That statement brought a snort of derision. “I don’t hide. I’ve got work to do. Don’t have time to babysit a bored woman with nothing to do. Besides,” he added, “I saw her last night. She was on her laptop doing some work for Mom on the internet. I figure that’s what she’s still doing. And she doesn’t need my help with that.”
Of course, he couldn’t be sure what she was up to because Jake had left the house at dawn that morning with most of the ranch hands. Hard enough trying to sleep just down the hall from her room; seeing her wasn’t going to help the situation any. Besides, he had work to do. And if that work kept him away from Cassidy Moore, well, he considered that a bonus.
Normally, Jake didn’t mind an early snowstorm closing off the mountain from visitors. Kept things quiet. But this storm was damned inconvenient.
“Think you’ve got her all figured out, do you?”
Jake slanted a hard look at his grandfather. When the hell had the older man become so damn nosy? But even as he thought it, Jake realized that Ben was always keeping his hand in what went on at the ranch—the difference now was, with Cassidy here, Ben had something beyond ranch business to be interested in.
Problem was, Jake was interested in her, too, though far differently from his grandfather. Not in a forever kind of way, though. He would never try that again. But he had a hell of a lot of interest in one night with Cassidy—whether it was a good idea or not. And it really was not a good idea.
“I do have her figured out.” Jake ran the brush across his horse’s back in long, even strokes that practically had the big animal purring. When he spoke again it wasn’t just to his grandfather. He needed to hear it all said out loud, too.
“She’s from the city, Pop. When it snows in Boston, there are snowplows out making the streets navigable. Sidewalks are swept off and my guess is she wouldn’t know what to do with herself any more than Lisa did when the snow’s up to your thigh and just walking across the yard is more aerobic exercise than most people get in a year.”
“Always comes back to Lisa, doesn’t it?”
Jake stopped brushing the horse and looked at his grandfather. “Why wouldn’t it? She was my wife.”
“Was being the operative word here.”
Jake sighed. “You’re the one who told me if you’re going to make mistakes, don’t make the same one over and over again. Remember?”
Scowling, Ben said, “I remember. But I don’t see Lisa around here anywhere, so—”
“Maybe she’s not here in person, but Lisa was as attached to her computer as Cassidy seems to be. They’re both from the city. And I’m willing to bet that neither of them knows anything about ranch life or how to do anything more strenuous than hitting a keyboard without breaking a nail.”
Shaking his head, Ben Hawkins blew out a breath and said, “You remind me of that old saying about the guy who got cheated by a Frenchman and then swore that all of the French were thieves.”
“I didn’t—”
“That’s just stupid thinking if you ask me. You lump all women together and you’ll never notice when the right one shows up.”
Jake stared at the other man for a long moment. “Where’ve you been, Pop? I’m not looking for the ‘right’ one. As far as I’m concerned that mythical woman doesn’t exist.” But, he added silently, Cassidy Moore would make a great “right now” woman. He gave his horse one last pat before easing out of the stall and latching the gate closed behind him. Brushing past his grandfather, he said, “If it’ll make you happy I’ll go to the house now and check on her. Okay?”
Ben smirked. “If you want to check on Cassidy, then you should come with me.”
Frowning, Jake followed after his grandfather as the old man walked the length of the barn before pushing open one of the double doors. Holding it open with one hand, he used his free hand to signal Jake in a come-here motion. Still frowning, Jake looked out and couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
There was Cass, wielding a snow shovel alongside Jim Hatton, clearing the sidewalks and porches of the cottages and bunkhouse. The two of them were laughing and talking, tossing shovels full of snow at each other and in general acting like they were the best of friends.
“She’s shoveling?”
“Been at it for hours, too,” Ben told him with a note of satisfaction in his voice. “You took most of the hands out with you, so that left Jim to do the clearing while I saw to the horses.”