Page 11

Jacob cocked an eyebrow. "You have a great family? And you left them?"

There wasn't judgment in his tone, but it was rife with curiosity, as if, what could possibly compel her to walk away from family. "Yes. I did."

He glanced over at her, and she stiffened, waiting for him to push it, to try to force her to talk about what she didn't want to discuss. But to her surprise, he simply nodded. "Takes guts to make that kind of call. I know it's not easy."

To her absolute shock, sudden tears filled her eyes, and she turned her head away so he wouldn't see. What the heck? Since when did she let herself even think about crying? "I'm fine. I'm good." She was good. She was great, actually. "It's just that this little situation knocked my equilibrium a bit. You don't need to worry that you need to take care of us. Just a place to sleep and we're good."

He was quiet for a moment, and the truck bounced along the dirt road. "We're almost there."

She looked around, but saw only trees. "Great."

"But I gotta tell you something before we get there."

This time, it was her turn to look at him. There was a tension in his voice that caught her attention. "Okay. What's up?"

He gripped the steering wheel, keeping his gaze on the road. "I'm not a people person," he finally said. "My place is off alone, because I need space. I don't always know how to interact with people. I can't always read what they want from me, and it can piss people off."

Her heart softened at his confession. She could feel the commitment it took for him to tell her. "That's okay," she said. "Annie doesn't do well around people either. I get that about her, and I work with what she can handle. We'll try not to rock your boat too much, but if we do, just tell us and we'll adjust."

He let out his breath. "I might not know how to be a good host, but I'll keep you guys safe. But just wanted to warn you that I—" He stopped, and swore. "I don't know. I just felt like I should warn you."

She laughed softly. "I appreciate the heads-up, but don't worry about it. Whoever you are, it will be exactly what we need." At his surprised look, she nodded. "That's how I believe the world works." She grinned. "And that also means that whatever you get from us is exactly what you need. And I say that knowing that I have a maniac puppy, an unpredictable daughter, and a truck bed full of chaos. Just wanted to warn you…"

He laughed then, a full-bodied deep laugh that made her heart turn over. "I'll try to remember that theory when my couch gets eaten."

"You have a couch? Awesome. When you were all dramatic about how sparse your house was, I thought we were going to be sleeping on a steel floor. This is going to be great."

He laughed again as he eased the truck to a stop. "Great, indeed." He put the vehicle in park. "Welcome to your new home, Phoebe."

"We're here?" She'd been so consumed by their little discussion that she'd forgotten to look around. She quickly leaned forward to peer out the window, then her mouth dropped open. "Holy cow. Are you kidding?"

CHAPTER FIVE

Jacob tensed at Phoebe's strong response to his house. "I know it's small. It's not much. But it's safe."

"It's beautiful!" She leaned over and patted her daughter's leg. "Annie! Wake up! Look at where we get to stay!"

Within moments, the two females and the dog were out of his truck, racing across the grass, literally bounding with excitement.

Jacob leaned on his steering wheel, completely flummoxed by their reaction. Yeah, he loved his house, but no one else did. Everyone said it was small, simple, and plain.

But this crazy trio was running around his lawn like he'd just brought them to Disneyland. Shaking his head in confusion, he got out of the truck as Annie collapsed onto the grass, rolled onto her back, and started doing snow angels.

Snow angels in the green grass.

Cupcake dove onto the little girl, and she started shrieking with laugher as the dog tried to consume her with kisses.

Phoebe stretched out beside Annie, and the two of them started doing matching snow angels on his grass.

What. The. Hell.

He walked over and stood there awkwardly, staring down at the trio.

Phoebe beamed up at him. "Join us!"

"No."

"Okay!" She didn't seem remotely upset by his one-word refusal. "Your lawn is gorgeous. Do you do it yourself?"