you want me to look at your car—”
She cut that off right away. “I can’t afford to pay you, Mr. Smith.”
He balanced a forearm against the top of the steering wheel. “Jake. I didn’t ask for payment. And the fact is you can’t go walking far in this heat.”
Stepping out onto the running board, she replied, “We do what we must.” That was one lesson she’d learned early and well.
“What time are you through here?” he asked.
She reached the ground and turned to face him. “Why?”
He pulled off his mirrored shades and tossed them onto the dash, fixing her with a hard stare. His eyes were such a dark brown they were almost black. “What time?”
“Six.” The reply was out before she could stop it.
“Then I’ll be back at six.”
Kathryn bit her lips. She knew she shouldn’t get in that truck with him again. He made her feel...well, not frightened really, but completely inadequate, and she did not need help with that. She cleared her throat anxiously. “That’s not—”
He reached across and pulled the cab door shut.
“—necessary,” she muttered, watching as he backed the truck around and drove away in a cloud of red dust.
Confident, capable, commanding—and apparently not used to taking no for an answer—he was exactly the last sort of man she should find attractive, and that she did find him attractive, wildly so, was reason enough to avoid him. She didn’t know how to deal with a man like him, but then he wouldn’t be interested in a plain, shy, unsophisticated woman like her, anyway. At least she wouldn’t have to walk back to town tonight. How she’d manage tomorrow, she couldn’t imagine, but she’d worry about that, and everything else, later. Moving toward the house, she thought of the boy and smiled.
Hey, lady.
Frankie certainly wasn’t shy. She didn’t know anything about children, but despite losing his mother at such a tender age, he seemed to be happy and well-adjusted, if a bit loud. Nevertheless, with her own mother’s death still fresh in her memory, her heart went out to him.
She wondered what had happened to the late Mrs. Smith. Illness or accident? Mia Stepp’s death had been a combination of the two, her illness a direct result of the automobile accident that had battered her body and left her paralyzed and brain damaged. Kathryn missed her dreadfully, but Frankie’s confident, carefree words concerning his own mother came back to her.
She in heben. She like it.
Kathryn prayed that was so. For both his mother and hers.
As she greeted Sandy, her elderly client, and began checking his vital signs before starting his lunch, she couldn’t help wondering how long ago Mrs. Jake Smith had passed on. And how many women were already lined up to take her place.
It made no difference. She would never see Jake Smith again after this evening.
She certainly would not think of him as her rescuer.
Even if he was.
Despite Frankie’s many questions, Jake couldn’t get Kathryn Stepp off his mind. You’d think no one had ever done that woman a favor before, Jake mused as he wandered around the auto parts store, waiting for the clerk to bring up his supplies from the warehouse. It cost less for the supplier to ship his goods to the auto parts store in Ardmore than to the ranch.
“S’wat that?” Frankie pointed at a rotating display rack.
“Air freshener. It makes the car smell good.”
“I wan’ it.” Frankie reached out his hand.
Jake took the inexpensive air freshener from the display. In the shape of a fir tree, it smelled of evergreen. He scratched the odor patch on the back of the package and held it to Frankie’s nose. The boy inhaled deeply, smiled and nodded.
“Okay, but after it’s opened it stays in the truck. It’s not a toy.”
Nodding, Frankie reached for the package. Jake handed it over. Frankie immediately reached for another. “Ty’er want one,” he said.
Jake picked up another air freshener for Tyler. They continued wandering the store until the clerk signaled them a few moments later.
After loading boxes into the bed of the truck, they stopped for lunch then ran two more errands before heading home. As Jake turned toward the ranch, he thought of Kathryn Stepp again, of the tears she’d tried to hide from him and the worry in her voice.
Without that car, I can’t work, and if I can’t work, I can’t fix the car. I can’t afford to pay you, Mr. Smith.
Mr. Smith.
The contrary woman didn’t like him much, though he was just trying to help her. She did like Frankie, though, and vice versa. That counted with Jake. Besides, how could he not help when he had the skills to do so?
For most of the drive, he mulled over how to convince her to accept his assistance. Maybe Tina could talk Kathryn into letting him work on her car. Or the Billings sisters. The Billingses were a prominent ranching family around War Bonnet, greatly respected for their honesty and generosity. He wondered if he could get Tina to ride with him when he went to pick up Kathryn that evening. It would be an inconvenience. Six was the dinner hour in the Smith household. Why couldn’t Kathryn Stepp just accept his help and let that be that?
Before he could decide how to handle the problem, he came upon her old car. Instinctively, he whipped over to the shoulder of the road and got out. A quick look told him that the little coupe had a standard transmission and the door was unlocked. Jake kept a sturdy chain handy for emergencies such as this. It was the work of minutes to hook up the chain, flick on the flashers and move the car’s transmission out of gear so he could tow it.
“The lady’s car!” Frankie exclaimed gleefully as Jake slowly tugged the little old coupe into motion.
“Yep. The lady’s car,” Jake confirmed, feeling the snap and tug of the chain.
Towing a car like this was risky business, but if he slowed properly he could bring both vehicles to a halt without causing damage to either. He guided the truck and coupe into a slow, arcing turn and made his way to Loco Man Ranch on the outskirts of War Bonnet, where he coasted to a stop in the middle of the compound yard. The coupe came to a rest right behind Tina’s old car.
Tina was driving a brand-spanking-new SUV now, and Ryder was supposed to be driving Tina’s car, but Jake had noticed that his little brother found lots of excuses for driving his brothers’ trucks instead. He couldn’t blame Ryder. All the Smith brothers stood three inches over six feet, and Ryder was by far the biggest, most muscular of the trio. A small car wasn’t a good fit.
Jake took Frankie and their purchases into the house, where
