Nothing about this felt fine.
Not with Caleb standing so close that she could feel the heat from him.
Not with Roy staring holes in her back.
And not with her heart racing and remembering how it felt to want something she’d told herself she couldn’t have.
Caleb wasn’tsure what Roy’s problem was. The man stood there staring at them for a long time before going back to work.
Mia’s body language told him that there was some tension between the two of them. She didn’t say anything, and he wasn’t asking. But he would be keeping Roy Spencer on his radar.
They walked toward his truck and stopped.
“Thanks for coming, Caleb.” Mia’s voice pulled him from his thoughts. “When do you think you can get back to me with costs?”
“It won’t take long. A couple days?”
Ranger bumped Mia’s hand. She gave a soft laugh and leaned down. “You come visit again.”
He woofed as if he actually understood her.
Caleb swallowed. “Come on, buddy.”
Ranger hesitated, actually hesitated, before finally following him to the truck, glancing reluctantly over his shoulder at Mia.
Caleb climbed in, started the engine and glanced again at the pond. Roy had gone back to work, but something about him struck Caleb.
He trusted his instincts, and every one of them was whispering that Roy Spencer was trouble.
As he backed down the driveway, Mia gave a small wave. Ranger barked once.
Caleb smiled to himself.
“Well,” he muttered, ruffling Ranger’s ear, “that was interesting.”
Ranger woofed his agreement.
But Caleb couldn’t decide what unsettled him more. The man down by the pond or the woman who’d been trying to avoid him since the first night he met her.
Either way, this project was going to change things.
CHAPTER 9
Roy watchedas the dust settled along the driveway long after the truck vanished. The shovel handle bit into his palm, but he barely felt it. His jaw tightened as Mia disappeared into the house without so much as a second glance. Not even a thank-you.
Some stranger shows up with a dog and a big smile and suddenly she’s handing him the whole damn barn to build? A barn. A project that mattered. Something her father would be proud of. Something he would’ve been proud to do for her.
But she didn’t even think about asking him.
Roy jabbed the shovel into the dirt hard enough that the vibration shot up his arm, but he didn’t stop.
He’d been here for years. Helping Hal, keeping the place running, fixing what broke, mowing the lawn while she was off in the big city winning … whatever awards city people won these days. He’d laid the pavers for her, work any idiot with a YouTube video could do. Did he get any praise? Encouragement? A simple hello?
But when it came to building a simple barn, did she think of him? No, that job went to one good-looking guy with broad shoulders, built like a recruiting poster, and suddenly she’s allsmiles. He screamed Brotherhood even though Roy had never seen him before.
But the look fit: ex-military, squared-up stance, that quiet confidence the Brotherhood guys had. They all carried themselves as if they were still the ones calling the shots in the room.
And Mia had looked at him like she recognized him.
