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“Maybe,” she shot back, “or maybe I’ve been watching you, and every time you look at the birdhouse, you look like you’re about ready to pass out.”
He stared at her blankly. Was he so transparent? He didn’t think so, but then again, he wasn’t on the outside looking in. And he didn’t have the abilities most women did. “Okay. I’ll play. Why do you think I hate birds?”
“Like I said. You can’t look at this thing without appearing sick to your stomach. So either you hate birds, or this birdhouse makes you feel uncomfortable.”
He crossed his arms as he came to a stop directly in front of the barn. His eyes narrowed, but in that moment he knew better than to believe that he was going to get out of this scot-free. “I was telling the truth when I told you I don’t care one way or another about that silly thing. Bird houses aren’t natural, so I guess I don’t have a particular fondness about them being placed on my property, but in the end I really couldn’t care less.”
Agatha snorted. “See? Right there. Another lie. You don’t want them on your property, but at the same time, you don’t care? That’s a conflict if I ever heard one.”
He sighed, removing the hat from his head before he ran a hand over his mussed hair. “I don’t care if you have a birdhouse. There. That’s your answer.”
“But it isn’t—”
With each passing second, he felt like he was being backed into a corner. She was pushing him there, blocking his exits and making him realize he really didn’t have much control anymore.
At least that was how it felt inside his chest where his heart was frantically trying to gain some ground.
Zeke slapped his hat onto his head and glowered at her. “If you really must know, my wife was just like you.” He waved his hand with a flick of his wrist in the general direction of the birdhouse. “That’s exactly the sort of thing she would have bought on a whim. In fact, I’m sure we have half a dozen of them lying around the property somewhere. So you just wasted your money.”
He expected her to get defensive and upset over his statement.
Or at least she’d be embarrassed.
Zeke steeled himself for that exact thing to happen, all the while bringing up his own defenses. He didn’t talk about his late wife with anyone except his daughters, and even that was limited. It was all part of how he moved on, and it had worked out just fine. His eyes narrowed as he waited for Agatha to jump at his throat to tell him he needed to lighten up.
But none of that happened. She smirked at him, shaking her head. “Actually, I wasted your money.” Then with a flourish, she pulled a few bills from her back pocket. “I don’t know why you felt the need to give me so much. I wasn’t buying a whole new wardrobe.”
“That’s exactly what that money was for.” He pushed the money she held out toward him back. “You lost everything in that fire. You needed to make sure you could replace the whole thing.”
This time she threw her head back and the laughter that spilled from her throat was such that he didn’t know how to respond. She was clearly laughing at him for some reason. He wasn’t sure what it was about, but he didn’t like it.
If there was one thing he hated, it was being made a fool of. And here he stood in front of her, unsure of what was so terribly funny that she had to react with such flippant disregard.
Agatha brought her eyes back to meet his, her soft snickers still throwing him off guard. “There is zero chance I’m going to be able to replace my whole wardrobe with one stop at that boutique clothing shop. They definitely didn’t carry everything I needed. And I wasn’t going to spend all that money either. You gave me way too much.”
He opened his mouth to protest, ready to put her in her place like he had last time, but she cut him off.
“I really appreciate what you’ve done for me so far, but I can’t keep on accepting this charity without doing something for you in return. I don’t know. Maybe you could help me figure out something. I work in Public Relations now, but I grew up in the country. I’m sure you could put me to work—”
“Over my dead body.” This ridiculousness had gone on long enough. He was the one helping her right now. She’d lost so much, and yet here she was, expecting him to force her to work off what he had offered? Absolutely not.
She snapped her mouth shut and stared at him with wide eyes. Again, he’d used a tone sharper than intended and clearly, that was something she didn’t appreciate. Well, he didn’t care.
“You are here as my guest. I’m not going to have you do anything. All that you have been given has been from the goodness of my heart, and I’ll not have you brushing that aside like it means nothing.”
“I wasn’t brushing it aside—”
“Then why don’t we finish this tour and get you back to the cabin, shall we?” He ducked into the barn, making note in his head of the chores that had been completed and that which still needed to be done. The animals had been fed. Most of the stalls had been cleaned. There were a few horses out getting their exercise. Everything was on track and working like a well-oiled machine.
“This place is bigger than I thought,” Agatha said.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed her fall into step beside him. “The size isn’t what matters. It’s the team I have running it.” He stopped and motioned to the barn. “None of this would be possible without my family and the men I’ve come to know like family. Granted, some of the newer hires are still strangers to me, but in time I’m sure they will become the same.” He wasn’t certain, but he thought he saw a ghost of a smile touch her lips.
She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, her head tilting as she stared up at him. “You’re not what I expected, Mr. Callahan.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
She opened her mouth, but they were interrupted.
