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Troy’s appointment this morning was to consolidate everything, and if his math was right, it should add up to the tune of one hundred and twelve thousand dollars. If the land wasn’t paid off and owned outright, his dad would have no choice but to sell or go bankrupt. Knowing his dad, both options were out of the question.
As it was, Troy had one thing on his mind now. Tax season. If he couldn’t pay the taxes, the whole lot would go up for a tax sale, and the land his family had poured blood, sweat, and tears into for generations would go to the highest bidder at a strong discount.
Troy shuddered at the thought. If they lost the property, he couldn’t imagine what that would do to his father.
To keep his mind off that unpleasant possibility, he took a minute to think of Megan. Dad had told him a little about her, but not nearly enough to satisfy him. All he knew was she had offered to care for Levi and had been helping out, though Dad did look a little disappointed to hear that she had left after Troy had arrived.
Thinking of her light-blue eyes and pale skin and that small pink smile calmed him. Would she get freckles? He didn’t know, but he liked the idea of it. He didn’t even know her, but wanted her to be carefree and in a sunny spot on a porch, with bare feet tracing the grain of the wood as she rocked back and forth. The thought made him feel lighter, as if he didn’t have any troubles.
It was a welcome break because he had plenty of troubles. At least one wasn’t time management. The bank didn’t open until ten, so he had time to grab a coffee and maybe browse the bookstore downtown. It wasn’t open yet, but the coffeeshop next to it was. He turned the truck into a spot and crouched against the wind to get inside, welcomed by the tinkling of a little bell above the door.
The smell of cinnamon and coffee rushed around him in a warm hug as he walked inside. Honey oak floors creaked under his feet while an acoustic guitar played in the background, but both sounds were overtaken by the steaming milk from behind the counter. The overall vibe was a little artsy for him, but he liked good food and cold brew was where it was at. Why go through life with shitty coffee and stale, dry pastry?
There wasn’t a line, so the girl behind the counter with a gauge in her ear waved him over with a bubbly smile and took his order for the daily special and a ham and cheese croissant because it had been a fucking week and he deserved it. He ran the card through the sleek iPad right as she put a cup of tea at the pickup station.
The color of the hair was a dead giveaway and had somehow seared into his mind as the only color red hair should actually be. He hadn’t consciously digested what was happening before he heard himself call out her name.
She flinched as if she didn’t want to run into him but turned around. At first her shoulders were caved slightly in, but before he could take it personally, she straightened and looked him in the eye, taking his breath away again.
A spring goddess stood before him.
“Hi.” She looked at him, then back at her cup as if she didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t sure if she even knew his name.
“I’m glad I ran into you. I wanted to thank you for taking care of my dad.” He stuck out his hand, hoping she’d take it and forcing some connection with her. “My name’s Troy.”
She only had the slightest delay before reaching forward, and despite her slender hand, her grip was strong. Actually it was strong enough to surprise him.
“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Megan. How’s your dad doing?”
“He’s doing okay. Going back to the doctor in a few days for some follow-ups. He really has talked a lot about you.”
A pink tinge hit her cheekbones as she smiled and looked down. “I’m just glad I could help.”
“I think he misses you. Levi too. Dad would love for you to come back to the house for dinner sometime.”
“Oh, I would hate to intrude. I know it’s been a while since you’ve seen each other. After everything he’s gone through, he needs to be with family.”
“Not much of us left,” Troy said without thinking. He wished he could take the statement back along with the chill that entered his voice. “Seriously. I think it’d be good for Dad. He has mentioned it several times and wanted to thank you, and I owe you too. I mean, I got here as fast as I could, and I’m thankful he had someone looking out for him.”
She looked at him with an odd look, almost as if she wanted to say something but decided against it. If he had been cheekier he would’ve offered her a penny for her thoughts.
“I’m working tonight, so maybe later.”
“Here,” he said as he scribbled his number on the back of his receipt. “I know you have Dad’s number, but here’s mine. I’d love to talk more about when we can meet up.”
She took it and thanked him before leaving with her cup of tea, which sadly was to go.
Troy flashed his brightest smile as she walked out, knowing full well that he wanted her to come visit as much as his father did. He watched her go, imagining the curves that were hidden under her green sweater dress and wishing it hugged her figure more. He tried not to stare at the two or so inches of skin that were exposed between the dress and her boots, and he prayed that she would text him soon.
CHAPTER11
Megan ended up driving back out to the little house to meet Troy three days later, mainly because Mr. Chapman had called and invited her. She only texted Troy because Mr. Chapman still hadn’t gotten the hang of texting, and even that was just to let him know she was on her way, to which he responded with a “sounds good” and a happy face. She didn’t answer him.
She bounced along on the gravel driveway of the ranch with a bottle of wine and some bread from The Perfect Cup, which was her go-to spot where she had run into Troy. Of all of the people she had seen in there, the cocky, too-good-looking-for-his-own-good man was the last person she expected to run into while in her happy place.
When she first had seen him there, she had attempted to hide in the ladies’ room, only to be stymied when he shoved his hands in his pockets and sauntered right into the path to her escape. Not only did this mean she had no choice but to interact—thank God she had ordered her tea to go since she hated small talk—but annoyingly it meant she couldn’t see his ass squeezed into some Wranglers, which looked better than any of the buns in the glass case.
Megan hated herself for ogling. It wasn’t as if she didn’t admire the view of a fine specimen, but of all of the people to find attractive, she hated that it was this selfish, arrogant bro. If she was honest with herself, she didn’t know him like that and was making a lot of assumptions. Still, she didn’t have any living family and he did, yet it took him far too long to come home to his dad, even if he was in the military. People who didn’t appreciate what was in front of them drove her crazy.
