mere thought of her ex-husband put a frown on Paige’s face. He’d been a liar and a cheat. And seven years ago, when she’d left him and his mistress behind in Reno, she’d basically pushed the idea of love and marriage out of her life. She didn’t need to go looking for another heartache. That had been her motto.
But earlier in the week, when she’d held Marcella’s daughter in her arms, she’d suddenly been swamped with loneliness and the feeling had startled her. All these years she’d lived as a single woman, she’d thought her life was complete. She’d never thought of herself as lonely. She’d never gone around longing for a husband or children. After all, she had her busy job at the hospital, along with helping her grandfather on his little farm. She didn’t need anything else.
But the night Paige had held newborn Daisy, something deeply maternal had called to her. Suddenly she’d been remembering how much she’d once wanted a man’s love. How much she’d longed to have babies and be a mother.
When Luke Sherman had spotted her tears, he’d accused her of being emotionally out of control. He couldn’t know that for the first time in years, she’d allowed herself to be a woman and all the feelings that went with it. But he wouldn’t care about that. No, with him it was always about rules and stipulations. Well, she’d stepped over that rigid line he expected her to follow and she had no intention of ever going back.
Forty-five minutes later, when she arrived home, she spotted Gideon and Rob Duncan in front of the barn, changing a tire on one of the tractors. As she exited the car and started to the house, both men waved to her. She waved back, but didn’t make a point to go greet them.
Rob had never hid the fact that he wanted to date her and though he was a nice, generally good-looking man, she was tired of repeatedly turning down his invitations, and Gideon didn’t seem to understand. As far as her grandfather was concerned, the neighboring farmer would be a good catch for Paige.
Inside, Paige changed into a pair of old jeans and a checked shirt, then went straight outside to the henhouse. She’d fed the chickens and was gathering the eggs that had been laid since yesterday, when Gideon stepped into the dimly lit structure.
“Hey, girl, couldn’t you find enough eggs in the house for your breakfast?”
Paige placed the last brown egg in the basket on her arm before stepping over to her grandfather. “I didn’t want any breakfast. I wanted to come out here. It makes me feel good to hear the hens cluck.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “What’s the matter—you don’t want to eat? You getting sick on me?”
“No, Grandfather. I’m fine.”
He lifted a worn gray cap from his head and swiped a hand over his hair. “Rob was wondering why you didn’t come say hello.”
Paige inwardly winced. “I waved hello to him.”
“The man is crazy about you, Paige. The least you can do is be friendly.”
Sighing, Paige shook her head. “He views being friendly as encouragement. And I don’t have any romantic interest in the man.”
“Maybe you should,” he retorted. “You could do a lot worse than to marry Rob.”
It wasn’t like Gideon to pry into her private life. Sometimes he suggested that she needed to get out more and do something fun with friends, but he’d never pushed her about men or marriage until recently.
“What’s the matter, Grandfather? Are you thinking I’m turning into an old, cranky spinster?”
“Hell, no. I...well, sometimes I get to thinking you’re wasting yourself living here with me. Never having much of a life of your own.”
Smiling now, she curled one arm around the back of his waist and gave him a squeeze. “Hush, Grandfather. Not one minute of my life is wasted when I’m with you. So if you’re getting tired of me, you’re out of luck. I’m not going anywhere. And you can tell that to Rob Duncan, too.”
“I’ll tell him,” Gideon muttered. “No use in letting the man hang on to false hope.”
Trying not to roll her eyes, Paige urged him out of the henhouse. Once they were away from the chicken yard and walking toward the back of the house, she asked, “When did you have the flat on the tractor?”
“Don’t know. I found it that way this morning. I would’ve fixed it myself, but since it was on Ole Red I thought I’d better wait until I got some help.”
Ole Red was Gideon’s biggest tractor. The one he used for plowing and cultivating the alfalfa field. The tires on the Farmall were much too enormous and heavy for one man to handle. Especially a man of Gideon’s age.
“I’m glad you did. But you could’ve called a garage in Fallon to send someone out. I would’ve paid for the service. You didn’t need to bother Rob.”
“He was on his way to Carson City and just happened to come by to say hello. Being neighborly, he offered to help. And speaking of being neighborly, old lady Krenshaw is feeling poorly again. If you ask me she’s just wanting attention, but I thought you might go visit her this evening. On your way back to work.”
By now the two of them had climbed onto the back porch and Gideon held open the screen door in order for Paige to precede him into the kitchen. The room smelled of sausage and pancakes, and normally, the scents would have whetted her appetite, but for the past few days she’d found it impossible to eat more than a few bites at a time.
“I won’t be going back to work this evening,” she informed him. “I have the next two days off.”
Pausing in his tracks, Gideon stared at her. “Glory be. What are you going to do with yourself?”
“Just what I want to,” she joked, then added in a more serious tone, “I honestly don’t know yet. Hoe the garden and wash curtains. Maybe even make you some pies.”
Gideon pushed back the bill of his cap and scratched the top of his head. “Guess things are going to be different around here with you not working in the ER. Maybe your transfer was all for the better.”
It would be for the better, Paige thought, if she liked the slower pace and could get used to not having Dr. Sherman standing over her shoulder, barking out orders. Darn it! Why did his memory have to keep butting in? For days now she’d tried to forget the awful things she’d said to him. True, he’d deserved every word and more. But it wasn’t in Paige’s nature to be nasty to anyone. Even someone who’d treated her unfairly.
“I hope so,” she told him, then directed their conversation away from her job. “So explain this to me, Grandfather—how do you know Hatti Krenshaw isn’t feeling well? Have you been calling her?”
“Now why would that idea surprise you?” he asked with a grin. “Your old grandfather knows how to talk to a woman.”
Paige placed the basket of eggs on the cabinet and began to gather fixings for a fresh pot of coffee. “I didn’t know you were that acquainted with the woman. The only time we see her is at church. Have you been making trips over to her house?”
His wry chuckle had Paige arching a brow at him.
“You don’t know what goes
