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Asa wanted to shoot the yahoo when Elizabeth’s smile dropped from sweet to disappointed. “Of course.”
Though her expression was poker-faced, he knew he’d never get the brim of his hat to recover from the death grip she had on it. In the most practical voice he’d ever heard her use, she told him, “You haven’t seen it yet, but there’s a safe in the office. It’d take dynamite for anyone to get money out of there.”
Now, there was a picture to soothe his nerves. Strange men with dynamite in the house with Elizabeth. He shook his head, reached out and removed his hat from his wife’s hands. “Well, if I ever get to the point in my life where I worry more about money than my family, I’ll be sure to keep that as a comforting thought.”
Asa would offend the devil himself to hear that uncharacteristically shy “thank you” of Elizabeth’s. Darned if she didn’t look as if she didn’t know what to do with his concern. He drew her gaze with a touch to her cheek. “Everything’s okay?”
“Oh, yes.” Her gaze clung to his. She was nervous, startled and happy. All because he’d done the decent thing? Damn! The woman needed someone whether she showed it or not.
“Aaron is a long time friend and neighbor,” Elizabeth said, as if to fill the silence that sprang up.
Which could explain the possessive air the man had about him.
Elizabeth waved her hand between them. “Aaron, this is my husband, Asa MacIntyre.”
“Elizabeth,” Ballard sighed with exasperation. “We already introduced ourselves.”
“Oh, yes.”
To Asa’s way of thinking, Aaron didn’t have to point out the obvious, but since he had, and since Elizabeth was looking like she’d love a hole to dive into, Asa passed his hat back into her keeping. As she grabbed it and darted to the peg by the door, he asked Aaron, “You say you live here about?”
“The Bar B runs the length of the Rocking C’s western border.” Ballard took a couple of steps forward and intercepted Elizabeth on her return. He put a proprietary hand on Elizabeth’s shoulder. “Elizabeth and I are more like family than friends as we grew up together.”
The man was looking to lose an arm, that much Asa could see. Elizabeth stepped away. Asa slapped a smile on his face as congenial as the one Aaron was sending him. “Then I guess I need to thank you for helping her out after her father passed on.”
“Everyone did what they could.”
Which, from what Asa could determine, was about nothing. “Well, I’d like to pay you for your time.”
“That won’t be necessary.”
“I insist. You just tally up the work and send the bill over.”
“Why don’t we just say you owe me like for like?”
“I reckon I can settle for that.” Easily.
“It’s settled then.”
Elizabeth stepped between them. Her hands kept smoothing her skirt over her hips in a nervous gesture. Asa figured it was a habit she’d be breaking herself of if she knew how it drew a man’s imagination to wander.
“Could I get you a cup of coffee?” she asked him.
“That would taste good. Just let me signal the men everything’s fine and get Shameless settled, then I’ll be back.”
“I could do that for you.”
“Signal the men?” He smiled. “Darlin’, if you tried to shoot off that gun of mine, you’d be dirtying the back of your skirt, not to mention sporting a bruise the size of Texas on your shoulder.”
“Elizabeth’s a darn good—” Aaron interrupted.
“I’m sure it can’t be that hard,” Elizabeth cut off the neighbor’s interjection. “But I was referring to putting Shameless away.”
She was wearing that perfectly calm expression which Asa was beginning to realize meant she was annoyed. He reached out and plucked his hat off the peg by the door where Elizabeth had put it. “I reckon I got just enough energy to settle Shameless as long as you set out some of that cobbler from last night to go with that coffee.”
“Sorry, neighbor. Elizabeth was kind enough to share the last piece with me.”
The words were polite, but the man wasn’t sorry about anything. Asa settled his hat on his head. “Well, now, that is a shame. The thought of that cobbler kept me going all day.”
“One area where Elizabeth never makes a mistake is the kitchen.”
The implication being that there were areas where she did mess up. One of them in her choice of husbands? Asa waited a heartbeat for Elizabeth to lay into the man, but, to his surprise, she just stood there. Mouth shut, face tight, accepting the barb. Was she that fond of the yahoo?
“Funny,” Asa drawled, keeping his annoyance in check. “The one thing I picked up right away is that Elizabeth is one capable woman. Makes a man stay on his toes so as not to be outshined.”
