Tessa was already on the porch, a jacket pulled over a long sweater and her hair caught back in a quick knot. How one woman could look that beautiful while that completely unprimped, Grace didn’t understand.
Behind her, Reno was leaning against the wall of the house with his black cowboy hat in his hand, looking out at the rain. His hat might be black, but he was definitely one of the good guys. He didn't look like he'd slept much recently. Of course, that was entirely her fault.
Grace got Lily out of the back seat and Lily took off across the wet gravel as if she'd been launched from a cannon.
"Hold on, Sweetheart, the steps are slippery," Grace started.
Lily was already halfway up them. Her feet slipped and she plunged forward, face first toward the top porch step.
Reno moved so fast Grace hardly saw the blur of him lunging forward and catching Lily, her face only six inches or so above the sharp stone corner. Grace ran for her daughter and the cover of the porch and got there in time to hear him say cheerfully, "Hello, Princess. Loretta's been waiting for you."
Tessa stepped forward and gave Grace a quick, hard hug.
Lily demanded "Has Lo-wetta been working today?"
Reno looked up questioningly at Tessa and Grace.
Tessa laughed. “She’s working very hard right now. It takes a lot of energy to stand in the middle of a rainstorm and yell at every car that drives by, demanding that they make the sky stuff stop.”
Lily giggled. “Sky stuff? That’s funny, Aunt Tessa.”
"I try. Speaking of which, I hear you’re an expert at drawing. I happen to have a new coloring book and a brand new box of crayons inside, and I was wondering if you could test them out for me.”
“Yay!” Lily shouted.
Tessa held out her hand and Lily took it eagerly. Tessa shot Grace a look over Lily's head that said she expected to hear all about what happened between her and Reno later and steered Lily inside. The screen door bumped shut behind them.
Reno put on his hat and nodded to Grace. He didn't say anything.
"Ready to go?" she asked.
"Yes, Ma'am."
He came down the steps good leg first with a small hesitation each time he stepped down with his bad leg. She started to head for her mommy-mobile, but he said quickly, “Let me drive. My heavy duty truck is better suited for bad weather than your car.”
“You’re exhausted. I’ll drive.”
“Please. Let me do this for you. I can see how frazzled you are. And my truck really is safer. If nothing else, I have brand new, all-weather tires on the truck that’ll grip the road better than yours.”
She wrinkled her nose. She’d been meaning to take her car in to Emmett’s Auto Shop and have Boone put a new set of tires on it. He’d mentioned to her the last time he changed her oil that the tire treads were worn down almost completely. But she’d been so busy, and then so distracted, that she’d forgotten about it completely.
Reno strode ahead of her to the passenger side of his truck to open the door for her. She caught his wince, though, as he lengthened and sped his steps.
As she brushed past him, she murmured, “I won’t melt. Please don’t hurt your knee on my account.
He cupped her elbow and gave her a boost as she made the step up onto the running board. The casual strength he lifted her with took her breath away. She’d forgotten just how strong big, athletic men could be.
He closed the door and walked around to the driver’s side. He climbed in with a sharp suck of breath she pretended to ignore. He turned around in the gravel barnyard and pointed the truck toward town.
The wipers thumped steadily, and the lake on their left was the color of steel.
"Thanks for coming along with me," she finally said.
"My pleasure."
"Have you gotten any sleep in the past twenty-four hours?" she asked.
"A bit."
