His Hired Bride

“Well, that’s it,” she said, taking a moment to straighten the hand towel on the bar as she automatically did the same with the larger ones next to it. Clearly Hoyt wasn’t the neat freak she was. “Be sure to ask the doctor when your last tetanus shot was in case you need another. I was just about to get home.”

With that, she turned to walk to the door without looking directly at him, but Hoyt caught her arm. The fresh jolt that he gave her sent her gaze shooting up to his.

“That’s it?” His dark brows were cranky whorls that confused her.

“I said I’d call the doctor.”

“You’re gonna let me drive to town alone?”

Eadie studied his stern face a moment, unable to miss his disapproval. “You said you’d drive yourself.”

“You’d let me do that? I thought women liked to fuss.”

Eadie gave her head a disbelieving shake. “Do you…want me to fuss?”

He released her arm then and growled, “Not if you have to strain yourself.”

Eadie stared harder, unable to grasp this, though she was almost amused by it. “So you do want me to fuss,” she concluded as she tried to come to grips with the idea. “How much fussing…would you want?”

She almost giggled over how ridiculous that sounded, but didn’t dare. Hoyt looked deadly serious!

Now some of his stony expression eased and a bit of the ire in his dark eyes died down, as if her question mollified him.

“Considering how froze up you are, slather it on. I’ll let you know if it’s too much. My side’s stingin’ like a son of a buck, and it feels like you cleaned it with acid.”

Eadie ignored the crack about her being “froze up” and instantly felt bad that she’d hurt him. She impulsively touched his arm. “I’m sorry. Can you walk to my truck or do you need help?”

“I can walk,” he grumbled, then added, “just steady me till we’re sure.”

Genuinely sorry she’d hurt him and anxious to make up for it, Eadie took back the hand towel and moved to his uninjured side. She helped him lift his arm as she ducked beneath it so he could rest it across her shoulders and lean on her if he had to. She hesitantly put her arm around his waist and got a grip on his belt, both to avoid coming in contact with his injured side but also to provide a hold in case his legs somehow did give out.

That idea seemed absurdly far-fetched because Hoyt was so physical and naturally strong, but if he was feeling poorly enough to sacrifice a little male pride to ask for assistance, then he must be feeling bad. He hadn’t nicked an artery, but maybe he was a little shocky. Could he have hit his head?

“You’re a puny little thing, you know that? How the hell do you do outside work?”

Eadie turned her head to briefly look at him before she faced forward to start him toward the door. He didn’t sound weak, just irritable. Looked it, too.

“Thanks for the compliment. I don’t have to be big to use smarts. Lean on me if you need to because it’s almost closing time at the doctor’s. You don’t want to pay for the emergency room,” she said as they walked out into the bedroom.

“You’re supposed to coddle me, not worry me about money,” he said, vexed.

“Sorry.”

“And it sounds like you don’t think I’m worth the extra fee.”

Eadie tried to be patient with that surprising hint of self-pity. It was out of character. “Money’s an automatic worry for me,” she said calmly. “I forget some folks don’t need to worry.”

“That’s right, it’s my money,” he said, then went on. “But how come you worry? Are you saying I don’t pay you enough?”

“It’ll be easier to coddle you if you stop talking.”

“I never noticed meanness in you before, Eadie Webb.”

She couldn’t help an ironic smile, since he couldn’t see it. “I’m not surprised.”

“Why aren’t you surprised?”

He was like a child who couldn’t stop asking questions. Eadie was patient with him because his relentlessness might be a cover for genuine pain. “You’ve got better things to do than make a study of me.”

“Do tell,” he said, and the way he drawled it the slightest bit made her smile again. “Maybe I ought to use my convalescence to make a study of you. What do you suppose I’d find out?”

Oh, Lord, what was this about? Her smile faded. It was about nothing, absolutely nothing. She’d do well to remember that.

“If you were studying me now,” she said, suddenly inspired, “you’d figure out that I’m beginning to doubt you need me to lean on.”

“You think I’m fakin’?”

“Yes, and I wish you wouldn’t. I’ve got a sink full of dishes and chores in a couple hours, so if you don’t really need me, I’d just as soon get home.”

“What if I paid you overtime?”

“I wouldn’t take pay for something like this.”

“Then I reckon I could do your dishes later.”

Eadie giggled over that. “Would I have any left that weren’t broken?”

“I’d buy you a new set. And a dishwasher, too.”

“I’ve got a dishwasher, but I can’t use the extra water. Please, let’s just get you to town.”

Eadie got him to the front door then had a brief argument about whether they’d take her little truck or his big new supercab pickup. She gave in for the sake of time and helped him into his truck before she rushed to the driver’s side and got in to start the engine and get the air conditioner going.

She turned to get out and dash to the house to call the doctor, but Hoyt vetoed it. “Miss Ed should already have done it, so let’s just go.”

So Hoyt had been putting her on, at least about wanting her to stitch him up instead of a doctor, since the call to the doctor had already been made. She closed the driver’s side door and adjusted the seat so her feet could reach the pedals before she put on her seat belt.

“Your legs are short.” Hoyt’s brusque observation made her smile a little as she put the big truck into gear.

“Thanks so much for all the fine compliments, boss. I’m puny, my legs are too short, I’m mean. And let’s don’t forget how ‘froze’ I am. Keep that up, and you might turn my head. Of course, that might be just before you got dumped along the highway someplace.”

“Huh. Those are not coddle words, Edith Regina Webb.”

“No, they aren’t,” she said and flicked a glance his way. “And you’ve sprung a leak. Better put that towel over it and apply some pressure.”

Eadie faced forward and pushed down on the accelerator to rocket down the long driveway to the highway. Once she got on the pavement, she settled back and tried to enjoy the novelty of driving a nearly new pickup with a powerful engine that all but flew them to Coulter City.

CHAPTER TWO