Billy flipped the main breaker down and watched the little cabin go dark except for the subtle flicker of light that came from the wood stove. He hoped it didn’t scare her, but he couldn’t think of any other way to get into the house and he wanted to have ears in the cabin before he went to bed for the night. He made his way around to the front of the cabin. For a big guy, he could move without making a sound when he wanted to. It was another thing his Native American grandfather had taught him. It came in handy for hunting and tracking as well as on his job. He climbed the porch steps and knocked on the door. There was a scraping sound inside, like a chair being pushed across the wooden floors and then the sound of a woman’s voice…as far as Billy was concerned, it was the most beautiful voice in the world.
“Who is it?” The voice sounded uneasy, but still there was strength to it.
He had already cleared his throat so he wouldn’t choke on his words, and he felt like he needed to clear it again. “Ma’am, I’m sorry to bother you. My name’s Billy Joe Mason. I’m staying up yonder in the cabin next door.” He heard himself say “up yonder” and immediately wanted to shoot himself. She’d probably never heard anyone talk like that unless she’d ever caught a rerun of “Hee Haw.” Damnit.
“Yes?” she asked, obviously waiting for him to tell her what he was doing on her porch in the dark.
“Uh, well, my electricity went out and I checked the breaker and that was okay…I’m embarrassed to admit that I forgot to charge my damn phone. I was wondering if I might borrow yours to call Mr. Bonner?”
Caleb had no idea who Joy was, but Cade had told him that they were keeping an eye on her for a job and that she didn’t know it. So if she decided to call him instead of letting Billy in, that would be okay too.
There was a moment of silence before she cracked open the door. His first thought was that this girl might be beautiful and talented, but not so bright upstairs. She left the screen door closed and Billy assumed, locked, but pulled the heavy wooden door open. It would take no effort at all for him to kick in that flimsy screen door if he wanted to.
He couldn’t see her well through the screen door and in the dark, which was probably a good thing, he thought.
“I’ll call him,” she said. When she walked over to pick up her phone, the light from the wood stove illuminated her and suddenly, for Billy, there was nothing but the woman standing in front of him. Her waist-long black hair was in a thick, mermaid-like braid down the side of her face and his first thought was how badly he wanted to unwind it and bury his hands and his face in all that black silk. Her wide green eyes shone even in the dim light and he couldn’t take his eyes off her. She had a lot of makeup on in all her photos and as he stood there looking at her, he thought what a shame that was. Stripped bare of any cosmetics, Joy was the most beautiful, perfect creature on the planet and Billy had no idea how he was going to do this job.
He realized he hadn’t even answered her and he was thankful she hadn’t asked him a question because he was sure he couldn’t find his voice. Even what she was wearing was perfect. Her pants were thick flannel and they were red with Mickey and Minnie Mouse all over them. The shirt was a plain black cotton V-neck shirt. She looked so warm and cozy, he wanted to pet her. Shaking off that thought that might get him arrested and fired, he cleared his throat again and told himself there was no way he could do this. He was so entranced by her that he hadn’t been paying attention to whatever she was saying on the phone.
“Mr…?”
“Mason.” It came out like a croak. “Billy, it’s Billy.”
“Billy,” God, he loved the way that sounded coming out of her pretty mouth. “Mr. Bonner would like to speak with you.”
“Oh, sure.”
She unlocked the screen door and slipped the phone out to him. When he took it from her, his fingers brushed against her long, slim ones and he almost shuddered. He was going to make a complete fool of himself if he didn’t get it together, and quick. “Thanks,” he croaked out. Putting the phone to his ear he said, “Hello, Caleb, it’s Billy Mason.”
“Hey, Billy. This is part of the whole job thing that Cade told me about, right? Nothing’s really wrong with the breaker?”
“Yes, sir, that’s right.”
“Okay, well…have you tried the new peach pie up at the diner?” Billy struggled to keep a straight face.
“In the laundry room, you say?”
“I tell you what, I don’t know what Linda puts in that pie but I could eat the whole thing in one sitting, it’s that good.”
“A Phillips screwdriver, you say? Yes, I think I have one of those in my truck.”
“Put a little Cool Whip on a piece of that pie and I swear it’s better than I remember sex being. Well, I guess not better, but just as good.” Billy couldn’t help it; he smiled on that note.
“Well, thank you, Caleb. No, no sense in you coming out right now. I’ll see what I can do if it’s okay with this young lady and we’ll call you back if there’s a problem. All right, sir, you have a good night too.”
Caleb chuckled. “Good luck, Billy.”
Billy held the phone back through the door. “He’d like to talk to you.” Billy hoped that Caleb had gotten the message he wanted inside of her cabin.
He figured he must have when Joy said, “Sure, Mr…Caleb. Yes, I’ll let him have a look at it. No problem. I’m sorry we had to bother you so late. Thank you and you have a good night too.”
When she ended the call, Billy asked, “Did he ask you if it was alright for me to take a look at that electrical panel in the laundry room?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“Okay. I’m gonna see if I have a screwdriver in my truck. I walked down here. I’ll go get it and be right back.” He hadn’t brought the truck in the first place because he didn’t want to alert her he was there while he messed with the fuse box. He didn’t think about having to walk back to his cabin in the cold and he hadn’t even put on a jacket. She had his thoughts all screwed up. By the time he got to the truck his hands were frozen. He found a pair of gloves, a flashlight, and a screwdriver in the toolbox, and walked back up to Joy’s cabin. She must have been waiting for him because she pulled the door open as soon as he stepped up on the porch. They were eyeing each other nervously. She was probably nervous because he was a huge man and she was in the middle of nowhere with a stranger in her house, but for him, she just made him a nervous wreck. That wasn’t something Billy was used to. Nothing made him nervous…literally nothing, until he met Joy face to face. This was going to be a long two weeks. “Is it okay if I go through to the laundry room?”
“Of course,” she said, stepping back to give him a wide berth. Billy tried to smile at her but he wasn’t sure it worked. It felt more like a grimace. With butterflies flapping huge, heavy wings in his stomach he made his way through the living room and into the kitchen. The good thing about her being afraid of him, he thought, was that she didn’t follow him. He pulled one of the tiny black bugging devices out of his pocket and carefully placed it underneath the countertop next to the refrigerator before continuing into the laundry room. Once there, he pulled out the washing machine and opened the little electrical box behind it. It had nothing to do with the fuse box outside, but he spent a few minutes pretending to work on it before closing it, pushing the washing machine back into place and taking a deep breath before he went back in where Joy was. He thought about asking to use the bathroom so that he could plant the other bug, but since she still looked nervous, he decided against it.
“I did what Caleb told me. I’m going out to try the fuse box again.”
“You don’t have a coat,” she said, as if just noticing.
“Yeah, I just ran out of the house. I wasn’t thinking.” He held up his hands and said, “I grabbed some gloves out of the truck. That helps.” This time she smiled at him. He could feel his heart beating so fast that he wondered if she could see his shirt moving. With a dry mouth, he said, “I’ll be right back.”
Outside, he waited several seconds and then flipped the main breaker back up. Her little cabin came to life. Billy closed the box and went back around to the front door. This time she wasn’t there, so he knocked. She appeared with a smile that once again caused his heart to race.
“It’s all good now,” he said with what he knew was a nervous smile.
“Thank you.”
He felt another pang of guilt. She was thanking him so sweetly for something he’d done to her on purpose. “You’re welcome. You have a good night.”
“Wait…”
Billy had started to turn away from the door. He stopped and nervously turned back toward her. “I made some tea. I thought you might like some to warm up a little before you headed back. I mean, it’s okay if you don’t…”
Billy hated tea with a passion. “I’d love some, thank you.”
“Good, come on in and go get warm by the fire. I’ll go pour us some.”
He told himself that he was only staying for tea so that he could plant the other bug. He went over by the fire and she disappeared into the kitchen. He took the second bug out of his pocket and stuck it under the coffee table. Now he could hear anything that went on in the cabin and Joy would be safe. He told himself that he would just have a cup of tea with her tonight. Then leave her alone to enjoy her vacation and she could go back to her famous world and bodyguards none the wiser.