TWO MONTHS HAD PASSED SINCE I walked out of Malcolm’s hospital room. It took him two days before he called and left a message saying he really wanted to see me. When I didn’t answer, he kept calling and sending text messages.
I changed my number two weeks later. The only good thing was he at least had the decency not to bother me at work. He probably met some nurse who was taking care of him.
Letting out a frustrated sigh, I dropped my pen onto my desk and buried my face in my hands. Was it time to go home yet?
My phone buzzed as I picked it up. “Hey, Stephanie, what’s up?”
“Tyler wants you to come to his office.”
I closed my eyes and shook my head. Tyler was the owner of Southlake Physical Therapy and if you did your job, he left you alone. I could only imagine why he was calling me in. The last time it was to work on a patient no one else could handle. He was cranky, mean, and never wanted to do what you asked him to do. Unfortunately, Tyler felt like I was the right person for the job. It took three months to finally break the guy’s mold. It took tough love and me telling him to piss off a time or two. I had a strange feeling I was about to be tested again.
“I’ll be right there.”
I pushed my chair back and stood as I pulled a deep cleansing breath through my nose and blew it out through my mouth. Elizabeth had decided I needed to do yoga with her. After telling her what happened with Malcolm, she declared a no-guy zone for six months and I agreed to it. I was getting my inner-nun on.
Knocking lightly on Tyler’s door, I heard him say to come in. When the door opened, I smiled and walked in, taking a seat in one of the chairs facing his large oak desk.
He had multiple awards on the wall behind him as well as pictures of his family.
He looked at me intently for a few moments before saying, “Paislie, you know you’ve become one of my top physical therapists.”
I moved about nervously in my seat. I was never one to take compliments well.
“Thank you, Tyler.”
“You’ve been a huge part of the growing of this practice. But I need to know how far you’ll go to help it grow even more.”
A sick feeling moved over me as I raised my eyebrow at him.
“Are you willing to travel for a job?”
My body relaxed and I almost sighed with relief. I shrugged and said, “By travel, what do you mean? Like drive somewhere each day?”
“No, I mean travel to a client’s house and pretty much live-in with them during their recovery. They are willing to double your salary, take care of your room and board and pay your current monthly rent in return for PT four times a week.”
My eyes widened in shock. “Wow. That seems pretty excessive to have a physical therapist at their beck and call.
Tyler nodded. “I admit, it was a shock to me at first and he offered a rather hefty bonus for taking you away from the practice, but this client is not hurting for money.”
“Clearly,” I mumbled. “I mean . . . well, I have my cat. What would I do with her?”
“Take her.”
This time my mouth fell open. “W-what?”
“They were very specific on this. If you had any pets, you were free to bring them.”
I furrowed my eyebrows and gave Tyler a dazed look before laughing. “Wait. Is this some kind of joke?”
He slowly shook his head. “No. I’m being one-hundred-percent serious. The client has had two other physical therapists and fired them both.”
Oh great. Another asshole is exactly what I need in my life right now. The last thing I wanted to deal with was a guy with a big ego and even bigger pocketbook. Those were the kind who usually thought they owned you.
My father had shown up on my doorstep two weeks after seeing my picture in the paper with Malcolm. He figured I had landed a rich boyfriend and was seeing what he could get out of me. The minute he found out I was no longer in contact with Malcolm, he took off again. Never mind the fact I agreed to have lunch with him and he never showed up.
Someday I’ll learn.
I brought my fingers up to my temples as I chuckled and said, “Okay, so let me get this straight.” Dropping my hands back down, I looked directly at my boss. “I have to travel to this person and live with them?”
“Yes, here in Texas.”
I shook my head in a very confused manner. “And they’re willing to pay twice my salary plus room and board, plus pay my current apartment’s rent, and I can bring my cat?”
“Yep.”
“Are they are a hermit or something? Have you checked them out? Will I be held captive and chopped up into a million pieces?”
Tyler smirked along with giving me a shrug. “I hope not, because like I said, you’re one of my best.”
I rolled my eyes. I knew Tyler would have done his research before sending me off to live with a hermit. “Do I have set days off?”
Tyler handed me a piece of paper that listed me working Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday I had off.
Shit. Tyler had me at twice my salary, but something didn’t feel right with this, but I let the money override my good sense.
“I’ll do it.”
With a sigh of relief, his body relaxed. “Thank God, I already said you would.”
“Tyler!” I cried out as he picked up the phone and hit the button for Stephanie.
“Stephanie, please let Mrs. Moss know Paislie will be there first thing Monday morning.”
“Yes, sir.”
Tyler and I both stood up as he gave me a warm smile. “Paislie, it means a lot to me that you’re such a team player and don’t worry, I had the guy checked out with a full background check and all. It’s because of people like you that our practice has such an amazing reputation. Matter of fact, this client requested you personally so he’d already heard about how great you were. You’re going to love Crawford, Texas. The guy owns a huge ranch and said you’ll have access to all of it.”
My heart fell to my stomach. “Crawford, Texas?” My breathing picked up. There is no fucking way. “You said he owns a ranch . . . in Crawford?”
“Yep.”
A sick feeling moved over my body as I asked, “W-what’s the client’s name?”
“Malcolm. Malcolm Wallace. He’s a NASCAR driver, so I’m hoping this will open the door for us even more.”
The room spun as I reached for something to hold me up.
“That asshole,” I whispered under my breath. I was going to break his other leg the second I saw him.
I sat in my car and stared at the mansion of a house. “Holy. Shit.”
Never mind it felt like I drove forever down the long-ass driveway, but now I stared at a ranch-style house that looked like it was the size of the White House.
Okay, that’s a stretch. It was big, though.
Huge.
Frowning, I shook my head. “Guess Malcolm has a size issue.”
With a frustrated huff, I opened the door to my car and got out as I took a better look at the house.
It was a sandstone two-story house with a metal roof. All the windows were framed in black shutters with a black iron railing running across the porch. The front door was a massive double wood door.
“Pompous ass.”
Maybe I should have talked to Elizabeth about this. I had a feeling I made a very poor decision. But the money would help me in so many ways. Depending on how much time I’d be here, I could make enough money to buy the house I’d always dreamed of.
The front door open and an older woman and Sophie came running out. Her pigtails bounced as she raced toward me. She was the cutest five-year-old I’d ever seen.
“Paislie!”
My eyes widened in shock. She remembered my name?
She stopped just short of me and stared up at me with huge, bright blue eyes. She resembled Malcolm so much, it made my chest feel tight.
“Hello there, Sophie!” I said as I bent down to get at her level. I’d worked with enough little ones at the orphanage to know how to talk and interact with kids.
“You look like a princess! I hope I’m as pretty as you when I grow up.”
Either she was the sweetest child on earth . . . or Malcolm bribed her to say that.
“That is the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me. Thank you, Sophie. But I think you’re very pretty and surely you must be a princess for you live in this grand castle!”
She smiled and looked down as she kicked at the ground nervously. With a giggle she shook her head. “Uncle Malcolm says I am. He said I was the prettiest girl in the whole world.”
My heart melted. “He’s right.”
Her little smile caused an ache in my chest. I’d never before in my life longed for a child, until that very moment.
“Well guess what, Sophie, I brought along a real princess!”
She gasped. “You did?”
I scrunched up my noise and said, “Well, her name is Princess, but she thinks she is a queen.”
Standing, I opened the back door and pulled the cat carrier out as Princess started making it very clear how pissed off she really was.
Sophie let out a scream that had my toes curling and Princess freezing in place.
“A kitty!”
I had to admit, the torment that Princess was fixin’ to go through made me smile internally a bit.
“Can I help you with your bags, Ms. Pruitt?”
I glanced up to see an older gentleman standing before me along with an older woman. Reaching my hand out, I introduced myself.
“Hello, Paislie Pruitt.”
His smile was so kind as he shook my hand. “Mr. Moss and this is my wife, Janet.”
Janet shook my hand and said, “I’m Malcolm’s assistant.”
With a smile, I nodded. “Oh, yes. Malcolm has spoken very highly of you, Mrs. Moss.”
“Janet, please call me Janet. And he better have.” Her wink caused me to chuckle.
Before I knew it two younger guys had my two suitcases and Princess and headed toward the house. When I finally looked back toward the front door, my breath caught in my throat. Malcolm was standing there on crutches.
O sweet Mary mother of Jesus. He looked so good. He clearly hadn’t shaved in a few days and the scruff on his face suited him. He wore lightweight sweatpants and a blue T-shirt that I was positive would make his eyes pop the closer you got to him. The thing that got me though was his smile. I didn’t want to like seeing it . . . but I did.
Pulling my eyes from him, I glanced back down to Sophie. At some point in time, she had taken my hand in hers. “I want to show you my room Uncle Malcolm made for me.”
Turning to Janet, she nodded. “Malcolm would like to have lunch with you and talk about everything, if you’re not too tired of course.”
Did this woman know I was the girl Malcolm took up to the rooftop? Surely she didn’t. She did know we knew each other though. I wondered if she knew he practically bribed my boss and me to be here?
“No, of course, that’s fine,” I said as my voice cracked. The thought of being alone with Malcolm scared the hell out of me.
“Come on, Paislie! I’ll show you all around.”
And just like that, a sweet little girl who clearly was excited about the prospect of having a new friend here was dragging me up the steps.
She stopped and looked up at Malcolm. “Uncle Malcolm! She’s here! Paislie’s here!”
The way he smiled down at her with such love in his eyes had my lower stomach pooling with heat. It had to have been the sexiest damn thing I’d ever seen.
“I know she is, princess. Are you going to show her all around for me since I can’t?”
She nodded her head and looked back at me. “Uncle Malcolm hurt himself really bad. But you’re going to fix him so he can drive his fast cars again!” she shouted as she jumped. My heart slammed against my chest while my head snapped up to look at Malcolm. The sadness in his eyes gutted me as I quickly got lost in the sea of blue.
“I hope so, Sophie,” I said softly. I sure as hell hope so.