“Morning.”
Wade jumped at the sound of her voice.He gripped the plastic bottle so hard, water spilled over in his hand.Mary was standing over him.
It felt strange to be viewed by this woman in a vulnerable moment.Her bare feet had disguised her approach.His mind flooded with the memory of their clumsy encounter last night.She’d fallen on top of him, groped his junk, and gotten her hand caught in his pants.Now she was creeping up on him in his sleep.The woman was a menace.
“There’s coffee,” she said.“And breakfast.”
Wade dragged a hand down his face and revised his opinion of her.She was a goddess.“What time is it?”
“Five ten.”
He groaned and rose from his makeshift bed.His muscles were sore from yesterday’s exertion, but he couldn’t afford to rest.The power was back on, so he plugged his phone into an outlet by the table.After a quick trip to the bathroom, he returned to the kitchen, poured a cup of coffee, and sat down.Mary slid a plate of eggs and hash browns in front of him.His stomach rumbled with hunger.
“Thanks,” he mumbled, and made short work of it.
She sipped her coffee in silence.
As the fuel and caffeine recharged his system, it occurred to him that he should have dressed for breakfast.She seemed uncomfortable in his presence.She kept her gaze averted, but Wade didn’t return the favor.He studied her with interest.She was wearing blue jeans and a faded yellow T-shirt advertising Big Bend National Park.She’d fashioned her dark hair into a braid and tucked it under an army-green baseball cap.Her clothes were threadbare and ill-fitting.He wondered if she shopped secondhand.
Although she was a lovely woman, she didn’t enhance her looks with makeup.The clothing, even the cap, seemed designed to downplay her beauty.
Mary Meadows, he thought, was hiding something.
He pictured her as she’d been last night, her body close to his, her T-shirt riding up to expose her pale, slender thighs.Wade suddenly wished he was wearing clotheshecould hide in, because the memory of her prim white panties caused a physical response in him that wasn’t appropriate for the kitchen table.He reached for his coffee cup, but it was empty.She picked up the carafe and refilled it for him.
“You don’t have to wait on me,” he said.
“I know.”
“Are you always up this early?”
“I feed the goats and chickens at five.”
He hadn’t realized there were goats or chickens, though he’d heard vague animal sounds.His mother had always dreamed of owning livestock, but she’d never followed through.“Were those fresh eggs I just ate?”
“Yes.”
He scraped the last bite off his plate.“My mother doesn’t give you a day off?”
“Today is my day off, actually.I agreed to volunteer again.”
Wade wasn’t surprised she’d been asked to come back.She’d been extremely helpful yesterday, and there was plenty more to do.
“You can ride with me,” he said, after a pause.“We’re going to the same place.”
“When are you coming back?”
“I don’t know.It might be late, like yesterday.”
“All right,” she said.
“Ten minutes?”he suggested.
“Sure.”
Wade finished his coffee and stood.Although his body had relaxed into a calmer state, he felt awkward as he crossed the room.Her nervous gaze traveled from his bare chest to the sweatpants riding low on his hips.She wasn’t comfortable around him, but this wasn’t her house, and that wasn’t his problem.
As soon as he got outside, he found clean clothes and donned them right there on the porch.Mary could look elsewhere if she didn’t want to see him in his boxer shorts.Better yet, she couldliveelsewhere.His mother needed a caretaker, not a drinking buddy.Wade figured Mary fit in the second category, based on past history.Wynona surrounded herself with party animals.She wouldn’t have hired a sober companion.
