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She ducked her head, even though his smile had a way of easing the jagged corner of her heart. He might have some challenges of his own, but there was something soothing about this man, something her heart responded to. And his long-lashed dark eyes and curly hair only added to his appeal.
“Let’s clean up, then we’ll give you a tour of the ranch.” Ellie pushed her seat out, then paused. “Actually, how about I clean up while you two start that tour?”
“I can help,” Lexi said.
“I’m sure you can, but I’m also pretty sure you heard Jackson before. We don’t let guests help. And seeing Jackson did the cooking, I’m on cleaning detail. Alas.” But her grin suggested she was not unhappy at all.
“You’d better excuse my sister,” Jackson said, with a fond glance at Ellie. “She gets ideas into her head and runs off with them like she’s in a marathon. It can take days before she’s willing to hear sense.”
“One of the excitable ones, huh?”
“Exactly.”
Lexi pushed back her chair. “Do I need boots and a hat to check out the ranch?”
“Only if you’re planning on moving here full-time,” Ellie said.
Lexi swallowed. Why did that sound like an invitation?
Jackson slid open the glass door to outside, then they were on a concrete terrace that led to the fenced backyard. Beyond lay a huge red barn, like something she’d seen in the movies, complete with hitching rails and water troughs for horses. A dog ran up to her, barking and sniffing around her, and she shifted uneasily.
“Hey, it’s okay,” Jackson said. “This is Fido.”
“Fido? Seriously?”
“We don’t tend to do creativity around here.” Jackson shrugged. “Hey, girl, behave.”
Excuse me?
Oh. The way he drew a hand through the dog’s fur indicated he was talking to the dog.
“This is Lexi. She’s a friend. Be nice.” He glanced up at her again. “Put your hand down, let her sniff you.”
She obeyed, and the dog sniffed then licked her hand. “Hello, Fido.” She glanced at Jackson. “I always thought Fido was a boy’s name.”
“Really? They call boys Fido in Australia?”
She wrinkled her nose at him, and he laughed. She had to admit liking the sound of that deep rumble. Like his smile, his chuckle had a way of making her feel secure.
He pushed upright again and drew Fido’s attention with a click of his fingers. “Come on, girl. Let’s show our guest what we do here.”
* * *
Jackson stolea glance at Lexi as she sat on the wooden fence, studying the land like she was prepping for an exam. He wasn’t sure if she was impressed. She’d been in a state of oohs and ahhs over the view—ten points in her favor—but she also had a way of making him feel off-center, like he was riding lopsided and about to tumble off any second. Maybe he was bad at reading women’s signals. Or maybe Lexi’s signals were so mixed he couldn’t tell which was which. All he knew was that the shy, nervy woman of last Sunday seemed to have disappeared sometime during the week, and the woman sitting next to him seemed to own more confidence than he’d originally thought.
But it was kind of nice to be able to point out some of the improvements he’d made, such as the new pens and dams, things his grandfather had wanted to do but hadn’t. After their father had left when Ellie was a baby, it had seemed impossible to get the ranch to a standard deemed acceptable. Looking at the improvements now drew his spine straighter.
“So you have cows?” she asked.
“Beef cattle, yeah.” He pointed out several dozen amber-colored beasts in the homestead paddock. “Red Angus, to be precise.”
“Like the steak?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He grinned at her wrinkled nose.
“I thought Angus cattle were black.”
“Red Angus is a newer breed. The meat is a little sweeter and fattier, so restaurants are willing to pay top dollar for it.”
