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She did. She did know better, and she wasn’t going to put any pressure on Slate whatsoever. In fact, she might even dust off the old dating app she’d used in the past and get herself another cowboy to date completely.
Even as she thought it, she knew she wouldn’t. With her mother’s illness, she could barely keep up with her job on the ranch and going home to check on her family.
“Jill,” Ginger said gently, and Jill blinked her way back to the present conversation. “Have you heard anything I’ve said?”
Jill dropped her gaze to her hands. “No,” she said. “I’m just tired.”
“I know,” Ginger said. “That’s why I said you should stay in this afternoon. Take off early to go see your mother, if you’d like.”
She shook her head. “Haven’s going to be there today.” She didn’t have to explain more than that, not to Ginger. Ginger had sisters too, one of which seemed to be even more perfect than Haven, though Jill had witnessed Brooke using the wrong bucket to feed the horses. If Jess saw her, there’d be an exchange, and Jill smiled just thinking about her fiery friend.
“Okay, well, then put a movie on,” Ginger said, brushing Jill’s hair off her forehead again. “Go sit with Emma. She’s going to be in the office all afternoon. Hannah will be in about three. Our meeting is at four, but if you can’t—”
“I can,” Jill said. “I don’t want to be alone. I have work to do at the hives this afternoon. I’ll be okay.”
Ginger cocked her head and studied Jill with those keen eyes. “I can send someone out with you,” she said. “I don’t want you to be alone either, not until I’m sure you’re really fine.”
Jill pressed her lips together. “I don’t need a babysitter.”
“It’s either that or you sit in here with Emma,” Ginger said firmly. “She’s done with Slate now, and she won’t care what you put on your tablet.”
Jill shook her head. “I already take too much time off.” She looked at Ginger, begging her to understand. Jill needed to feel useful, and bedding up in the air conditioned office with her favorite movie wasn’t what she needed right now.
“I’ll text Slate,” Ginger said, looking at her phone. “He was going to help with the construction this afternoon, but they weren’t counting on him.”
Jill opened her mouth to protest. She really didn’t want Slate as a babysitter. How humiliating. But Ginger’s fingers flew like wildfire spread in the dry, June heat, and she looked up before Jill could even formulate the sentence in her head. “He’s on his way back in.”
Jill clamped her mouth shut and nodded. “I’m going to fill up my water bottle.” She got to her feet, feeling a teensy bit unsteady but determined not to let anyone know. On her fourth step, she felt normal, and she filled a large water bottle with ice and water, drank until she felt like her stomach would pop, and then refilled it.
The back door opened again, and this time, Slate rounded the corner from the hallway leading to the garage. He searched Jill’s face before looking at Ginger. “Honeybees?”
“You’re going to work the afternoon with Jill,” Ginger said, all business again. “I don’t want her to be alone, and she has work to do at the hives.”
“All right,” Slate said, flicking his gaze to Jill and back to Ginger in less time than it took to breathe.
“You’ll be done by four,” Ginger said. “That’s when we meet for the administration weekly.”
“Right.” Slate stuck his hands in his pockets, and he had to know how handsome and striking he was. How adorable and soft with his hands hidden.
Ginger stepped over to Jill, who cleared her throat and looked away from Slate. She’d been staring, and someone as smart as Ginger—who literally saw and knew everything that happened on the ranch—would’ve seen it. She didn’t say anything though. She just got out a couple of water bottles and paused next to Jill. “Okay?” she asked, her voice barely registering in Jill’s ears.
“Yes,” Jill said. “I’m good.”
“Good,” Ginger said, putting one arm around Jill and giving her a squeeze. “He’s cute, right?”
Jill didn’t acknowledge that Slate was beyond cute. He was drop-dead gorgeous, and the flirty, fun woman she’d been for so long knew exactly how to act around a man like him to get his number and get her first date.
The problem was, men as serious as Slate might ask her out once or twice, but they didn’t really want a flirt for a girlfriend or a wife. He likely didn’t want a woman who screamed at the ocean and almost passed out either.
“Okay, see you at four,” Ginger said, and she left the kitchen, where Jill and Slate still stood, staring at one another.
