himself. Her son had to be her main focus now.
Two days later, Cara stretched as far as she could on the second to the top rung of an eight-foot ladder, leaning against the trunk of an oak. “Kitty. Here, kitty. You’ve got to take this. You won’t get well if you don’t take it.” Although, by the way this tomcat scampered up the tree, it appeared as though he was healthier than everyone thought.
Cara held a treat between her forefinger and thumb and waved it toward him. The overweight cat, sitting on the branch above her, let out a protesting whine. Obviously this feline was too smart to fall for the hidden pill inside the moist delicacy.
She glanced at the top rung and decided there was no way she would go that extra step for the tomcat. She was high enough off the ground as it was. When she looked back at the animal, entrenched in his safe spot, the cat launched himself at her. She flung up her arm to protect her face. The action caused the ladder to rock back. For a second it teetered in midair, and then suddenly Cara plunged toward the hard ground.
Masculine arms caged her against the wooden rungs but the ladder’s backward momentum was too much. She continued to fall, taking her rescuer with her. His body cushioned her impact. A grunt exploded from his lips, blasting hot air near her ear; at the same time, muddy water splashed up, drenching her and the person under her.
One of the slats hit her forehead as the traitorous ladder came to rest on top of her and her mysterious protector.
“Okay?”
The deep timbre of his voice washed over her much like the puddle. She gripped the ladder and shoved it off her, embarrassment making her unusually strong, it seemed.
“Yes. How about you?”
He lifted her up a few inches and sucked in several deep breaths. “Now I am.”
She scrambled to the side and rotated toward her rescuer. The color in her cheeks had to have deepened to a scarlet red, if the warmth suffusing her face was any indication, and she was glad that the muddy water covered her mortification.
“I guess you attract puddles,” Noah said as he scooted back out of the muddy water, which drenched both of them now.
She pushed her wet hair back from her face and wiped her hands across her cheeks. “One of my finer abilities.”
His chuckles echoed through Laura’s backyard. “I’m not sure I want to know about any others.” He rose in one smooth motion and presented his hand to help her stand.
On her feet she saw how totally soaked she was. Far worse than a few days ago when she had first met Noah Maxwell. “I don’t think a towel will help this time.”
He glanced down his body. “You think?” When he reestablished eye contact with her, amusement glittered in his hazel depths. “Where is everyone?”
“Peter is at the barn. Laura and the children are at the cottages, making plans for tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
“The last day of freedom, as Laura’s son told me, before they have to go back to school.”
Puzzlement wrinkled his brow.
“Last day of spring break and the first day of my new job.”
“Ah, I see. I would think Sean would be looking forward to going back. He only has a few more months and he will graduate.”
“Top of his class as Laura is eager to point out.”
“Yeah, he’s come a long way from two years ago.”
“A lot can happen in two years.” As she well knew. Her life had fallen apart and everything familiar was gone.
“Can I help you?”
“Why were you on the ladder?”
Cara glanced up into the branches of the oak and found the fat feline perched on another limb, watching her like the Cheshire cat. “I told Peter I would give Moose his antibiotic. One of the animals was having babies, I think, and he needed to be there.”
“And the poor momma probably doesn’t want him anywhere near her, but Peter likes to make sure everything is all right. He lost a dog and a litter of puppies because there was a complication last year. So now he personally oversees any birthing that he knows about.” Noah walked toward the hose near the deck and turned the tap.
“That could be exhausting, especially during the spring.”
“That’s Peter. All or nothing. Actually that pretty well describes Jacob and me, too. Paul, our foster father, taught us well.” He cleaned himself as best as he could under the circumstances, then offered Cara the water.
“Thanks, but I’m thinking a shower is more in line.”
“If only.”
“The least I can do is bring you a towel.”
“Tit for tat?”
She smiled and mounted the steps of the deck. “It’s dangerous to be around me. I’ll get one and be right back.”
Noah watched Cara disappear inside. Where in the world had that comment about being an all-or-nothing kind of guy come from? Along with knocking the breath from him, she must have rattled his brain when she landed on him. He tried to think what it was about her that—
“Here you go.”
She appeared in front of him while he obviously had been in a stupor since he hadn’t heard her approach. “Oh, yes, thanks.”
“See you tomorrow,” she said as she went back into the house.
He began drying his hair and immediately the image of her doing that a few days before popped into his head. She’d definitely rattled him. She wasn’t at all like the women he dated casually. There was nothing memorable in her features—certainly nothing that normally attracted him. Especially because he never was interested in single mothers. Children and he did not mix.
One week on the job and Cara’s feet still ached from standing so much. And tonight would be extra long because she would help close the restaurant
