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“Yes. Aunt Jewel said the cabin is available for two more weeks, though I’m not sure I’ll be here that long. How about you?” she asked, trying to sound as casual as he had.
“My cabin’s available for another ten days. They have reservations beginning a week from Sunday. They’re having a new metal roof put on this week, which is the only thing left to be done to it.”
She studied his face as he pushed a hand through his hair. “You look a little tired.”
He shrugged. “I must have gone up and down that ladder a couple dozen times today. Roofing’s a hard job, and all we were doing was repair work.”
“I suppose all construction work is physically demanding.”
“No kidding. I’ve found some muscle groups I didn’t know I had. And all of them have been sore at some point during the past couple weeks.” He took a sip of his tea, then added, “I guess it’s a good thing I have a white-collar job. Considering the assorted cuts and bruises I’ve accumulated so far, I could seriously hurt myself if I keep this up much longer.”
He was probably trying to make her smile, but her attention had been captured by his reference to his “white-collar job.” She tried to speak as lightly as he had, “Um, yes, I believe I’ve commented on your accident-proneness.”
“Once or twice. The good thing about living in a condo back in Dallas is that there’s a maintenance crew to deal with the repairs and upkeep.”
She didn’t know if he was just making small talk or deliberately dropping hints about his life back in Dallas in an attempt to open himself to questions. “You live in a condo?” she said, nibbling at the bait.
“Yeah. It’s in a high-rise in downtown Dallas, close to the law firm where I work. You can see why I’ve enjoyed being here in the peace and quiet of the mountains for the past few weeks. It’s a nice change from all the traffic and the crowds and the grind.”
Her fingers felt as though they’d just gone numb. Very carefully, she set her teacup down on the counter. “You’re a…you’re an attorney?”
“Yeah. You didn’t really think I was a professional maintenance man, did you?”
“No. I didn’t think that.”
She clasped her hands in front of her in an attempt to hide the trembling she wouldn’t have wanted to try to explain. “So, you’re on vacation?”
“A leave of absence,” he said with a slight shrug. “I was getting a little too close to burning out after a challenging year, so I took some time off. I suppose I’ll have to get back to my real work soon.”
“You can’t have been out of law school for long.”
“A couple of years. I skipped a couple years of elementary school, took some college classes during high school, earned my bachelor’s degree when I was twenty. All of which got me into my career sooner, but might have led to some of the burnout.”
“I can see why. You must have worked very hard.”
“For some reason it seemed important to rush through everything. Now I’m wondering why I did. I guess it’s that overachiever gene my parents passed down. Dad’s a senior partner in a security firm with his brothers, Mom’s CEO of an accounting firm, my maternal granddad was one of the most prominent prosecuting attorneys in Chicago for many years. Slacking off was not allowed.”
He had some serious connections. That probably explained why he’d been at liberty to take this much time off so early in his career. He would probably be a junior partner by the time he was her age.
How could she tell him why she was no longer employed by her own firm?
She knew there was probably more to his leave of absence than a close brush with burnout. Surely there had been some catalyst that had driven him here. Some reason behind the haunted expressions she had occasionally spotted on his face when he thought she wasn’t looking. But whatever it was, she couldn’t imagine it was as bad as being accused of betraying client confidentiality for monetary gain.
She would bet everything she had left in savings that Casey Walker was a scrupulously ethical attorney. Would he believe her when she said that she had always tried to conduct herself the same way? Or would he be more inclined to remember the old adage about smoke surely indicating fire?
“You look so serious,” he murmured, brushing her hair back from her face. “I won’t ask what you’re thinking, but if you want to share, I’m always available to listen.”
She couldn’t meet his eyes. With a long, low sigh, she murmured, “I wouldn’t know how to begin.”
“Begin wherever you like. Whatever it is, Natalie, I’d like to help you, if I can. I hate seeing you so sad.”
Very slowly, she lifted her gaze to his face. He was looking at her with such concern that it made her throat ache. She could almost believe that he truly cared about her when he looked at her this way. And that was a dangerous way to think. She’d been hurt too much lately by people she’d thought had cared about her.
Casey lowered his head to brush a kiss over her lips. And then he drew back just far enough to speak, his forehead resting lightly against hers. “I think I should tell you—”
The cell phone clipped to his belt rang loudly, a sharp, intrusive tone that demanded his attention. Both of them jumped, and Buddy lifted his head off the hearth rug, as startled as they were by the sudden disruption of the quiet.
Muttering a curse, Casey glanced at the screen. “It’s my dad. I’ll call him back later—”
