* * *
Oh God, she was an idiot.
Why did she have to blurt out the fact that she didn’t have friends? What was she still doing here? She needed to leave. It was obvious that he’d been about to tell her to leave before he was interrupted. She should just leave first. Save him the hassle.
Except right now, her legs didn’t really feel up to carrying her anywhere. She sat back on the sofa. She’d just give herself a few minutes of rest. Her stomach grumbled, reminding her that it had been a long time since she’d eaten that apple for breakfast. And considering she hadn’t had dinner last night; the apple had barely touched the sides of her stomach. In the past few weeks she knew she’d lost more weight and if she wasn’t careful, she was going to start looking gaunt.
Or pass out at a scary, intimidating cowboy’s feet.
Yeah, and wouldn’t that just add to this crappy day.
* * *
“What is it?” he snapped at Zeke.
“Need to show you something.”
“Couldn’t it wait until after I’ve dealt with Charlotte?”
Zeke’s eyebrow rose in surprise.
“What do you want?” The only reason he’d let the other man pull him away was because Zeke wasn’t the type to say something was important unless it was. But he didn’t want to leave Charlotte alone for long.
He didn’t think about why that might be.
“Come look at her car.”
He followed Zeke out to the beat-up Chevy, frowning as he studied it. The left-hand side mirror was taped on with black duct tape. It had a huge scratch down one door and a dent in the back fender.
“It’s a wreck.” And if she was his, there was no way in hell he’d ever let her drive it. That was for sure.
“Yeah, I know. It’s leaking radiator fluid. She wouldn’t get far before breaking down.”
Great. So now he had to arrange to have her car towed back into town. “I’ll call Dave and get him to come out. He can give her a ride back into town with him.” Dave was the local mechanic.
“That’s not the only reason I called you out here, boss man,” Zeke drawled. “Look inside.”
He let out a puff of impatience. But he peered in the front window. Interior seemed to be just as beaten up as the exterior. “What exactly am I looking for?” He moved to the back window then froze. “Ah, hell.”
“Yeah, figured you’d want to see that. Guessing there’s no need for Dave to get here quick?”
He sent the other man a look. “No.”
Zeke rubbed his chest. “Thank Christ for that. I’ve still got heartburn from Ellie’s breakfast; didn’t think I would be able to survive dinner as well.”
“Yeah, well, let’s just hope she can cook. Dinner will be a trial run.”
But even if she was a terrible cook, he knew he couldn’t just send her away. Not after seeing what was in her back seat.
“Want me to have a go at fixing her car?”
“Yeah, put all her luggage in the cabin we set up for the cook and then see what you can do with it.
” He doubted she had the money to pay Dave to fix it and he couldn’t let her drive the car as it was.
“You’re letting her stay in a cabin? On her own?” Doubt filled Zeke’s voice. “That a good idea?”
Probably not. “It’s the only place we have for her.”