She loved the fact that her hair was clean and smelled so good. Pomegranate and strawberries, Abigail had told her was the fragrance. Just to be clean, dressed in clean clothes felt great. Now she also had a job starting tomorrow and maybe another one at the restaurant. Lena hoped that Francine was hiring. She sure could use the money, so she could find a real place to stay.
She leaned back against the pillow and pulled the blanket over her. She never took her shoes off because she knew not to get too comfortable and to always expect to make a run for it. This Mayberry type of town couldn’t all be filled with people like the Joneses.
* * * *
“I think we should clean out the cottage and let Lena stay there. What do you think, Abigail?” Pete asked his wife on the ride home just as they pulled onto the long entrance to the ranch.
“Oh my, that is a wonderful idea. It’s perfect for her, and it will give me some time to get to know her better. In fact, once she gets a bit more comfortable with us, I might invite Anna and Stacy over to meet her. They had some troubled pasts themselves and could possibly assist Lena with what may have happened to her.”
“What makes you so certain that she’s running from trouble?” Pete asked as he parked the truck.
“A woman knows these things, and that young woman is on the run. How old do you think she is?”
“I’m not sure. She is very pretty and mature, but yet young. I think no more than eighteen or twenty, tops. We’ll make her feel comfortable, Abigail, and I think that will be enough when the time comes to get her story and see how we can help her even more.”
“Okay, Pete. Let’s go inside and tell Frank and Will. I’ll see if they can get Quinn or Blake to help clear out the cottage tomorrow.”
“Sounds good. But don’t tell them quite yet for whom. I have the feeling that Kenny is going to give me a hard time when he finds out we’ve let a stranger onto the ranch. I’m not even going to mention that she’s sleeping at the office.”
“Don’t fret over him. He’s too damn serious all the time. He’ll get over it. Come on.”
* * * *
By the second night, word had gotten around that a gorgeous young woman was working for Dr. Jones. Pete found this utterly amusing, especially when his son Kenny showed up around lunchtime. Lena and Dr. Jones were working in the back room, and Lena was going over her ideas about organizing his files in a more accessible way.
“You see, Doc, all we have to do is go into the settings area in my computer file and make the other two computers out front able to read this computer. When the patient comes in, Lucy or Sarah can access the patient’s file and even update it and create appointments from any computer. It’s simple and will just take me about a half an hour to complete it.”
“My God!” Doc exclaimed as he ran his fingers through his hair.
“He didn’t get anything you just said, darlin’.”
Doc Jones and Lena turned toward the voice, and Kenny was standing in the doorway, dressed in uniform.
Doc Jones noticed how Lena turned a shade of red and stared at Kenny.
His son was very big and tall, just like his brothers. He stood at over six feet and worked out hard to keep up with his brothers’ natural physiques from working on the ranch for years.
“Kenny, what are you doing here? Have you e
aten lunch? I have an extra half of a wrap if you want it,” Doc said as he rose from the seat.
“No thank you, sir. I’m good. I just stopped in to see what all the fuss was about. Now I understand,” Kenny stated as he stared toward Lena.
Dr. Jones cleared his throat and hoped that Kenny wouldn’t intimidate her. He was a very demanding young man and took his profession seriously.
“This is Lena. Lena, this is my son Kenny.”
Lena looked a bit nervous, but she stood up and reached to shake Kenny’s hand.
“Nice to meet you.”
* * * *
Lena felt as if her heart was going to jump from her chest. The picture on Doc’s desk did not do his son justice at all. The man was a freaking model, and he was bigger than he appeared in the picture. She felt so small and feminine packed in the small office with him and Doc Jones. The fact that he was a law enforcement officer made her nervous, too. Cops reminded her of the story that Ariel told her last year. Before they were staying together, some cop told Ariel he would help her out. He was young and good looking, but when he brought her to his patrol car, he tried to make her perform oral sex on him. Cops couldn’t be trusted either and especially good-looking ones. She pulled her hand away and turned as he continued to stare at her. She could see he was attracted to her, but she wasn’t falling for his charms.
“Lena is working for me now and maybe at Francine’s, if she’s hiring. She’s new to town.”
“That’s what I heard. I can see why so many people have been talking about her.”