He twisted and continued out the big double doors. After a sweeping tour of the horse pasture and the dry shed where he stored hay and some other types of feed, he pointed to the cattle in the farthest field.
“You take care of all this yourself?” Her voice held a note of awe.
“It’s my life. Got nothin’ else.”
Her eyes shifted to his hand, and he knew she was looking for a wedding band.
Finally, he took her to the house. All during their walk, he’d been thinking about where she’d stay. Since there wasn’t a bunkhouse, and the old house built later on the Windswept had seen neglect from the past few owners and wasn’t habitable at the moment, only one option remained.
First he showed her the deck and hot tub.
Her brows shot up. “I didn’t expect this.”
“Sore joints from playing football in my younger days.” He offered her a smile and took her inside through the sliding glass door. As he roamed through the rooms of his home, he wished he’d cleaned up better. There were dirty dishes in the sink and the laundry room smelled faintly of cows.
Liberty trailed behind until he stopped at the door of the bathroom. Several towels were draped over the shower door and even the vanity.
She gripped the doorframe and shook her head so her buttery blonde hair brushed her shoulders. Her stare latched onto the toilet seat, left open. Who did he have to close it for?
His momma’d taught him better, that was true, but after years of living alone, he’d stopped hearing her words of warning that someday he’d live with a woman who’d want the toilet seat down.
Liberty turned to him. “No way,” she said.
He blinked at her. “No way?”
“Yeah—no way am I staying here to become your maid!” She spun on her heels and stalked through the house.
Chapter Two
The old saying about desperate times and desperate measures wasn’t adding up in this case.
Liberty had lost the ranch and might not know where she’d sleep that night, but she sure as hell wasn’t sticking around to be Aidan Bellamy’s maid.
Ranch hand? Hah! He had more dirty socks balled up on the bedroom floor than most people had in their drawers. From the kitchen to the dusty floors to the state of the bathroom, the house was a mess.
“Mizz Baker! Wait.” He caught up to her at the front door.
She stepped outside and caught a whiff of the fresh breeze carrying a hint of grass and nature. That was the only thing stopping her in her tracks and making her face him again.
Her stare landed on a chest so chiseled he looked like one of those Olympic swimmers or gymnasts. And looking up at him didn’t help. That angled jaw appeared to be sharp enough to cut oak. The creases around his hardened lips might have been put there by smiling, but she saw no evidence of such an expression now.
And those eyes. Damn, did the man need to look directly into her soul? She didn’t want him to see that bruised-up shit.
“Thank you for your offer, Mr. Bellamy, but I won’t be staying.”
He straightened. “Look, I know my house isn’t always the cleanest, but I didn’t know I was bringing somebody in today. I’ve had sick cows and I’ve spent a coupla nights in the field, which means I got behind on laundry and dishes and…”
He trailed off and pulled his hat into his hands. For the first time, she saw all of Aidan Bellamy.
She sucked in a breath. Mussed, warm brown hair that curled at the ends and fell in a swoop across his tanned forehead.
“I’m not lookin’ for a maid. I’d offer other living quarters, but this is all I got for now. At some point, when I fix up the house on the Windswept—”
She stopped him. “What’s wrong with living there now?”
His eyes narrowed just the slightest bit, which only made him look more attractive and broody. Mr. Rochester of the cowboy world.
“You didn’t walk through the house before putting in a bid on it?” he asked.
“I looked at photos,” she admitted.
“That explains why you didn’t see that there’s no working bathroom or kitchen in the place.”
“Wait a minute.” She threw up a hand. “The fixtures are all intact in the photographs.”
“But the plumbing’s shot and so’s the electric. The house was neglected. It needs gutted and redone. No one offered to show you the inside?”
“I was told the keys were unavailable.”
Her stomach swirled with fury. Vanessa, the real estate agent, hadn’t clued her in to these problems. Why? Liberty paid her good money for a consultation and to give her opinion on the property’s worth so she could educate herself before putting in her bid. A bid she’d lost on maybe for the better. She didn’t have the means to fix up a house to make it habitable.
“I…” She rubbed the bridge of her nose. “I need a little time to think about your offer to work here and share the house with you.”
He dipped his head in a nod. “That’s only right. Take the time you need. I’m gonna make some calls.”
He disappeared inside the house, leaving her alone on the front porch of a stranger’s house. A house she’d live in with said stranger. Why was she even considering his offer at all? She only needed to climb into her truck and drive on down the road. Crossroads wasn’t the only quaint small town in America, and she still had her inheritance stashed in her account.
After running her ex’s computer sales empire, she could work in any corporate office, get an apartment and wait for the right property to come up for sale. If the Windswept wasn’t it, then she’d saved herself some headaches.
Walking to the porch railing, she leaned against it and sank her fingers into her hair. God, what a long day, and it wasn’t even lunchtime yet. She looked over the land that was on offer to her. Living here and helping unite two properties into one massive ranch went along with her life-change goals, where her idea of finding an apartment and job did not.
Hadn’t she fled that life once? It all came down to her soul. She’d sold it once before to a husband who sucked it dry. She’d barely got it back, but it still lay there like a limp, deflated child’s ball. Needing a breath of air. Only doing what she loved would nurture it a state of whole.
Maybe this arrangement wasn’t ideal, but it would offer her the peace she sought. Working with animals, especially horses, using her hands and brainpower for finding solutions to new problems she never encountered before, would make her happy.
The living situation left something to be desired. She didn’t want to live with a slob who wouldn’t clean up after himself. He probably burped and farted too.
It’s only a place to sleep when I’m not outdoors enjoying the ranch life.
Staring at the field, she knew it would be lit up with fireflies at night, and she easily pictured herself sitting in the grass, watching them blink on and off as they flitted around.
That peaceful image made up her mind more than anything else. A silly thing to cling to, but it was hers, and she’d grab it while she could.
After all, if things didn’t work out, she still owned her truck and had enough money in the bank to continue on down the road to find something different.