Chapter Twelve
Beth’s body was tired, but her mind worked overtime. The Community Work Day had come together quickly, and she hadn’t sat down once. Her feet and back ached, and even though she’d washed her hands three times, there was still dirt underneath her fingernails.
The day had been a success. It was clear that, somehow, she and Molly had sparked a ripple of excitement in the hearts of the people of Willow Grove. However, it was also clear they were in way over their heads. And that continued to nag her.
Ben’s ultimatum hung thick in the crisp night air above the bonfire, where several people huddled under blankets, toasting marshmallows and enjoying the songs strummed on Bishop’s guitar.
Beth settled into the quiet away from the crowd as Molly attempted to wave her over. When Beth didn’t respond, her sister strolled her way.
“You’re missing all the fun,” she said.
“I know,” Beth admitted.
“Come hang out. Pretend you don’t have anything to worry about.” Molly grabbed her hand and tried to tug her up.
“Maybe in a few minutes,” she said.
But an hour passed, and Beth still sat in her chair, away from the fray. They would probably say she was antisocial. She’d heard that one before, but small talk didn’t suit her. She’d never been one for pointless conversation. Maybe that’s why her attempted chat with Drew had gone awry.
Or maybe he was even worse with small talk than she was.
Beth glanced at Molly, her shoulder pressed up against Bishop’s, oblivious to the way he looked at her as she led the group in some of her favorite songs. Everyone seemed to be having so much fun.
And then there was Beth, sitting several yards away in the same chair where Drew had eaten his lunch. Alone. Maybe the two of them had more in common than she cared to admit.
She’d watched him get in his truck and drive away, that big old dog’s head sticking out of the passenger window, and a knot had formed at the center of her stomach. Ben had specified Drew was the guy to hire, and she hadn’t even asked where he was staying. Was she sabotaging their efforts before they even started?
Maybe Ben would agree to hiring someone from town. There had to be someone who would put her brother’s mind at ease. Surely Drew wasn’t the only guy who knew how to work the land, repair old buildings and take care of animals.
But as she scanned the crowd, surveying the many able-bodied young men who stood around the bonfire, Beth knew none of them had the same qualities they’d all seen in the handsome stranger.
Few men did. Hard work seemed a thing of the past.
On the other hand, she knew all of these guys. She’d either gone to school with them or knew their families from church, or she’d babysat them (not that she’d readily admit that). They might not be workhorses, but they were familiar. Beth did better with familiarity than she did with change, which was, she supposed, why she had been running the office at Whitaker Mowers instead of hunting for a job in Chicago.
Maybe losing that job was all the change she could handle right now. Besides, what did they really know about Drew Barlow? The few details he had told them could, for all they knew, be fiction.
It didn’t really matter anyway; Drew was long gone. Finding him again might be as easy as an online search or as difficult as locating buried treasure—who knew?
Thoughts of what to do next tumbled around in her mind, and while she wanted to relax and have fun like Molly, she seemed unable to turn her brain off.
Something wet brushed against her hand, and she quickly pulled it back.
“Roxie. Sit.”
Beth looked up and saw Drew’s silhouette cut through the darkness, dimly backlit by the fire.
“Sorry, she has no manners,” he said.
What did they say about dogs resembling their owners? Her embarrassment came back in an unwanted wave.
He stood across from her for a long moment, awkward, as if he wasn’t sure what he was doing there.
What was he doing there?
“Mind if I sit?”
Her body stiffened, but she managed to nod. Why did this guy make her so nervous? For years, she’d run an office full of employees. She’d stood in front of them every week and told them how to do their jobs better. She was good at running an office. She usually managed people well. But around this guy she was fourteen again, unsure of how to carry on a normal conversation.
She tried to tell herself he was just a guy. That it didn’t matter that he looked like he’d stepped off a Times Square billboard advertising trips to Colorado. She even tried to tell herself his image on such a billboard wouldn’t have had her booking the first flight to Denver.
She tried all of these things, but as soon as she dared a single glance in his direction, the bubbling nerves were back.
It wasn’t on her to start a conversation with Drew. After all, she’d already tried that. And he was the one who’d shown up on her farm. The oddity of that didn’t escape her.
After several long, tense moments, she realized he had no intention of talking. While she didn’t much feel like talking either, the silence was a less desirable alternative to tortured conversation.
“I’m surprised you came back,” she said at last.
“Me too,” Drew said.
Roxie circled their chairs and finally sat down, her tail draped over Beth’s feet. It was the smallest, silliest thing, but it caught her off guard. The dog seemed comfortable with her. Beth wasn’t a dog person, yet something about that tail on her tired feet made her feel like she had a friend.
They sat in silence for several more minutes, Beth searching for something to say and Drew probably relishing the quiet.
“My brother wants me to offer you a job.” It wasn’t what she’d intended to say, but she blurted things out when she got nervous.
He barely reacted. “Really?”
She nodded. “Guess you made quite an impression. And Ben’s not easy to impress.”
He looked away, one side of his face in shadow, the other barely lit by the dancing orange of the bonfire in the distance. “I have a job,” he said, his voice quiet.
“That’s what I told him.”
Beth’s mixed emotions wrestled with each other. Part of her was happy he’d be on his way and her nerves could settle down already, and part of her was oddly disappointed. She told herself it was because without him, Ben might refuse to invest, but she knew better.
Her disappointment had nothing to do with Fairwind Farm.
She told herself to focus. The last thing she needed was a crush on a guy who couldn’t even hold up his end of a conversation. Especially when she had to work so hard to hold up her end.
Michael had been great at talking. He wasn’t like other guys that way. He enjoyed conversation, debate. He was smart, and he liked to show off. Too bad he pretty much only talked about himself.
“What’s the job?” Drew leaned forward and stared at the fire, giving her another chance to study his profile. He carried something with him, something heavy. She hadn’t noticed it before, but he’d either let his guard down or grown too weary to cover it up anymore.
He glanced at her, and she realized he’d asked her a question, but she didn’t exactly know the answer. She hadn’t thought of an official title, and she certainly didn’t know farm lingo. What did they call the person who did everything they didn’t know how to do?
Godsend?
“We need someone who understands how to restore old buildings and work the land,” she said. “Molly has good intentions, and I understand business, but you can probably guess we’re both a little . . .” She couldn’t think of the right word to describe what they were. She didn’t want to admit how ill-equipped they were for this job.
“A little . . . ?”
When she met his eyes, she suddenly felt silly for even bringing it up. “Never mind.”
Roxie’s wagging tail against Beth’s feet comforted her. She’d never plunged headfirst into anything without a solid plan. A safety net. But she’d learned the hard way that even the sturdiest of nets could unravel.
Maybe it was her exhaustion, but in that moment, she thought she’d made a terrible, horrible mistake.
“I might be able to help for a little while,” Drew said.
She looked at him, though he was still staring off into the distance. Why had her eyes clouded over? She wasn’t a crier. Crying was another sign of weakness, and like her father had always said, “There’s no place for weakness in business.”
She cleared her throat and played it cool, thankful for the darkness. “That would be good.”
The edge of his mouth pulled upward in a smile so slight she almost missed it.
No one else would ever guess that, deep down, she felt like a scared little girl, but Drew Barlow seemed to be on to her. She’d have to be extra careful around him—she couldn’t let her guard down for one second with this man.
Remember what happened the last time you trusted a man, Beth.
“Would you want to meet me out here first thing Monday morning? We can go over what needs to be done.” She leaned forward, elbows on her knees, hands folded in front of her.
Roxie’s nose found Beth’s hands, and the dog inched forward.
“Rox. Sit,” Drew said. She obeyed.
“She’s a good dog,” Beth said. “Did you train her yourself?”
He stroked Roxie’s head. “I did. She’s a special girl.”
Maybe his only friend?
“So, Monday?”
Drew nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”
Beth stood, anxious to put some distance between her and a man far too attractive for his own good. But as she drove back to her mother’s house, all she could think about was how many hours would pass before she’d get to see him again.