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Screw it.
“Yeah, the kid was nice. Can’t say the same about her dad, though.”
Grammy gaped at Charlotte like she’d just spoken blasphemy. “Tripp Montgomery is the nicest man on earth.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Charlotte muttered. “He was pretty harsh to me.”
Grammy’s frown deepened. “Oh honey, I’m sure he didn’t mean it. You said you saw his daughter? I know he’s very protective. Maybe he just came off harsh because he wasn’t prepared for you.”
Got that right.
But she wasn’t prepared for him, either, walking into her life like a frickin’ cowboy
car repair hero. “Well, it’s not like we’ll be seeing much of them anyway,” Charlotte said. Hoped.
Grammy scoffed. “Sure you will. Gracie is here all the time. And Tripp offered to look after things while I was in the hospital. He’s not one to let things lie. I’m sure we’ll be seeing plenty of them.”
“Then why am I here?” Charlotte asked, sounding a little harsh herself. She didn’t mean it. Her grand plan of not running into Tripp for the summer had just gone down the drain in spectacular fashion. The more he was around, the more she feared she’d think of the way his mouth felt against her skin.
“Tripp and the boys over there have a whole ranch to run. They can’t take on my little farm, too, no matter how good their intentions. But if you’d rather not be here, I understand.”
Charlotte scrubbed her hands over her face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap. I’m just a little frazzled. I’m happy to be here, and I don’t want you to worry. We don’t need anyone else’s help. I’ve got this all covered.”
Grammy gave an “oh really?” smile and handed her the legal pad that had been sitting on her headboard. Charlotte glanced at what appeared to be three pages of script containing lists and instructions.
“Those are the notes I took and a list of my daily tasks to keep the house and farm running,” Grammy said.
Charlotte skimmed the beginning of the list quickly, and her heart stuttered.
Feed the chickens
Relieve Wynonna
Harvest pears, herbs, root veggies
Can and preserve herbs, pears, and veggies
Clean stalls and coop
Charlotte blinked several times. No way was she ready to read the rest of the list if that was just the first page.
“No problem. Got it covered.” Did her voice sound as shaky as it felt? She hoped not. How did her grandmother do all of this daily? Grammy only ever said a few animals were all it took to “live off the land.”
There were a lot more than a few animals on this list.
“I appreciate you so much, honey.”
Charlotte nodded, deciding to take a shower and get a jump on making dinner and tackling the house chores. She could pick a bedroom and settle in later. Tomorrow, she was going to start a fresh day of a new life. For the next several weeks, at least.
She only had one website to build while she was on the farm, which had turned out to be a blessing in disguise. She’d tried for a more permanent job at a few agencies around L.A., but hadn’t heard anything in weeks, which worked out now that her grandmother needed her. Working for herself was as flexible as it got.
Didn’t pay as well, though. She only had a couple weeks to find a full-time job at a Web development company or she wasn’t going to be able to pay her bills next month. It was either that or land a huge client, which wasn’t working out so far. Charlotte was still relatively new to the industry. She needed the clout of an agency to build a clientele and reputation.
She also needed the regular income.
Later. She’d deal with all that later. Right now, Grammy needed her.
She shook her head, trying to tackle one stressful thing at a time. If only there was a way to blow off some of this tension…
