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Apparently, Agatha was the kind of woman who could get along with everyone. Not one individual at the site had anything bad to say about her.
He marched over to the stack of siding and grabbed another long panel. His fingers slipped as he lifted it, and at that exact moment, Agatha walked past him. If she’d been just a few feet to the right, she would have been knocked to her behind.
Agatha gasped, jumping back, but it didn’t matter. Zeke was already at odds with all of this. He let the panel drop to his feet and set a fiery gaze on the woman.
“Just because you’re comfortable around everything that’s going on doesn’t mean you should be on site.”
Her eyes widened but only slightly. It was as if she were more surprised by his talking to her than she was over nearly losing a limb.
Zeke let out a sharp breath before he removed his hat and threw it to the ground. He raked his hand through his hair, if only to keep it steady. “What did I tell you? This isn’t the place for someone like you.”
“Someone like me?” she said flatly.
“Exactly someone like you. Or did you not notice that you could have been seriously maimed?”
Her mouth quirked upward slightly. “You’re being ridiculous.”
“No, I’m thinking logically. You don’t wear a helmet—”
“Neither do most of your men.”
This was a losing battle. Not even the risk of being hurt was enough to sway this woman. Zeke threw his hands into the air and stormed off, leaving the men who were still working behind. His heart beat even harder in his chest and he clutched at it with shaking hands. The more distance he put between himself and the situation, the more he realized he’d overreacted, but he wasn’t about to go back there and tell her as much.
Something had to change one way or another. She couldn’t just wander the construction site when she didn’t have experience—and yet she couldn’t see things from his side.
By the time he made it back to the cabin, he still wasn’t ready to head back to her house and get back to work. Once upon a time, he’d been in control of everything. He could say a single word and people would fall in line.
What happened?
Perhaps taking the afternoon off would be just the thing to give him some clarity.
* * *
Zeke trudged through the woods near his tent. The early morning light filled the sky with a navy-blue color. When the sun came up all the way, it would be a beautiful day. Already he couldn’t see a cloud in the sky.
He wandered along the trail that would lead him toward the cabin where he had parked the ATV. If he headed out to the house early enough, maybe he could catch up on some of the stuff he hadn’t completed the day before.
That was one thing he hated. He’d wasted time with his little temper tantrum, and he wasn’t about to let the men working point it out.
Dew collected on the tall grasses. Birds chirped. Even the rustling of the critters in the underbrush had begun. His sharp eyes kept a lookout for any tracks that might look problematic. If there was even one paw-print that was large enough to draw attention, he would have to postpone heading out to the house.
Thankfully, there wasn’t anything that he could see.
Zeke took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of pine and dirt. Evelyn had helped him see that doing so would ground him, help him find his center.
She wasn’t wrong.
In the early morning, that was when he could find peace. It didn’t matter what had happened the day before. Today was a new day.
He rounded a large bush, intending on getting to the ATV that was parked in the back but instead found Agatha. She stood in front of it, dressed and wearing a jacket, with hands on her hips. She frowned at the ATV, her fury giving him a small amount of satisfaction. Whatever she was upset about, she probably deserved it.
Zeke moved closer to her, and she must have noticed him out of the corner of her eye because she let out a yelp and jumped backward. Her eyes widened, then narrowed, and she pointed an accusatory finger at him.
“What are you doing here?” she said.
“I beg your pardon?”
She gestured angrily at the ATV. “Are you spying on me?”
