His Country Cinderella. Karen Rose Smith
following morning, Jonah’s little hand in hers. She stared almost uncomprehendingly at the traffic cruising up and down Oak Avenue. She’d just been fired! They’d given her a lame excuse, but she knew the truth.
Her son tugged on her hand as she focused on him. His brown hair always looked mussed, but his blue eyes, the same shade as hers, sparkled with a child’s innocence and curiosity. “Are we gonna go to my open house now?”
Jeannette had worked out her schedule today so she could take Jonah to his preschool open house this morning, drop him off at Edna and Mel Lambert’s—Ed’s parents insisted they didn’t mind babysitting while she worked—and arrive at LipSmackin’ Ribs for Friday’s eleven-to-four shift. She had to rotate with the other waitresses for those premium weekend night shifts, so she wouldn’t be working tonight. Filling in cleaning assignments around her shifts had been fairly easy, but now she wouldn’t have cleaning assignments. How was she going to pay for Jonah’s tuition for preschool?
She swallowed hard as she gazed into Jonah’s eyes. “Yes, we’re going to your open house. Are you ready?”
He jumped up and down. “Let’s go.”
Jeannette couldn’t believe her “mountain man” had complained about her. Not after the deal they’d made. She still remembered the feel of his strong fingers around hers, the outdoor, male scent of him, the soberness in his eyes.
She should have known better than to trust a stranger. Now she’d have to look for another job to fit with her schedule at LipSmackin’ Ribs. That wouldn’t be easy.
She was walking down Oak Avenue with Jonah when she spotted a silver SUV pull up to the curbside parking meter. That SUV looked just like the one that had been in the log house’s garage—
She couldn’t believe her eyes when the acerbic stranger himself climbed out of the vehicle! As he rounded his SUV, he was heading straight for the Mops and Brooms office.
His Stetson brim was pulled low and today he wore sunglasses. What was he doing here? Hadn’t he done enough damage?
When he saw her, he stopped short. A trace of a smile turned up the corners of his lips. “Well, hello. I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“No, I suppose not,” she returned frostily. She couldn’t see his eyes today, just her own reflection in his mirrored sunglasses.
“A little cold out this morning,” he joked and she could see he was obviously trying to lighten her mood. Why would he be doing that? Wouldn’t he have known what had just happened to her?
“Is this your son?” he asked, even as his eyes dropped to her hand, checking for a wedding ring. He saw none there. She’d never had the chance to wear one.
“I’m Jonah,” the little boy piped up, and Jeannette almost wanted to groan. He was too friendly. She’d talked to him about strangers more than once, but it obviously hadn’t gotten through.
“Jonah’s a great name. Where are you off to? That backpack looks new.”
Proudly, Jonah swiveled around so the man could get a better view.
“SpongeBob. All right. I guess you’re headed off to school.”
“Open house,” Jonah told him. “I’m gonna meet my teacher and other kids, too. Mommy says I have to sit still. I don’t think I’m gonna like that. But she says we’re gonna draw and make things and dance and jump around. So it might be okay.”
The mountain man had to laugh at Jonah’s unfettered enthusiasm. Jeannette wanted to bundle up her son and hurry him off to her car. But he really didn’t see many people, other than her, Edna and Mel.
“If you’re going to preschool, I’ll bet you’re about…four,” the man guessed.
“I’m four-and-a-half,” Jonah informed him. “My birthday’s in Febwary. Mommy says I was her Val-en-tine’s Day present.”
Jeannette could see the man was finding it hard not to laugh again. She just wanted to be on their way, even though she still felt that darn tug of attraction toward him. How could she when he’d gotten her fired? And yet he was acting so natural.
“We’ve got to be going,” she said stiffly.
But he didn’t move to the side to let them pass. After a moment of studying her, he said, “I’m sorry about yesterday. I overreacted when I first came in. I should have never been so…gruff.”
He was apologizing for acting rude when he’d gotten her fired? Somehow that didn’t make sense.
Jonah wasn’t getting the man’s attention anymore and he didn’t like that, so he tugged on his sleeve. “Mommy and I got up early this morning to come here. But she got fired.” He looked up at Jeannette. “But we didn’t have to call the firemen or anything.”
The man in front of her suddenly went still. He flipped off his sunglasses and hung them on his shirt pocket. “So that’s why you’re acting like this,” he mused. “You think I complained to the cleaning service.”
She wasn’t sure what was going on and her voice wasn’t quite steady when she asked, “Didn’t you?”
“No. I was coming here this morning to try to get you a raise—to compliment everything you’d done for me. I made a promise yesterday, remember?”
“Sometimes promises don’t mean all that much.” She remembered all the times Ed had told her they’d get married, but then he’d kept putting it off.
“I stand by my promises. What happened?”
“Well, if you didn’t do it…” She paused. “The manager said business is slow and it was just a case of last hired, first fired. So I guess maybe that was true.”
“I imagine not as many people are using cleaning services these days. It’s still hard times for a lot of folks. If you’d like, maybe I can get you reinstated.”
“How is that possible?”
His green eyes were probing as they assessed her, and she had no idea what he was looking for.
Out of the conversation now, Jonah was getting bored. “Can we go? You can come, too.”
She crouched down to her son. “Oh, no, Jonah, I’m sure he can’t.”
“I hope you learn everything you need to know at your open house,” he said to her son, then his gaze fell on her again. “Would you like to go to lunch and talk about this some more?” He motioned to Mops and Brooms. “Your job?”
She stood. “Oh, I can’t go to lunch. I start my other job at eleven, waiting tables at LipSmackin’ Ribs.”
The sexy stranger scowled and she wondered if he looked down on that kind of work. She’d been everything from a dog groomer to an assistant in a hair salon and said defensively, “It pays the bills.”
“I always stick my foot in it with you, don’t I?” He shook his head. “I’m a friend of Dillon Traub. His cousin, DJ, owns the Rib Shack. He’s not pleased about the new competition, and I’m not all that impressed with the atmosphere at LipSmackin’ Ribs. But that has nothing to do with you. Why don’t I meet you when your shift ends?”
“I have to pick up Jonah at his babysitter’s.”
“Coffee break?” he teased.
When this man smiled, she felt something like hot butter running through her veins. She was amazed at his persistence. It had been about seven years since Ed had asked her on their first date. Since her fiancé’s accident, she hadn’t even thought about seeing another man.
But this one—
“You can even call Dillon for a reference if you need one.” He took out his wallet, found a business card and handed it to her.
Jeannette