Never Enough (Meet Me in Montana 1)

“I was attempting to hang a curtain rod.”

Ty took a step forward. “How are you doing getting settled in?”

With a grin, I glanced around the house as I stood back up. We’d been in Hamilton a week, and I was already in love with it. “Slowly getting there. I’ve been able to get a lot done in the short amount of time I’ve been here.”

He nodded. “Why don’t you let me do that for you?”

I held up my handy-dandy electric drill. Ever since I could remember, my father had made it seem like I wasn’t capable of handling simple tasks like hanging up a curtain rod. That wasn’t the case anymore. “Nope, I’ve gone my whole life having someone try to help me with one thing or another. This house is different. Everything in this house will be because I did it.”

He frowned. “You won’t be admitting defeat if you let me hang a curtain rod, you know.”

I grinned. “I appreciate it, but I’ve got this.” Glancing between the older Shaw and the younger, I asked, “What brings you two here?”

Blayze proudly held up and displayed a pie. Of course I had noticed it the moment he’d walked in. “Grams said we needed to bring this to you. She sent my daddy a picture of you ’cause she said you were real pwetty and that he’d probably like to see a pwetty girl. He won on his bull the whole weekend. He’s number one!”

I looked back at Ty, confused.

“Brock is a professional bull rider. He was in Tacoma this past weekend. Blayze said he wanted to send him the picture you’d taken with him, so my mother texted it to him.”

My cheeks heated, and I hoped Ty wouldn’t notice. “Oh, I see. Your mother didn’t mention where Blayze’s father was. I just assumed he lived here.”

Ty’s brows pulled in tight, and something resembling anger moved over his face. It was so quick, I almost didn’t catch it.

“Yeah, well, that’s not the case.”

Okay then. I for sure detected a bit of anger there.

“You’re not happy with what he does for a living?” I asked.

“Uncle Ty used to bull ride before he got hurt,” Blayze interjected.

My eyes went from Blayze to Ty.

“Anyway, my mother wanted you to have this as a way of saying, ‘Welcome to your new home.’”

And that was a serious change of subject, I mused. Did Ty simply not like talking about his brother? Or maybe it was the injury Blayze had mentioned. My curiosity had certainly been piqued.

Right then, Kaylee came walking into the living room, her headphones still on, as evidenced by her shouting, “Where’s the ice cream?”

Ty’s face lit up, and so did Blayze’s. I had to chuckle at the way they both seemed to gleam at Kaylee. Of course, my best friend was a knockout and currently holding a hammer while asking for ice cream. Who wouldn’t think that was sexy?

Kaylee pulled her headphones off her ears. “Ty! Hi. Oh, wow, that rhymed. Not that I’d tried to make it rhyme or anything. It was just a simple hello that ended up being a hi and Ty. So, yeah, not really trying to be creative with my words.”

Ty laughed while I tilted my head at the woman standing before me. Cheeks red. Lust filling those blue eyes of hers. And she was babbling.

So. Very. Interesting.

“You often eat ice cream with a hammer?” Ty asked while Blayze cracked up laughing like that was the funniest thing he’d ever heard.

Kaylee held up the hammer. “What? Oh, no. I was going to try to hang up these blinds in the guest bedroom, but I sort of made a boo-boo.”

I turned to face her. “I thought you were working.”

“I was. Then, I got bored and decided to help you hang up the blinds, and I accidentally missed and hit the wall with the hammer.”

I looked down at the drill in my hand and held it up. “This is what I’m using to hang up the blinds and curtains. Not a hammer!”

Kaylee’s face turned red as she held up the screw. “Ohh . . . okay. I thought that little thing didn’t look like a nail.”

My eyes rolled as Ty attempted not to lose it, laughing. Kaylee had been raised in a very well-to-do family. Manual labor was still something new to her. She could help me move furniture around like no one’s business. Loved to help me shop for decorations, but when it came time for the nitty-gritty stuff, Kaylee always disappeared.

Except for now. She truly wanted to help me with this little house. I had a feeling it was growing on her like it had on me the moment I saw it for sale online.

“It’s called a screw, Kaylee.”

“Even I know what a screw is, Miss Kaylee.”

Moving her gaze from me down to Blayze, Kaylee smiled. “My goodness! Who is this handsome cowboy?”