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“Mom? What are you doing here? Is everything okay?”
They both turned to find her son heading toward them, leading a horse by a rope. He guided the animal into a stall and hurried forward, his concerned gaze darting from his mother to Zeke. “What happened?”
“Nothing happened, dear.” Agatha gestured toward Zeke with a smile. “Mr. Callahan took me to town so I could get a few things, and then we were going to head back to the hunting cabin so I could get settled in.”
A flurry of emotions crossed Thomas’s face. The one Zeke noted most was distrust. Then again, Zeke didn’t know Thomas as well as his other wranglers. He might just be concerned for his mother. “I could have taken you after my shift. I needed to go to town, too.”
“Oh, nonsense, Thomas. You’re busy enough as it is. You don’t need to worry about me.”
“Yes, I do.” He moved closer and his voice lowered. “We’re all we got, remember? You came out here with me for a reason. And I’m going to take care of you.”
She brushed him off. “I don’t know what it is with men and your insistence that women need to be taken care of. Honestly, I handled everything just fine when I was raising you, didn’t I?”
Thomas’s gaze darted to Zeke, then back to Agatha. “Well, I’ve got my phone coming, and I called the bank to get your cards replaced. The company agreed to overnight them and they’ll be here tomorrow. Then you won’t have to bother Mr. Callahan for anything.”
Zeke stiffened. He wanted to take offense at Thomas’s assumption. He wasn’t being bothered. Spending time with Agatha today had been—interesting, to say the least. But he would have never done it if it wasn’t something he was willing to do.
Agatha reached out and touched Zeke’s forearm. It was brief and soft, as if a butterfly had landed on him before taking off to find something better. But the motion caught her son’s attention and his gaze hardened slightly despite Agatha’s reassuring words. “Mr. Callahan was out at the cabin making sure the critters weren’t going to be a problem, so I had him take me up to the house to see the damage. After that, he offered to let me tag along when he was headed to town.” She lifted the birdhouse. “And look what I got. Isn’t it beautiful?”
“Yeah,” Thomas mumbled, “it’s great.”
“You finish up your work here and then come visit me. I’ll fix you some dinner and fill you in on what’s going to happen next. I don’t want to keep you from your work.” She shot Zeke a knowing smile. “I’d rather stay on your boss’s good side.”
Thomas glanced at Zeke once more before nodding. “I’ll see you in a few hours, then.” He nodded to Zeke. “Thank you, sir, for being so accommodating.”
Zeke touched the brim of his hat, then watched the young man go.
Agatha waited until he was out of sight before facing Zeke. “He’s a good kid—maybe a little overprotective, but that’s how he’s always been. It’s just been the two of us since he was seven.”
“You raised him on your own?” He didn’t know why he was surprised. Every chance Agatha got, she made it clear she valued her independence. Why wouldn’t she take the task of raising her son all on her own in stride?
She nodded firmly. “His father left us. But what do you expect when a man falls prey to addiction. I found out a few years later he passed away from a drug overdose.”
“I’m terribly sorry.”
“It was a long time ago.” Even as she brushed off his sympathies, she looked away. Something like that had to have made a far larger impact than she was letting on.
She clearly had lived a life that wasn’t exactly easy. And yet, here she was, still standing. Anything he might have said would sound terribly cliche. So instead of saying anything, he simply motioned for her to follow him as they continued on their way.
8
Agatha
Agatha’s eyes followed Zeke as he placed her bags on the floor inside the hunting cabin. Everything she’d seen from him up until this point had contradicted what she thought she knew about the man.
From him offering her a free place to stay on his property to taking the time and spending the money to get her new clothing, he’d surprised her at every turn.
He glanced around the cabin as if searching for something, then turned to face her. “If you need anything…”
“I’m perfectly fine. You’ve done more than enough already,” she said lightly. “But thank you for the sentiment.”
Zeke removed his cowboy hat and turned it around in his hands. He shifted his weight and let out a heavy breath before laying his gaze on her. “I wanted to make an offer, but after today, I’m not sure how you’d take it.”
She wanted to laugh his statement away, but there was something in the way he said it that made her worry. He’d been so stuck on forcing her to accept his charity. What if he was changing his mind?
Well, if that was the case, she’d figure it out. She always did. Her life had never been easy—a fact she’d gotten used to and one of the biggest reasons she didn’t want anyone to feel like they had to take her under their wing. The only one she could count on was herself, and that was made even more clear when her husband had left.
The more time she’d spent with Zeke today, the more she realized her view on things might be a little outdated. This brought her to one unhappy conclusion.
