Stacy's Horses by Justine Davis

Author:Justine Davis [Davis, Justine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: SxNW Publishing

Chapter Eleven

“Oh, Jake.”

“You think she’ll like it?” he asked.

She looked at the sketch of the little car. He watched her as she studied it. He’d made this one a little differently, since it was for a specific child. He’d quizzed Rachel a bit about Susie, what she liked, favorite color, that kind of thing. And instead of the boxy, truck-like cars he’d built for the playroom, this was a low-slung little convertible.

“She’ll love it,” she said, and when she looked at him, what he saw in her eyes made him want to grab her and kiss her senseless right here and now. And that he couldn’t think of single reason not to almost scared him.

“Later...if she needs it, I can add grab bars.” He saw the moisture well up in her eyes, and immediately regretted his words. “I shouldn’t have said that. I—”

“No,” she said quickly. “I just...that you think of things like that...it’s wonderful. You’re wonderful, Jake Stone.”

He nearly shook with the effort not to do what he’d wanted to since she’d arrived. Fought for equilibrium, tried to think of anything else to say. When he thought he had a grip, he finally risked words again. “What you do is wonderful. I’m just a carpenter.”

“You,” she said firmly, “are not just anything.” Then, briskly, before he could say anything, she asked, “When will you start it?”

“Waiting on the wheels,” he said.

“What about...stopping it?” she asked, giving him a mock wide-eyed look. He almost laughed.

“Same switch as the others shuts off the power, if the adults need to. Brakes like the others. She can use foot or hand, depending on which is easiest for her.”

Her eyes went soft on him again. “As I said,” she murmured.

He was losing it. And any moment he was going to grab her. “Paint,” he muttered.

“What color?”

He unclenched his teeth, back in control again. “I thought I’d paint it pink.”

“Will it hurt?” she asked with a smile.

He almost grinned at her accurate interpretation of his expression. “Only for a while.”

“She will truly love it, Jake.” Her smile widened, and she waved at the drawing. “It needs a hood ornament.”

“What?”

“Something fun. Let’s eat and think,” she said, gesturing to the bag she’d set down on his workbench.

He could think of other things he’d rather do, but he was hungry. And it smelled really good. Chinese, and from his favorite place for it. Coincidence? Surely. There were only two places in town; she had a fifty-fifty chance.

He glanced around at the workroom, the sawdust on the floor, the rows of tools hung on the walls, and the ones he’d been using strewn across the workbench. Hardly the setting for a cozy meal for two.

He hesitated, then said it. “Let’s go over to the house.”

She smiled. “I got forks, too,” she said as they walked, “since I’m hopeless at chopsticks.”

“I don’t have the patience for them.”

She stopped on the path as they neared the house. Stared at the flowers on each side that had bloomed since she was last here.

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