“To my new job taking care of your adorable children—and to my mom and your mother-in-law making it work.”
He grabbed his glass. “I would insist on paying you the going rate.” He looked as grim and grouchy as ever, but at least he’d essentially accepted her offer.
“Daniel, we’re family. You don’t have to—”
“Stop arguing.” He narrowed those silvery eyes at her. “It’s only fair.”
Was it? Didn’t really matter. If he had to put her on salary in order to agree to accept her help, so be it. “Go ahead then. Pay me the big bucks.”
“I will.” He named a figure.
“Done.”
He tapped his glass to hers. “Here’s to you, Keely. Thank you.” He really did look relieved. “You’re a lifesaver.” And then something truly rare happened. Daniel Bravo almost smiled.
Well, it was more of a twitch on the left side of his mouth, really. That twitch caused a warm little tug in the center of her chest. The man needed to learn how to smile again, he really did. Yes, he’d caused Lillie pain and Keely resented him for it.
But Lillie, diagnosed with lupus back in her teens, had craved the one thing that was most dangerous for her. She’d paid for her children with her life and left her husband on his own to raise the sweet babies she just had to have.
Life wasn’t fair, Keely thought. At least there should be smiles in it. There should be joy wherever a person could find it. Jake and Frannie needed a dad who could smile now and then.
“What are you looking at?” Daniel demanded, all traces of that tiny twitch of a smile long gone.
Keely realized she’d been staring at Daniel’s mouth for way too long. She blinked and gave an embarrassed little cough into her hand. “Just, um, thinking that you ought to smile more often.”
He made a growly sound, something midway between a scoff and a snort. “Don’t start on me, Keely. You’ll give me a bad feeling about this deal we just made.”
It was right on the tip of her tongue to come back with something snippy. Do not get into it with him, she reminded herself yet again. They would be living in the same house at least some of the time, and they needed to get along. Instead of a sharp retort, she gave him a crisp nod. “Fair enough.”
Claws clicking gently across the floor, Lillie’s sweet basset hound, Maisey Fae, waddled in from the family room. The dog stopped at Keely’s feet and gazed up at her longingly through mournful brown eyes.
“Aww. How you doin’, Maisey?” She knelt to give the dog a nice scratch under her jowly chin. “Where’s my sugar?” She pursed her lips, and Maisey swiped at her face with that long, pink tongue.
When Keely rose again, Daniel was holding out a house key. “I’ll give you a check tomorrow to cover the first week.”
“Thanks. I’ll be here nice and early with my car full of clothes, equipment and art supplies.”
“I can’t wait,” he said with zero inflection as she headed for the front door. “What time?”
“Eight,” she said over her shoulder.
“I’ll come over and help.”
“No need.” She waved without turning. “I’ve got this.”
* * *
The next morning, as Keely was hauling her prized Bernina 1015 sewing machine out to her Subaru in the drizzling rain, Daniel pulled up at the end of her front walk in his Supercrew long-bed pickup.
He emerged from behind the wheel, his dark gold hair kind of scrambled looking, his face rough with beard scruff, wearing a heavy waffle-weave Henley, old jeans and the usual big boots.
“I told you I can handle this,” she reminded him as he took the sewing machine from her.
“You’re welcome. Happy to help,” he said, and for a split second she imagined a spark of wry humor in those ice-blue eyes.
She remembered her manners. “Thank you—and be careful with that,” she warned. “Those aren’t easy to find anymore, and they cost a fortune.” She swiped at the mist of raindrops on her forehead, then stood with her hands on her hips watching his every move as he set the machine carefully in the back seat of his truck. When he shut the door again, she asked, “So Grace has the kids?”
“Yeah, they’re with Grace. Let’s get the rest.” He headed up the walk, his long strides carrying him to the front porch of her shingled cottage in just a few steps.
She hustled to catch up. “You want some coffee? I can make some.”
“I had two cups with breakfast. Let’s get this done.”
* * *
Half an hour later, all her equipment, including her spare Bernina—a 1008 model—a raft of art and sketching supplies and the giant pegboard loaded with industrial-sized spools of thread in just about every color known to man, was either in the rear seat of his crew cab or tucked in the long bed beneath the camper shell. He’d loaded up her two collapsible worktables, too, and the smaller table she liked to keep beside her easel. That left only her suitcase to go in the Subaru. She’d figured it would take three trips to get everything up to the Bravo house. Thanks to Daniel, they would get it done in one.
“See you back at the house.” He climbed in his truck.
“Thank you. I mean that sincerely.”
With a quick wave, he started the engine and drove off.
She locked up and followed him, leaving the mist-shrouded streets of town to head up Rhinehart Hill into the tall trees and then along the winding driveway that led to the beautiful old Bravo house, with its deep front porch flanked by stone pillars.
Keely stopped behind Daniel’s truck in the turnaround in front of the house. She grabbed her biggest suitcase and hauled it inside and up the curving staircase to the room she planned to use for sleeping whenever she stayed over.
He emerged from the other room to meet her as she headed back down. “I’m putting your sewing stuff in the white room.” He shot a thumb back over his shoulder. “You’re using it for work, right?”
“How’d you guess?”
“It has better light than the other one. You want me to get the bed and dressers out of there?”
“I can use the dressers for storage, if that’s all right. Are they empty?”
“I think they’ve got a bunch of old clothes nobody wants in them. Just clear out the drawers, and I’ll take everything away.”
“Thanks.” Note to self: be nicer to Daniel. He really was a handy guy to have around when a girl needed to get stuff done. “And as for the bed, yes, please. I would like it gone.”
“I’ll have it out of there before dinnertime.” And off he went down the
