Honey and the Hired Hand

“I’m not saying I don’t need the help,” Honey argued. “I just don’t have the money right now to—”

“Who said anything about money?” Jesse asked. “I’d work for bed and board.”

Honey frowned. “I really don’t—”

“If you’re worried about hiring a stranger, I’ll vouch for Jesse,” Dallas said. “We went to Texas Tech together.”

“How long ago was that?” Honey asked.

“Fifteen years,” Dallas admitted. “But I’d trust Jesse with my life.”

Only it wouldn’t be Dallas’s life that would be at stake. It was Honey’s, and those of her sons, Jack and Jonathan. “I’ll think about it,” she said.

“I’m afraid I need something a little more definite than that,” Jesse said. He tipped his hat back and said, “A drifting man needs a reason to light and set, or else he just keeps on drifting.”

Honey didn’t believe from looking at him that Jesse Whitelaw would ever settle anywhere for very long. But another pair of hands to share the load, even for a little while, would be more than welcome. There was some ranch work too heavy for her to handle, even with her older son’s help. Honey brushed aside the notion that she would be alone with a stranger all day while the boys were at school. It was only a matter of weeks before her sons would be home for summer vacation.

She took a deep breath and let it out. “All right. When can you start?”

“I’ve got some things to do first.”

Honey felt a sense of relief that she wouldn’t have to face him again in the near future. It evaporated when he said, “How about bright and early tomorrow morning?”

Honey sought a reason to keep him away a little longer, to give herself some time to reconsider what she was doing, but nothing came to mind. Anyway, she needed the help now. There was vaccinating to be done, and she needed to make a tally of which cattle were missing so she could make a more complete report to the police.

Also she needed to add some light to improve security around the barn where she kept General, the champion Hereford bull that was the most important asset of the Flying Diamond.

“Tomorrow morning will be fine,” she said.

The words were barely out of her mouth when the kitchen door was thrust open and another silhouette appeared. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you. What are you doing out here?”

Adam Philips joined what was quickly becoming a crowd on the back porch. He strode to Honey’s side and slipped a possessive arm around her waist. “I’m Adam Philips,” he said by way of introduction to the stranger he found there. “I don’t think we’ve met.”

“Jesse Whitelaw,” the stranger said.

Honey watched as the two men shook hands. There was nothing cordial about the greeting. She didn’t understand the reason for the animosity between them; it existed nonetheless.

“Are you ready to come back inside?” Adam asked.

He had tightened his hold on her waist until it was uncomfortable. Honey tried to step out of his grasp, but he pulled her back against his hip.

“I think the lady wants you to let her go,” Jesse said.

“I’ll be the judge of what the lady wants,” Adam retorted.

The drifter’s eyes were hard and cold, and Honey felt sure that at any moment he would enforce his words with action. “Please let go,” she said to Adam.

At first Adam’s grip tightened, but when he glanced over at her, she gave him a speaking look that said she meant business. Reluctantly he let her go.

“It’s about time we headed home, don’t you think?” Adam said to Honey.

Honey was irked by Adam’s choice of words, which insinuated that they lived together. However, she didn’t think now was the moment to take him to task. The drifter was still poised for battle, and Honey didn’t want to be the cause of any more of a scene than had already occurred.

“It is getting late,” she said, “and I’ve got a long day tomorrow. It was nice meeting you, Jesse. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Honey anticipated Adam’s questions and hurried him back inside. It took them a while to get through the kitchen, which now held several women collecting leftover potluck dishes to be carried home.

“Aha! I expect you two were out seeing a little of the moonlight,” one teased.

“We’ll be hearing wedding bells soon,” another chorused.

Honey didn’t bother denying their assumptions. They might very well prove true. But it was hard to smile and make humorous rejoinders right now, because she was still angry with Adam for his caveman behavior on the back porch.

When they reached the living room, a Randy Travis ballad was playing. “Dance with me?” Adam asked. His lips curved in the charming smile that had endeared him to her when they first met. Right now it wasn’t doing a thing to put her in a romantic mood. However, it would be harder to explain her confused feelings to Adam than it would be to dance with him. “Sure,” she said, relenting with a hesitant smile.

At almost the same moment Adam took her into his arms, she spied the drifter entering the living room. He stayed in the shadows, but Honey knew he was there. She could feel him watching her. She stiffened when Adam’s palm slid down to the lowest curve in her spine. It wasn’t something he hadn’t done before. In the past, she had permitted it. But now, with the drifter watching, Adam’s possessive touch felt uncomfortable.

Honey stepped back and said, “I’m really tired, Adam. Do you think we could go now?”

Adam searched her face, looking for signs of fatigue she knew he would find. “You do look tired,” he agreed. “All right. Do you need to get anything from the kitchen?”

“I’ll pick up my cake plate another time,” she said. She felt the drifter’s eyes on her as Adam ushered her out the front door to his low-slung sports car. He opened the door for her and she slid inside. Protected by the darkness within the car she was able to look back toward the house without being observed. She felt her nape prickle when she caught sight of the drifter standing at the front window.

Honey knew he couldn’t see her, yet she felt as though his eyes pinned her to the seat. They were dark and gleamed with some emotion she couldn’t identify. She abruptly turned away when Adam opened the opposite door and the dome light came on.

Adam put a country music tape on low, setting a romantic mood which, before Honey had met the drifter, she would have appreciated. Right now the mellow tones only agitated her, reminding her that Adam had proposed and was waiting for her answer. He expected her to give him a decision tonight. To be honest, she had led him to believe her answer would be yes. They hadn’t slept together; she hadn’t been ready to face that kind of intimacy with another man. But she had kissed him, and it had been more than pleasant.

“Honey?”

“What?” Her voice was sharp, and she cleared her throat and repeated in a softer tone, “What?”

“Are you sure you want to hire that drifter?”

“I don’t see that I have much choice. There’s work to be done that I can’t do myself.”

“You could marry me.”

The silence after Adam spoke was an answer in itself. Honey knew she shouldn’t give him hope. She ought to tell him right now that she couldn’t marry him, that it wasn’t right to marry a man she didn’t love. But the thought of that drifter, with his dark, haunting eyes, made her hold her tongue. She was too attracted to Jesse Whitelaw for her own good. If she were free, she might be tempted to get involved with him. And that would be disastrous.

But was it fair to leave Adam hanging?

Honey sighed. It seemed she had sighed more in the past evening than she had in the past year. “I can’t—”

“You don’t have to give me your answer now,” Adam said. “I know you still miss Cale. I can wait a little longer. Now that you have that hired hand, it ought to make things easier on you.”

They had arrived at the two-story wood frame ranch house built by Cale’s grandfather. Adam stopped his car outside the glow of the front porch light. He came around and opened the door and pulled her out of the car and into his arms.

Honey was caught off guard. Even so, as Adam’s lips sought her mouth she quickly turned aside so he kissed her cheek instead.