Page 38

“Bennett and Maggie say hi.”

The pregnant newlyweds were still shacked up at the main house on Bennett’s property while they waited to see if Maggie’s morning sickness subsided. Jax figured he couldn’t complain about being able to work outside in Deer Creek when his brother arguably had it worse. It wasn’t the town that was the problem; it was the sitting behind the desk and missing out on the town.

“They send you over here to stare at me like you’ve never seen a woman in shorts before?”

Jax grinned. Caught red-handed.

He shrugged. “No, that was all me,” he admitted. “But I come with some elbow grease, so can I get off with a warning?”

The corner of her mouth kicked up just enough to make him believe it’d happened.

“Was that a smile, Jill Henley? Well, I never—”

“Shut up and fix my lawn mower.” She crossed her arms over her chest, but the smile was full-fledged, ready to fly the coop. It looked good on her, but then, what didn’t?

“So, what happened here?” he asked, holding up a shredded piece of rubber. “Looks like it was mauled by that mama black bear we’ve got roaming the creek side. Can you hand me that screwdriver?” he asked.

Jill’s eyes grew as she passed Jax the flathead. “There’s bears here? But we’re in Texas.”

“Don’t tell them that.” Jax had the tire off, but peeling it from the rim was gonna be difficult in the shape it was in. “But yeah, a mama and her cub meandered down here from the mountains during the drought last year and—how do I say this without sounding like a crackpot? They sorta fell in love with my brother and Maggie.”

“They what?”

“Maggie told you about the fire in the canyon?” Jill nodded and took the screwdriver back. Jax flexed his fingers so he wouldn’t be tempted to brush back the strand of hair that kept coming untucked from behind her ear. “Maggie and Bennett saved them, so they took up residence. They keep their distance, but you can spot ’em from time to time in the canyon.”

“She neglected to tell me she had a pet bear when she invited me.”

Jax laughed, and when Jill joined him, he damn near dropped the new tire.

“You know, it’s not a federal offense—even in Texas—to let that thing loose every now and then,” he teased.

“I’ll have you know I laugh plenty when I’m not with you.”

“Ouch,” Jax said, miming being stabbed in the heart with the wrench. “Colonel Henley, in the field, with words sharper than a knife.”

“Huh?” she asked.

“You never played Clue as a kid?”

This time, her laugh opened up a space in his chest, letting a little of the midday light in.

Careful. Don’t get used to that. He wouldn’t. It was pretty common knowledge he wasn’t the relationship type. He’d had his heart broken, then went on to break his fair share. That was the story for a lot of folks to some degree. But how could he commit to one person when he wasn’t sure how he’d take care of them in the future? Better to bet on himself so he was the only one he hurt if he fell short.

“Got it. Anyway, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings, but for whatever reason, you and I haven’t been able to find shared ground, have we?”

Jax shook his head. “No, we haven’t. That doesn’t mean we can’t try.” He tightened the last lug nut and sat back on the dirt. “Man, I haven’t had a tire give me that much trouble since I got my first flat on the 40.”

“Thanks for your help.” She sat back with him, looking every bit like she fought the mower and lost. Grease and dirt streaked her skin like gray and brown watercolor Rorschach tattoos. It was cute.

“Any time. Why were you mowing and fixing this thing anyway? Doesn’t Maggie have a whole crew to maintain the property now that she’s over at Bennett’s?”

“She does, but most of them are off in the fields, prepping for the autumn cattle drive; others quit and moved to where there’s more full-time work. It’s like you said, finding people to fill vacant spots isn’t easy when the getting’s good.”

“Truer words,” Jax mused.

“Anyway, I figured I’d help out since I’m waiting on Orin to get back to me on our new catalog and things are going okay with MBE. Thanks for that, by the way; having you help on those orders since you know both is an unexpected benefit to having a guy on board.”

“Um, thanks?” He smiled, then shrugged. “It’s my job.”