“Stop being a pussy,” I said as I floored it and raced down the driveway. I knew it might be something Dad had ordered for the ranch.
After parking right in front of her place, I got out of the truck and took a look at the newly repaired roof. Lincoln had offered to pay to fix it, but Brock had said Kaylee told her no: she had already committed to buying the house, and it was hers to fix. I admired the shit out of her for taking responsibility for it.
I walked up the steps and looked around at the plants on the porch and smiled. What was it about women and the first signs of spring that made them start putting flowers out?
Sitting next to the door was, in fact, a large package with my name on it. From a saddle company in Billings.
“Damn you, Tanner.”
There was no doubt in my mind that my little brother had sent this to Kaylee’s house on purpose. I picked up the box and carried it down to my truck. It was large and awkward, and I almost fell twice. My leg was bugging me for some reason today, and the dull ache seemed to show up anytime I went a few days not thinking about the accident. It was like a bitch slap to remind me yet again of my past.
After putting the saddle into the back of my truck, I went to get in but stopped. It would be pretty damn shitty of me to leave and not even let Kaylee know I had gotten the package.
With a frustrated sigh, I shut the door to my truck and walked back up to her door. I knocked, but she didn’t answer. Glancing back toward the barn, I saw her BMW SUV parked there, so I knew she was home. I knocked again, this time harder.
Nothing.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called her.
“Hello?”
She sounded like she had me on speakerphone.
“Why do you sound like you’re in a can?”
“Probably because I’m trying to stop this leak.”
“What leak?”
“It’s nothing.”
I rolled my eyes, then reached for the door. It was unlocked.
“You really need to lock your front door.”
“Are you in my house? I didn’t invite you in, Ty Shaw.”
“Clearly you did by leaving your front door unlocked,” I said, making my way up the steps.
“Damn it, Ty. Go away.”
I hung up the phone and pushed it back into my jeans pocket. I walked into her bedroom and straight into her bathroom. I’m not going to lie: I was hoping she’d be in nothing more than those lace panties again.
Instead, what I found was Kaylee sitting on the floor, trying to use a wrench to stop the spray of water coming from the hose she had hooked up from the wall to her bidet.
“Shit, I forgot to hook that up for you,” I said, trying to take the wrench from her.
“I got it!” she shouted, water now spraying both of us.
“Obviously, sweetheart, you don’t. Let me have it.”
Kaylee shot me a dirty look. “I’m not your sweetheart. You can leave, Ty. I’ve got this.”
“Kaylee, will you just let me help you with that?”
She looked up at me, pure determination in her eyes. “I can handle this. I don’t need your help.”
“Clearly you do. You’re going to flood this whole bathroom, and then it’s going to leak downstairs, and you haven’t even let the ink dry on the contract from buying this place yet.”
Kaylee tried harder. If she ended up breaking it, things were going to go from bad to worse.
“Shit! Come on, you stupid thing!”
“Just let me help.”
“I’ve got it!”
She jerked again, and again it didn’t move. I could see the frustration beginning to build on her face.
“For fuck’s sake, will you just stop being afraid to admit that you need help and let me get it tightened? You’re being childish.”
She let go of the wrench to say something to me, and I grabbed it. “Let me get in there.”
When she moved, she shot me a look that said a million and one things, number one being to fuck off.
When I got the water to stop spewing, I stood and wiped my face off with my shirt. I was frustrated as fuck that she just couldn’t have moved over and let me fix the damn thing.
“I don’t understand why you’re so afraid to ask for help.”
Her fists balled up at her sides, and her face turned red as a tomato. Oh, hell. I just poked a little too hard at the bees’ nest.
“I’m not afraid to ask for help! My whole life, I’ve never had to ask for help, because no one ever let me do a fucking thing! I’m capable of doing things, you know!”
This was a side of Kaylee I’d never witnessed before. The girl on the verge of losing her shit.