“Can you stop by the farm? We need help treating a burn.” There were some muffled voices, and Rose huffed to someone with her. “You’re getting it looked at. I don’t care if you’ve had this before. My cousin is a doctor. He can treat it.” Then she returned to the conversation. “I can’t tell how bad the burn is. I think you should come check it out. Do you have ointments or stuff like that?”
“Rose, burns are common when working with hot machinery. I’m sure your mechanic has dealt with?—”
“Just come and take a look. I’d feel better knowing that it’s not going to fester or scar.” Then, without waiting for a response, she hung up the phone.
Jason arched a brow. “Their mechanic got burned?”
Mathew rose to his feet. “Yeah. I guess she’s worried enough that she wants a medical professional to take a look.”
“Charge her a fee for making a house call,” Jason shouted at his back. There was amusement in his voice—and something else. It was like he knew something Mathew didn’t.
Mathew arrived at the farm with a medical bag in hand. Rose rushed out from the hangar to meet him.
“Did you bring the stuff?”
He held up the bag with a disgruntled look. “What do you think? Seriously, Rose. Guys don’t like being babied. Just earlier this week, we had to hold down a man who didn’t want stitches.”
Rose wrinkled her nose. “Really? Who?”
“You know I can’t tell you.”
She frowned, and her small hand wrapped around his upper arm. “Come on. I’ll take you.”
He entered the hangar and blinked a few times for his eyes to adjust.
“Over there.” Rose pointed to where the mechanic’s backside jutted from an engine. Combat boots, baggy pants, and a tattered hoodie were all he caught a glimpse of when he nodded to his cousin. “Go get me some cool water and some clean rags.”
Rose nodded and darted out into the sunlight.
Mathew cleared his throat and the mechanic startled, bumping his head with a grunt. “I know this is a little unprecedented, but I’m here to look at your burn. You might as well let me do it, because my cousin is nothing if not persistent. And frankly, she scares me a little bit.”
The sound of something metal clanking where the guy was working was all that reached Mathew as he drew closer. Then the mechanic withdrew and walked around to the side of the machine. He caught sight of a backwards baseball cap that was streaked with grease.
Then the engine started, and he jumped back a few steps. When he looked up into what had to be some kind of tractor, his eyes clashed with hers.
Nota manwas the only thought that penetrated his foggy mind when the woman from the country club hopped down from her seat.
She wiped at her face with the back of her hand, smudging grease against her pale skin. Then she cocked her head, and recognition filled her gorgeous green eyes.
“It’s you,” she whispered.
4
RIVER
“You… okay?” River asked, waving a hand once in front of the man’s face when he didn’t respond. She hadn’t expected to see him again after bumping into him at the country club. “You’re the doctor Rose called?”
He blinked a couple times, and a flush crawled up his neck to his ears. “I—er—yeah.”
River arched an eyebrow, but she kept her tone light. “Are you sure you’re okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
He cleared his throat and tugged at the collar of his shirt. “I just… didn’t expect to see you again.”
“You wanted to see me again?” She stepped forward and smirked. “Sounds like the makings of a beautiful love story.” Her voice grew serious, lowering. “Maybe you’ll end up being my happily ever after.”
His eyes widened and his brows lifted as if he didn’t know what to say to that.
River tossed her head back and laughed. “I’m sorry. I’m just kidding.”
