Jenny (11 page)

"Come on up, Tom. Despite your boss's objections,
I'm going to help you finish the roof. With three of
us working on it, we can get it done that much sooner," Cole offered climbing off the ladder to stand
on the roof with Jenny.

Jenny was surprised by Cole's offer and glanced
quickly at him. "You don't have to help. We can handle it."

For some reason, it irritated him that she didn't
seem to want his help.

"Humor me. At least if I'm up here with you, I'll
be able to catch you if you start to fall."

He said it so harshly that she took an unconscious
step backward. "I'm not going to-"

Even as she started to say it, she stepped on an
uneven shingle. Her foot twisted and slipped out from
under her. With a gasp, she lost her balance and fell
awkwardly. She started to slide toward the edge, certain that she was going to fall completely off the roof.

His worst fear realized, Cole reacted instinctively.
In one quick move, he managed to grab Jenny. He
hauled her up bodily against him, saving her from
certain injury.

"Miss Jenny! Are you all right?" Tom shouted as
he scrambled quickly the rest of the way up the ladder.

Jenny couldn't answer right away. Her heart was
pounding in her throat as she clutched at Cole. One
minute she'd been certain she was going to fall, and
the next she'd been swept into the safe haven of
Cole's arms.

As her terror slowly gave way, she became aware
of more than just his strong arms around her. She realized she was pressed full-length against Cole, her
breasts crushed against the hard width of his chest,
her thighs tight against his. She was trembling, but
this time it wasn't from fear. There was something
elemental about being this close to him, and the unexpected power of her reaction to Cole left her confused and unsure.

"Jenny?" Cole said her name slowly, worriedly, as
he looked down at her.

Fear had filled him when he'd seen her lose her
balance and start to fall. His reaction had been immediate and instinctive, just like his physical reaction
to her now. Everyplace she touched him, he ached
and burned. He didn't want to release her. He wanted
to keep her close. He wanted to hold her and never
let her go.

Logic returned, but it still took a herculean effort
for Cole to finally set her away from him.

A part of him wanted to hold her longer, to keep
her near.

But he didn't.

He told himself to stop fantasizing about Jenny.
There was nothing between them. She had made that
clear two years ago, and it was going to stay that way
now, because that was the way he wanted it to be.

"Thank you, Cole-" Jenny finally whispered,
drawing a ragged breath as she steadied herself.

"You're all right?"

"I think so."

"That was close," Tom said nervously as he came to stand with them. He looked up at Cole admiringly.
"You saved her."

Cole shrugged, casting one last quick look at Jenny.
"You sure you're all right?"

Jenny nodded, her gaze meeting and holding his.
For an instant, she was lost in the depths of his intense
dark eyes. Cole was such a strong man. And he was
handsome, too-definitely more handsome than she'd
remembered. She found herself wondering why some
other woman hadn't snatched him up.

Jenny vaguely realized that she couldn't recall Cole
ever holding her close like that before. Their time
together two years ago had been very closely chaperoned. As she thought about it, Jenny realized that
she and Cole had never really had much time alone
during their engagement. She realized, too, that although they had known each other for years, she had
never known him as a man. They had always been
friends. The startling realization made her frown, and
she tore her gaze away from his, lest he see the confusion in her eyes.

"We'd better get to work if we're going to finish
today," she said, distracting herself.

Jenny did not want to reflect too deeply on what
had just happened. In the back of her mind, though,
she knew there was no denying that she'd been
stunned by the sensual awareness that had rocketed
through her when she'd been crushed against Cole's
hard, lean body. She reached for the bucket of nails that Tom had brought with him, ready to go back to
work.

"Yes, ma'am," Tom answered.

"I'm ready if you are," Cole told her, his businesslike tone completely changing the mood that had momentarily existed between them. "Let's go to work."

Tom didn't know what had transpired between the
two of them, and he didn't really care as long as Miss
Jenny wasn't hurt. He grabbed his own hammer and
started pounding. With Cole's help, he knew they
could easily be finished that afternoon.

Just then Evelyn and Frances came hurrying out of
the house.

"Jenny! Were you hurt? What happened?" Evelyn
called to her niece as they ran to the bunkhouse.
"Frances and I saw you fall, and we were worried
about you!"

"I'm fine, thanks to Cole," Jenny answered, a little
embarrassed by their attention as she cast a sidelong
glance at Cole working beside her.

"That was quick thinking on your part, Cole," Evelyn said earnestly, smiling at him. "Thank you. Jenny
could have been seriously injured if you hadn't been
there to save her."

"I'm just glad I was able to help," he replied.

He didn't look at Jenny, though he was very much
aware of her nearness. He was glad she hadn't been
hurt, but if she'd had any sense at all, she wouldn't
have been up there on the roof in the first place. Even
now as they continued to work side by side, he would have felt much better if she'd been down with the
other women where he could be sure she was safe.

"How much more do you have to do up there? Are
you going to be much longer?" Frances asked.

"It'll probably take about another hour with the
three of us working," Jenny answered.

"Well, that's perfect. I was getting ready to start
fixing dinner, so, Cole, why don't you stay on and
eat with us tonight?" Frances invited.

Cole knew the smart thing to do would be to finish
the roof and get out of there. The farther away from
Jenny he stayed, the better, but for some reason he
found himself accepting Frances's invitation. He told
himself it wasn't all that unusual for him to eat there
at the Lazy S.He had often stayed for dinner when
Paul was alive.

"I'd like that, Frances. Thanks."

Cole didn't know why he'd agreed to stay. He'd come
to the Lazy S strictly to talk finances with Jenny, had
ended up working on the roof, and was now obligated
to spend even more time in her company over dinner.

And spending time with Jenny was something he
didn't want to do.

Again, Cole wondered why Paul had put him in
this position; he must have guessed how awkward it
would be. Paul could just as easily have picked Andrew Marsden or Lyle Stevens to do the job, especially since he'd known how Cole felt about Jenny.

Thoughts of Paul brought Cole up short, and he
immediately regretted the resentment he'd been feeling. Sadness filled him. It would have been easy to
stand by and let the Lazy S go under. Then he could
have bought it up cheap, and Jenny would leave. But Cole took the job Paul had entrusted to him seriously.
His friend had known the ranch was in trouble and
needed his help. That was why Paul had chosen him,
and Cole would do his best, no matter how difficult
it was to be near Jenny.

Cole worked on the roof at a tireless pace. He focused on the job before him, trying to ignore the fact
that Jenny was always near-the curve of her hip
always visible from the corner of his eye. Ignoring
her was proving to be next to impossible-especially
after what had transpired earlier but Cole had always prided himself on being a man of iron will and
self-control. As physically attractive as he might find
Jenny to be, she meant nothing to him. The woman
he had thought he loved years ago, never really existed. He was there helping out because it was what
Paul would have wanted him to do.

When the final repair had been made, Cole stood
up, more than ready to call it a day.

"Do you need any help getting down?" he asked
Jenny, holding out his hand to her as she carefully
made her way toward the ladder carrying her tools.

"No, I'll be fine."

He found himself frowning when she dodged his
outstretched hand. Cole couldn't decide whether he
was glad she hadn't wanted his help or irritated because she'd so obviously avoided his touch.

After Jenny had descended the ladder, Cole let
Tom go down ahead of him. When at last Cole
climbed down, Jenny had already started off to the main house; that was fine with him. He stopped at
the water pump to clean up before following her inside.

"Come on in, Cole. We'll be ready to eat as soon
as I get these last few dishes on the table," Evelyn
called to him from the dining room as he came in the
front door.

The aroma from Frances's home cooking was
mouthwatering. For all his misgivings about staying
for dinner, Cole would never regret taking the opportunity to eat one of her meals. She was one of the
best cooks around. He entered the dining room to find
the two older women bustling around the table.

"Jenny went upstairs to freshen up. She'll be down
in a few minutes. Sit down and relax. You've been
working hard," Evelyn invited as she sat down at the
table.

"Thanks." He took the seat across from her, with
Frances on his left.

"Did you finish the roof?" Evelyn asked.

"It's all done. Of course, Jenny won't know for
sure how good a job we did until the next rain," he
said with a grin.

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Frances joined in. "It's going to be interesting to see how the interior turns out."

"It's a wonderful idea," Evelyn said, and then
looked at Cole. "Did she tell you what she intends to
do inside?"

"She only mentioned that she was turning it into a
guest house of some sort," Cole answered.

"She's going to partition the house one side will
be for men and one for women. Each side will have
its own private entrance. That will guarantee the
guests' complete privacy."

"So Jenny's really serious about doing this?" he
asked thoughtfully.

"Very," Evelyn confirmed. "And she's right about
the very real interest people back East have in the
Western way of life. The idea of a guest ranch is
clever and different. If she lets the right people know
what we have to offer here in the way of accommodations and good food and hospitality, I honestly
think she can make some decent money at it."

Cole heard the enthusiasm in her voice. "I hope
you're right. She's investing a lot of money in fixing
up the place."

"If hard work is any sign of ultimate success, then
I think we're going to be rich," Jenny said with a
laugh as she came into the room to join them.

Cole glanced her way and was surprised by the
sense of disappointment that filled him at the sight of
her sedate day gown. He'd been expecting her to return still clad in her work pants. He grew irritated
with himself for even noticing what she was wearing.
It didn't matter if she looked like a sophisticated
woman wearing a gown or if she looked like a woman
who could take charge of any situation and run things
single-handedly in her Western wear. What mattered
was that he knew how fickle she could be. At the
thought, his heart hardened against her.

"I can't remember the last time I was this tired...
or this sore," she went on.

"But look at what you've accomplished already,"
Frances said. "Louie is going to be so impressed when
he gets back from working the herd and sees what
you've done."

"I want to get the place up and running as quickly
as possible. The sooner we open up for paying guests,
the faster we can get the Lazy S back on its feet
financially."

"Shall we say grace?" Evelyn prompted, folding
her hands before her and waiting for the others to do
the same. "Bless us, Lord, for these gifts from Thy
bounty, through Christ, our Lord. And thank you for
a friend like Cole, who is so kind and generous with
his help. Amen."

Cole echoed Evelyn's "Amen." He was surprised
and touched by her words. He doubted that Jenny
agreed with her, though. She probably wanted him to
stay as far away as possible for as long as possible.
When and if she ever really did need him, it would
probably be only for cash.

"How soon do you think you'll have all the work
on the bunkhouse completed, so you can start taking
in these `guests'?" Cole asked Jenny as he helped
himself from the bowl of steaming potatoes that
Frances passed to him.

"If everything goes as planned, I should have the
work done in less than two weeks," Jenny answered.
"There's enough extra furniture here in the main house to furnish the bunkhouse comfortably, although
I will need to buy some new bedding if that's all
right?" She glanced at him, fearing he might deny her
the needed funds.