A Change of Heart (5 page)

“It just does. We’ll be working together every day. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable with that.” His mouth tightened into a straight line for an instant. “I’m taking you grocery shopping before we head to the carriage house. Get whatever you need. Noah said you’ve been out of work for a while, and—”

Her eyes widened, and mortification burned through her. Obviously Noah had told Ted the entire story of her destitution, not just about the rape. He pitied her. Pity. Something she’d fought against all the years of her youth, and something she abhorred with a vengeance. Ted had probably given her the stun gun and pepper spray out of pity as well. Poor little poverty-stricken victim. “I’m not a charity case. I have skills well worth the salary you’re paying me.”

Damn
. A minute ago she’d been touched by what she believed
was an act of incredible kindness and sensitivity. Now she saw it for what it was. He viewed her as a pathetic head case.

She needed to disabuse him of that notion right now. She shot him a pointed look. “If I wanted to, I could get a job as an IT tech just about anywhere.”

“I’m glad you chose L&L. We need your talent.” The calm steadiness of his tone took away some of the sting. “You’ll be paying L&L back for the advance. It’s not about charity, Cory. We don’t want our employees coming to work hungry. Who can be productive when they’re starving?” A sardonic expression took over his features. “It’s a simple solution to a problem. That’s all.”

“Oh. Good, thanks.” Mortified once again, she turned away. She was an
employee
. None of what he’d done or said could be construed as personal. It was all about productivity, and to be productive, she had to be fed and feel safe. That should make her happy. So where was this heavy disappointment sitting on her chest coming from?

Ted nodded, a little thrown off by the sudden shifts in Cory’s reactions. She’d seemed genuinely touched when he’d given her the pepper spray and stun gun, which pleased him immensely. Why had the offer to buy her groceries turned her into a porcupine with all of her quills standing on end? Hmm, he’d hit a nerve. “Buy enough to last the next two weeks, because you won’t get a paycheck until then, and it’ll be small. You started in the middle of a pay period, and there’s a delay.”

“Can we do the repay over a couple pay periods?” She kept her gaze averted, the question barely a whisper.

“Sure.” He could tell the request had been difficult for her to
make, and Noah’s advice to tread lightly came back to him. For the umpteenth time today, the urge to protect and comfort her surged to the forefront. He turned into the parking lot of an IGA grocery store. “If you’d like, we can stop at Offermeyer’s butcher shop before we leave. All the meat they sell is produced by the farmers in our community. We like to support the locals.”

“That sounds good to me. Noah said the carriage house is completely furnished, including pots and pans.”

“It is.”

“Do you know if there’s a Crock-Pot?”

“I don’t know, but if there isn’t, between my mom and my sisters there are about a dozen of them in the Lovejoy family. I’m sure I can get a loaner until you can buy your own. I’ll bring one to work tomorrow just in case.”

“That would be nice. My mom is big on Crock-Pot cooking, and it’s what I know.”

After loading up on the basics at IGA, he drove them the short distance to Offermeyer’s. Opening the door for her, he followed her inside.

“Oh, my God, it smells good in here, like ham, bacon and sausage.” She inhaled loudly and closed her eyes. “It’s making my mouth water.” A grin broke free, lighting up her pretty face and erasing the spooked look.

The impact hit him squarely in the region of his heart, stunning him as if she’d used the device he’d given her for that purpose. “Yeah, it always does,” he muttered. “My aunt gets her meat for the diner here.”

Denny Offermeyer emerged from the back of the shop. “Hey, Ted. How’re you?” The butcher’s curious stare settled on Cory.

“Hey, Denny. This is Cory Marcel. It’s her first day at L&L. She’s moving into the Langfords’ carriage house this afternoon.”

“Welcome to Perfect. I expect we’ll be seeing you around then. My wife and I live just down the road from Ceejay and Noah.” Denny rubbed his hands together. “What can I get you today?”

Ted backed up a step and watched as Cory picked out what she wanted. Denny’s eyebrows rose a bit when Ted paid for the purchases. The whole town would be rife with speculation by tomorrow morning. Somehow he knew Cory would hate that. Maybe he shouldn’t have mentioned Offermeyer’s until she had a few paychecks under her belt.

They loaded the bag from Offermeyer’s into the backseat next to the three bags from IGA. At least she had enough to eat for the next couple of weeks. She needed to put on a few pounds, fill out a little. Imagining her curves with more meat on her bones sent his blood rushing.
Shit. Bad line of thought
.

“I’m excited to see the carriage house.” She sighed. “I’ve never had my own place. I went straight from my mom’s into the army. Renting the carriage house was a huge factor in my decision to take the job at L&L.”

“Really?” His eyes widened. “That was more of an incentive than working with other veterans?”

Her expression tightened, and she turned away. “With the exception of Noah and Wes, working with a bunch of veterans came down on the con side.”

He didn’t know what to say. On the one hand, he felt like a jerk because her words made him absurdly happy. On the other hand, his heart broke for her, for what she’d gone through. He struggled to come up with something to lighten the mood.
Tread carefully.
“I used to play in the carriage house with my cousins when we were kids. It’s nice. You’ll like Ceejay and her children too.”

She kept her eyes fixed on the road. “Did you serve under Noah in Iraq?”

“No.” OK, he’d failed to change her train of thought. “I’ve never served in any branch of the military.”

“Oh.” Her tone held an unmistakable note of relief. “I thought maybe you knew Noah from the army, and that was the connection that brought him to Perfect. If he grew up in Pennsylvania, how’d he end up here, anyway?”

“Noah’s stepbrother died around the same time he got out of the VA hospital. Noah came here to find his stepbrother’s family—Ceejay and Lucinda. He rented the carriage house, fell in love with Ceejay, and the rest is history.”

“How about his sister? Why’d she come to Perfect?”

“She came here shortly after she finished school. We offered her a job, and she ended up staying.”

“Ryan was already working at L&L?”

“He started about a month before Paige did. Ryan was in the same Humvee as Noah when they got hit by a suicide bomber in Iraq.” He watched as she took it all in and made the connections in her mind. Ted turned into the Langfords’ gravel driveway lined by huge walnut trees on one side and the fully blossomed orchard on the other.

The house came into view, and Cory sucked in her breath. “It looks like something out of a magazine.”

Ted tried to see the old Lovejoy home from her perspective. He and Noah had restored the square limestone house to its former glory, with its wide veranda, columns and the second-floor three-season porch. A rush of pride swelled his chest.

His aunt sat at the wrought-iron table on the porch with Micah on her lap. Lucinda and Toby were perched on the steps next to Sweet Pea. “That’s my aunt Jenny.” Ted parked and shut off the car. He hopped out and grabbed two of the four bags from
the backseat. “I’ll introduce you.” Cory grabbed the remaining bags and followed him.

“Aunt Jenny, this is Cory Marcel. Cory, this is Jenny Maurer, and that towheaded imp on her lap is my second cousin Micah.”

Jenny put the toddler down. “Welcome to Perfect.”

“I’m Lucinda.” Noah and Ceejay’s oldest stood up and handed Cory a piece of white construction paper before pointing to the boy next to her. “This is my little brother Toby. He’s gonna be five, and I’m nine. Micah is going to be two.” She puffed up a little. “We’re going to have another baby soon.” She placed her hand on the mutt’s head. “This is Sweet Pea.”

Cory shifted the bag from Offermeyer’s to her other arm and accepted the piece of paper. Ted leaned close to see the rainbow letters spelling out
welcome
. Several people, a dog and trees depicted beneath the colorful word filled the page.

“Wow, this is really nice.” Cory’s expression softened, and warmth filled her eyes as she raised them to Lucinda.

“I helped.” Toby jumped up and down.

“Well, thank you all for the lovely welcome.”

“We’d better get these groceries put away,” Ted said. “Then I’ll show you around.”

“It was nice to meet you.” Cory lifted the picture. “Thanks for the artwork. I promise this piece will decorate my new place. It’s lovely.”

“Once you’re settled, come on up to the big house for supper,” his aunt told her.

“Thank you. I’d love that.” Cory turned to follow him to the carriage house.

He opened the gate to the fenced-in backyard for her. “This is where L&L got its start. Noah turned the bays into a workshop and built the first cradle here.”

“Paige said the idea for starting the business was yours. Is that true?” She set her bags down on the concrete slab in front of the door, fished around in her purse and pulled out her keys.

“It is. I took one look at that cradle and knew what I wanted to do with my life.” He chuckled, remembering the way he’d pestered Noah. “Noah and I were both kind of lost back then. Neither of us knew what to do with ourselves. We were working together on the big house, which was a wreck, and I hounded him to go into business with me.” He trailed off, aware that he’d lost his audience.

Cory’s attention and demeanor had shifted. Her posture held a defensive tension, and the shuttered expression returned to her face. He got it. She didn’t want him inside. He set his two bags down on the concrete slab. “I’ll go get the stuff from the trunk, and when I come back, let’s go take a look at the river.”

She released an audible breath, and some of her tension eased.
Damn.
She feared him, and that stung. Ted backtracked to his Mustang. Best to give her a few extra minutes to put her groceries away. “Hey, Aunt Jenny,” he called as he opened his trunk. “What’s new with you?”

His aunt walked toward him, slowing her pace to accommodate Micah’s short legs. The little guy held tightly to two of her fingers. “Not much. What do you think of our new tenant?”

He chuffed out a breath and shook his head. “She’s been hurt bad. Did Noah tell you what happened to her?”

“No. Ceejay did.” Jenny patted his cheek. “You can help her, Teddy. You were always such a sweet, sensitive boy, and you’ve grown into a fine young man. You can help her regain her trust.”

“I don’t know, Jenny.” Did he want to get tangled up in her emotional issues? They were beyond him. He lifted the army-issue duffel bag and the single cardboard box containing Cory’s
meager possessions from the trunk. “I think you’d be the most likely person to reach her. She’s real skittish around men.”

“Give it time,” Jenny murmured. She had that faraway look she got sometimes. “Do you want to stay for supper? I made spaghetti and meatballs.”

“No, thanks. I’m helping Dad on the farm tonight.”

Her brow creased. “You do for everyone else but yourself, Teddy. Maybe it’s time you did something for you.”

His gaze strayed toward the carriage house, and he shifted his weight.
Do something for me?
When did he have the time? “Like what?”

“It’ll come to you. This is your year.” She patted him again and let the restless toddler lead her back to the porch.

My year? Yeah, right.
Ted returned to the carriage house to find Cory waiting for him outside her door. “Here’s your stuff. Where do you want it?”

“On the ground is good for now. I’ll take care of it later.” She flashed him a small smile. “I want to see the river.”

“Let’s go.” Shoving his hands into his back pockets, he led her toward the old willow growing on the bank. “One Fourth of July a few years ago, the Offermeyers’ little girl fell into the river right about here. Noah went in after her and saved the day.” He didn’t mention that the whole thing had been his fault, that he’d knocked into the little girl following a scuffle with Noah that he’d started.

“Wow. Noah is something special, isn’t he?”

“Yeah.” Jealousy ate at him, which made him feel like a real shit. He admired and respected Noah, but he couldn’t help being envious. Would anyone ever see him as special?

Cory studied the river. “I get what Noah means about it being peaceful here. Where I grew up, you couldn’t get away from the
sound of semis and cars on the freeway. And then there were the floodlights and diesel engines from the trucking company next door.” She shook her head. “No peace or quiet there.”

“Where did you grow up?” Ted tried to imagine living with that kind of constant disturbance. She didn’t answer, and one look at her told him this was another touchy subject. “No matter where it was, it can’t be as bad as where I grew up.”

“Wanna bet?”

“Yeah, I do.” He barked out a laugh. “Let’s make a wager.”