“I do. I’ve been alone for so long I’d forgotten how nice it was to have a sidekick.”
“Is that what I am?” He searched her face and saw a longing in her eyes that matched his own.
“I hope you’re my friend.”
“I am,” he said. “Always.”
She leaned in for one more quick kiss. “Bye-bye, Fly Slayer.”
“I’m never going to hear the end of that, am I?”
“Not on your life,” she teased.
“See if I tell you any more of my deep, dark secrets.”
“As if you have any.”
“Don’t laugh,” he said. “You’ve been away for ten years. You have no idea what I’ve been up to behind your back.” Then, with a quick kiss on her cheek and a wink, he closed the door behind him and drove away.
It wasn’t until he got home that Caleb realized he’d forgotten to use the orange paint to spray off a parking area for her in the field.
Chapter 8
On Monday morning, Ava was partway up the ladder at Caleb’s house when he walked out of the barn, headed for his tractor.
He stopped and sank his hands onto his hips, widening his stance.
She waved at him, unsurprised when he abandoned his mission to head her way. He looked grumpy, but she had to admit, even scowling, he was handsome as all get-out.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Surprise! We’re decorating,” she said, nodding toward the string of Christmas lights in her hands. “What are you doing?”
Two men wandered from the barn behind Caleb. Ava assumed they were his ranch hands, Phil and Mort. She glanced down at Devon, who was holding the ladder for her. Today, his hair was pulled back in a tidy man-bun.
“You remember Devon.” She nodded.
“Hi,” Caleb said to Devon. To Ava, he said, “That’s dangerous.”
“Robert brought the ladder,” she said with a blithe smile.
“What’s that got to do with the price of tea in China?” Caleb’s scowl deepened.
“Huh?” Confused, Devon scratched his head.
“Keep your hands on the ladder at all times, kid.” Caleb grabbed hold of the ladder. “That’s precious cargo on those rungs.”
Aww! That was a sweet thing to say.
“Robert’s a house painter, so he buys top quality ladders,” Ava explained. “Nothing to worry about.”
“You should have scaffolding.”
“Oh, Robert brought that too.” She pointed to a white panel truck parked in his driveway, where Robert, a close friend of her parents, was unloading scaffolding. His wife Lisa was there, too, taking bags of Christmas decorations from the back seat. “That’s his wife, Lisa.”
Lisa waved a hand. “Hi, Caleb, we’ve met before. I work at the office in the feed store.”
“Good to see you, Lisa.” He waved back.
Robert stopped unloading the scaffolding and came around to shake Caleb’s hand. “I told Ava that I’d hang the lights on the eves, but she insisted I let her do it. You know what it’s like to get caught in Ava’s wake. When she sets her mind to something, you might as well surrender. It’s going to happen.”
Caleb looked back at her.
Ava notched up her chin and shot him a challenging stare. She knew where this was going, and she wanted to end it before it started. “Are you about to say something sexist, Sutton?”
“Is it sexist of me to want your pretty neck intact?”
She appreciated his concern, but she was more than capable of hanging lights on the house. “I hung the ones on the shelter all by myself. I can hang these lights on your house with half a dozen helpers.”
“Half a dozen? I only count three.”
“Mom and Dad are on the way, and they’re bringing another one of our volunteers with them.”
“It’s my house, Miller.” He growled. “I get a say in what goes on at my own house.”
“If you’d decorated it yourself to begin with, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
Everyone looked at Caleb to see how he’d respond, and she’d give him credit. He knew when to give up on an argument.
“All right.” He snorted and threw his hands into the air. “Just don’t fall.”
“Gee, what novel advice. Why didn’t I think of that?”
With a gentle tug on the string of lights she was holding, she climbed another rung up the ladder. Caleb’s ranch house was sprawling, but it was only one story, so attaching the lights was easy-peasy.
She’d almost finished hanging the first strand when she noticed they had already added more strings. Glancing down, she saw Caleb had nudged Devon out of the way and he was now holding the ladder.
Ava met his gaze and laughed.
He winked at her conspiratorially and she had to admit, he was one handsome cowboy.
Her parents drove up just then with Skeeter, a skinny twenty-year-old woman who was studying to be a vet and volunteered at the shelter to get experience. There were more greetings as they all rolled up their sleeves and got to work. With the ten of them pitching in—Phil and Mort included—they had the decorating finished in no time.
“Who wants refreshments?” Caleb asked when they’d packed the ladder and scaffolding back in Robert’s truck. “I can’t promise much, but I’m sure I can whip up something.”
“Oh,” Ava said. “We brought food with us. I promised a decorating party and I deliver.”
Robert offered everyone cold drinks from his ice chest, while Ava and Lisa unloaded the food and took it into the house. Ava asked Phil to fire up the grill and within forty-five minutes they had a lunch spread of hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, deviled eggs, and baked beans spread out in Caleb’s snazzy new kitchen.
“You never cease to amaze me.” Caleb shook his head, grabbing a paper plate as she set out pickles and onion slices.
“Why’s that?”
“For someone who doesn’t like to plan ahead, you did a pretty darn good job of an impromptu get-together.”
“Thank you for the compliment, Mr. Sutton. See? Spontaneity doesn’t always equal scatterbrained.”
“I never said it did.”
“But you thought it.”
“So you’re a mind reader now? Something you picked up overseas?”
“I’ll never tell.” She returned his wink and stuck out her tongue.
“Watch out,” he said. “I might consider that temptation.”
She felt her cheeks flush, enjoying their flirtation. Still, she knew better than to rush into anything. They had agreed to take things slowly, which was the safe, intelligent approach since her future was up in the air, and by gosh, she was sticking to it.
Too bad she’d never taken the safe, intelligent road.
“What a fun morning,” Marjorie said to Caleb as she walked over to the recycle bin carrying an assortment of paper plates and cups. “It reminds me of old times when your mother was still here, and you and Ava were dating in high school. Thank you for letting us take part.”
“I should thank you.” Caleb looked up from where he was cleaning the barbecue grill and met Marjorie’s gaze head-on.