Authors: Elaine Cantrell
“If it happens often I’d get a new supplier.”
He shot her a look. “Yeah, I’m on it. This is the first time he’d didn’t deliver what he promised. I’ll speak to him about it.” His foot pressed down on the accelerator as if he was in a hurry to finish shopping so he could fuss at Tommy.
“I… Look, Jake!” Peyton bounced up and down in her seat. “Is that a bear near the edge of the woods!”
Jake slowed down and looked. “This is a rural area. We have bears, but I’ve never seen one so close to the road before.”
“How exciting! The biggest wild animal I ever saw in Milford was a squirrel.”
Jake raised his eyebrows. “Poor city girl.”
Seeing the bear put Peyton in a good mood all the way into town. Truthfully, whether he admitted it or not, she thought her enthusiasm had rubbed off on Jake. At any rate, he forgot to scowl at the world. He parked the truck in front of the farmer’s market where he swiftly and efficiently found everything he needed.
Peyton glanced at her watch. “That didn’t take long. We’ll have plenty of time to get lunch ready.”
She and Jake had started to load the truck when Peyton heard music. Looking around, she saw an ice cream truck making its way down the street. “I love ice cream. Come on, Jake, let’s get one.”
She grabbed his hand before she thought what she had done, but she had grabbed his scarred side. He jerked away from her as if she’d burned him and fished in his pocket. He handed her ten dollars and turned his back. “Get whatever you want.”
Oh, poor Jake. Peyton’s heart burned for him. She had a sudden urge to put her arms around him and whisper in his ear that he was okay now. Afghanistan was behind him, and he was home where he belonged, home where no one cared if he had scars or not.
She bought an ice cream sandwich for both of them and rejoined Jake. “Here you go. One ice cream sandwich.”
Surprise replaced the scowl on his face. “You got one for me?”
“Sure. Didn’t you want it?”
He shrugged. “Yeah, I guess so. You surprised me, that’s all. Are you ready to go?”
Peyton licked the side of the vanilla ice cream between the chocolate layers. “Yep. I’m ready. This is yummy. You better eat yours before it melts.”
Jake looked at her and laughed. Before Peyton knew what he intended he swiped the corner of her mouth with his thumb. “You’ve got chocolate on your mouth, little girl.”
Peyton’s heart picked up speed. Had this been a quick glimpse of the real Jake? The only reason she offered to help him was because of the promise she had made to Annie. She hadn’t expected his warm touch to move her, but she’d be lying if she said it didn’t. To keep things light, she smacked at his arm and licked her ice cream until it was gone.
She stared out the window as the miles rolled by. “How long have you owned Rest Thy Head?”
“Our parents bought it ten years ago.”
“It looks old.”
Jake put on his signal and turned off the main road. “It is old. It was built in 1870.”
“Hey! Did any famous people ever stay here?”
Jake laughed, a deep, rich sound that pleased Peyton because it made her feel good all over. “No, I don’t think so.”
“No Buffalo Bill? No Annie Oakley? Maybe she’s your ghost. Maybe she’s mad that nobody invited her to Rest Thy Head. The ghost is female, right?” Peyton teased.
Jake shot her a look. He seemed concerned about her. “Did you see anything last night?”
“Nope. No ghosts.” She paused. “You don’t really believe that nonsense do you?”
“Well…”
Peyton rolled her eyes. “Honestly.”
“Is the room okay?”
“Yes, it is.” She chuckled. “In fact I’m almost afraid to tell you how much I like it because you might try to rent it, and then where would I be?”
“No, it’s yours for as long as you like. Nobody else will stay in it.”
“Thanks, buddy,” she answered, making her tone as tart as possible. “It’s nice to know that’s the only reason I get it.”
Jake backtracked so fast it tickled Peyton. “I didn’t mean …”
“Oh, hush. I’m only teasing you.”
They had reached the inn by now, so Peyton helped him unload the truck. They had almost finished when Patrick came up from the barn. “Good grief, Jake! Why are you making Peyton lift those heavy boxes? Why didn’t you call Jason?” He grabbed a box of lettuce from Peyton and shooed her away from the truck.
“Sorry. I didn’t think,” Jake apologized. Peyton forgave him when she saw the chagrined expression on his face, although there was really nothing to forgive. The boxes hadn’t been
that
heavy.
She gave him a wink and a smile and went inside to assemble salads. “Did you and Jake have a good time?” Sandra asked. The way she rolled her eyes, Peyton knew she was still angry about Jake’s curt manner during breakfast.
“Actually, we did. We saw a bear on the edge of the woods, and he bought me an ice cream sandwich.”
Sandra dropped the cucumber she was peeling. “Wow. You must have impressed him. He won’t even speak civilly to me.”
Peyton giggled. “If you can sweeten an old bear with honey, maybe you can sweeten Jake with an ice cream sandwich.”
“Then let’s keep plenty of them on hand,” Sandra retorted. “He had no business acting up the way he did this morning. Everybody in the kitchen is mad at him.” She pursed her lips. “If I were a man, I’d kick his butt for him.”
Peyton tossed her a head of lettuce from across the room. “It might do him good. Teach him some manners.”
Jake entered the kitchen about the time another head of lettuce flew through the air. The angry look on his face almost scared Peyton. Almost. “Catch, Jake.” She fired another head of lettuce his way, and he caught it with one hand.
“I didn’t hire you to play football with the lettuce,” he growled, but it was too late to scold them. Everyone had already seen him grin. To Peyton, the atmosphere in the kitchen felt lots better now. Sandra and the others were smiling instead of sending hateful looks Jake’s way.
She went to her room to call Ashley as soon as they finished with lunch. Her sister would love the bear story. Taking a seat in the pretty club chair, she dialed Ashley’s number.
Ashley answered on the first ring. Her voice sounded tired when she said hello.
“Hey, Ash, it’s me. I thought you might be on your lunch break.”
“I got fired.”
Peyton jumped out of her chair. “What! How did that happen?”
She heard a hint of anger in Ashley’s voice now. “It’s Drew’s fault. He brought his car to be waxed, and I was the one who had to work on it. He stood there and called both of us every name in the book. His language was so bad I threw my polishing rag at him and refused to work on his car. He complained to the manager, and when I refused to apologize to Drew, I got fired. Drew was pleased, too. I saw the smirk on his face.”
Peyton’s shoulders slumped as guilt filled her. How could she have destroyed her own sister’s chance for an education and a decent job? “Oh, Ashley, this is all my fault!”
Ashley laughed, but she didn’t sound amused. “Your fault? Hardly. Drew’s the one at fault, and don’t you forget it.”
Peyton bit her thumbnail, an annoying, nasty habit that she thought she’d almost broken. “What will you do now?” she worried.
“Look for another job, I guess. Mother sure won’t take us in.”
Peyton mentally considered the different businesses in Millford. “Why don’t you try Chef’s Pantry? People come and go all the time in a grocery store, and the work might be easier than the car wash.”
“That’s a thought, and there’s always the Dairy Queen.”
The minute she got off the phone Peyton savagely kicked her sandals across the floor. “I hate him! I hate him, and I hope I never see his sorry face again!”
Almost immediately someone knocked on the door. “Come in,” Peyton yelled.
Annie poked her head around the door. “Who do you hate?” She had changed out of her uniform and put on a pretty, floral dress that somehow reminded Peyton of a picture she had once seen of her grandmother. She guessed styles really did repeat themselves. You could even buy bell-bottoms now, and who’d ever have guessed such a ridiculous fashion would ever return?
“I didn’t mean to be so loud,” she apologized. “My sister just called, and you’ll never guess what she told me.” Peyton repeated Ashley’s story for Annie, and this time she also told her about Drew and Megan Thomas. “If Ashley can’t find anything in a hurry, I’ll have to go home and get a job so I can help her. I’ve almost used up my savings, and she doesn’t have a penny to her name. I wish Mother would help Ashley but she won’t.”
Annie gasped. “I have an idea! Why not ask your sister to come here for the summer? I heard that Dorrie Bettis, she’s one of the maids, might be ready to quit. Your sister could take her place.”
Peyton shook her head. “She’d have to find somewhere to live, and she has a small son too. I doubt she could afford to rent a place.”
Annie thought for a moment. “How about the attic here at the inn?” `
“Is it finished?”
Annie nodded. “Part of it is. The previous owners made one nice bedroom up there. It’s about thirteen by seventeen I imagine, and there’s plenty of furniture in the storage area.”
Tears filled Peyton’s eyes. “I love it! You’ve been so good to me. I can’t thank you enough. I hope if there’s ever anything I can do for you, you won’t hesitate to ask.”
Annie favored her with a brilliant smile. “Oh, you already did something nice for me. I heard about your trip to town with Jake.” She giggled. “I heard about the lettuce football game too.”
“I think I made things better for him with the kitchen staff, but I embarrassed him when we went to town,” Peyton confessed. She told Annie how she had taken Jake’s hand.
Annie spun around and clapped her hands. “That’s wonderful! You grabbed his hand just like you’d have done if he had no scars! That’s what he needs, someone to treat him normally, to show him those scars aren’t the end of the world.”
Peyton curled her legs under her. “You’re probably right, but he doesn’t make it easy for anyone to get close. He still won’t have breakfast with the rest of the kitchen staff. He gets a plate and hides in his office. You know he has to get lonesome.”
Annie turned her head slightly, almost as if she heard something that Peyton couldn’t hear. “I have to go. I’ll talk to you later.”
Peyton yawned as Annie glided out of the room. Why not take a nap? Maybe Dorrie Bettis would indeed decide to quit, but no, Ashley had never had that kind of luck.
***
Jake finished brushing his horse and affectionately stroked the chestnut’s neck. “You’re a good girl, Cinnamon” he muttered. He turned her out into the pasture to graze and stood beside the fence, watching her as she rolled on the ground. So much for his grooming job.
In spite of himself, he remembered how Peyton’s hand had felt when she grabbed his. He had forgotten how soft a woman’s hand could be. If only she hadn’t touched his scarred side. His rough, ugly hand surely hadn’t felt normal to her.
The corners of his mouth turned down. What did it matter? He could hide the scars on his leg and arm, but nothing could help his face. His scars had shocked Peyton the first time they met. He needed to get his mind on business and stop thinking about women. No woman would want a freak like him in her life.
He could barely stand to look in the mirror at himself, so he couldn’t reasonably expect a beautiful woman like Peyton to look at him without revulsion. Sweat trickled between his shoulder blades. He had other scars on his arm and leg she hadn’t even seen.
A muscle jumped in his cheek. Forget Peyton. Nothing could come of it. He might as well groom Patrick’s horse too. Patrick had taken a group out riding earlier in the day and hadn’t had time to brush the animal. When he went back into the barn, he found Patrick had already started the job. “Hey, Jake. I thought I’d help you with the horses.”
“Good. I’ll just sit here and watch you work.”
Patrick grinned at him. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. I was thinking of asking Peyton O’Malley to go to a movie with me. Do you think that would be wrong since she works here? I don’t want to cause any problems with the staff, but I think it would be fun.”
Jake felt as if Patrick had shoved a knife into his gut and was slowly twisting it back and forth. He had to swallow hard before he could speak. “No, it wouldn’t be wrong. Ask her.”
Patrick smiled and patted his horse’s neck. “I think I will. She’s a lot of fun, isn’t she?”
“Yeah, she is.”
Patrick finished his horse and put away his equipment. “I’ll ask her tonight. Tomorrow’s Thursday, and that’s usually a slow day. We could catch a matinee, and then I could take her to dinner, but not at the inn.”
“Sound like a good plan.”
Patrick went back to the house, but Jake spent the next ten minutes savagely pelting a tree with acorns.
***
“Hey, Peyton, can I talk to you for a minute?”
Peyton smiled as she patted the seat beside her and closed her book. She loved Rest Thy Head’s front porch so much it had become her habit to sit there for a few minutes after she finished her shift. There was always something to see. Sometimes she watched the people, but more often than not she just enjoyed the fresh air and the sounds of summer all around here. “Sure, Patrick. What’s up?”
He took a seat in the white rocker beside her. “I was wondering if you’re busy tomorrow afternoon. If not, I’d like to take you to a movie and then out to dinner.”
“Why, that’s so sweet.” She beamed at him. “I’d love to go.”
“Good. The movie starts at three thirty, so we’d need to leave here by two forty five. Is that good for you?”
Peyton nodded. “I think so. I should be done with lunch by then.”
“Good. I’m looking forward to it.”
Peyton left the front porch and went to her room where she sat down to finish a chapter in her book, but somehow the novel didn’t satisfy her. Giving up on the novel, she laid it aside. Patrick was such a nice man. She liked his red hair too. Wonder which parent he had taken after? Jake had dark hair.
Jake. Now there was a subject for her. As Annie had said, Jake needed a friend. She’d do what she could for him, but without his cooperation it wouldn’t amount to much. Maybe she’d go downstairs and get a snack. Some of Jake’s chocolate cake would hit the spot. As she opened her door, she saw Annie standing in the hall looking out the window. “Hey, what’s out there?” she called.