His lips twitched. "So you've said." He rocked back on his heels and looked at the perfect sky marred only by a few streaks of white cloud. "Storm's brewing. We'll have rain tonight."
She wrinkled her nose, squinting at the sky. "There're no rain clouds."
"I can feel it," he said simply. "I love the rain."
She did, too. No matter where she'd lived, whether the rain had beaten against wide, frothy fronds of palm trees, whipped at the desert floor, or streamed down mountainsides, she'd loved it. To find this unlikely common ground set her further off-balance. Purposefully, she picked up her broom and went to move away, but he reached out and took her hand.
"Do you like it here, Haley?"
She glanced down at their joined hands pointedly, hoping he'd take the hint and let go. He didn't, so she pulled free. "I haven't been here very long. Only a day."
"All right, then. Could you be happy here?"
The big house stood behind him; wide, open and inviting. She'd never had a home-or a real one, anyway. Boarding schools had been her haven as a child, since her mother had never sent for her and had visited only occasionally. After that had come college. Then her work, which had her either closeted away in a laboratory, or traveling all over the globe. She'd always dreamed of a permanent place to belong… but what would she do with one?
"Haley?" Cam stepped closer, ducking his face to look into hers.
"I don't know," she said quite honestly. "I've never really had a place like this to stay before."
"Where's your home?" His voice, with its low, rich quality, almost lulled her into answering more truthfully than she intended.
"I don't have one."
He tipped his head, considering. "Everyone comes from somewhere."
"Not me."
His smile faded. "You're full of secrets, aren't you?"
"Yes," she said honestly. "I'm sorry."
He let out a long, frustrated breath, once again showing that slightly rough, earth edge she'd sensed earlier. "It's my problem, not yours." Taking the broom from her hand, he stepped up to the first rug she'd hung and smacked it. Dust swirled and he shook his head. "I never noticed how dirty these were," he said a little apologetically. When dust had stopped rising from the rug, he moved to the second.
"Wait! That's my job."
He twisted to glance at her over his shoulder. "I'll do it. You look tired."
She looked tired. "I'm the housekeeper."
"It's okay, Haley." Smack! Smack!
She wrestled the broom from him and blew the hair from her face. "It's my job. Now go away and leave me to it."
"Can I watch?" As her eyes narrowed dangerously, he backed up, raising his hands in surrender. "Wow. You should see how blue your eyes get when you're riled. They're something."
She thought about wielding the broom as a weapon and bounced it in her hands. "You've got to have work to do. Go do it. Go ranch."
"My brothers are doing that."
"Then go… do something. Make another shelf."
He grinned in his usual easygoing way as she turned the broom in her hands, holding it like a baseball bat. "I don't feel like it."
God save her from lazy cowboys. "Well, go feel like something. You're in my way."
The grin spread. "You like me."
She rolled her eyes and turned her back to him, listening to him whistle as he sauntered away.
"Oh, and Haley?" he called out. She refused to look at him, but that didn't stop him from yelling, "Don't scare any more cows. It's not good for milk production."
His laughter rang out in the cool, afternoon air.
That night, standing in the kitchen, at a total loss over what to make for dinner, Haley began to panic.
Zach came in. "Hey, Haley. How's it going?"
"Fine," she said politely, thankful this brother didn't seem as innately curious as his younger one.
"The house looks great," he said, proceeding past her to the refrigerator. "It hasn't been so clean since… Well, ever." He stuffed an apple into his mouth, grabbed two armfuls of chilled food, and dumped it all on the counter, kicking the door closed with his foot. He smiled around the apple when he noticed her staring, then began to open an assortment of containers.
"What are you doing?"
He pulled the apple from his mouth, taking a huge bite. "I'm making a sandwich. I'm hungry."
She moved to his side to protest. "But I'm going to cook dinner for you."
"Oh, don't bother for me, thanks. I'm studying." Another bite, and the apple had nearly disappeared.
"Well, at least let me make whatever it is you're going to make for yourself."
He shot her a smile. "You worked hard today, take a break."
"Dinner's my job," she protested, watching him make short work of a piece of chicken he found in some foil. Where, she wondered, eyeing his tall, lean body, did he put all that food?
"Nellie and Jason are going out to dinner to be alone," he said, rolling his eyes. "Take advantage."
Nellie's absence explained why Max had been trailing her for the past hour. But it didn't rid Haley of guilt. She had to work. She owed these people everything.
"Cam's in his studio," Zach continued, starting on the second piece of chicken. "He'll be there all night."
She tried not to wonder why the mention of his brother's name made her stomach tingle. "All night?"
"Yeah." He pulled out a huge roll that surely one person couldn't eat by himself, especially one who'd already eaten an apple and two pieces of chicken. "He's in the mood to work, for a change."
She saw that he spoke without rancor or bitterness. Just plain acceptance… and love. "What is it he does, exactly?"
Zach laughed softly as if she'd told a joke, but in truth, she had no idea what was so funny. "It's amazing, isn't it? People from three states over clamor for his furniture, not even minding that he won't give them a finish date. He'll just get to it when he gets to it, he says, and they agree. I still don't understand it."
Haley watched as he stacked cheese and meat four inches thick on the huge roll, wondering how he would get his mouth around it. "Is he any good?"
"The best," Zach said simply.
"What are you studying?" she asked, fascinated by his appetite.
"For the bar exam."
"An attorney. That's impressive."
"For a cowboy, you mean?" He smiled and piled three-quarters of a new bag of chips on the plate. Then, as an afterthought, he dumped the rest onto the plate, too. "Don't be too impressed," he said wryly. "I seem to collect occupations. I was a cop once. A bartender, too." He balanced the plate and three cans of soda easily in those long gangly arms and made his way to the door before he paused. "It's nice to have you here, Haley," he said sincerely. "It's nice to be looked after."
She nearly laughed. "But you're not letting me look after you at all."
"We don't want to take advantage."
"But you're paying me to do this."
He grinned. "No, not me. Cam is. He'll get his money's worth, believe me. He always does." His color drained and he looked as if he wanted to hit himself. "Wait. That didn't come out right."
She'd taken an involuntary step backward, but common sense prevailed. Last night, her safety had taken a back seat to escape. Going home with strangers had been infinitely preferable to the alternative of being dead. But after a night and a day with these people, she sensed she was safe. Especially after the barn fiasco when she'd unintentionally thrown herself at her new boss and he'd acted with gentlemanly restraint, if not a great deal of humor.
Even so, she wanted to clarify things. In her profession, where she was required to carefully observe and study, she'd found it the best method. "I'm a housekeeper," she said firmly. "Nothing more."
"We know that," Zach said quickly, sincerely. He shrugged his wide shoulders in emphasis, since his hands were completely full of food. "And no one expects more. In fact, if either of my brothers even looks at you cross-eyed, I'll sue them for you-I promise."