down and grabbed his sister’s ankles. “You know this isn’t going to feel good.”
“Don’t. Care.”
Cole shrugged, then started to work Jancey out from under the building. As soon as she was far enough out that she could get her knees underneath her, she scrambled the rest of the way by herself, pulling the shaking bundle of white fur with her. She flopped over into a sitting position, holding the little dog to her filthy chest.
Cole reached out to take Chucky. “Let’s get him in the house. Have a look.”
“Yeah.” Jancey got to her feet, brushed herself off a few times then glanced over at Taylor. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. You?”
Jancey lifted her shirt to inspect her stomach, which was red and scraped from where her shirt had ridden up while Cole dragged her backward through the sandy soil. “Nothing that won’t heal.” She jerked her head toward Cole, who was already halfway to the house. “He always pretends to be such a hard-ass. He isn’t.”
“I know.”
“Just making sure.”
Which left Taylor to wonder why as she and Jancey trotted to catch up with him. Once inside, Jancey sat on one of the kitchen chairs and held Chucky while Cole looked him over. The pup had indeed been bumped by the car. He had a skinned leg and a sore spot on his hip.
“Bruised, not broken,” he told Jancey.
“That’s what I thought. I don’t think he needs a vet call. I’ll treat the scrapes myself.”
“Maybe you should hand him over to Mrs. Clovendale.”
“Tomorrow, on my way to the interview. I’ll call her right now and let her know I’m taking care of him until then.”
She put the little white dog down on the floor. He looked at her sadly, and she gently scooped him back up. “Poor little guy. Come on. We’ll go fix that leg.”
She carted the dog out of the room, and Cole and Taylor exchanged looks. Then the laugh that Taylor had been holding burst out. She clamped her hand over her mouth.
“It’s okay,” Cole said drily. “We allow laughter in this house.”
“I’m sorry that the little guy got hit, but since he’s okay…” Taylor pressed her hand to the side of her face. “Jancey getting stuck was pretty entertaining.”
“Haven’t seen a lot of stuff like that?” he asked in an amused voice.
“I was an only child and my mother was kind of prissy. I didn’t get moments like this.”
“If you want to crawl under the grain shed, I’ll be happy to pull you out,” Cole offered. “Make up for what you lost out on growing up.”
She took a step closer, biting her lip as she looked up at him. “Or I could pull you out.”
He smiled. “Or…we could wait until Jancey and Chucky go to sleep and pick up where we left off…”
She went on tiptoe to take his face and pull his lips to hers. “I like that option best of all.”
“OKAY. THAT WAS stupid easy.” Jancey waltzed through the kitchen door and put Chucky down on the linoleum. Cole’s eyebrows came together as the poodle pranced around Jancey’s feet, but his sister didn’t seem to notice.
“I got the job!”
Cole jumped to his feet and wrapped his arms around his little sister. “Way to go, kid.”
“Congratulations!” Taylor dropped the spoon she’d been using to stir gravy and gave the girl a big hug as soon as Cole let her go.
“Stupid easy, you say?” Cole’s tone was ultraserious, but amusement lit his eyes.
Jancey gave him a nudge with her elbow. “You know what I mean.”
“I do, and congratulations.” He cleared his throat and indicated the poodle with a quick tilt of his head. “And Chucky?”
Jancey’s smile grew even wider. “He’s mine! Mrs. Clovendale can’t keep up with him, and apparently, her sister isn’t up to keeping him.”
“I don’t know if anyone is up to keeping him.”
“I am.” Jancey went to the counter, where Taylor had laid out the pot roast, and picked up a plate. “I have a job and a dog. This is a great day.”
“Super,” Cole muttered. Now Taylor gave him a nudge, and he winked at her.
Jancey put her plate on the table and took a seat. Chucky jumped up onto the chair next to her, and Taylor was afraid that if she looked at Cole she’d start laughing. So she focused on Jancey.
“Tell us about what happened. Every detail.” She took the chair across from Jancey and did her best to ignore Chucky who peered across the table with his soulful eyes.
“I start on Monday. I was really nervous about not having any references from the ranch, but Jolie—she’s my new boss—told me that if I was your sister, that was enough for her.” She stabbed her fork into the pot roast. “Take that, Miranda.”
Jancey’s joy was infectious, and Taylor found herself wishing that she could share a similar joy soon. Her gaze connected with Cole’s yet again, guessing he knew exactly what she was thinking—especially when his hand found her thigh under the table a few seconds later.
“I have to get a bunch of stuff from the ranch tomorrow,” Jancey said to Cole. “Can I use your truck?”
“The bed is filthy. You’d have to wash it out first.”
“How about the SUV?” Taylor asked. “I can go with you. Help load.”
Jancey considered. “If you don’t mind, that’d be great.”
“Works for me,” Cole said, looking back at his plate. He gave Taylor’s thigh a gentle squeeze before pulling his hand away. “I have an appointment with my accountant in Missoula tomorrow or I’d go with you.”
“I don’t need a bodyguard,” Jancey said darkly.
“It wasn’t you I was worried about.”
Jancey laughed. Landing the job at Culver Ranch and Feed had done wonders for her temperament. Or maybe it was breaking free from the family ranch, no longer having to deal with the stress there.
“I’m going to use my first paycheck to buy a kennel for Chucky. Jolie will give me a discount on both the fencing and the boards I’m going to bury in the ground around it so that he can’t dig out.”
“And then you’ll continue to save for college.”
Jancey
